UPSC Key-October 19, 2022: Why you should read ‘Uniform Civil Code’ or ‘Juvenile’ or ‘Doctrine of Pleasure’ for UPSC CSE

2 migrant workers killed in J&K grenade attack

Syllabus:

Preliminary Examination: Current events of national and international importance.

Mains Examination: General Studies III: Linkages between development and spread of extremism and Role of external state and non-state actors in creating challenges to internal security

Key Points to Ponder:

• What’s the ongoing story- IN ANOTHER attack on migrant workers — the fifth fatal attack this year — two men from Uttar Pradesh were killed when suspected militants hurled a grenade inside the tin shed where they were sleeping, in Hermain village of Shopian district late on Monday night. Hours after the attack, police said they had arrested two local “hybrid militants” involved in the incident.

• What do you understand by the term ‘Hybrid’ militants?

• ‘Unlisted militants’, ‘Hybrid’ militants and ‘Sleeper cell operatives’-What is difference between these terms?

• A few years ago, J&K police came up with the term ‘Over Ground Workers (OGWs)’-who are ‘Over Ground Workers (OGWs)’?

• According to Top police officers in J&K, the militancy in Kashmir has entered a “secretive and dangerous” phase that has alarmed the security apparatus-What is that “secretive and dangerous” phase that has alarmed the security apparatus?

• “The command structure among militants is missing. There is no reigning force and that makes it dangerous. The separatist leadership is in jail and those who are out have lost their grip. We are fighting an invisible enemy now”-What is the main concern as per the top police officers?

• What do you understand by ‘Guerrilla warfare’?

• Why is it called guerrilla warfare?

• What is the difference between insurgency and guerrilla warfare?

• Is it militancy in Kashmir or insurgency in Kashmir?

• What is the difference between militant and insurgent? How militancy is different from insurgency?

• Know these terms-Terrorism, Insurgency, Belligerency and Civil war

Other Important Articles Covering the same topic:  

📍‘Hybrid’ and ‘OGW’: A thin line between militants and civilians in Kashmir

Deny safe havens to corrupt & terrorists, PM urges Interpol

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.

• General Studies III: Role of external state and non-state actors in creating challenges to internal security.

Key Points to Ponder:

• What’s the ongoing story- Urging the Interpol to speed up the process of issuing Red Notice against fugitive offenders, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said “there can be no safe havens for the corrupt, terrorists, drug cartels, poaching gangs or organised crime”. Addressing the inaugural session of Interpol’s 90th General Assembly in New Delhi – it is being held in India after 25 years.

• What is International Criminal Police Organization?

• Who makes up INTERPOL?

• What INTERPOL do?

• What is the INTERPOL General Assembly?

• INTERPOL’s Global Crime Trends Report-What is this report all about?

• What is a Red Notice?

• Is Red Notice a warrant of arrest?

• For Your Information– Representatives from 195 countries are participating in the three-day session that began at Pragati Maidan. The session will discuss strategies for international cooperation on terrorism, drug trafficking, international crime syndicates and child sex abuse offences.

• “With all this, our police forces work while respecting the diversity and rights of the people promised by the Constitution. They not only protect the people but also serve our democracy”-Despite so much of work, why Indian Police have negative image?

• “A safe and secure world is our shared responsibility. When the forces of good cooperate, the forces of crime cannot operate”-Decode the quote

Other Important Articles Covering the same topic:   

📍India’s request for action against Pannun rejected: What is the Interpol, and what is a Red Notice?

📍18-21 October 2022, New Delhi, India

📍UPSC Essentials: One word a day – Interpol

Different laws an affront to nation’s unity: Centre pitches UCC to SC

Syllabus:

Preliminary Examination: Indian Polity and Governance

Main Examination: 

• General Studies II: Indian Constitution—significant provisions etc.

• 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- Underlining that the Constitution obligates the State to have a Uniform Civil Code (UCC) for its citizens, and that people belonging to different religions and denominations following different property and matrimonial laws is an “affront to the nation’s unity”, the Centre has told the Supreme Court that the matter will now be placed before the 22nd Law Commission.

• Article 44 of the Indian Constitution and Uniform Civil Code-What is the ongoing debate?

• What is Article 44 of Indian Constitution i.e. Uniform Civil Code?

• What is Directive principles of State Policy (DPSP)?

• Difference Between Fundamental Rights and Directive principles of State Policy

• ‘Reform of Family Law’ report by 21st Law Commission of India on Article 44-Know in detail

• Issues and Controversy with Uniform Civil Code and Why it has not been Implemented even after seven decades of Independence?

• Know how the government’s stance on a uniform civil code (UCC) has evolved between the year 1991 to 2004?

Other Important Articles Covering the same topic:  

📍Civil code and govt stance

📍Govt stand: Personal law review only if ‘sizeable majority’ seek change

📍Uniform civil code vs triple talaq

THE CITY

2017 Gurgaon school murder: JJB relies on expert panel’s report, interaction to try juvenile as adult

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- While ruling that the juvenile accused of allegedly killing a Class II student at a private school in Gurgaon in September 2017 should be tried as an adult, the Juvenile Justice Board (JJB) took into consideration his internet search activity among other things to determine if he had sufficient ability to understand the consequences of the offence.

• What is Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015?

• What is the legal definition of a juvenile?

• What does the law say on trying a juvenile as an adult?

• What happens when a juvenile is ordered to be treated as an adult?

• What was the case before the Supreme Court?

Other Important Articles Covering the same topic:  

📍Accused in Gurugram school murder case to be tried as adult: When does the law treat a juvenile as an adult?

How effective are anti-smog guns in city? Here’s what experts have to say

Syllabus:

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

Main 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- Vehicle-mounted ‘anti-smog guns’ have begun their rounds of the city, spraying water in a fine mist, in what is an effort to get suspended dust to settle as air quality begins to take a turn for the worse.

• How effective are these devices in mitigating air pollution?

• Why Delhi pollution is always in News?

• What are the reasons for Air pollution in Delhi?

• Know the Geographical location of Delhi

• Being landlocked makes Delhi worst in air pollution-How far you agree with this?

• Know the Supreme Courts Judgments on Delhi Air Pollutions

• “Delhi has converted into a gas chamber”-Discuss

• Air Quality Management in NCR Region-Role and Steps Taken so Far

• Know the best International Practices to Curb Air Pollution in Urban Areas

• What is Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP)?

• What are the different Air Quality Index (AQI) categories under Graded Response Action Plan?

• What are the different stages under Graded Response Action Plan?

• Has GRAP helped?

• What was the Supreme court’s verdict in M. C. Mehta vs. Union of India (2016) regarding air quality in the National Capital Region of Delhi?

• Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM)-Know in brief

• Is Commission for air quality Management statutory body?

• System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting And Research (SAFAR) Project-Know in brief

• What is the framework developed by SAFAR to forecast air quality in Delhi?

Other Important Articles Covering the same topic:  

📍Explained: What the commission for air quality management in NCR aims to achieve and why are some opposing it?

📍Graded Response Action Plan for Delhi & NCR

📍Explained: What is GRAP, Delhi-NCR’s action plan as air pollution increases?

GOVT & POLITICS

Govt hikes MSP of 6 rabi crops, `110 per quintal jump for wheat

Syllabus:

Preliminary Examination: Economic and Social Development

Main Examination: General Studies III: Issues related to direct and indirect farm subsidies and minimum support prices

Key Points to Ponder:

• What’s the ongoing story-The government on Tuesday announced minimum support price (MSP) for six rabi crops for the marketing season (RMS) 2023-24, with Rs 110 per quintal (5.46 per cent) increase for the wheat crop.

• What are the Rabi crops grown in India?

• The increase in the wheat MSP assumes significance-Why?

• legal backing for minimum support prices (MSP)

• MSP (minimum support price) and effectiveness of MSP implementation

• How MSP is calculated (paid out costs, labour etc.) and Crops covered under the MSP

• “Right to MSP”-is it possible to implement and if not, then what are the issues and Challenges?

• MSP and Doubling Farmers Income

• Recommendation of Ashok Dalwai Committee and M. S. Swaminathan Committee

• Which are the Crops Covered under MSP?

• Public distribution system (PDS) and MSP-Connect the dots

Other Important Articles Covering the same topic:  

📍Explained: What are MSPs, and how are they decided?

Governor’s powers very limited, says Pinarayi on Khan warning

Syllabus:

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

Mains Examination: General Studies II: Appointment to various Constitutional posts, powers, functions and responsibilities of various Constitutional Bodies.

Key Points to Ponder:

• What’s the ongoing story-The powers of Governors are “limited” and they have to take decisions as per the advice of chief ministers, Kerala CM Pinarayi Vijayan said on Tuesday, in a retort to Governor Arif Mohammed Khan’s recent warning to remove ministers “who lower the dignity” of his office.

• For Your Information-Kerala Governor Arif Mohammed Khan, who is locked in a standoff with the elected government on a range of issues including appointments to the state-run Kerala University, on Monday threatened to sack ministers who “lowered the dignity” of his office.

• What role does the Governor play in the parliamentary system?

• What Articles 153-161 of the Constitution says?

• The Governor is appointed by whom?

• ‘The post of the Governor was envisaged as being apolitical; however, the role of Governors has been a contentious issue in Centre-state relations for decades’-Discuss

• Article 164(1) says state “Ministers shall hold office during the pleasure of the Governor”- What is the pleasure of the Governor?

• So, can the Governor of a state sack minister?

• What attempts have been made to address concerns over the alleged partisan role played by Governors?

• The Sarkaria Commission, set up in 1983 to look into Centre-state relations, proposed certain points for the selection of Governors-Know them in detail

• What Punchhi Committee, constituted in 2007 on Centre-state relations said on selection the Governor?

• The Punchhi Committee recommended deleting the “Doctrine of Pleasure” from the Constitution-What is “Doctrine of
Pleasure”?

Other Important Articles Covering the same topic:  

📍Tussle in Kerala: Can Governor Khan dismiss a state minister?

📍The governors and their role, once again at the Centre of things

EXPRESS NETWORK

NHAI to hold officials liable for fatal road crashes due to bad infra

Syllabus:

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

Mains Examination: General Studies III: Infrastructure: Energy, Ports, Roads, Airports, Railways etc.

Key Points to Ponder:

• What’s the ongoing story- National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) will hold officials liable for any fatal or serious accidents that occur as a result of poor road engineering works. NHAI in a circular said the authority has taken a serious view towards the dereliction of duty by the representative of NHAI/IE/AE involved in the process of issuance of the provisional certificate, thereby jeopardising the safety of users in utter disregard of the policy guidelines and provisions of the contract agreement.

• Road Accidents in India-Know Broad Profile of Road Accidents 2020 vis-a-vis 2019

• Why Road Safety is must in India?

• What position does India have in terms of Road safety?

• What are the Initiatives Related to Road Safety?

• What actions are being taken by the Supreme Court of India in the matter of Road Safety?

• For your Information-Road network in India, of about 63.71 lakh km in March 2019, is one of the largest in the world. The country’s road network consists of National Highways, State Highways, Districts roads, Rural and Village Roads.

• What are the Initiatives Related to Road Safety at national as well at international level?

• What is ‘Brasilia Declaration on Road Safety’?

• Know in detail about Motor Vehicles Amendment Act, 2019

• Do you Know-India’s road density at 1890.75 per 1000 sq.km of area in 2017-18 was higher than that of many developed countries though surfaced/paved road constituting 64.6 vehicles per kilometre of road length has increased from 28 vehicles in 2010 to 46 in 2020. This is indicative of the growing road traffic congestion in the country.

• What is the Significance of Road Safety in India?

• Which Ministry has notified the compensation to victims of hit and run Motor accidents Scheme 2022?

• What is the advanced technique in traffic management?

Other Important Articles Covering the same topic:  

📍Over 3.66 lakh road accidents caused about 1.32 lakh deaths in 2020: Govt

THE IDEAS PAGE

The making of sabka vikas

Syllabus:

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

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

Key Points to Ponder:

• What’s the ongoing story– Parameswaran Iyer Writes: An enabling policy regime, proactive government initiatives and supportive regulatory administration allowed the private and public sector entities in the financial sector to overcome longstanding challenges of exclusion of a large part of the population.

• What is direct benefit transfer scheme?

• The International Monetary Fund (IMF) recently lauded India’s Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) Scheme as a “logistical marvel”-Why?

• Direct benefit transfer scheme is one of poverty alleviation scheme-agree or disagree?

• By the way, how Direct Benefit Transfer works?

• How Direct Benefit Transfer is different from public distribution system?

• Know the merits and demerits of Direct Benefit Transfer?

• “In 2014, the Government of India embarked on an ambitious and well-structured financial inclusion programme with the aim of including all households within the fold of the formal financial network”-Discuss

• The Aadhaar-enabled Payment System and Unified Payment Interface further expanded interoperability and private-
sector participation. But there are certain problems. Can list out the problems and suggest some measures?

• Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana and direct benefit transfer scheme-Connect the dots

Other Important Articles Covering the same topic:  

📍India’s Direct Benefit Transfer get global laurels; IMF calls it ‘logistical marvel’, reveals striking factor

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