UPSC Key—19th March, 2024: Russian Presidential Election, Sea Surface Temperature and Global Gender Gap

After big election win, Putin warns NATO conflict could lead to WWIII

Syllabus:

Preliminary Examination: Current events of national and international importance.

Main Examination: General Studies II: Effect of policies and politics of developed and developing countries on India’s interests

Key Points to Ponder:

• What’s the ongoing story-Russian President Vladimir Putin warned the West on Monday that a direct conflict between Russia and the US-led NATO military alliance would mean the planet was one step away from World War Three but said hardly anyone wanted such a scenario.

• “The Ukraine war has triggered the deepest crisis in Moscow’s relations with the West since the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis”-Elaborate

• Relations between the NATO military alliance and the Russian Federation-Know in brief

• 2024 Russian presidential election-Know in brief

• Why Russian elections matter?

• What can be the implications of the Russian Election Results?

• Where does Vladimir Putin stand? Has his stature grown because of the war?

• Do You Know-The Russian elections are often described by Western governments as being undemocratic, with Putin’s regime accused of repressing opposition voices. Since Putin first became Prime Minister in 1999, several of his opponents have been barred from contesting polls.

In general, many critics believe that the election process is rigged from the beginning, with a limited number of candidates allowed to contest in the first place. Why such elections are conducted at all is to legitimise Putin’s rule as the people’s will, they argue.

As an article from the Council on Foreign Relations notes, organising even orchestrated elections takes effort and resources. “If all goes as planned, as it has in previous votes, the election will highlight Putin’s deep support within the elites and the elite’s ability to mobilize the people for state purposes,” it said. The polls are also meant to indicate support for Putin’s policies, such as the ongoing war in Ukraine.

Other Important Articles Covering the same topic:  

📍PUTIN WINS 88% VOTE SHARE: WHO WERE HIS ‘OPPONENTS’

EXPLAINED

Disqualification over graft: Ravi vs TN govt again

Syllabus:

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

Mains Examination: 

• General Studies II: Appointment to various Constitutional posts, powers, functions and responsibilities of various Constitutional Bodies.

• General Studies II: Functions and responsibilities of the Union and the States, issues and challenges pertaining to the federal structure, devolution of powers and finances up to local levels and challenges therein

Key Points to Ponder:

• What’s the ongoing story-The Supreme Court on Monday agreed to hear a plea by Tamil Nadu seeking its intervention in reinstating K Ponmudy, a senior leader of the ruling Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK), as a minister. In December last year, Ponmudy was disqualified after the Madras High Court convicted him in a disproportionate assets case.

• What is the issue now?

• What is Section 8(3) of The Representation of the People Act, 1951?

• Why TN Governor Ravi rejected the recommendation to reappoint Ponmudy?

• Tamil Nadu’s latest plea has been filed as part of an ongoing case on the role of the Governor-Elaborate

• For Your Information-Tamil Nadu’s latest plea has been filed as part of an ongoing case on the role of the Governor, especially in granting assent to Bills. Article 164 (1) of the Constitution states that the Chief Minister shall be appointed by the Governor and “the other Ministers shall be appointed by the Governor on the advice of the Chief Minister, and the Ministers shall hold office during the pleasure of the Governor”. However, several Supreme Court rulings have interpreted that the power of the Governor primarily flows from the “aid and advice” of the Council of Ministers.

In November 2023, the Supreme Court expressed “serious concern” about Governors not acting on Bills. Following this, Governor Ravi had to return 10 pending Bills to the state government. Subsequently, the government called a special Assembly session to repeat the procedure of taking up the Bills again, under Assembly Rule 26.

• What is the current conflict between the governor and the government in Tamil Nadu?

• “The standoff between the Tamil Nadu government and R N Ravi highlights a significant constitutional dilemma about the role and powers of the Governor”-Elaborate

• Why the state government would approach the Supreme Court?

• What is the standard legislative procedure in state legislature?

• What is role of governor in legislative procedure in state legislature?

• Office of Governor-know the historical background

• Why has the Governor’s role and powers recently become a matter of contention?

• What is the relationship between the Governor and the state government?

• Various attempts were made to understand the role of the governor to strengthening centre-state relations-Can you name those committees and their recommendations?

• Administrative Reforms Commission of 1968, the Rajamanar Committee of 1969, the Sarkaria commission of 1988 and Punchhi Commission-What were their recommendations in the context of role of Governor?

• The Sarkaria Commission, set up in 1983 to look into Centre-state relations, proposed certain points for the selection of Governors-Know them in detail

• What Punchhi Committee, constituted in 2007 on Centre-state relations said on selection the Governor?

• The Punchhi Committee recommended deleting the “Doctrine of Pleasure” from the Constitution-What is “Doctrine of Pleasure”?

• What Supreme Court of India said about the Governor’s role?

• How things changed after the S.R. Bommai case ,1994?

Other Important Articles Covering the same topic:

📍Governor’s refusal to appoint Ponmudi as minister: SC to consider Tamil Nadu’s plea

📍 The 360° UPSC Debate | Does India really need state Governors?

Previous Year Prelims Questions Based on same theme:
📍Which one of the following suggested that the Governor should be an eminent person from outside the State and should be a detached figure without intense political links or should not have taken part in politics in the recent past? (Please refer Prelims 2019 GS question Paper for complete question)
📍Which of the following are the discretionary powers given to the Governor of a State? (Please refer Prelims 2014 GS question Paper for complete question)
1. Sending a report to the President of India for imposing the President’s rule
2. Appointing the Ministers
3. Reserving certain bills passed by the State Legislature for consideration of the President of India
4. Making the rules to conduct the business of the State Government

Oceans have a fever — here’s why

Syllabus:

Preliminary Examination: General issues on Environmental ecology, Bio-diversity and Climate Change

Mains Examination: General Studies III: Conservation, environmental pollution and degradation, environmental impact assessment.

Key Points to Ponder:

• What’s the ongoing story-The average global sea surface temperature (SST) — the temperature of the water at the ocean surface — for February 2024 stood at 21.06 degree Celsius, the highest ever in a dataset that goes back to 1979, the Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S) said on March 5. The previous record of 20.98 degree Celsius was set in August 2023.

• What is considered sea surface temperature?

• What is meant by surface temperature of the sea water?

• Why are the oceans getting warmer?

• For Your Information-Since the Industrial Revolution kicked off in the 19th Century, human activities such as burning fossil fuels have released high levels of greenhouse gases (GHGs) in the atmosphere. Carbon dioxide, methane, ozone, and nitrous oxide are some of the notable GHGs, which essentially trap heat in the atmosphere and contribute to global warming. As a result, the average global temperature has risen at least 1.2 degree Celsius above pre-industrial times.

Notably, almost 90 per cent of the extra heat trapped by GHGs has been absorbed by the oceans, making them steadily warmer over the decades. Speaking to the Wired magazine, biological oceanographer Francisco Chavez of the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute in California, said: “The oceans are our saviours, in a way…Things might be a lot worse in terms of climate impacts, because a lot of that heat is not only kept at the surface, it’s taken to depths.”

Apart from global warming, there are other factors which have led to a spike in ocean temperatures. For instance, El Niño — a weather pattern that refers to an abnormal warming of surface waters in the equatorial Pacific Ocean — has contributed to both ocean warming and rising global surface temperatures. However, the global daily average SST began to soar well before El Niño fully developed and remains unusually high as the weather pattern is now waning.

There is also less dust blowing off the Sahara Desert recently due to weaker-than-average winds. Typically, the dust forms a “giant umbrella that shades” the Atlantic water and reduces ocean temperatures, according to the Wired magazine report. But now, the umbrella has partially folded and more of the Sun is beating down on the ocean, the report added.

• Why are rising sea surface temperatures a cause of worry?

• Do You Know-Higher ocean temperatures can have irreversible consequences for marine ecosystems. For instance, warmer oceans lead to an increase in ocean stratification — the natural separation of an ocean’s water into horizontal layers by density, with warmer, lighter, less salty, and nutrient-poor water layering on top of heavier, colder, saltier, nutrient-rich water. Usually, ocean ecosystems, currents, wind, and tides mix these layers.

The rise in temperatures, however, has made it harder for water layers to mix with each other. Due to this, oceans are able to absorb less carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and the oxygen absorbed isn’t able to mix properly with cooler ocean waters below, threatening the survival of marine life.

Nutrients are also not able to travel up to the surface of the oceans from below. This could threaten the population of phytoplankton — single-celled plants that thrive on the ocean surface and are the base of several marine food webs. Phytoplankton are eaten by zooplankton, which are consumed by other marine animals such as crabs, fish, and sea stars. Therefore, if the phytoplankton population plummets, there could be a collapse of marine ecosystems.

Warmer oceans cause marine heat waves (MHWs), which occur when the surface temperature of a particular region of the sea rises to 3 or 4 degree Celsius above the average temperature for at least five days. Between 1982 and 2016, such heatwaves have doubled in frequency and have become longer and more intense, according to a 2021 study by the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).

MHWs are devastating for marine ecosystems as they contribute to coral bleaching, which reduces the reproductivity of corals and makes them more vulnerable to life-threatening diseases. They also impact the migration pattern of aquatic animals.

According to several studies, higher ocean temperatures may also result in more frequent and more intense storms like hurricanes and cyclones. Warmer temperatures lead to a higher rate of evaporation as well as the transfer of heat from the oceans to the air. That’s why, when storms travel across hot oceans, they gather more water vapour and heat. This results in more powerful winds, heavier rainfall, and more flooding when storms reach the land — meaning heightened devastation for humans.
The only way to avoid or blunt the aforementioned consequences is to reduce GHG emissions. The world, however, is nowhere close to doing that. In 2023, the concentration of GHG reached the highest levels ever recorded in the atmosphere, according to C3S.

Other Important Articles Covering the same topic:  

📍Warming up to climate change: What is carbon capture and can it help save the planet?

Heat, aridity, clear skies: why forests are already ablaze in the Nilgiris

Syllabus:

Preliminary Examination: General issues on Environmental ecology, Bio-diversity and Climate Change

Mains Examination: General Studies III: Conservation, environmental pollution and degradation, environmental impact assessment.

Key Points to Ponder:

• What’s the ongoing story-For almost a week, forest fires have been raging in the Coonoor forest range in the Nilgiris in Tamil Nadu. On Sunday, the Indian Air Force joined the ongoing firefighting efforts of the state forest department, deploying an Mi-17 V5 helicopter to conduct multiple “Bambi Bucket” operations that dumped some 16,000 litres of water on the fires.

• How common are forest fires in India?

• Where do the most forest fires in India occur?

• How has the forest fire situation been this year?

• Are forest fires in South India unusual?

• What is the reason for the fires this year?

• What is the connection between weather and fires?

• Why exactly are environmentalists worried?

• And has India as a whole seen rising incidents of forest fires?

• What do you understand by ‘Forest Fires’? What is the Cause of Forest Fires?

• Vulnerability of India’s Forests to Fires

• Preparedness mechanism and disaster mitigation for forest fires in India

• National Action Plan on Forest Fires (NAPFF) 2018 and Forest Fire Prevention and Management Scheme.

Other Important Articles Covering the same topic:  

📍Sudden spike in forest fires in southern India due to heat, clear skies

FRONT PAGE

Kavitha conspired with Kejriwal: ED; ‘high-profile’ arrests likely, CBI tells court

Syllabus:

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

Mains Examination: General Studies II: Government policies and interventions for development in various sectors and issues arising out of their design and implementation.

Key Points to Ponder:

• What’s the ongoing story-On a day the Central Bureau of Investigation told a Delhi court that “some high-profile persons” may be arrested in the Delhi excise policy case, the Enforcement Directorate alleged — for the first time — that Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal was a conspirator in the case.

• Why has a Telangana MLC been arrested in the Delhi excise policy case?

• What exactly is this ‘scam’, in which senior AAP leaders Manish Sisodia and Sanjay Singh are in jail, and Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has been issued several summons?

• What is the Delhi excise policy case?

• Do You Know- The case arose out of a report submitted by Delhi Chief Secretary Naresh Kumar to Lieutenant Governor (LG) Vinai Kumar Saxena in July 2022, pointing to alleged procedural lapses in the formulation of the policy.

The report said “arbitrary and unilateral decisions” taken by Sisodia in his capacity as Excise Minister had resulted in “financial losses to the exchequer” estimated at more than Rs 580 crore. It alleged that “kickbacks…received by the AAP Delhi government and AAP leaders” from owners and operators of alcohol businesses for preferential treatment such as discounts and extensions in licence fee, waiver on penalties and relief due to disruptions caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, etc. were used to “influence” the Assembly elections held in Punjab and Goa in early 2022. The AAP went on to form the government in Punjab.

This report was referred to the CBI, and led to Sisodia’s arrest. Then, once the CBI named Sisodia and 14 other accused in its FIR, the ED told a court in March that the alleged proceeds of crime amounted to more than Rs 292 crore, and that it was necessary to establish the modus operandi. The ED alleged that the “scam” was to give the wholesale liquor business to private entities and fix a 12% margin, for a 6% kickback. In its first prosecution complaint in November 2021, the ED said the policy was “formulated with deliberate loopholes” that “promoted cartel formations through the back door” to benefit AAP leaders.

The ED also alleged that AAP leaders received kickbacks to the tune of Rs 100 crore from a group of individuals identified as the “South Group”.

• What provision in the new liquor policy was the point of contention?

• What differences exist between the old liquor policy and the new liquor policy?

• What exactly ED said on Delhi excise policy?

• What is the ‘South Group’ in the Delhi excise policy case?

• For Your Information-Kavitha, 46, the daughter of former Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao and a former MP herself, has been arrested allegedly for being part of this ‘South Group’. Others alleged to be part of the group include Ongole MP Magunta Srinivasulu Reddy’s son Raghav Magunta, P Sarath Chandra Reddy, son of P V Ramprasad Reddy and co-founder of Hyderabad-based Aurobindo Pharma.

According to the ED, this group “secured uninhibited access, undue favours, attained stakes in established wholesale businesses and multiple retail zones (over and above what was allowed in the policy)”. The ED complaint states that to “recover kickbacks given by the “South Group”, partners of the “South Group” were given a “65% stake in M/s Indospirit” in collusion with its owner Sameer Mahendru, also an accused in this case.

The ED and the Income Tax department had in the past issued notices to Kavitha to appear before them to record her statement, but she had appealed in the Supreme Court against the notices and refused to appear. On Friday before her arrest, both central agencies searched her residence.
When Kavitha was produced before the Special Judge for ED cases on Saturday, the ED told the court,

“It is evident that Ms K Kavitha is involved in the acts of payment of kickbacks to Govt functionaries to gain illegal benefits in the Excise Policy 2021-22 formulation and implementation… Ms K Kavitha is actually involved in the transfer of PoC [proceeds of crime] of Rs. 100 Cr… which was paid to the AAP leaders.”

Other Important Articles Covering the same topic:  

📍K Kavitha in ED custody: Why a Telangana MLC was arrested in the Delhi excise policy case

THE EDITORIAL PAGE

A BANK ACCOUNT OF HER OWN

Syllabus:

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

Mains Examination: 

• General Studies I: Social empowerment

• General Studies II: Welfare schemes for vulnerable sections of the population by the Centre and States and the performance of these schemes; mechanisms, laws, institutions and Bodies constituted for the protection and betterment of these vulnerable sections.

• 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-Shruti Joshi and Anshuman Kamila Writes: Financial inclusion is essential for a nation’s sustained development and growth. Its importance in building a sustainable and inclusive future is evident from the significance attached to financial inclusion in the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Financial inclusion is seen as an enabler of eight out of the 17 SDGs.

• What is the Global Gender Gap?

• What explains the gender pay gap?

• Global Gender Gap Report 2023-What are the Key Findings?

• For Your Information-The Global Gender Gap index “benchmarks the current state and evolution of gender parity across four key dimensions (Economic Participation and Opportunity, Educational Attainment, Health and Survival, and Political Empowerment)”. According to the WEF it is the longest-standing index, which tracks progress towards closing these gaps over time since its inception in 2006.

• How has India fared on different sub-indices?

• How India stands on different sub-indices like Political empowerment, Economic Participation and Opportunity, Educational Attainment and Health and Survival

• The Global Gender Gap Index and Gender Inequality Index (GII)-Compare and Contrast

• Compare India’s rank with other developed and developing countries

• What do you understand by gender wage gap?

• How is the gender pay gap calculated?

• Do You Know-According to the ILO, the gender pay gap is defined as the gap between the average wage level of all women and all men working in the labour market for a monthly salary, hourly or daily wage.

“This gap is not the wage gap between a man and a woman with the same observable characteristics, doing the same work; it is the difference between the average wage levels of all working women and men,” it adds. Therefore, it is distinct from the concept of “equal pay for equal work”, which says if women and men have the same qualifications and do the same work, they need to be paid equally.

Further, there is no one agreed-upon method to calculate this gap. Pew Research found in 2012 that women earned 84 per cent of what men earned in the US, while the US Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that women earned 81 cents to the dollar, just a few months before that.

First is the simple fact that women are not involved in paying jobs as much as men are, owing to notions about gender roles. The labour force participation rate gives an idea about this. It is the number of people looking for work or working already and above 15 years of age, divided by the total population.

According to ILO, the current global labour force participation rate for women is just under 47%. For men, it is 72%. In India, as per the 2011 Census, the workforce participation rate for women is 25.51% against 53.26% for men. The second factor is the type of jobs women are employed in, once they join the workforce.

ILO’s Women in Business and Management report found that “Far fewer women than men are in management and leadership positions, especially at higher levels. When women are managers, they tend to be more concentrated in management support functions such as human resources and financial administration than in more strategic roles. This brings down the average salary of female managers compared to that of male managers.”

A 2013 survey from Georgetown University found that the top 10 most remunerative professions – mostly in engineering and computer science – were dominated by men, while the 10 least remunerative professions – in fields like arts and education – were dominated by women.
Further, in as many as 73 countries (based on 2018 data), women outnumber men as part-time workers. “Women’s opportunities for full-time employment may be more limited than men’s, resulting in women taking part-time employment. Part-time work does not always provide benefits that are proportional to those of full-time work, which can affect the remuneration package over time,” ILO says.

Other institutional and socio-economic issues – the view that men should be breadwinners, lower investments in women’s education, and issues of safety in commute and at the workplace – also play a significant role.

• Why the difference?

• What causes gender wage gap?

• What is the gender wage gap in India?

• What are the policies/initiatives/schemes taken by Centre as well as State governments to reduce gender pay gap?

Other Important Articles Covering the same topic:  

📍Gender Gap Index and India’s low ranking

📍World Bank report says women earn 77 cents for every dollar a man earns: what is the gender pay gap?

For any queries and feedback, contact priya.shukla@indianexpress.com
The Indian Express UPSC Key is now on Telegram. Click here to join our channel and stay updated with the latest Updates.