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Important topics and their relevance in UPSC CSE exam for May 30, 2024. If you missed the May 29th, 2024 UPSC CSE exam key from the Indian Express, read it here.
UPSC Syllabus:
Preliminary Examination: General issues on Environmental Ecology, and Climate Change – that do not require subject specialisation.
Mains Examination: GS-I, GS-II, GS-III: Important Geophysical Phenomena, Climate Change Environmental Pollution & Degradation, Government Policies & Interventions.
What’s the ongoing story- Amitabh Sinha writes- “The extremely high temperatures recorded in New Delhi in the last two days are extraordinary. But they are in keeping with the global trend in the last couple of years that has seen record-breaking temperatures being reported from several locations across the world.”
Prerequisites:
— What are heatwaves and IMD criteria for declaring them?
Key takeaways:
— “An analysis by Carbon Brief, a UK-based publication focused on climate change, last year showed that nearly 40% of the Earth had recorded its highest-ever daily temperature between 2013 to 2023. This includes places in Antarctica as well. The highest temperature in India, in Rajasthan’s Phalodi, was also recorded during this period.”
— “However, the highest ever temperature recorded anywhere on Earth, 56.7 degree Celsius in a place called Death Valley in the desert of California, United States, was recorded more than 100 years ago, in 1913.”
— “If the 52.9 degree Celsius recorded at one of the stations in Delhi on Wednesday is verified, it would be an all time high for India. But as of now, it is suspect. The India Meteorological Department (IMD) said it was checking the authenticity of the reading by an automatic weather station in Mungeshpur, located on the northern outskirts of Delhi, bordering Haryana.”
— “The year 2024 was predicted to be extremely warm. Last year had emerged as the warmest year on record, globally, and the effect was expected to continue this year as well. And so far, it has.”
— “April 2024 was the 11th consecutive month when the global average monthly temperature for that month touched a new record, according to the Copernicus Climate Change Service, an agency of the European Commission.”
— “The warming over India is not as pronounced as the world taken as a whole. Annual mean temperatures over India have risen by about 0.7 degree Celsius compared to 1900 levels. This is significantly lower than the 1.59 degree Celsius rise for average land temperatures across the world. If oceans too are included, global temperatures right now are at least 1.1 degree Celsius higher than pre-industrial averages.”
— “However, heatwaves over India are noticeably more severe. In 2023, heatwave conditions prevailed even in February, technically a winter month for which heatwave thresholds are not even defined because they are not expected.”
Points to Ponder:
— How does climate change impact extreme weather events?
— What measures have been taken globally and nationally to tackle the issue of climate change?
— What measures can be taken to mitigate the effects of climate change?
— Is a heatwave recognised as a natural disaster in India?
Post Read Question:
Which of the following is/are the favorable conditions for Heatwave?
1. Prevalence of hot dry air over a region
2. Absence of moisture in the upper atmosphere
3. Cloudless sky
Select the correct answer using the codes given below:
(a) Only one
(b) Only two
(c) All three
(d) None
Other Important Articles Covering the same topic:
UPSC Issue at a Glance | Heatwaves: 5 Key Questions You Must Know for Prelims and Mains
Warming up to climate change: How does climate change impact extreme weather events?
UPSC Syllabus:
Preliminary Examination: Economy
Mains Examination: GS-III: Economy
What’s the ongoing story- S&P GLOBAL Ratings on Wednesday revised up the outlook for India to ‘positive’ from ‘stable’, retained ‘BBB-’ long-term and ‘A-3’ short-term unsolicited foreign and local currency sovereign credit ratings, and said continued policy stability, deepening economic reforms and high infrastructure investment will sustain long-term growth prospects for India.
Prerequisites:
— What is the S&P global rating?
— What do you understand by ‘BBB’ and ‘A-3’?
— What is the significance of credit rating for a nation?
Key takeaways:
— S&P had last revised up the outlook to stable from negative in September 2014, and had raised the rating to BBB- from BB+ in January 2007.
— “India’s robust economic expansion is having a constructive impact on its credit metrics. We expect sound economic fundamentals to underpin the growth momentum over the next two to three years,” it said.
— S&P said it may raise the ratings if India’s fiscal deficits narrow meaningfully such that the net change in general government debt falls below 7 per cent of GDP on a structural basis. India’s weak fiscal settings had always been the most vulnerable part of its sovereign ratings profile, S&P said.
— The ratings could also improve if there is a sustained and substantial improvement in the central bank’s monetary policy effectiveness and credibility, such that inflation is managed at a durably lower rate over time, it said.
Points to Ponder:
— How do credit ratings help in attracting foreign trade?
— What are the determinants of sovereign credit ratings?
— What are the criticisms of credit rating agencies?
— What are the other rating agencies?
— Why has S&P revised India’s outlook to stable?
Post Read Question:
Consider the following statements:
1. In India, credit rating agencies are regulated by the Reserve Bank of India.
2. The rating agency popularly known as ICRA is a public limited company.
3. Brickwork Ratings is an Indian credit rating agency.
Which of the statements given above are correct?
(a) 1 and 2 only
(b) 2 and 3 only
(c) 1 and 3 only
(d) 1, 2 and 3
Other Important Articles Covering the same topic:
Manufacturing PMI hits 31-month high in May, riding demand surge
UPSC Syllabus:
Preliminary Examination: Indian Polity and Governance
Mains Examination: GS-II: Judiciary
What’s the ongoing story- Maja Daruwala writes: The question of whether judges sit for 200 days or 365 is a red herring. It spins court timings and vacations to mean “this is why there are arrears”… To respond by saying that judges are overburdened and need to blow off steam in fine holiday spots while litigants languish plays into a manufactured imagery of lack of accountability or discipline amongst a pampered privileged elite.
Prerequisites:
— What is the status of the pendency of cases in the courts?
— What is the structure of the Indian judicial system?
— What is litigation?
Key takeaways:
— “High court vacancies average 30 percent but can touch nearly 50 percent. Subordinate court vacancies average 22 percent. But Bihar and Meghalaya clock in vacancies above 30 percent — ongoing for over three years.”
— “According to the India Justice Report, as of June 2020, on average, a case remained pending in the subordinate courts for three years and in high courts, at 2022 figures, for five years.”
— “Several other factors contribute to the problem, including the types and complexity of cases each judge must deal with, and the stratagems used by lawyers to prolong trials for their clients’ advantage.”
— “Courtrooms are being built, but are still in short supply and too many in use are sub-optimal. Nationally, support staff shortages average 26 percent. One court clerk or one typist missing anywhere means delay becomes inevitable, however diligent the judge.”
— “Quality deficits amplify structural inadequacies. Uneven acumen in both language and learning at the bar and the bench leads to endless procedural delays while the mismatch between proficiency of language, clarity of argument, and final outcome opens the door to ever more appeals.”
— “Meanwhile, the great hope of technology remains hostage to slow and uneven adoption, erratic electricity, uneven bandwidth, and user resistance.”
— “Excessive government litigation presently accounts for roughly 50 percent of the court load. Attempts to trim and rationalise this have been going on for a while.”
— “Judges are trained to be adjudicators, not administrators. A permanent administrative secretariat headed by a qualified court manager within each court, on whom the senior judge can rely, has proved a winner in many jurisdictions abroad.”
— “On the quality side, there is a strong case to be made for higher standards being set at the entry level before anyone can grace a bench, whether high or low, or before being allowed to practise before a court.”
— “Spending more money on justice delivery is, of course, a no-brainer but resource-strapped governments do not prioritise ramping up efficiencies in justice delivery. The India Justice Report estimates that the overall per capita spending on judiciary stands at less than Rs 150.”
— “The eye-watering five million-plus cases pending have prompted all sorts of experiments and sudden ad hoc efforts: Compulsory pre-trial mediation, Lok Adalats, specialist courts, the winnowing out of petty cases… prioritising old cases and cases where delay will bring about loss of liberty and irreparable harm to one or other party, and ever more tribunals.”
Points to Ponder:
— What are the reasons for the huge pendency of cases?
— What is the impact of the judicial dependency of court cases on the justice delivery system?
— What steps have been taken to reduce the dependency of cases?
Post Read Question:
Which of the following committees recommended on dealing with the huge pendency of cases in the Supreme Court?
(a) Justice Malimath Committee
(b) PK Mohanty Committee
(c) Arun Goel Committee
(d) GK Pillai Committee
Other Important Articles Covering the same topic:
The judicial pendency question: How to lighten the court’s load
UPSC Syllabus:
Preliminary Examination: Current events of national and international importance
Mains Examination: GS-II: International relations, the effect of policies and politics of developed and developing countries on India’s interests.
What’s the ongoing story- Faisal Devji writes- “The task before the US today is to create a new international order. But this time that balance must be struck not between empires, nor between superpowers, but among the regions and middle powers which now define geopolitics”
Prerequisites:
— What do you understand by unipolar, bipolar, and multipolar world order?
— What are Minsk agreements?
— What are Abraham Accords?
Key takeaways:
— “Regionalisation would render the unipolar international order in which America conducts itself as a global power irrelevant. This explains why the US insists on re-globalising both conflicts by intervening and further militarising them. Defending Ukraine and Israel might be deeply-felt commitments, but they do not exhaust the meaning of such intervention.”
— “With the world no longer divided into two blocs and a few non-aligned countries, regionalisation has emerged after the last American effort to re-globalise politics in the War on Terror. It has been focussed throughout on heading off all potential rivals and forestalling the emergence of another bipolar or even multipolar international order. But while preparing to counter China, the US has been faced by many different challenges, from militant networks incapable of posing it an existential threat, to a Russia incapable of becoming a real economic or military competitor to the West.”
— “The real threat to a unipolar international order comes not from a bipolar or multipolar future in which politics remains global, but instead from the latter’s collapse in the face of regionalisation. Rather than seeking to replace the Cold War’s remaining pole in a logic of great-power competition, America’s rivals are trying to circumvent its might without necessarily reducing it.”
— “Middle powers like China, Russia, India, and Brazil are all actors in regional political arenas and cannot project military force much beyond them. Most do not even exercise hegemony over their own neighbourhoods.”
— “While the United States has been focussed on a global threat to its unipolarity, the real danger it faces comes from the loss of global politics. This threat does not arise from isolationism but globalisation itself.”
— “America’s response to this development is to attempt their re-globalisation, but it can only do so by supporting war in Eastern Europe and the Middle East. Its deployment of force to re-establish the status quo ante, however, has not succeeded and is doing little more than collapsing US hegemony and so its own global role in the international order.”
—” The regionalisation of the international order does not mean it will be any more peaceful than the global one built to contain the Cold War….The task before the US today is to do what it has already done twice following each of the World Wars, and create a new international order founded on a balance of power. But this time that balance must be struck not between empires as with the League of Nations, nor between superpowers as with the United Nations, but among the regions and middle powers which now define geopolitics.”
Points to Ponder:
— What is America’s stand on Ukraine- the Russia and Hamas-Israel war?
— How does America’s stand on ongoing war present the challenge for the global order?
— What do you understand by the term “ Global South”?
Post Read Question:
With the world no longer divided into two blocs and a few non-aligned countries, regionalisation is shaping the new global order. Comment.
UPSC Syllabus:
Preliminary Examination: Indian and World Geography-Physical, Social, Economic Geography of India and the World.
Mains Examination: GS-I: Important Geophysical phenomena such as earthquakes, Tsunami, Volcanic activity, cyclones etc., geographical features and their location-changes in critical geographical features and in flora and fauna and the effects of such changes.
What’s the ongoing story- “The creation of the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) in 2005, prompted by the 1999 Odisha super cyclone and the 2004 tsunami, was a timely decision. Over the years, the NDMA has done commendable work in disaster mitigation, risk assessment and reduction, and post-disaster response, rescue, and relief.”
Prerequisites:
— What is the function of the NDMA?
— What are multi-hazard disasters?
— What is a flash flood?
— Where did cyclone Remal occur?
Key takeaways:
— Nearly every state now has a disaster management agency of its own, though some function less effectively than others. But the damage caused by landslides in the Northeast … is the latest reminder of the urgent need to upgrade and overhaul the disaster management system.
— The nature of disasters that the country faces has changed drastically in the last 20 years. Disasters, especially those that are a result of extreme weather events, have become more frequent and intense.
— The most worrying development has been the rise in what are known as multi-hazard disasters, one event triggering another, or a series of other disasters, the cascading impacts of which result in a destruction that is much higher in magnitude.
— Disaster management agencies need to be empowered to play a more pro-active role in dealing with these.
For Your Information:
— Cyclone Remal is a tropical cyclone. The name Remal, meaning ‘sand’ in Arabic, was chosen Oman, and assigned according to the standard convention of naming tropical cyclones in the region.
— Asia faced the most disasters in the world as 79 events associated with extreme weather, climate, and water-related hazards in 2023 affected over nine million people in the region, directly killing over 2,000 people, a new report by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) said.
Points to Ponder:
— What is the institutional framework for disaster management in India?
— What are the challenges in disaster management in India?
Post Read Question:
What is the role of Climate change in exacerbating the impacts of disasters? Suggest measures to tackle it.
Other Important Articles Covering the same topic:
India’s G20 presidency can show the way on disaster management
Asia worst hit by disasters in 2023, 79 extreme weather events killed over 2,000: WMO report
UPSC Syllabus:
Preliminary Examination: Economy
Mains Examination: GS-III: Economy
What’s the ongoing story- The Centre has initiated discussions with the private sector to revamp its decade-old national information technology policy with an aim to increase share of the country’s burgeoning information technology (IT) sector in India’s gross domestic product, The Indian Express has learnt.
Prerequisites:
— What is the IT sector in the GDP?
— What are the issues in the IT sector?
Key takeaways:
— The ministry aims to expand exports of the software industry from the current $200 billion to $400 billion by 2030, and increase revenues of the software industry from $254 billion at present to $500 billion by 2030 while generating direct and indirect employment for 10 million people.
— The IT sector had a relative share to India’s GDP of around 7 per cent in 2023-24 (FY24), according to information on the IT Ministry’s website.
— The sector has also created large employment opportunities and is estimated to employ 5.43 million professionals, an addition of 60,000 people over FY23. Women employees account for 36 per cent share in the total industry employee base.
— Industry body Nasscom estimated that India’s technology industry revenue (including hardware) was likely to reach $254 billion in FY24, an addition of over $9 billion over last year.
Points to Ponder:
— How India’s digital public infrastructure such as Aadhar, UPI, and ONDC can be used to help the tech sector?
— What are the opportunities for the IT sector in artificial intelligence and quantum computing?
— Why does India need a new policy for IT and ITeS?
Post Read Question:
What is the role of the IT sector in India’s GDP growth, and what measures can be taken to enhance its contribution to the economy?
UPSC Syllabus:
Preliminary Examination: Economy
Mains Examination: GS-III: Economy, Banking sector
What’s the ongoing story- The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Wednesday imposed business restrictions on two Edelweiss group companies — Edelweiss Asset Reconstruction Company (EARCL) and ECL Finance Ltd (ECL) on material concerns observed during the course of supervisory examinations.
Prerequisites:
— What are security receipts?
— What are non-performing assets (NPA)?
— What is the evergreening of loans?
Key takeaways:
— A security receipt (SR) means a receipt or other security issued by an asset reconstruction company (ARC) to any qualified buyer as consideration for their purchase or acquisition of distressed assets from banks/ non-banking financial companies (NBFCs).
— Evergreening of loans is a process whereby a lender tries to revive a loan that is on the verge of default by extending more loans to the same borrower. The process of evergreening of loans is typically a temporary fix for a bank. It could be noted that in May 2023, RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das had raised concerns over banks adopting innovative methods for evergreening of loans.
For Your Information:
— The process of evergreening of loans, a form of zombie lending, is typically a temporary fix for a bank. If an account turns into a non-performing asset (NPA), banks are required to make higher provisions which will impact their profitability. A loan turns into a nonperforming asset, or NPA, if the interest or instalment remains unpaid even after the due date — and remains unpaid for a period of more than 90 days.
— So, to avoid classifying a loan as an NPA, banks adopt the evergreening of loans. In the past, many banks had indulged in dressing up bad loans and given additional funds to companies who didn’t have the capacity to repay.
— Banks delay the recognition of losses due to loan defaults and engage in evergreening, which is essentially the rolling over of debts of unviable borrowers that would have otherwise defaulted. This is purely misgovernance, so that bad loans are made to look good many a time by additional lending to troubled borrowers.
Points to Ponder:
— What is the impact of the evergreening of loans?
— What are the issues related to the banking sector in India?
— What are the initiatives taken by the RBI to curb evergreening of loans?
(Thought Process: In December 2023, in a move to curb the “evergreening” of loans, the Reserve Bank barred banks and NBFCs from investing in any scheme of Alternative Investment Funds (AIFs) having investment in companies that have taken loans from the lenders concerned in the past 12 months.)
Post Read Question:
Which of the following statements is correct about the evergreening of loans?
(a) It is a process used by private banks to renew their license to provide Priority Sector Lending.
(b) It is a contract between the central government and RBI to provide loans to the state in case of emergency.
(c) It helps the RBI to float market securities whenever inflation is high in the economy.
(d) is a process whereby a lender tries to revive a loan that is on the verge of default by extending more loans to the same borrower.
Other Important Articles Covering the same topic:
UPSC Syllabus:
Preliminary Examination: Economy
Mains Examination: GS-III: Economy
What’s the ongoing story- Amid the ongoing Red Sea shipping crisis that has forced global shipping lines to take longer routes, United Nations Trade and Development (UNCTAD) has said that global trade disruptions are causing ships to spend more days at sea causing a surge in the emission of greenhouse gases.
Prerequisites:
— What is the Red Sea shipping crisis?
— How much does the shipping industry contribute to the carbon emissions?
— What is the role of UNCTAD?
Key takeaways:
— Since the attacks by Yemen’s Houthi rebel forces began in the Suez Canal last year in October, hundreds of ships have been diverted around the Cape of Good Hope, adding about 10 to 15 days of voyage time resulting in higher emission.
— A large container ship’s journey from China to Germany, for example, emits 38 percent more carbon dioxide, or 4.32 million kilograms, if it goes around Africa instead of through the Suez Canal, according to Reuters.
— As per UNCTAD, transits passing the Suez Canal in the Red Sea area decreased by 42 percent by February this year compared to its peak. The Suez Canal is one of the most important links for global trade and enables a more direct route for shipping between Europe and Asia.
— The report said that for the first time, the world faces simultaneous disruptions in two major global maritime trade waterways, with far-reaching implications for inflation and food and energy security.
— Since November 2023, escalating attacks on ships in the Red Sea have been compounding disruptions in the Black Sea caused by the war in Ukraine and in the Panama Canal due to climate-induced droughts.
For Your Information:
— UNCTAD is the UN trade and development body. It supports developing countries to access the benefits of a globalized economy more fairly and effectively and equips them to deal with the potential drawbacks of greater economic integration.
— It provides analysis, facilitates consensus-building and offers technical assistance to help developing countries use trade, investment, finance and technology as vehicles for inclusive and sustainable development.
Points to Ponder:
— What are the global initiatives to decarbonise the international shipping industry?
— How do geopolitical tensions impact the shipping industry?
— How trade disruption is contributing to the increase in carbon emissions?
Post Read Question:
What concerns has UNCTAD raised regarding recent disruptions in global maritime trade?
Other Important Articles Covering the same topic:
Dismantling old ships won’t reduce India’s carbon footprint — it will only create more problems
UPSC Syllabus:
Preliminary Examination: Economy
Mains Examination: GS-III: Economy
What’s the ongoing story- The global unemployment rate is expected to fall slightly to 4.9% this year from 5.0% in 2023, even as inequalities in labour markets persist, the International Labour Organization (ILO) said on Wednesday.
Prerequisites:
— What is the role of the International Labour Organisation (ILO)?
— What is unemployment?
— What are macroeconomic policies?
Key takeaways:
— The ILO, a United Nations agency, in January estimated unemployment to edge up to 5.2% due to an expected rise in joblessness in advanced economies.
— The revision is mainly due to lower-than-expected unemployment rates in China, India, and high-income countries reported so far this year, the agency said.
— But in the medium term the situation remains uncertain due to the monetary and fiscal policy adjustments expected globally with restrictive macroeconomic policies having a delayed effect on the labour market, it added.
— Despite the improving outlook, the Geneva-based organisation highlighted a “persistent” lack of employment opportunities.
For Your Information:
— The Unemployment Rate (UER) is the percentage of people looking for a job but are as yet unemployed. The UER is expressed as a percentage of the labour force. All over the world, the UER is often the most widely used metric to assess the health of the labour market.
Points to Ponder:
— What is the status of unemployment in India?
— What initiatives have been taken by the government to tackle unemployment in the country?
Post Read Question:
Disguised unemployment generally means (UPSC CSE 2013)
(a) large number of people remain unemployed
(b) alternative employment is not available
(c) marginal productivity of labour is zero
(d) productivity of workers is low
Other Important Articles Covering the same topic:
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