UPSC Key- March 28, 2023: Know about World Press Freedom Index, Sarus Crane and Finance Bill vs Money Bill

Rahul asked to vacate bungalow; TMC joins Opp meeting, protest

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– DAYS AFTER he was disqualified as a member of the Lok Sabha following his conviction and sentencing for two years in a defamation case over his Modi surname remark, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Monday was asked to vacate the official bungalow allotted to him within 30 days. Meanwhile, cutting across party lines, the Opposition continued to rally around Rahul, with even the Trinamool Congress (TMC), in a rare display of unity, attending a meeting of Opposition parties called by Congress president and Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge, and also participating in the protest later. Amid the ruckus in the House, the Rajya Sabha returned the Finance Bill-2023 with an amendment to Lok Sabha in the afternoon. The Lok Sabha later cleared it amid protests by Opposition members.

• ‘Amid the ruckus in the House, the Rajya Sabha returned the Finance Bill-2023 with an amendment to Lok Sabha’-What happens after Rajya Sabha returns Finance Bill with or without amendments?

• What is Finance bill?

• What is Finance Bill in Indian Constitution?

• Article 110, Article 117 (1) and Article 117 (3)-Compare and Contrast

• Financial bills (I) and Financial bills (II)-Know the difference

• Rajya Sabha and Budget-connect the dots

• The Rajya Sabha should return the Finance bill to the Lok Sabha within fourteen days-True or false?

• The budget goes through the six stages in the Parliament-What are they?

• How finance bill becomes act?

Other Important Articles Covering the same topic:

📍Protest turns black, torn papers hurled at Speaker

First time in four years, NREGS jobs in Jan-Feb below pre-Covid level

Syllabus:

Preliminary Examination: Economic and Social Development

Main Examination: General Studies II: Important aspects of Governance and Welfare schemes for vulnerable sections of the population by the Centre and States and the performance of these schemes

Key Points to Ponder:

• What’s the ongoing story– The employment generated in January and February this year under the rural job guarantee scheme has for the first time in the last four years slipped below pre-Covid level, according to an analysis of data available on the scheme’s portal. In January this year, the number of person-days generated under the National Rural Employment Guarantee scheme stood at 20.69 crore, lower than in January 2022 (26.97 crore), January 2021 (27.81 crore) and January 2020 (23.07 crore). In February too at 20.29 crore, it was lower than the corresponding month in the preceding years—26.99 crore in 2022, 30.79 crore in 2021, 26.75 crore in 2020.

• Why the employment generated in January and February this year under the rural job guarantee scheme slipped below pre-Covid level for the first time in the last four years?

• What exactly economists and statisticians are saying for this drop in number?

• For Your Information-The demand for work under NREGS had jumped following a nationwide lockdown in March 2020 due to the outbreak of Covid-19. It peaked in June 2020 when a little over 64 crore person-days were generated under the scheme. Since then, the monthly figure of person-days generated under the scheme has remained higher than the pre-Covid level (financial year 2019-20). However, since January, this year, the figure of person-days generated has been lower than the pre-Covid levels. Similarly, the number of households availing the job guarantee scheme has reduced. In February, 2023, 1.67 crore households availed the scheme, which is lower than that in February 2022 (2.02 crore), February 2021 (2.28 crore) and February 2020 (1.87 crore).

• ‘The drop, incidentally, also coincides with the introduction of several changes related to the scheme’s implementation’-What changes were made?

• What is National Mobile Monitoring System App (NMMS)?

• What is the National Rural Employment Guarantee scheme (NREGS) allocation in the Budget 23?

• Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA)-Mandate, Goals

• What are the core objectives of the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS)?

• When was Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act passed by the Indian Parliament?

• What is the relationship between the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (Mahatma Gandhi NREGA) and the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (Mahatma Gandhi NREGS)?

• In what way paradigm shift has taken place with the implementation of MGNREGA?

• Who are the key stakeholders of MGNREGS?

• What is the role of Gram Sabha and Gram Panchayat in MGNREGS?

• How is Household defined in MGNREGA?

• Issues with MGNREGA?

• What are the eligibility criteria for receiving the benefits under MGNREGA scheme?

• Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA)-Nodal Ministry

• COVID-19 pandemic and its impact on MGNREGA?

• Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) and Social Audit

• How schemes such as MGNREGA can help alleviate distress migration?

Other Important Articles Covering the same topic:

📍Budget 2023 cuts MGNREGS funds: The debate around the rural employment scheme

IN PARLIAMENT

Govt doesn’t subscribe to World Press Freedom Index rankings: Thakur

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 IV: Ethics and Human Interface

Key Points to Ponder:

• What’s the ongoing story- The government does not subscribe to the rankings of the World Press Freedom Index, nor does it agree to the conclusions drawn by ‘Reporters Without Borders’, the agency that conducts the rankings, it has stated in Parliament.
“The World Press Freedom Index is published by a foreign non-government organisation, called Reporters Without Borders, and the government does not subscribe to its views and country rankings and does not agree to the conclusions drawn by this organisation,” Union Information and Broadcasting Minister Anurag Thakur said in a written response in Rajya Sabha.

• The government does not subscribe to the rankings of the World Press Freedom Index-Why?

• The freedom of expression is guaranteed under the Constitution of India-Does this right is absolute or there is any restriction on the use or its misuse in electronic or print media?

• Do You Know-Under the Article 19(2), the state is empowered to impose reasonable restrictions on the operation of the right in the interest of sovereignty and integrity of India, the security of the state, friendly relations with foreign states, public order, decency or morality or in relation to contempt of court, defamation or incitement to an offence.

• Press Council of India-Know role and functions

• For Your Information-The Press Council of India (PCI), a statutory autonomous body, has been set up under the Press Council Act, 1978, mainly to preserve the freedom of the press and improve the standards of newspapers and news agencies in the country. PCI considers complaints filed ‘by the press’ concerning curtailment of press freedom, physical assault/attack on journalists etc.

• What is ‘freedom of press’?

• Why is freedom of the press important?

• What are the three key features of the freedom of press?

• What is freedom of press in India?

• Why Media is called as the Fourth Pillar of Democracy?

• How Media is regulated in India?

• What are the Loopholes in Media Regulation in India?

• World Press Freedom index-Know key details

• Who publishes World Press Freedom index?

• What does Reporters Without Borders or Reporters sans Frontières stand for in journalism?

• Performance of India in World Press Freedom index-know in detail

Other Important Articles Covering the same topic:

📍Govt does not agree with World Press Freedom Index: Union minister Anurag Thakur

THE IDEAS PAGE

In the name of security

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-Ashish Khetan Writes: The decision by a three-judge bench of the Supreme Court last Friday (Arup Bhuyan vs The State Of Assam Home Department) holding that mere membership of a banned association is sufficient to constitute an offence under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967, is a severe blow to principles of fundamental justice. The verdict has done away with the distinction between active and passive membership of proscribed organisations, which has been the basis of court rulings since 2011.

• What exactly the Supreme Court of India said?

• Quick Recall-THE SUPREME Court on Friday reversed its earlier ruling which said that “mere membership of a banned organisation will not incriminate a person” under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967, and Terrorist and Disruptive Activities (Prevention) Act, 1987, “unless he resorts to violence or incites people to violence and does an act intended to create disorder or disturbance of public peace by resort to violence”. A three-judge bench of Justices M R Shah, C T Ravikumar and Sanjay Carol held that the court’s three decisions in 2011 which took this view were “not a good law”.

• Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA)-Key Highlights

• Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) and Human Rights-Connect the dots

• Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) and Article 22 of the Constitution-Connect the Dot

• 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 unlawful association as per UAPA act?

• “Mere membership of a banned association is sufficient to constitute an offence under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967, is a severe blow to principles of fundamental justice”-Why?

• The Court has struck down three of its previous rulings from 2011: Arup Bhuyan vs State of Assam, Sri Indra Das vs State of Assam and State of Kerala vs Raneef-What Supreme Court said in this case?

• What is the Terrorist and Disruptive Activities (Prevention) Act, 1987?

• The Terrorist and Disruptive Activities (Prevention) Act, 1987 and • Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA)-compare and contrast

Other Important Articles Covering the same topic:

📍‘Mere membership of unlawful outfit is UAPA offence’: SC reverses past orders

EXPRESS NETWORK

Cheetahs in, govt to re-examine plan to shift Gir lions to Kuno

Syllabus:

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

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

Key Points to Ponder:

• What’s the ongoing story-The government has decided to re-examine the longstanding plan of translocating a few Asiatic lions from Gir National Park in Gujarat to Kuno National Park in Madhya Pradesh and file an “appropriate application” before the Supreme Court that set a six-month deadline in April 2013 for shifting the lions. As reported by The Indian Express in July 2022, the Centre’s draft 25-year roadmap for Project Lion has no provision for any translocation outside Gujarat. Instead, the focus is on “assisted natural dispersal across Saurashtra” by the time India celebrates 100 years of Independence in 2047.

• Map Work-Gir National Park and Kuno National Park

• Action Plan for Introduction of Cheetah in India-Important Highlights

• National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA)-Role, Area of Work and Chairman

• Wildlife Institute of India-Under which Ministry?

• How many Asiatic lions are left?

• Why is Asiatic lion endangered?

• What is special about Asiatic lion?

• Asiatic lions and African lions-Compare and Contrast

• Why is Gir important for Asiatic lion?

• What is translocation of wild animals?

• What is the difference between translocation and reintroduction?

• What are the challenges in the translocation of wild animals?

• What are the conservation efforts taken by Government of India for Asiatic Lions?

• The “Asiatic Lion Conservation Project” by the Union Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change (MoEFCC)-Know more in detail

• Cheetah in India- Background

• Extinction of Cheetah from Indian Landscape-know the reasons

• Know the difference between cheetah and Leopard and African cheetah and Asiatic cheetah

• Know the Difference between Extinct, Extinct in the Wild and Critically Endangered

• Supreme Court of India on Translocating Animals

• Translocating Animals-Issues and Challenges

• For Your Information-Cheetahs are among the oldest of the big cat species, with its ancestors going back about 8.5 million years. It is listed as “vulnerable” by the World Conservation Union (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species. Two subspecies, the Asiatic cheetah and the Northwest African cheetah, are listed as “critically endangered”.

• The Reintroduction of the Cheetah in India is the first such trans-continental project which is taking off-Know how Reintroduction of the cheetah in India plan is executed?

Other Important Articles Covering the same topic:

📍Asiatic lion

📍Despite SC order, no shifting of lions outside Gujarat in Centre’s 25-year plan

After ‘zero’ rhino poaching cases in 2022, Assam records year’s first case

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- After zero cases of rhinoceros poaching were recorded in Assam in 2022, the first such case this year was reported Sunday evening. According to an official of Kaziranga National Park, the carcass of a rhino was found by the staff at the park’s western range of Bagori at around 4.30 pm on Sunday. The mutilation on the carcass makes it evident that it was killed by a poacher. “There was a cut mark in the nasal bone of the rhino and the horn was taken away by miscreants. It is evident that the rhino was killed by a poacher six-seven days ago,” said the official.

• Map Work- Protected areas for one-horned rhino

• For Your Information-A census conducted in March 2022 had counted 2,613 rhinos in Kaziranga at the time. Through the course of 2022, 48 rhino deaths were recorded and were attributed to ‘natural causes’ such as old age, illness and attacks by tigers. In records maintained by Kaziranga officials dating back to 1995, there have been cases of poaching recorded every single year till 2022. Since 2000, this peaked in 2017 and 2018, when 27 rhinos were poached each year. Since then, the numbers have been dropping from 17 and 18 in 2015 and 2016, respectively, to 6, 7 and 3 in 2017, 2018 and 2019, respectively.

• 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?

• Do You Know-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”.

• 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

EXPLAINED

Daylight Saving Time

Syllabus:

Preliminary Examination: General Science.

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

Key Points to Ponder:

• What’s the ongoing story- Lebanon was thrown into mass confusion Sunday after its government at the last minute delayed the start of daylight saving time by a month. Meanwhile, Greenland has chosen to stay with daylight saving time forever.

• Map Work-Lebanon and Greenland

• What is the meridian line?

• What is Greenwich Mean Time (GMT)

• What is ‘Time zone’?

• What happened in Lebanon?

• For Your Information-Lebanon usually sets its clocks forward an hour on the last Sunday in March. However, its caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati Thursday said this year, the clocks would be reset on April 21. While no reason was given, according to AP, a leaked video shows Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri urging Mikati to postpone DST to allow Muslims to break their Ramzan fast an hour earlier. The confusion was created as some institutions, including Christian churches, reset their clocks despite Mikati’s decision. Thus, airlines, cell phone operators, schools, workplaces, etc., are no longer following the same time.

• What is daylight saving time?

• For Your Information-According to Norway-based Time and Date, daylight saving time (DST) is the practice of setting the clocks forward one hour from the standard time during the summer and back again in the autumn. This is done to make better use of natural daylight. India does not follow daylight saving time as countries near the Equator do not experience high variations in daytime hours between seasons.

• What happened in Greenland?

• Why was this practice adopted?

• Do You Know-According to Time and Date, on July 1, 1908, “the residents of Port Arthur, Ontario—today’s Thunder Bay—turned their clocks forward by one hour to start the world’s first DST period. Other locations in Canada soon followed suit.” The idea caught on globally after Germany and Austria introduced DST on April 30, 1916, to minimise the use of artificial lighting and save fuel during World War I. Today, many argue that with most appliances consuming energy running at all hours of the day, DST has lost relevance. Some studies have also shown that disruption of the body clock due to the DST has adverse health effects.

• How many countries use DST?

Other Important Articles Covering the same topic:

📍Explained: Why countries are in fall back mode as Daylight Saving Time ends

📍Explained: What is Daylight Saving Time?

Arif and his Saras: The special bond between crane, Indian farmer

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: Conservation, environmental pollution and degradation, environmental impact assessment.

Key Points to Ponder:

• What’s the ongoing story- In February 2022, 35-year-old Mohammad Arif brought home an injured Sarus crane he found in his village of Mandhka in Uttar Pradesh’s Amethi district. The bird recovered in time but never left him. Recently, the duo became famous on social media and officials came knocking. Last week, Arif was booked under the wildlife laws, and the bird was packed off first to a neighbourhood sanctuary and then to the Kanpur zoo.

• What is the problem with rescuing a Sarus or animals?

• What about India?

• For Your Information-Under Section 39 of the Wildlife (Protection) Act, no person is allowed to acquire or keep in his possession, custody or control any wildlife which is state property. If anyone does so — for example, to treat an injured bird as in the present case — she must report it to the nearest police station or the authorised officer within forty-eight hours of obtaining such possession. Further, under Section 57 of the Act, if a person is found in possession, custody or control of any wildlife, the burden of proof for establishing that the possession, custody or control is not illegal is on the person.

• What is special about the Sarus?

• What is farmers’ attitude to the Sarus?

• Where is sarus crane found in India?

• Is sarus crane an endangered bird?

Other Important Articles Covering the same topic:

📍In UP, man-bird ‘friendship’ ends with case against him

THE WORLD

Israel erupts as PM Netanyahu sacks minister who opposed court overhaul

Syllabus:

Preliminary Examination: Current events of national and international importance.

Mains 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- Israel’s planned overhaul of the judiciary, which had led to massive protests across the country for months, has been delayed for now. This came as workers from a range of sectors in Israel launched a nationwide strike on March 27 threatening to paralyse the economy as they joined a surging protest movement against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s plan to overhaul the judiciary, reported Associated Press. While sections of Israel’s population have been protesting against the proposed laws for months, on Monday, there were reports that far-right crowds were marching towards the protesters, raising concerns about a clash.

• What is the background of the planned judicial overhaul?

• What exactly do the planned laws propose?

• For Your Information-The Israeli judiciary has a reputation for fierce independence, and the draft laws to shackle it include a Bill to change the composition of the nine-member committee that selects judges. This panel currently has the minister of justice and another minister, the Supreme Court president and two judges, two Knesset members, and two representatives of the bar. Under the new proposal, government-nominated members would be in a 7-4 majority in an expanded committee. The government also wants to enable the 120-member parliament, or Knesset, to override any Supreme Court judgement by a simple majority of 61 votes unless those rulings are unanimous. Third, it also seeks to scrap the test of “reasonability” which the apex court has previously used to strike out executive practices.

Other Important Articles Covering the same topic:

📍Turmoil in Israel: Pushback in the streets as Netanyahu targets judiciary

📍Netanyahu sacks Israel’s defence minister, sparking mass protests

📍Israeli government delays disputed judiciary bill amid mass protests

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