UPSC Key- February 20, 2023: Know about Encroachment, 1857 Revolt and Election Symbols

Govt considers phased withdrawal of Army from Valley hinterland

Syllabus:

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

Mains Examination: 

• General Studies II: Functions and responsibilities of the Union and the States, issues and challenges pertaining to the federal structure

• General Studies III: Security challenges and their management in border areas – linkages of organized crime with terrorism

Key Points to Ponder:

• What’s the ongoing story- THREE-AND-A-HALF years after the Union government revoked the special status granted to Jammu and Kashmir amid deployment of large additional troops, it is discussing a proposal to withdraw the Indian Army completely from the Valley hinterland. If approved, the Army will have presence only on the Line of Control (LoC).

• What exactly are the officials saying regarding the same?

• For Your Information-Officials in the security establishment said the proposal to withdraw the Army from Kashmir hinterland has been under discussion for about two years and is at an “advanced stage” now with the involvement of the Union Ministry of Defence, Union Ministry of Home Affairs, armed forces and the J&K police. It is proposed that the CRPF would fill in for the army personnel removed from the Valley to meet the challenges of both law and order and counter-terror operations. According to officials, the Army maintains a strength of around 1.3 lakh personnel in the entire J&K of which around 80,000 are deployed on the border. About 40,000-45,000 personnel from the Rashtriya Rifles have the mantle of conducting counter-terror operations in Kashmir’s hinterland. The CRPF is said to have a strength of close to 60,000 personnel in J&K, of which more than 45,000 are deployed in Kashmir Valley. J&K Police is 83,000 strong. Apart from this, a few companies from other Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF) remain deployed in the Valley. The figures for CAPFs fluctuate depending on the security situation in the Valley.

• But why are officials thinking about withdrawing the army from Jammu and Kashmir?

• What is the role of Indian Army in Jammu and Kashmir?

• What is Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA), 1958?

• What was the Supreme Court’s guidelines for the use of AFSPA in 1997?

• “Disturbed Area” and the power to declare “Disturbed Area” lies with whom?

• Which are the other States under Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA)?

• Recommendation of Justice B.P. Jeevan Reddy Committee in 2005, Administrative Reforms Commission (ARC) in 2007 and Santosh Hegde Committee appointed by Supreme Court in 2013.

• Supreme Court on AFSPA (Naga People’s Movement of Human Rights v. Union of India 1998)?

• Is Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) still relevant in Jammu and Kashmir?

Other Important Articles Covering the same topic:

📍Military Digest | When Nehru objected to Sikh, Dogra troops in Kashmir

Through roofs, in drawing rooms: Delhi electric poles lose out to encroachment

Syllabus:

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

Mains Examination: General Studies I: Urbanisation, their problems and their remedies.

Key Points to Ponder:

• What’s the ongoing story-Encroachment in the national capital is nothing new. But Delhi’s three discoms are now facing a new problem — residents have been extending their houses around electricity poles or using concrete power poles as support pillars. The rules of Central Electricity Authority (CEA) , a statutory body that formulates plans on electricity systems for the government, state that houses should maintain a distance of 2.5-3.7 metres in height and 1.2-2 metres in width based on voltage levels from an electricity pole.

• What is Encroachment?

• What is urban encroachment?

• What is encroachment under IPC?

• To remove illegal Encroachments: What’s the procedure for doing so?

• What are the main problems in areas?

• What do you understand by “Concretisation”?

• ‘Concretisation’ a by-product of urbanisation which has almost engulfed major cities in India-know it’s impact?

Other Important Articles Covering the same topic:

📍Delhi govt-L-G have another flashpoint: Removal of ‘unauthorised religious structures’

THE CITY

In memory of soldiers who died, Mutiny Memorial tells story of 1857 Revolt

Syllabus:

Preliminary Examination: History of India and Indian National Movement.

Mains Examination: General Studies I: Modern Indian history from about the middle of the eighteenth century until the present significant events, personalities, issues.

Key Points to Ponder:

• What’s the ongoing story- A few feet away from an Ashokan pillar, inscribed with Ashoka’s policy and Dharma in the Brahmi script, stands a tapering four-tier red sandstone structure rising from an octagonal base on the Northern Ridge. This is the Mutiny Memorial, built in the memory of those who had fought in the Delhi Field Force, both British and Indians, during the Revolt of 1857. The structure is prolifically inscribed with written accounts of the revolt. The placard on the structure’s lowest tier read, “In Memory of the officers and soldiers, British and native of the Delhi Field Force, who were killed in action or died of wounds or disease between the 30th May and 20th September 1857.”

• For Your Information-According to the author and historian Swapna Liddle, “The Mutiny Memorial was built to honour those who fought from the British side during the Revolt of 1857 but later after Independence, particularly after 25 years, they re-dedicated it to the memory of those Indians who lost their lives fighting the British.” Professor of history at Ashoka University and historian Nayanjot Lahiri, in her research paper, ‘Commemorating and Remembering 1857: The Revolt in Delhi and its Afterlife’, states: “On one hand, of the destruction, demolition and confiscation that took place in the city and also in some of Delhi’s villages, during and in the aftermath of the revolt. On the other hand, equally transforming was the British commemoration of their victory, which resulted in the construction of a memorialised landscape by them, around the graves of dead soldiers and the scenes of military action.”

• 1857 Revolt-Background

• Difference between the Revolt of 1857 from the earlier uprisings

• Nature of Revolt and Protest before 1857

• Significance of Revolts before 1857 and its impact on 1857 Revolt

• Regions/People affected by the Revolt of 1857

• Causes of the Revolt-Economic Causes, Political Causes, Administrative Causes and Socio-Religious Causes

• Immediate Causes of the Revolt-Discontent among Sepoys and other reasons

• Prominent Leaders of the Revolts-General Bakht Khan, Nana Saheb, Begum Hazrat Mahal, Khan Bahadur, Kunwar Singh, Maulvi Ahmadullah of Faizabad and Rani Laxmibai

• Suppression of the 1857 Revolt-Role of Zamindars and Princely States

• Reasons for the failure of 1857 Revolt-Brainstorm

• Changes Introduced after the Revolt-Administration, Military and Socio-religious Consequences

• Significance of the 1857 Revolt

Other Important Articles Covering the same topic:  

📍How Delhi was destroyed and rebuilt after the revolt of 1857

THE EDITORIAL PAGE

WARNING SIGNALS

Syllabus:

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

Mains Examination: General Studies III: Indian Economy and issues relating to planning, mobilization, of resources, growth, development and employment

Key Points to Ponder:

• What’s the ongoing story- Trade data released last week showed that India’s exports and imports have contracted for the second straight month in January. This persisting weakness in the country’s trade data points towards slowing economic momentum across both the domestic and global economy. This is a worrying sign.

• Why this is a worrying sign?

• What do you understand by ‘Exports’ and ‘Imports’?

• Exports of India and Imports of India-Key Items under Exports and Imports

• What Is Balance of Trade (BoT) and Balance of Payments (BoP)?

• Balance of Trade (BoT) and Balance of Payments (BoP)-How they Connected?

• What Is Export Merchandising?

• Merchandise Exports from India Scheme (MEIS)-Key Highlights

• What do you understand by ‘Current account deficit’?

• Current account deficit’ is rising-What does this indicates for an Economy?

• What do you understand by “Current account surplus”?

• Current account surplus implies a higher inflow of forex than outflow- still sometimes, it is not healthy for an economy, Why?

• Do You Know-In its latest world economic outlook, the International Monetary Fund has pegged global growth to slow down to 2.9 per cent in 2023, from 3.4 per cent in 2022. The Fund has also projected growth in world trade volumes (in goods and services) at 2.4 per cent this year, down from 5.4 per cent the year before. Slowing global economy and world trade suggest that the fall in India’s exports can intensify further. This will imply that the boost from exports to the broader Indian economy that was observed over the past financial year is unlikely to materialise now. With the other drivers of growth constrained in their ability to stimulate growth, at this critical juncture, the policy apparatus should be guided by the objective of facilitating exports and deepening India’s trade relations.

Other Important Articles Covering the same topic:  

📍Factors behind moderating CAD, how it will impact markets

EXPLAINED

Sticky inflation and Jan spike: causes, consequences

Syllabus:

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

Mains Examination: General Studies III: Indian Economy and issues relating to planning, mobilization, of resources, growth, development and employment.

Key Points to Ponder:

• What’s the ongoing story-Last week, official data showed that in January, India’s retail inflation surged by 6.5%. In other words, the general price level facing the consumers in January 2023 turned out to be 6.5% higher than the price level in January 2022; this is called a year-on-year (or y-o-y) growth rate. As things stand, it now looks quite likely that India’s inflation rate will be above the crucial 4% level in each of the five years of the current government’s term. To be sure, 4% inflation is the target level under the current monetary policy regime.

• Policy significance of inflation spike in January

• What caused the spike in January?

• Why is India’s inflation turning out to be sticky?

• What factor distinguishes Indian inflation from many other developed countries?

• What is Inflation?

• Know the Types of Inflation like Moderate Inflation, Galloping Inflation, Hyper-Inflation, Stagflation, Deflation, Core Inflation etc.

• What are the causes of Inflation in the present situation

• How Inflation is Measured in India?

• What is the Long term, Medium Term and Short-term impact of Inflation?

• New Standard for Measuring Inflation in India and Old Standard for Measuring Inflation-Key Differences

• Steps or Measures Taken by GOI to Control Inflation

• What do you understand by Wholesale Price Index (WPI) and Consumer Price Index? WPI and CPI is published by whom?

• What is the Monetary Policy Committee?

• The Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) is a Statutory Body-True or False?

• What is the Primary Objective of monetary policy in India?

• There are several direct and indirect instruments that are used for implementing monetary policy-What are they?

• What is REPO rate?

• What is Current Repo Rate?

• What’s the RBI assessment on inflation?

Other Important Articles Covering the same topic:

📍ExplainSpeaking: What is the link between rising food prices and central banks raising interest rates?

Name, symbol to Shinde: How EC reached its decision in Shiv Sena dispute

Syllabus:

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

Mains Examination: General Studies II: Salient features of the Representation of People’s Act.

Key Points to Ponder:

• What’s the ongoing story-Ruling on a dispute that began in June last year, the Election Commission decided Friday that the Shiv Sena faction led by Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde was the real Shiv Sena as opposed to the group led by former CM Uddhav Thackeray. It said the party name and symbol of ‘Bow and Arrow’ would be retained by the Shinde group.

• What exactly Election Commission said?

• Do You Know- In its 77-page order, the three-member Commission relied on the test of majority, which the Shinde faction was able to prove it had with the support of 40 out of 67 MLAs and MLCs in Maharashtra, and 13 out of 22 MPs in both Houses of Parliament. The EC said the 40 MLAs of the Shinde group had got 76% of the votes polled by the 55 Shiv Sena MLAs in the 2019 elections, as opposed to 23.5% for the MLAs in the Thackeray camp. The EC decided that the “test of party Constitution” could not be relied upon as the party had not submitted a copy of its amended Constitution in 2018 and the document itself had been changed to become more undemocratic. It also found that it could not rely on the test of majority in the organisational wing of the party as claims of numerical majority by both factions were not satisfactory.

• How election symbols are allotted?

• Election Symbols (Reservation and Allotment) Order, 1968-Know key highlights

• When parties split, how does EC decide who gets the symbol?

• What are the Election Commission’s powers in a dispute over the election symbol when a party splits?

• How did the EC deal with such matters before the Symbols Order came into effect?

• Is there a way other than the test of majority to resolve a dispute over election symbols?

• What happens to the group that doesn’t get the parent party’s symbol?

• Election Commission of India and Article 324 of the Constitution-Know in detail

• The independent and impartial functioning of the Election Commission-How it is ensured?

• Election Commission of India- Powers and Functions

• Chief Election Commissioner and the two other Election Commissioners have equal powers-True or False?

• In case of difference of opinion amongst the Chief election commissioner and/or two other election commissioners, the matter is decided by the Supreme Court of India-Right or Wrong?

Other Important Articles Covering the same topic:

📍From shield and sword to flaming torch, a history of Shiv Sena’s political symbols

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