UPSC Key- February 22, 2023: Know about UPI-PayNow linkage, Early temperature rise and Pangolin

UPI goes global: India, Singapore starts instant fund transfer; PM hails new era

Syllabus:

Preliminary Examination: Current events of national and international importance.

Mains Examination: General Studies II: Bilateral, regional and global groupings and agreements involving India and/or affecting India’s interests.

Key Points to Ponder:

• What’s the ongoing story– India on Tuesday kicked off its first cross-border real-time payments systems connectivity with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who witnessed the launch event, stating that the linkage of Unified Payments Interface (UPI) and Singapore’s PayNow will benefit migrant workers, professionals, and students and their families in foreign remittances between the two countries.

• The linkage is a “new era in cross-border fintech connectivity”-Discuss Further

• What type of linkages?

• What is Unified Payments Interface?

• What is PayNow?

• What is the UPI-PayNow linkage?

• How will it benefit the citizens of both countries?

• Who developed the Unified Payments Interface?

• Brainstorm some important features of UPI

• What achievements has UPI made?

• For Your Information-Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said the idea of the linkage was first conceived in 2018 when PM Modi had visited Singapore. He said cross border remittances between India and Singapore amount to over $1 billion annually. Of the total inward remittances to India in 2020-21, the share of Singapore stood at 5.7 per cent, according to the Reserve Bank of India Remittance Survey, 2021.

• “The UPI-PayNow linkage is a significant milestone in the development of infrastructure for cross-border payments between India and Singapore”-Elaborate

• For Your Extra Information-According to the RBI, ICICI Bank and Indian Overseas Bank users can send money to Singapore through their respective internet banking facilities. Indian Bank users can use the facility through its own mobile app called IndOASIS, and State Bank of India users can remit through the BHIM UPI Pay app. Currently, cross border transaction under the linkage is not possible on popular UPI platforms like PhonePe, Google Pay and Paytm. The RBI also clarified that in the UPI-PayNow interlinkage transactions, only person-to-person (P2P) remittances towards the purpose of “Maintenance of Relatives Abroad” and “Gift” under the Liberalised Remittance Scheme (LRS) are allowed, and the prescribed LRS limits would be applicable. Funds held in bank accounts or e-wallets can be transferred to and from India using just the UPI-id, mobile number or Virtual Payment Address (VPA).

• Know in detail about National Payment Corporation of India (NPCI)

• Do You Know-The new linkage will enable users of each of the two fast payment systems – UPI in India and PayNow in Singapore – to make instant, low-cost fund transfers on a reciprocal basis without a need to get on board the other payment system.

Other Important Articles Covering the same topic:

📍India’s UPI and Singapore’s PayNow are now integrated: What it means, who benefits

Previous Year Prelims Questions Based on Similar theme:

📍Which of the following is a most likely consequence of implementing the ‘Unified Payments Interface (UPI)? (Please refer Prelims GS-1 2017 question Paper for complete question)
📍Consider the following statements:
1. National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) helps in promoting the financial inclusion in the country.
2. NPCI has launched RuPay, a card payment scheme.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct? (Please refer Prelims GS-1 2017 question Paper for complete question)

ICAR develops wheat that can beat the heat

Syllabus:

Preliminary Examination: Economic and Social Development

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.

Key Points to Ponder:

• What’s the ongoing story On Monday, the Union Agriculture Ministry announced that it had set up a committee to monitor the situation arising from the increase in temperatures and its impact, if any, on the current wheat crop.

• Why a committee to monitor the situation arising from the increase in temperatures and its impact?

• Wheat Production in India-Wheat is a Rabi or Kharif Crop?

• Wheat production in India-Know the statistics

• For Your Information-Wheat is a typically a 140-145 days crop planted mostly in November – before the middle of the month in Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh (post the harvesting of paddy, cotton and soyabean) and the second half and beyond in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar (after sugarcane and paddy). If sowing can be preponed and taken up from around October 20, the crop isn’t exposed to terminal heat, with much of the grain-filling being completed by around the third week of March. It can, then, be comfortably harvested by the month-end.

• Know more about “mild vernalisation requirement” wheat variety

• ICAR scientists breed new climate-smart varieties-Know more about the same

• How has the weather over North India been in 2023?

• It is still February, technically a winter month, and temperatures in some parts of the country are touching 40 degrees Celsius- Why has there been a sudden rise in temperatures?

• What exactly IMD is saying on the situation?

• What is La Nina phenomenon?

• What is the reason behind an early temperature rise in North India?

• La Nina phenomenon, North-South low-pressure pattern over India in winters and Heat Waves-Connect the dots

• India Meteorological Department (IMD)-About, Role and Objectives

• Do You Know-El Nino and La Nina are climate patterns in the Pacific Ocean that can affect weather worldwide. Episodes of El Nino and La Nina typically last 9-12 months, but can sometimes last for years. El Nino and La Nina events occur every two to seven years, on average, but they don’t occur on a regular schedule, say experts. Generally, El Nino occurs more frequently than La Nina. According to the latest forecast by National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), a transition from La Niña to ENSO-neutral will occur mostly during the February-April 2023 season. Climate models are predicting a potential return to El Niño by May-July, which coincides with the summer monsoon that spans from June- September. The occurrence of three consecutive La Niña in the Northern Hemisphere is a relatively rare phenomenon and is known as the ‘triple dip’ La Niña. The latest triple dip La Nina occurred between 2021-23.

Other Important Articles Covering the same topic:

📍Unusual Feb heat, and the ‘normal abnormal’ in global weather

📍Possible El Nino conditions this year could lead to deficit in monsoons: climate experts

GOVT & POLITICS

Speaker is deciding authority to rule under anti-defection law: SC

Syllabus:

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

Mains Examination: General Studies II: Parliament and State legislatures—structure, functioning, conduct of business, powers & privileges and issues arising out of these.

Key Points to Ponder:

• What’s the ongoing story- Disapproving “denigrating constitutional offices”, including the office of Speaker of an Assembly, the Supreme Court Tuesday said it will go by the fact that Speaker, as laid down by Parliament and recognised by it, is the deciding authority so far as proceedings under anti-defection law is concerned. Justice P S Narasimha, who was part of the five-judge bench hearing a batch of petitions arising from last year’s political fallout in Maharashtra following differences in Shiv Sena between the Uddhav Thackeray and Eknath Shinde factions, said Parliamentarians have decided the Speaker “to be the Tribunal per the 10th Schedule (anti-defection law)” and the court is only interpreting that.

• What exactly Supreme Court said?

• For Your Information-According to Justice P S Narasimha, “As long as the 1992 ruling of the SC Constitution bench in Kihoto Hollohan vs Zachillhu, wherein a Constitution Bench upheld validity of the 10th schedule is not reversed, the Speaker would continue to be the deciding authority. On the one hand, if the Speaker is with you, you would say it’s a constitutional authority; what’s wrong with the Speaker? If you have some difficulty, you would say — look at the way Speakers have behaved. Therefore, for us as long as the Constitution Bench judgment is there, we will go by the fact that the Speaker is the tribunal and he is the presiding officer per the 10th Schedule…. We will not go back (on) the decision. That’s the final decision…”

• The 52nd Amendment Act of 1985 and 10th Schedule of the Constitution is related to with?

• What 10th Schedule (anti-defection law) of the Indian Constitution says?

• What constitutes defection? Who is the deciding authority?

• What is the extent of the Speaker’s powers under the Tenth Schedule?

• For Your Extra Information-Paragraph 6(1) of the Tenth Schedule describes the Speaker’s sweeping discretionary powers: “If any question arises as to whether a member of a House has become subject to disqualification under this Schedule, the question shall be referred for the decision of the Chairman or, as the case may be, the Speaker of such House and his decision shall be final.”

• What is the ‘Kihoto Hollohan’ case?

• Do You Know-The law covering the disqualification of lawmakers and the powers of the Speaker in deciding such matters became part of the statute book in 1985 when the Tenth Schedule to the Constitution, commonly known as the ‘anti-defection law’, was adopted. A constitutional challenge to the Tenth Schedule was mounted, which was settled by the apex court in ‘Kihoto Hollohan’. The principal question before the Supreme Court in the case was whether the powerful role given to the Speaker violated the doctrine of basic structure — the judicial principle that certain basic features of the Constitution cannot be altered by amendments by Parliament. The Supreme Court laid down the doctrine of basic principle in its landmark judgment in ‘Kesavananda Bharati vs State Of Kerala’ (1973).

• What Supreme Court of India said in Kihoto Hollohan case (1993)?

• Has the anti-defection law ensured the stability of governments?

• Have any suggestions been made to improve the law?

• The 91st Amendment Act of 2003 made one change in the provisions of the Tenth Schedule. What was that?

• The disqualification of member on the ground of defection does not apply in the two exceptional cases. What is that ‘exception’?

• What Supreme Court said in the SR Bommai case (1994) with respect to Defection?

• What is the anti-defection law, and what is its purpose?

Other Important Articles Covering the same topic:

📍Explained: The anti-defection law, and why Eknath Shinde could be poised to dodge it in Maharashtra

📍 Explained: What is SC’s ‘Kihoto Hollohan’ judgment, and why is it relevant in the context of the crisis in Maharashtra?

EXPRESS NETWORK

Report: Over 1,200 pangolins poached, trafficked in 4 years

Syllabus:

Preliminary Examination: General issues on Environmental ecology, Bio-diversity and Climate Change – that do not require subject specialization.

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

Key Points to Ponder:

• What’s the ongoing story- Over 1,200 pangolins, also known as the scaly anteaters, were poached and trafficked in India over the past four years from 2018 to 2022, according to a recent report released jointly by the World Wide Fund for Nature India also called WWF India, and TRAFFIC, a non-governmental organisation which monitors illicit global wildlife trade.

• What is there in the report which was released recently by the World Wide Fund for Nature India also called WWF India, and TRAFFIC?

• For Your Information-The report says that 1,203 pangolins (both live and dead) were seized in 342 incidents and that the actual numbers of the animal being trafficked are likely to be far higher. Over 880 kg of pangolin derivatives and 199 live pangolins were reported in the 342 seizure incidents. An earlier analysis by TRAFFIC released in 2018 found poaching of nearly 6,000 pangolins between 2009 and 2017. Last year, TRAFFIC found that India recorded the highest number of pangolin seizures in Asia between 2015 and 2021 at 287 seizures. The Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) was reported to have seized 336.9 kg of pangolin scales between 2019 and 2022.

• Pangolin in India-Know in detail

• What traits does the pangolin possess?

• ‘Pangolins are reported to be among the most trafficked wild mammals globally’-Know the reasons

• Do You Know-Pangolins belong to the family Manidae and in India, they are the only known mammals with large keratin scales covering their skin. They are toothless, nocturnal, live in burrows, and feed mainly on ants and termites. Globally there are eight pangolin species, four each in Africa and Asia. India is home to two species – Indian pangolin Manis crassicaudata and Chinese pangolin Manis pentadactyla. Indian pangolins are found in Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka. In India, the species is widely distributed and has been recorded in Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Goa, Gujarat, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Meghalaya, Odisha, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, and West Bengal. Chinese pangolins are found in Bangladesh, Bhutan, China, Hong Kong, India, Lao People’s Democratic Republic, Myanmar, Nepal, Taiwan, China, Thailand, and Vietnam. In India, the species is reported from Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Bihar, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Sikkim, Tripura, and West Bengal.

Other Important Articles Covering the same topic:

📍The pangolin: can the protection upgrade by China curb its trafficking?

THE IDEAS PAGE

Missing in Parliament

Syllabus:

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

Mains Examination: General Studies II: Parliament and State legislatures—structure, functioning, conduct of business, powers & privileges and issues arising out of these.

Key Points to Ponder:

• What’s the ongoing story- P D T Achary Writes: The present Lok Sabha first met after the election on June 17, 2019. Under Article 83(2) of the Constitution, the term of the Lok Sabha begins from the day of its first meeting and ends on the day it completes five years from that date unless it is dissolved earlier. So, the term of the present Lok Sabha will end on June 16, 2024. It has completed three years and seven months of its term. In June 2024, the 18th Lok Sabha is expected to be elected.

• Quick Recap-The Supreme Court issued notices to the Centre and five states recently— Rajasthan, Uttarakhand, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, and Jharkhand — over the failure to elect a Deputy Speaker. A Bench led by Chief Justice of India (CJI) D Y Chandrachud sought responses on a PIL that contends that not electing a Deputy Speaker to the 17th (present) Lok Sabha, which was constituted on June 19, 2019, is “against the letter and spirit of the Constitution”. The post has been lying vacant in the five state Assemblies as well, which were constituted between four years and almost one year ago, the plea states. (Shariq Ahmed v. Union of India And Ors)

• How the Speaker and the Deputy Speaker are elected?

• For Your Information-There are two presiding officers for the Lok Sabha, namely the Speaker and the Deputy Speaker, who are elected by the members of the House. Under Article 93 of the Constitution, as soon as the House meets after the election these two presiding officers are elected one after the other. The practice followed so far has been to elect the Speaker after the oath-taking. Thereafter, within a few days, the Deputy Speaker is also elected.

• ‘In the present Lok Sabha, the House has not elected a Deputy Speaker even after three years and seven months of its term are over’-Why?

• What does the Constitution say about the Deputy Speaker?

• Deputy Speaker in legislative assembly-know the role

• Do You Know-The history of the office of Deputy Speaker goes back to the government of India Act of 1919 when he was called Deputy President as the Speaker was known as the president of the central legislative assembly. Although the main functions of a Deputy Speaker were to preside over the sittings of the assembly in the absence of the Speaker and chair the select committees etc., the position was considered necessary to share the responsibility of running the House with the Speaker and guide the nascent committees. This tradition was continued after Independence, when a Deputy Speaker was elected to chair, besides the Speaker, the meetings of the Constituent Assembly (Legislative). The first Speaker was G V Mavalankar and the first Deputy Speaker was M Ananthasayanam Ayyangar who was elected by the Constituent Assembly (Legislative) on September 3, 1948. Later under the new Constitution, he was elected the first Deputy Speaker of the House of the people on May 28, 1952. Thereafter, every Lok Sabha had a Deputy Speaker who would be elected after a few days of the election of the Speaker.

• The Deputy Speaker is elected by the assembly itself from amongst its members-True or False?

• What is Article 178 of the Indian Constitution?

• The Deputy Speaker is independent of the Speaker, not subordinate to him-True or False?

• Do You Know-Article 93 says “The House of the People shall, as soon as may be, choose two members…to be…Speaker and Deputy Speaker…and, so often as the office of Speaker or Deputy Speaker becomes vacant, the House shall choose another member…”Article 178 contains the corresponding position for Speaker and Deputy Speaker of the Legislative Assembly of a state.

• Is it mandatory to have a Deputy Speaker?

• How soon must the Deputy Speaker be elected?

• How was the post of Deputy Speaker envisaged?

• Do the powers of the Speaker extend to the Deputy Speaker as well?

• What is the position of the Union government on the current vacancy in the post of Deputy Speaker?

• Can the courts intervene in cases of a delay in electing the Deputy Speaker?

Other Important Articles Covering the same topic:

📍Explained: How are a Speaker and Deputy Speaker elected

Previous Year Mains Questions Based on similar theme:

📍‘Once a Speaker always a speaker’! Do you think this practice should be adopted to impart objectivity to the office of the speaker of Lok Sabha? What could be its implication for the robust functioning of parliamentary business in India? (UPSC GS2 Mains, 2020 )

EXPLAINED

WHALES STRANDING ON BEACHES: FACTORS THAT COULD BE DRIVING THIS

Syllabus:

Preliminary Examination: General issues on Environmental ecology, Bio-diversity and Climate Change – that do not require subject specialization.

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

Key Points to Ponder:

• What’s the ongoing story--Earlier in February, 14 pilot whales were stranded near the shore of Kalpitiya, a town located on Sri Lanka’s west coast. With the help of a navy team and local fishermen, 11 of them were rescued but three died, AFP reported. Speaking to the news agency, wildlife officer Eranda Gamage said, “They (the stranded pilot whales) had to be taken into the deeper seas so that they would not come back to the shore. The navy took them in their boats and dropped them.”

• What is whale stranding and why does it happen?

• How might human activities be causing whale strandings?

• Can we prevent mass strandings?

• For Your Information-Whale strandings aren’t uncommon in Sri Lanka. In 2020, the country witnessed one of the biggest whale strandings in recent history when more than 100 pilot whales beached on the western coast of Panadura. Three of them died during the rescue operations. In 2017, around 20 pilot whales were stranded on the eastern coast before being saved by the navy and local fishermen. Apart from Sri Lanka, Australia’s Tasmania has also seen mass beaching of whales. Last year in September, more than 230 pilot whales were stranded on the west coast of the region. Around 170 of them died even before the rescuers arrived at the spot.

Other Important Articles Covering the same topic:

📍Why do whales beach themselves? We’re partially to blame.

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