UPSC Key- January 3, 2023: Why you should read ‘Women Safety in India’ or ‘Pravasi Bharatiya Divas’ or ‘Demonetisation Decision’ for UPSC CSE

Demonetisation decision gets Supreme Court seal of approval

Syllabus:

Preliminary Examination: Current events of national and international importance.

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.

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

Key Points to Ponder:

• What’s the ongoing story- The centre’s decision six years ago to demonetise currency notes of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 passed the Supreme Court’s test Monday in a majority 4-1 verdict with four judges on a five-judge Constitution Bench holding that the November 8, 2016, notification withdrawing the legal tender of these notes “does not suffer from any flaws in the decision-making process”. While Justices S Abdul Nazeer, B R Gavai, A S Bopanna and V Ramasubramanian upheld the Government’s move, Justice B V Nagarathna disagreed with the “reasoning and conclusions” in the majority judgment.

• The apex court upheld the decision taken by the Central Government six years ago to demonetise these currency notes in a 4:1 majority judgement- The apex court, in its verdict, held what?

• Justice Nagarathna, who differed from Justice Gavai, held the demonetisation of Rs 500 and Rs 1000 currency notes had to be done through legislation, and not through a gazette notification-What exactly she said?

• Who is Justice B V Nagarathna, who penned the sole dissent in the 4:1 judgment on demonetisation delivered by the Supreme Court?

• ‘One of the reason given for demonetisation was that Government of India has shared its concern with regard to infusion of Fake Indian Currency Notes (FICN) and generation of black money’-Citically Analyse the statement

• The court said “the power available to the Central Government under section 26(2) of the Reserve Bank of India Act, 1934, cannot be restricted to mean that it can be exercised only for ‘one’ or ‘some’ series of bank notes and not for ‘all’ series of bank notes. The power can be exercised for all series of bank notes”- What section 26(2) of the Reserve Bank of India Act, 1934 says?

• “Demonetisation was a shockingly cruel policy enacted under false pretences. It did not achieve any of its stated objectives: A cashless economy, a revenue bonanza for the government, cleaning the system of illicit money, or stopping terror finance”-How far you agree with this statement?

• “The demonetisation decision pushed the boundaries of constitutionalism to the edge”-Discuss

• What was the role of RBI in the entire demonetisation process?

• Demonetisation in 1946 and 1978 and Demonetisation in 2016-compare and contrast

• Demonetisation in 2016 was the decision taken in haste and not gone into the nitty-gritties of this step-Do you agree?

Other Important Articles Covering the same topic:   

📍SC underlined: Govt, RBI not in ‘isolated boxes’

📍What was RBI Board doing?

📍‘Demonetisation arose from Centre …it should have enacted a law’

📍Two views on six issues

📍RBI was ‘never in the loop’ about demonetisation

Online gaming draft rules: No betting, self-regulatory body

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.

Key Points to Ponder:

• What’s the ongoing story- A self-regulatory body, grievance redressal mechanism and mandatory know-your-customer norms for verification are among the key proposals in the draft rules for online gaming, released by the Ministry of Electronics and IT (MeitY) on Monday. Online games will have to register with a self-regulatory body, and only games that are cleared by the body will be allowed to legally operate in India. Online gaming companies will not be allowed to engage in betting on the outcome of games, as per the proposed rules.

• Why a central-level law?

• What do the draft rules say?

• Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021-Know the highlights

• Online gaming so far has been a state subject-true or false?

• How big is the online gaming market in India?

• Online gaming sector in India-Know in detail

• Do You Know- The revenue of the Indian mobile gaming industry is expected to reach $5 billion in 2025. The industry grew at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 38 per cent in India between 2017-2020, as opposed to 8 per cent in China and 10 per cent in the US.
It is expected to grow at a CAGR of 15 per cent to reach Rs 153 billion in revenue by 2024, as per a report by VC firm Sequoia and management consulting company BCG.

• How have stakeholders reacted to the proposed rules?

• What are the recommendations of the task force?

• Which ministry will be in charge of the regulation?

• What did the task force say about offshore betting apps?

Other Important Articles Covering the same topic:     

📍Draft rules for online gaming: What are the regulations govt has released, and why

THE CITY

WHERE WERE THE POLICE?

Syllabus:

Preliminary Examination: Current events of national and international importance.

Mains Examination: 

• General Studies I: Social empowerment,

• 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 the most intensely patrolled night of the year, with roughly 18,000 police and security personnel on the streets for New Year’s Eve, it took almost two hours between the first PCR call and 20-year-old Anjali Singh’s body being found. During this duration, approximately five PCR calls were made, and the body was dragged over 10 km between Sultanpuri and Kanjhawala in Outer Delhi.

• The horrendous case of a young woman being dragged by five men in a car for several kilometers on January 1 is a terrible start to 2023. There are so many elements of this incident that are problematic-What are those elements?

• Women have significantly contributed in the economic empowerment of nation over the years. Despite the significant social and physical development, there has been an increasing concern for safety of women-Why?

• Why is women’s safety important in India?

• Women safety and security has emerged as a key concern especially in the New Delhi over the recent years-why?

• What is the rate of crime against women in India?

• What are the causes of crime against women in India?

• How safe is India for women?

• Key issues and challenges of women safety impacting employment scenario in Delhi-Brainstorm

• “The woman was a 20-year-old returning home from work. It is heartbreaking to think of this horrific death and the predicament of her mother and other family members. Road safety is a big concern in India, and the more vulnerable face greater danger”- Why Road safety is a big concern in India?

• Do You Know-Over 1.5 lakh people died from road accidents just in 2021, and this has been the trend for several years. According to NCRB data from 2021, driving under the influence of drugs/alcohol contributed to 1.9 per cent of deaths from accidents. These accidents have resulted in injuries to 7,235 persons and caused 2,935 deaths in the country. Further, nearly 90 per cent of deaths on the road were due to speeding, overtaking, and dangerous driving. According to the World Bank’s data from 2019, India ranked first among the top 20 countries for road accidents.

Other Important Articles Covering the same topic:   

📍Death of Anjali Singh: Delhi road accident once again shows how public spaces are hostile to women

EXPRESS NETWORK

Guyana President, NRI who held langar during farm stir on award list

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, Indian diaspora.

Key Points to Ponder:

• What’s the ongoing story-Guyana’s President Mohamed Irfaan Ali, US-based businessman Darshan Singh Dhaliwal, and DSB Group CEO Piyush Gupta are among 21 recipients of the 17th Pravasi Bharatiya Samman Award (PBSA), announced on Monday. Pravasi Bharatiya Samman Award is the highest honour conferred on overseas Indians during the Pravasi Bharatiya Divas Convention, which will be held this time between January 8 and 10 in Indore.

• Pravasi Bharatiya Divas-Know in detail

• Why Pravasi Bharatiya Divas, also known as Non-Resident Indian (NRI) Day is celebrated?

• But why 9th January is selected as the day to celebrate Pravasi Bharatiya Divas?

• Non-resident Indian and Overseas Citizen of India-Compare and contrast

• Pravasi Bharatiya Samman-Know in Detail

• In which year was the Pravasi Bharatiya Samman Award instituted?

• What is meant by Indian diaspora?

• Why is Indian Diaspora important?

• What is India’s diaspora policy?

• How does Indian diaspora affect India’s foreign policy making?

• Do you Know-The Indian diaspora comprising over 18 million PIOs (persons of Indian origin) and 13 million NRIs is one of the largest overseas communities globally and the government must engage with it effectively.

• What are the issues and challenges faced by Indian Diaspora?

Other Important Articles Covering the same topic:   

📍Prime Minister’s interaction with the Indian Community and Friends of India in Bali, Indonesia

Previous year UPSC Mains Question Covering Indian Diaspora Theme

📍‘Indian diaspora has a decisive role to play in the politics and economy of America and European Countries’. Comment with examples. (GS-2, 2020)

📍Indian Diaspora has an important role to play in South-East Asian countries’ economy and society. Appraise the role of Indian Diaspora in South- East Asia in this context (GS-2, 2017)

EXPLAINED

For first time in many years, no rhinos poached in Assam in 2022

Syllabus:

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

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

Key Points to Ponder:

• What’s the ongoing story-Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma announced on January 1 that no rhinos were poached in the state in 2022, ANI reported. Special DGP G P Singh posted data on Twitter that showed last year was the first since at least 2000 in which there were no incidents of rhino poaching in Assam.

• For Your Information-The Indian rhinoceros (Rhinoceros unicornis) is found only in the Brahmaputra valley, parts of North Bengal, and parts of southern Nepal. It has a single black horn that can grow up to 60 cm, and a tough, grey-brown hide with skin folds, which gives the animal its characteristic armour-plated look. The Indian rhino is listed as vulnerable (better than endangered, worse than near threatened) in the IUCN Red List; it was earlier placed in the endangered category. The WWF says the “recovery of the greater one-horned rhino is among the greatest conservation success stories in Asia”.

• Why are Rhinos poached for horns?

• What are the Key Points related to One-Horned Rhino?

• What are the Conservation Efforts?

• Which program started saving Indian rhino?

• What is being done to stop rhino poaching in India?

• What are the steps taken by government to protect rhinoceros?

• Map Work-Protected areas for one-horned rhino

• What is IUCN Red List?

• What are the major causes of human-animal conflict in India?

Other Important Articles Covering the same topic:   

📍Beyond poaching: How rhino dung offers clues on health and natural death

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