UPSC Key- February 14, 2023: Know about Capitalist Economy, Custodial Deaths, Office of profit and Bhasini

Top court dismisses plea against J&K delimitation panel

Syllabus:

Preliminary Examination: Indian Polity and Governance

Mains Examination: General Studies II: Salient features of the Representation of People’s Act, Statutory, regulatory and various quasi-judicial bodies.

Key Points to Ponder:

• What’s the ongoing story– The Supreme Court Monday dismissed a plea challenging the Centre’s decision to constitute a Delimitation Commission for the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir under provisions of the Delimitation Act, 2002, and the exercise of delimitation of assembly constituencies undertaken by the Commission on the basis of the 2011 Census.

• What exactly SC said?

• What was the plea about, by the way?

• What is Article 4 of the Constitution?

• And what Article 3 of the Constitution says?

• What is delimitation?

• Who conducts delimitation and how is it done?

• Delimitation Commission of India and Delimitation Commission Act-Know in detail

• Delimitation Commission-Members, Power and Independence

• What is Article 170 of Indian Constitution?

• J&K delimitation commission-Why was the commission set up?

• J&K delimitation commission-key Proposal

• J&K Delimitation-Why has the exercise been controversial?

• J&K Delimitation-What changes have made now compared to Draft Paper of the Delimitation Commission?

• Delimitation commissions in the past (1952, 1962, 1972 and 2002)-Know in brief

• Do You Know-Delimitation Commissions have been established exactly four times in India’s history: in 1952, 1963, 1973, and 2002. The delineation was absent following the 1981, 1991, and 2001 Censuses.

Other Important Articles Covering the same topic:

📍Delimitation in Jammu and Kashmir: how, why

📍Explained: What changes to J&K constituencies mean

Previous Year Mains Questions Based on similar theme:
📍To what extent is Article 370 of the Indian Constitution, bearing marginal note “temporary provision with respect to the State of Jammu and Kashmir”, temporary? Discuss the future prospects of this provision in the context of Indian polity. (UPSC GS2 Mains, 2016)

Adani: Centre agrees to panel, Sebi says it’s probing allegations

Syllabus:

Preliminary Examination: Current events of national and international importance

Main Examination: General Studies IV: corporate governance

Key Points to Ponder:

• What’s the ongoing story- With the Centre agreeing to its proposal to have a committee of experts to recommend measures to plug loopholes in the regulatory regime to prevent any loss to Indian investors due to market volatilities as was witnessed during the Adani-Hindenburg episode, the Supreme Court Monday agreed to its request to suggest what could be the remit of the proposed committee.

• Adani-Hindenburg episode-Know in detail

• What is SEBI’s role in Adani-Hindenburg episode?

• Adani issue and its impact on India’s capital market-connect the dots

• Do you think that India is a capitalist economy?

• First of all, what is capitalist economy?

• How capitalist economy is different from Mixed Economy and Socialist Economy?

• Is there a government-business nexus in the evolution of capitalism?

• Do you believe that India, which is accused of crony capitalism, can rival China as the most powerful economic force in Asia?

• For Your Information-Early capitalism is a very different beast. Corruption has historically accompanied the rise of capitalism. Consider the period 1865-1900, when a primarily rural America went through its first big capitalist transformation. Through his literary eye and intellectual foresight, Mark Twain first detected the essence of the new economic turn. In 1873, he called it the “Gilded Age”. Cutting all sorts of deals with governments at various levels, America’s first billionaires — the Carnegies, the Rockefellers, the Vanderbilts, the Morgans — emerged on the scene. For laying his railways lines, declared railroad baron Jay Gould, “I wanted the legislatures of four states… so I made them with my own money”. The so-called robber barons simply “bought” governments and legislatures. A cleaning up began under President Theodore Roosevelt (1901-09) and the results, in part, began to show. In 1860, compared to Western Europe, America was a laggard. By 1910, the US had become the richest country in the world, leaving behind Britain, an industrial leader for over a century.

• “Twain’s “Gilded Age” has stuck as a term and has been used ever since”-Discuss

• Hindenburg’s allegations have crucially raised questions about the regulatory effectiveness and accountability of Indian institutions-Do you agree?

Other Important Articles Covering the same topic:

📍India’s Gilded Age

PM hails ‘rapid strides’ in defence production, calls for investment

Syllabus:

Preliminary Examination: Current events of national and international importance.

Mains Examination: 

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

• General Studies III: Achievements of Indians in science & technology; indigenization of technology and developing new technology.

Key Points to Ponder:

• What’s the ongoing story- Prime Minister Narendra Modi Monday said Aero India 2023 is a shining example of the country’s growing capabilities and that the presence of “more than 100 nations” at the event reflects the trust bestowed by the world on India.
PM Modi was inaugurating the 14th edition of Aero India at Air Force Station, Yelahanka, near Bengaluru. The theme of the biennial aerospace exhibition is “The Runway to a Billion Opportunities”. More than 80 countries and 800 defence companies, including 100 foreign and 700 Indian companies, are participating in the event.

• What is Aero India 2023?

• Who organised the Aero India 2023?

• Aero India 2023-Theme?

• “Partnerships” and “joint efforts” are the two keywords that differentiate India’s defence partnership with other nations-When it comes to defence exports then why exports of defence products from India are limited to few countries like Vietnam?

• What is the Indigenisation of Defence?

• Why Indigenisation of Defence?

• Indigenisation of Defence and Make in India-connect the dots

• What is Make in-India Programme?

• Can you name some prominent schemes by the Government of India in Make in India programme category?

• What is Make in India policy of defence and how it can boost exports

• Do You Know-Some of India’s major defence export deals last year include the $375-million contract with the Philippines for the BrahMos supersonic cruise missile, an advanced version of the advanced light helicopter (ALH Mark III) to Mauritius, and a $155 million deal for artillery guns between Kalyani Strategic Systems and an unspecified country.

• What are the India’s defence industry components?

• What is Defence acquisition?

• Why Defence Procurement Procedure (DPP)?

• Defence Procurement Procedure (DPP)-know its key features

• How much India spends in defence as compared to other sectors?

• What is budget for defence imports?

• What Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) says about India’s defence and defence expenditure?

• For Your Information-A report by Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) states that India ranks 23 in a list of the 25 largest exporters of major arms and has had a 0.2 per cent share of the global arms exports between 2017 and 2021 – up from 0.1 per cent in the years before that.

• India can recalibrate not reduce the defence expenditure-do you agree?

• Atmanirbhar Bharat or Self-Reliant India in defence sector-know the Important Components

• Significance of Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan

• Self-Reliant and Self Sufficient-Know the Difference

• Self-Reliant India Campaign is inspired by Swadeshi Movement 1905-Do you agree?

• Self-Reliant India Campaign-Issues and Challenges ahead

Other Important Articles Covering the same topic:    

📍Indigenising defence production is a good idea whose time has come

📍A force for all theatres

China plans to expand border rail via Aksai Chin; India on watch

Syllabus:

Preliminary Examination: Current events of national and international importance.

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

Key Points to Ponder:

• What’s the ongoing story-AT A time when India and China are locked in a border standoff with over a lakh troops stationed along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in eastern Ladakh, Beijing has decided to accelerate its railway network to 4,000 km by 2025, cutting through the contentious Aksai Chin area close to the border. Aksai Chin, claimed by both India and China, has been a point of dispute between the two countries since the late 1950s, and was at the centre of the 1962 India-China war.

• How India responded?

• Do You Know-In response, India too has expedited its efforts in constructing strategic railway lines near the China border. India’s railway footprint in the border area will be defined by four proposed lines — three in the Northeast and one in the North. The lines together add up to about 1,352 km. The other three railway lines are links to the border in Arunachal Pradesh: Missamari-Tenga-Tawang (378 km at Rs 54,473 crore); Pasighat-Tezu-Rupai (227 km at Rs 9,222 crore); North Lakhimpur-Bame-Silapathar (249 km at Rs 23,339 crore). The detailed project reports (DPR) of these lines are ready.

• What exactly is China’s railway plan through Aksai Chin?

• For Your Information-Significantly for India, the Shigatse-Pakhuktso section of the proposed Xinjiang-Tibet Railway — which runs through Aksai Chin — will see progress by 2025, according to the plans reported in Chinese state media. The plan is to ultimately connect 55 counties and districts, as per the 14th Five-Year Plan (2021-2025) and beyond. The Qinghai-Tibet railway line was started in July 2006, the Lhasa-Shigatse line began in 2014, and the Lhasa-Nyingchi line started operation in June 2021, taking the total length of the current railway network to 1,359 km. The 435-km Lhasa-Nyingchi line is capable of running trains at a top speed of 160 kmph.

• How are relations between China and India currently?

• ‘China-India relations have been worse over recent months. Along their contentious border in the Himalayan area, the two nations are at odds with one another’-Discuss

Other Important Articles Covering the same topic:

📍Chinese order of battle in Aksai Chin: What are we up against?

📍Understanding Sino-Indian border issues: An analysis of incidents reported in the Indian media

80 custodial deaths in 5 yrs, Gujarat tops list; Maharashtra second at 76

Syllabus:

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

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

Key Points to Ponder:

• What’s the ongoing story-In the last five years, the highest number of custodial deaths have been reported in Gujarat at 80, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) informed the Rajya Sabha. This is followed by Maharashtra (76), Uttar Pradesh (41), Tamil Nadu (40) and Bihar (38). Sharing details of the custodial deaths reported between April 1, 2017 and March 31, 2022 in all states and Union Territories across India, Union Minister of State for Home Affairs Nityanand Rai informed the Rajya Sabha that a total of 146 cases of death in police custody were reported during 2017-2018, 136 in 2018-2019, 112 in 2019-2021, 100 in 2020-2021 and 175 in 2021-2022. “Fourteen deaths in police custody were reported in Gujarat in 2017-18, 13 deaths reported in 2018-19, 12 deaths reported in 2019-20, 17 deaths in 2020-21 and 24 deaths in 2021-22,” he said.

• What is custodial death?

• How many custodial deaths in India-Know the data’s and statistics

• What are the constitutional provisions to prevent custodial death?

• Article 22 grants protection to persons who are arrested or detained-know them in detail

• Detention is of two types, namely, punitive and preventive-Know them in detail

• Punitive Detention and Preventive Detention-Compare and Contrast

• Article 22 confers certain rights on a person who is arrested or detained under an ordinary law-What are they?

• What is the law on custodial death in India?

• What was the Supreme Court’s guidelines in DK Basu vs State of West Bengal?

• What was the Nilabati Behera vs the State of Orissa (1993) case?

• The Supreme Court of India has the power to protect the fundamental rights of the people-Attest this with the court’s order in the Nilabati Behera vs. State of Orissa (1993) case.

Other Important Articles Covering the same topic:

📍‘If custodial torture has to stop, the D K Basu judgment has to be implemented in spirit’

📍Citizen Hope: The Soul of the Law

THE EDITORIAL PAGE

THE JOSHIMATH WARNING

Syllabus:

Preliminary Examination: Indian and World Geography-Physical, Social, Economic Geography of India and the World.

Mains Examination: 

• General Studies I: Important Geophysical phenomena such as earthquakes, Tsunami, Volcanic activity, cyclone etc., geographical features and their location-changes in critical geographical features (including water-bodies and ice-caps) and in flora and fauna and the effects of such changes.

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

• General Studies III: Disaster and disaster management.

Key Points to Ponder:

• What’s the ongoing story- Hugh and Colleen Gantzer Writes: The Himalayas are the world’s youngest range and have not had time to adjust to the pressures put on them by living creatures. Unchecked human activity such as boring tunnels and overbuilding is like putting great burdens on the back of a growing child.

• “On the surface there seems to be little resemblance between the dangers faced by our Himalayan resort and the devastation caused in Turkey and its neighbours”-How?

• What is Land subsidence or subsidence of the land?

• Why Joshimath is sinking?

• What are the types of subsidence?

• What is the most common cause of subsidence?

• The appearance of cracks on many roads and houses across Joshimath, due to land subsidence, is neither a new phenomenon in this region-Why this region is more prone to land subsidence?

• What experts say on Mussoorie and Dehradun?

• For Your Information- Noting that a study on the carrying capacity of eco-sensitive areas in the Himalayan region is imperative for the protection of the environment, the National Green Tribunal (NGT) has ordered that such a study be conducted for Mussoorie.

• “Today’s situation is a result of a variety of reasons, both natural and man-made,”-Can you tell what are the man-made reasons?

• What M C Mishra committee report said regarding the same?

• What experts says about town-planning and construction work and its impact on mountain ecosystem?

• What happens when a place is declared a landslide and subsidence-hit zone?

• How disaster management is done in the landslide and subsidence-hit zone?

• How do the Centre and state government ensure the safety and rehabilitation of residents?

• What is a way forward in this situation?

Other Important Articles Covering the same topic:

📍After Joshimath land subsidence, NGT orders study for Mussoorie over allowing constructions and safeguards

THE IDEAS PAGE

Politics, not concern

Syllabus:

Preliminary Examination: Current events of national and international importance.

Main Examination:

• General Studies I: Social empowerment and Salient features of Indian Society

• 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- Mary E John Writes: Criminalisation of underage marriages only leads to suppression or falsification of information on matters of age and age at marriage. It will only make women even more vulnerable, encourage concealment, and strengthen prejudices against minorities and the poor.

• What is child marriage?

• “Every day there is news of the tragic consequences of this crackdown. Families are fleeing their villages or are in hiding; wives have been abandoned or returned to their natal families. Those who are concerned about women’s disempowerment in India need to ask”-is this action justified?

• Assam’s Crackdown on child marriages-Argue

• “The Assam police began a crackdown on child marriage and arrested more than 2500 people”-why this crackdown?

• Under what law are the arrests being made?

• What is the current situation of child marriage in India?

• What data’s and figures say?

• For Your Information- Assam is certainly a high-prevalence state when it comes to underage marriage — after states like Bihar, West Bengal, Rajasthan and Andhra Pradesh. At the same time, there has been a steady decline in the prevalence of underage marriage, according to the most robust data source, the National Family Health Survey (NFHS 3, 4 and 5). The proportion of those who were married before 18 among those in the age group of 20-24 years at the time of the survey, has fallen from 38.6 per cent in 2005-06 to 33.7 per cent in 2015-16, and to 31.8 per cent in 2019-2020. Pregnancies in the age group of 15-19 years have seen parallel decline from 16.4 per cent in 2005-06 to 11.6 per cent in 2019-2020, while fertility rates have dropped dramatically from 2.2 in 2015-16 to below replacement level at 1.9 in 2019-2020.

• “The biggest obstacles to improving the health of women and their children are access to nutrition and related services. The crackdown and ongoing arrests have generated a climate of extreme vulnerability, fear and mistrust”-Comment

• For Your Extra Information-As many as 650 million women in the world today were married as children. About a third of them were married before the age of 15. In India, which has the dubious distinction of being home to the most number of child brides, UN estimates suggest that 1.5 million girls get married before they turn 18. About 16 per cent of girls in the age group of 15-19 are married at present. According to the 2011 census, 44 per cent of women in Assam were married before the age of 18. The figures for Rajasthan, Bihar and Madhya Pradesh were 47 per cent, 46 per cent and 43 per cent, respectively.

• Is this a correct way to stop child marriages-What experts are saying?

• Where does India stand in Child Marriages statistics?

• What does the constitution and laws says about Child Marriages?

• “Child marriages affect the national economy negatively and do not allow us to come out of the vicious cycle of inter-generational poverty”-Elaborate

• Are mass arrests and the indiscriminate use of criminal sanctions, that the Assam government has resorted to, the only solution to the problem of child marriage?

• What does the UN Convention on Consent to Marriage, Minimum Age for Marriage and Registration of Marriages (1962), the UN Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (1979) and the Beijing Declaration (1995) says on child marriages?

Other Important Articles Covering the same topic:

📍Faizan Mustafa writes: Instead of criminalising child marriage, Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma should heed PM Modi’s call of Beti Bachao Beti Padhao

EXPLAINED

Consumer sentiment: what PM said, what the data show

Syllabus:

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

Mains 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– On February 8, while replying to criticism from the Opposition, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said something quite perceptive about Indians. Ordinarily it would be tough to test such a claim — about Indians tolerating negativity but staying cheerful about the future — but on that very day, almost as if on cue, the Reserve Bank of India published its latest instalment of a survey that maps the consumer sentiment across the country. The findings of this survey underscore what the PM said about Indians

• What exactly PM Narendra Modi Said?

• What is meant by consumer sentiment?

• The Reserve Bank of India published its latest instalment of a survey that maps the consumer sentiment across the country-What are the findings of the report?

• Consumer Confidence Survey (CCS)-Know in detail

• What has led to consumer confidence being so low?

Other Important Articles Covering the same topic:

📍Low consumer confidence, India-Canada ties, and ISRO’s Gaganyaan mission

BIMARU STATES

Syllabus:

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

Mains Examination: 

• General Studies II: Important aspects of governance

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

Key Points to Ponder:

• What’s the ongoing story-On February 10, on the inaugural day of the Uttar Pradesh government’s two-day Investors’ Summit, Prime Minister Narendra Modi recalled the tag of ‘BIMARU’, used to describe the state. He again used the term in Rajasthan two days later, at the inauguration of the New Delhi-Mumbai expressway’s first phase.

• What do BIMARU states mean, who coined the term?

• What is the role of BIMARU states in population growth?

• How has BIMARU been used over time?

• What are the alternatives to ‘BIMARU’?

• What exactly is the Aspirational Districts Program?

• Can Aspirational Districts Program help the BIMARU states upliftment?

Other Important Articles Covering the same topic:

📍BIMARU states are progressing,says Manmohan Singh

Gov’s inaction in Jharkhand

Syllabus:

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

Mains Examination: General Studies II: Important aspects of governance, transparency and accountability, e-governance applications, models, successes, limitations, and potential; citizens charters, transparency & accountability and institutional and other measures.

Key Points to Ponder:

• What’s the ongoing story-Ramesh Bais, who was transferred as Governor of Maharashtra on Sunday, has left the Raj Bhavan in Ranchi without making public the Election Commission’s opinion on whether Chief Minister Hemant Soren should be disqualified for allegedly allocating a mining lease to himself when he was the mining and forest minister of Jharkhand.

• What are the allegations against the Chief Minister?

• What is ‘office of profit’?

• What are the basic criteria to disqualify an MP or MLA?

• How do courts or EC decide whether an MP or MLA has profited from an office?

• What is the underlying principle for including ‘office of profit’ as criterion for disqualification?

• Under what law was the matter referred to the EC?

• Do You Know-Articles 191 and 192 of the Constitution deal with “Disqualifications for membership” of a state Legislative Assembly or Council, and “Decision on questions as to disqualifications of members” respectively. Article 191(1) says that “a person shall be disqualified for being chosen as, and for being, a member” of a state House “if he holds any office of profit under the Government of India or the Government of any State…, other than an office declared by the Legislature…not to disqualify its holder”. Article 192(1) states that if “any question arises as to whether a member…has become subject to…disqualification…, the question shall be referred for the decision of the Governor and his decision shall be final”. Under Article 192(2), “Before giving any decision on any such question, the Governor shall obtain the opinion of the Election Commission and shall act according to such opinion.”

• What did the EC say in its opinion?

• Is the Governor bound to act in accordance with the EC’s opinion?

• What has the CM been doing in this period?

• What was the first office of profit case referred to the EC?

• For Your Information-One of the earliest cases was in 1953. The EC had to decide whether MLAs of the Vindhya Pradesh Assembly should be disqualified for appointment as members of the district advisory council. As members, they were paid an allowance of Rs 5 for each day they stayed at the place where the meeting of the advisory council was held. The EC was of the opinion that reimbursement of mere out-of-pocket expenses should not be held as profit. So, only members living in the district headquarters (where the meetings were being held) and still receiving allowance were deemed to hold office of profit, and 12 of 60 were disqualified.

• What are the recent instances of disqualification of legislators for holding office of profit?

Other Important Articles Covering the same topic:

📍Ramesh Bais sitting on EC opinion on Jharkhand CM’s disqualification unethical: ex-CECs

ECONOMY

How a ChatGPT based chatbot can help rural India?

Syllabus:

Preliminary Examination: Current events of national and international importance.

Mains Examination: 

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

• General Studies III: e-technology in the aid of farmers.

• General Studies III: Science and Technology- developments and their applications and effects in everyday life.

Key Points to Ponder:

• What’s the ongoing story-As the battle between tech giants Google and Microsoft over the future of Internet search intensifies, something enormously significant is happening in India, seeking to harness the power of artificial intelligence (AI) for the country’s estimated 150 million farmers.

• How will the chatbot work?

• What is Bhasini?

• What is aim of digital India Bhashini?

• Do You Know-Bhashini, a small team at the Ministry of Electronics and IT (MeitY), is currently building a WhatsApp-based chatbot that relies on information generated by ChatGPT to return appropriate responses to queries. And because people, especially farmers in rural areas, may not always want to type out their queries, questions can be asked on the chatbot through voice notes.

• What is Bhasha Daan?

• How will the chatbot work?

• How will the bot understand and interpret local languages?

• Are there any limitations or concerns around such models?

Other Important Articles Covering the same topic:

📍ChatGPT on WhatsApp: Govt’s Bhashini initiative to use AI for beneficiaries of welfare schemes

📍What is ChatGPT, the AI chatbot everyone’s talking about

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