UPSC Key—16 August, 2023: Independence Day, Lakhpati Didi Yojana and Section 377 of the IPC

World watching, India unstoppable, will be back at Red Fort next year: PM

Syllabus:

Preliminary Examination: History of India and Indian National Movement

Mains Examination:

• General Studies I: The Freedom Struggle — its various stages and important contributors/contributions from different parts of the country.

• General Studies II: Indian Constitution—historical underpinnings, evolution, features, amendments, significant provisions and basic structure.

Key Points to Ponder:

• What’s the ongoing story- Declaring that “this India is unstoppable… tireless” and “does not give up”, Prime Minister Narendra Modi Tuesday turned to the past and present with the promise to “take decisions one after the other” for “sarvajan hitay, sarvajan sukhay” (the welfare of all, the happiness of all), underlining that the “Triveni” of “demography, democracy, diversity” had the potential to build the country for “the next 1000 years”. Addressing the nation from the ramparts of the Red Fort on Independence Day – this was his 10th consecutive address, and the last of his second term – Modi, who called people his “parivarjan” (family members) while flagging the “parivarvaad” (dynastic rule) of the Opposition, said he would be back at the Red Fort next year to list the achievements of the country.

• What exactly PM Modi has said on Independence Day?

• Independence Day and Red Fort-connect the dots

• Why do we choose 15th August for Independence day celebration?

• For Your Information-The Cabinet Mission under Pethick-Lawrence, Strafford Cripps, and AV Alexander, alongside then Viceroy Archibald Wavell, proposed a complicated three-tier administrative structure for India, with a weak central government. The Mission felt this would allow India to stay united while assuaging Jinnah’s demands for a separate Muslim state. However, this proposal was eventually rejected by both the Congress and the Muslim League. This rejection also unleashed a wave of communal violence and worsened the already tenuous law and order situation in the country, especially in Bengal. Atlee decided to replace Wavell with the charismatic Louis Mountbatten in February 1947 and told him, “Keep India united if you can. If not, save something from the wreck. In any case, get Britain out.” A day prior to appointing Mountbatten, on February 20, Atlee had announced in the House of Commons that British rule in India will end “not later than July 1948”. However, upon arriving in India, Mountbatten realised that waiting till July of next year would possibly not be wise in light of the already worsening situation. Against the advice of senior British administrators, Mountbatten decided that a quick, immediate exit was the best way to “avoid further bloodshed” in the subcontinent. Of course he failed in this intended goal. Where he did succeed, however, was in ensuring that Britain did not get caught up in the chaos. As C Rajagopalachari, had once remarked about Mountbatten’s decision, “If he (Lord Mountbatten) had waited till June 1948, there would have been no power left to transfer.” The plan for India’s independence and partition was announced on June 3, and the Indian Independence Act received royal assent on July 18. The “Mountbatten Plan” as this was known, set August 15 – the second anniversary of the Japanese surrender – as the deadline for transfer of power. While for Empire apologists, August 15 was indeed a day of mourning, of great loss, most of the British public had more pressing domestic concerns to deal with. In the end, Britain successfully managed to extricate itself from the mess it had a huge hand in creating.

• What is the main difference between Independence, republic and democracy?

• Does Independence mean republic?

• What was the struggle for Indian independence?

• How you define Indian Nationalism?

• Can you sum up the key events in the freedom struggle which lead to India’s independence?

• Personalities and people involved in freedom struggle-what you know about them?

• Why does India’s Prime Minister hoist the tricolour but not unfurl it?

• What is flag hoisting and unfurling?

• Woman, Minorities, transgender, institution and nation- How much they are free in India?

• What does Independence mean in your life?

Other Important Articles Covering the same topic:

📍Central Vista workers, students & teachers: Meet the 1,800 ‘special guests’ at Red Fort

📍How Red Fort became venue for the PM’s Independence Day speech

📍LAC: No forward movement in talks, both agree to resolve issues

Syllabus:

Preliminary Examination: Current events of national and international importance.

Mains Examination: General Studies II: India and its neighbourhood- relations.

Key Points to Ponder:

• What’s the ongoing story- There was no fresh forward movement on resolution of existing issues along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in eastern Ladakh in the 19th round of military talks between India and China Monday though both sides agreed to resolve these expeditiously. A joint statement issued Tuesday said India and China have agreed to resolve remaining issues in an expeditious manner while keeping up the momentum of dialogue and negotiations through military and diplomatic channels. It said that in the interim, the two sides have agreed to maintain the peace and tranquillity on the ground in the border areas. On Monday, the two sides held the 19th round of military talks at the Chushul-Moldo border meeting point on the Indian side.

As reported by The Indian Express, the focus of the meeting was on confidence building and ensuring adherence to border protocols and sharing of patrol information between troops of the two sides to avoid clashes.

• What is Line of Actual Control?

• China’s aggressive attitude towards Indo-China Border and What impact can it have on India-China relations?

• Changing dynamics in Indo-China relationships-what are the points of irritation in recent scenario?

• Jingoism and not pragmatism nowadays dominate bilateral relations of India with her Neighbours -do you think so? Attest your opinion with few examples

• Resolving the Sino-Indian imbroglio-How?

• What is Line of Control (LOC)?

• What is Line of Actual Control (LAC)?

• If Line of Actual Control is a boundary between China and India, then what is McMahon Line?

• Map Work– Line of Control and Line of Actual Control

• Map Work- Chang Chenmo river, Gogra-Hot Springs, Kongka Pass, Galwan Valley, Depsang Plains, Line of Actual Control, and Charding Nala region

Other Important Articles Covering the same topic:

📍‘Prepare, not provoke’ is India’s new strategy to tackle LAC standoff

📍To make 2 crore ‘lakhpati didis’ in villages, drone training for women

Syllabus:

Preliminary Examination: Current events of national and international importance.

Mains Examination: General Studies II: Development processes and the development industry —the role of NGOs, SHGs, various groups and associations, donors, charities, institutional and other stakeholders.

Key Points to Ponder:

• What’s the ongoing story- In an attempt to reach out to the economically marginalised and socially backward community before the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, Prime Minister Narendra Modi Tuesday announced two new initiatives — Vishwakarma Yojana, a new scheme with an outlay of Rs 13,000 crore to Rs 15000 crore, and Lakhpati Didi, under which skill training will be provided to two crore women so that they can earn at least Rs 1 lakh annually.

• ‘Lakhpati Didi’ scheme-What is the scheme all about?

• What is the purpose of Lakhpati Didi Yojana?

• For Your Information- Addressing the nation from the ramparts of the Red Fort on the 77th Independence Day, the prime minister said he has taken forward the issue of women-led development in G-20, where it has received a lot of support. “Today, we are working on women self-help groups with the aim of creating two crore Lakhpati Didis. We, while promoting the potential of our women power, women-led development and when I have taken forward the issues of women-led development in G-20, the whole G-20 group is accepting its importance, and giving it a lot of support,” Modi said, underlining the importance of women-led development.

• What are Self Help Groups?

• Why Self Help Groups?

• What data’s and statistics says about SHGs in India?

• What is the mechanism by which self-help organisations facilitate the empowerment of women?

• Why SHG are a necessity in rural development?

• ‘The expansion in the SHG movement’s scope, from social mobilisation and financial inclusion objectives to economic development, is an organic step in the livelihoods chain’-Comment

• For Your Information-Rural micro-enterprises run by SHG members suffer from critical bottlenecks, whether in raising funds for start-up, growth and working capital or accessing high-quality technical assistance. Governments need to structure financial products addressing these needs, calling for a shift from a unit-cost based standardised budgeting approach. Evidence from the field should be used to improve access to collateral-free credit through institutions such as the Credit Guarantee Fund Trust for Micro and Small Enterprises. There is a tendency to club all micro-enterprises, including women-owned ones, into a singular category of subsistence-oriented outfits, i.e. those primarily run by households for own needs. Such categorisation blunts customised support for those entrepreneurs needing specialised support to grow. States should adopt a pyramidal strategy for financial and technical assistance, based on the stage and size of enterprises. Lastly, the success of policy should not be measured based simply on the number of enterprises promoted and expenditures incurred. Amul’s success today is read through both the 3.6 million milk producer-members in its network and an annual turnover exceeding $4 billion.

Other Important Articles Covering the same topic:

📍Self Help Groups: What should be next for women-led entrepreneurship in rural India?

GOVT & POLITICS

Under PMJAY, Rs 6.9 cr paid for treatment of ‘dead’ patients: CAG

Syllabus:

Preliminary Examination: Economic and Social Development

Main Examination: General Studies II: Issues relating to development and management of Social Sector/Services relating to Health, Education, Human Resources.

Key Points to Ponder:

• What’s the ongoing story- Flagging irregularities in the audit of the Ayushman Bharat – Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (PMJAY) health insurance scheme, the Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) has said that Rs 6.97 crore was paid for the treatment of 3,446 patients who had previously been declared dead in the database. The scheme, launched in 2018, has been rolled out in both rural and urban areas with the aim of reducing out-of-pocket expenditure for the poor and vulnerable population seeking healthcare.

• What are key issues faced by the healthcare sector of India?

• India’s Health Budget-Know the Statistics

• In its audit report on Performance Audit of Ayushman Bharat — PMJAY, tabled in Lok Sabha on, what exactly the CAG said?

• For Your Information-In the performance audit, under the head “Treatment of a beneficiary shown as ‘died’ during earlier claim/treatment”, the CAG noted that “patients earlier shown as ‘died’ in TMS (the Transaction Management System of the scheme) continued to avail treatment under the scheme”. The audit noted that there were 3,903 such claims, pertaining to 3,446 patients, and that Rs 6.97 crore was paid to hospitals across the country. Kerala had the most number of such “dead” patients – 966 – whose claims were paid. A total of Rs 2,60,09,723 were paid for their “treatment”. Madhya Pradesh had 403 such patients, for whom Rs 1,12,69,664 was paid. Chhattisgarh came in third with 365 patients, for whose treatment Rs 33,70,985 was paid. According to existing guidelines, if a patient dies after admission to a hospital and before discharge, payment to the hospital is done following an audit. According to the report, when the CAG flagged that the necessary checks were not followed, the NHA stated in August 2022 that “back-date of admission is allowed in the system for various operational reasons”. The CAG stated that the “reply is not tenable, as pre-authorisation initiation, claim submission and final claim approval” by the State Health Authority for “beneficiaries already shown as died during treatment earlier, indicate flaws in application and make it susceptible to misuse at user levels”. The CAG report has asked the NHA and the SHA to “ensure a comprehensive investigation of all cases to obviate the risk of irregular payment and malfeasance”. The health insurance scheme provides a cover of Rs 5 lakh per family every year for secondary and tertiary care hospitalisation across public and private empanelled hospitals in India. The audit report also flagged that in 2,231 hospital, there were instances of the same patient being admitted to multiple medical institutions simultaneously. The audit found a total of 78,396 such cases. Gujrat reported the most cases (21,514), followed by Chhattisgarh (9,640) and Kerala (9,632). The CAG report stated that in July 2020, “the desk audit has revealed that the IT systems (TMS) did not prevent any patient from getting admission in multiple hospitals during the same period of hospitalizations”. The NHA, while “acknowledging the lapse, stated (July 2020) that primarily these cases arise in scenarios where a baby is born in one hospital and shifted to neo-natal care in another hospital using PMJAY ID of mother.”

• What is National Health Authority?

• Is National Health Authority a statutory body?

• Public Health Systems in India-Background

• Current state of India’s health infrastructure- Know in detail

• Steps required to strengthen the existing state of Health infrastructure in India-Brainstorm

• What do you understand by Universal Health Coverage (UHC)?

• PM Atma Nirbhar Swasth Bharat Yojana and Ayushman Bharat Scheme-Key Highlights

• Is there any explicit/implicit recognition of the right to health or healthcare under the Constitution? (Hint: Directive Principles of State Policy in Part IV of the India Constitution provide a basis for the right to health)

• What Supreme Court of India says on Right to Health?

Other Important Articles Covering the same topic:

📍Irregularities: CAG reports 7.5 lakh recipients linked to single number

EXPRESS NETWORK

Before Swachh Bharat, there was Sulabh, his passion for cause of sanitation

Syllabus:

Preliminary Examination: Economic and Social Development-Sustainable Development, Poverty, Inclusion, Demographics, Social Sector Initiatives, etc.

Mains Examination: General Studies II: Development processes and the development industry —the role of NGOs, SHGs, various groups and associations, donors, charities, institutional and other stakeholders.

Key Points to Ponder:

• What’s the ongoing story- Bindeshwar Pathak, noted social reformer and founder of Sulabh International Social Service Organisation who championed the cause of sanitation by building over 10,000 public toilets across the country, died on Tuesday. He was 80. Pathak is survived by wife Amola, and two daughters and a son. “He complained of uneasiness amid Independence Day celebrations at Sulabh complex at Palam-Dabri Road, New Delhi. He was taken to AIIMS,” the Sulabh International said in a statement. He died of cardiac arrest, the statement said.

• Personality in News- Bindeshwar Pathak

• Who is the founder of Sulabh International?

• What is the contribution of Sulabh International?

• Dr Bindeshwar Pathak contribution to the elimination of manual scavenging-Know the details

• For Your Information- After completing schooling at his village, Pathak graduated in Sociology from BN College, Patna. He wanted to study criminology from Sagar University in Madhya Pradesh, but before that he joined Gandhi Centenary Committee in Patna as a volunteer. The Committee sent him to work for restoration of human rights and dignity of people from Dalit community in Bihar’s Bettiah in Bihar. From there, he took a resolve to start a mission to eradicate manual scavenging and open defecation — a common phenomenon at the time. In 1974, the Bihar government sent a circular to all local bodies to take Sulabh’s help to convert bucket toilets into two-pit pour-flush toilets, and by 1980, 25,000 people were using Sulabh public facilities in Patna alone. Pathak’s efforts was soon featured in the international press. Born at Rampur Baghel village in Bihar’s Vaishali district, Pathak started the Sulabh movement in 1970 and dedicated his life to eradicating manual scavenging and spreading awareness on sanitation. He was credited with designing and popularising the low-cost twin-pit flush toilets, widely constructed under the government’s Swachh Bharat Mission. Pathak built his first public toilet in Arrah, Bihar, with the help of a municipality official who had given him Rs 500 to construct two toilets for demonstration in the municipality premises in 1973. After the success of this initiative, the authorities sanctioned a project for its wider implementation. In 1974, the first Sulabh public toilet — with 48 seats, 20 bathrooms, urinals and washbasins — was thrown open to the public in Patna.

In 1991, he was awarded the Padma Bhushan for his work on liberating and rehabilitating manual scavengers and received the International St Francis Prize for Environment the following year. In 2009, Pathak won the Stockholm Water Prize, conferred by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences. In 2012, he undertook a philanthropic mission at the behest of the Supreme Court to work towards welfare of widows of Vrindavan. He started by giving a monthly stipend of Rs 2,000 to each widow. In 2016, Sulabh was awarded the Gandhi Peace Prize for its contribution to the government’s flagship Swachh Bharat mission.

• What do you understand by the term ‘Manual Scavenging’?

• Is Manual Scavenging is driven by Caste, Gender and Income Divides?

• What data’s and statistics given by Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment on Manual Scavengers says?

• What Socio-Economic Caste Census of 2011 says on ‘Manual Scavenging’?

• Prohibition of Employment as Manual Scavengers and their Rehabilitation Act, 2013 or Manual scavenging Act, 2013-Know the key highlights

• Survey of manual scavengers was conducted by the National Safai Karamcharis Finance and Development Corporation (NSKFDC)-What were the key takeaways?

• What were the steps taken Dr Bindeshwar Pathak for rehabilitation of manual scavengers?

Other Important Articles Covering the same topic:

📍Activist Bindeshwar Pathak, known for Sulabh sanitation movement, passes away

ECONOMY

Jan Dhan yojana: Steady growth in new accounts; 10 million added in April-July

Syllabus:

Preliminary Examination: Economic and Social Development-Sustainable Development, Poverty, Inclusion, Demographics, Social Sector Initiatives, etc.

Mains Examination: General Studies III: Inclusive growth and issues arising from it.

Key Points to Ponder:

• What’s the ongoing story- The no-frills Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY) bank accounts, with an accumulated Rs 2.03 trillion cash balance, continues to rise steadily nine years after its launch. As many as 35.9 million new PMJDY accounts were opened in FY23 compared with 28.6 million in FY22 and 38.7 million in FY21. With nearly 10 million new accounts opened in the first four months of FY24, the cumulative PMJDY accounts stood at 496.3 million by end-July.

• What is Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana?

• For Your Information-Most of the PMJDY accounts are with the public sector banks that have steered the financial inclusion drive. The number of PMJDY accounts opened by PSBs rose from 332.62 million in March 2021 to 385.89 million in May 2023, an increase of 16 per cent. The government-managed Regional Rural Banks (RRBs) have a 21 per cent increase in their PMJDY accounts to around 91 million in May 2023 from 71 million in March 2021. However, such accounts were just 14.07 million with private sector banks, up 12 per cent between March 2021 and May 2023. PMJDY was launched on 28th August 2014 to provide universal banking services by opening a zero-balance bank account for every unbanked household. The main features of the scheme include one basic savings bank deposit (BSBD) account to every unbanked adult, an overdraft (OD) limit of Rs 10,000 and a free RuPay debit card with inbuilt accident insurance cover of up to Rs 2,00,000.

• Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana and direct benefit transfer scheme-Connect the dots

• What is Financial Inclusion?

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📍The making of sabka vikas

EXPLAINED

With Sec 377 gone, why some fear men might lose protection against rape

Syllabus:

Preliminary Examination: Indian Polity and Governance-Constitution, Political System, Panchayati Raj, Public Policy, Rights Issues, etc.

Mains Examination: General Studies II: Structure, organization and functioning of the Executive and the Judiciary-Ministries and Departments of the Government; pressure groups and formal/informal associations and their role in the Polity.

Key Points to Ponder:

• What’s the ongoing story-The Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) 2023, the proposed replacement for the Indian Penal Code (IPC), does not contain IPC Section 377 (or an equivalent section), which was read down by the Supreme Court in 2018. While Section 377 (“unnatural offences”) remained in the IPC, it can no longer be used to criminalise gay sex between consenting adults. But the absence of this section in the BNS can leave adult male victims of sexual assault without much recourse in the law, some experts have pointed out.

• But first, what is Section 377 of the IPC?

• How did this section become part of the IPC?

• And how did Section 377 ultimately go?

• So how is this position changed by the proposed BNS?

• For Your Information-It has been pointed out that if the Bill is passed in its present form, groups including male victims of sexual assault, could lose the legal protection accorded to them. This, it is argued, is because the offence of “rape”, as defined in the proposed BNS, is gendered — which means that it is committed by a man against a woman. While this is the position in the IPC as well, in the IPC, Section 377 — which mentioned “carnal inter¬course against the order of nature with any man, woman or animal” — did offer protection to non-minor males from rape. Now, in the proposed BNS, this section is gone.
In the IPC, Section 375 defines rape and lists seven notions of consent which, if violated, would constitute the offence of rape by a man. In the proposed BNS, rape is covered under Section 63. While in the IPC, Section 375 (and Section 376, which prescribes the punishment for rape) are placed under the subhead “Sexual offences” under Chapter XVI of the Code, “Of Offences Affecting the Human Body”, in the proposed BNS, the subhead “Of sexual offences” is under Chapter V of the Sanhita, which is specifically about “Offences Against Women and Children”. Back in 2018, when the SC passed its verdict in ‘Navtej Johar’, several police officers had said that the judgment opened up grey areas and that guidelines were required to deal with cases where, say, a gay man withdrew “consent” and lodged a complaint against their partner. As on date, India’s laws on sexual assault do not recognise men as victims of rape. However, the proposed BNS does mention “unnatural lust” in at least two places. Section 38 says the right of private defence of one’s body will extend to the voluntary causing of death or any other harm to the assailant if the offence that “occasions the exercise of the right” is an “assault with the intention of gratifying unnatural lust”. And Section 138(4) punishes kidnapping or abducting a person to subject them to or put them “in danger of being subjected to grievous hurt, or slavery, or to the unnatural lust of any person”. But again, the proposed BNS does not define the term “unnatural lust”.

Other Important Articles Covering the same topic:

📍Code of uncertainty

📍Sec 309 removed, but attempt at suicide still punishable in some situations

Syllabus:

Preliminary Examination: Indian Polity and Governance-Constitution, Political System, Panchayati Raj, Public Policy, Rights Issues, etc.

Mains Examination: General Studies II: Structure, organization and functioning of the Executive and the Judiciary-Ministries and Departments of the Government; pressure groups and formal/informal associations and their role in the Polity.

Key Points to Ponder:

• What’s the ongoing story- Among some of the more problematic provisions of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), 1860, that are absent in the proposed Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) is IPC Section 309, which punishes an attempt to die by suicide. The provision, one of the most archaic in the IPC, has been criticised for long, and it was made mostly redundant by a law of Parliament that came into effect in 2018. However, it remains a part of the Code and is, therefore, liable to be misused.

• What does Section 309 of the IPC say?

• Do You Know- The Section punishes anyone who tries to kill themselves — usually understood to be the last resort of deeply distressed individuals — with a prison term and/ or a fine. IPC Section 309 says: “Whoever attempts to commit suicide and does any act towards the commission of such offence, shall be punished with simple imprisonment for a term which may extend to one year or with fine, or with both.” The law, brought by the British in the 19th century, reflected the thinking of the time when killing or attempting to kill oneself was considered a crime against the state as well as against religion.
According to India’s National Crime Records Bureau, the burden of deaths by suicide has increased in India by 7.2 per cent between the years 2020-2021, with a total of 1,64,033 deaths. The NCRB, which collects data from police on recorded suicide cases, also reported that every year more than 1 lakh people die by suicide in India.

• So how has the provision changed since the Code was enacted?

• So how effective a deterrent against the use of IPC Section 309 was this law?

• Does the removal of the section in the proposed BNS finally close this chapter, then?

• What other provisions in the proposed new laws deal with issues related to suicide and mental health?

Other Important Articles Covering the same topic:

📍Faizan Mustafa writes: New penal code falls short of its laudable objectives

India and Russia’s Moon missions

Syllabus:

Preliminary Examination: Current events of national and international importance.

Main Examination: General Studies III: Awareness in the fields of IT, Space, Computers, robotics, nano-technology, bio-technology and issues relating to intellectual property rights.

Key Points to Ponder:

• What’s the ongoing story-Russia’s mission to the moon, Luna 25, is generating interest in India too. This is because the Russian lander is likely to touch down close to the lunar South Pole a couple of days before India, taking away the title of the first country to soft-land close to the South Pole. The Russian mission was launched on August 10. It is likely to enter the moon’s orbit by August 16 and attempt the soft landing by August 21 or 22. India’s mission to the moon cannot land before August 23, when it will be lunar dawn at the landing site.

• Why is Russia reaching the moon earlier than India?

• How do the missions differ?

• Is India also in the race to land humans on moon?

• How have India and Russia collaborated on moon missions and other space activities?

Other Important Articles Covering the same topic:

📍Watch this space: Chandrayaan-3, Luna-25 race against backdrop of Indo-Russia cooperation

For any queries and feedback, contact priya.shukla@indianexpress.com
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