[Mission 2023] INSIGHTS DAILY CURRENT AFFAIRS + PIB SUMMARY 16 August 2022

GS Paper 1

Syllabus: The Freedom Struggle

Source: Indian Express, Indian Express

Direction: No need to remember or overthink, just go through it once.

Context:  In the Independence Day address to the nation from the ramparts of the Red Fort, Prime Minister Narendra Modi hailed “Nari shakti”, and paid tribute to various women leaders.

Women Heroes

Rani Laxmibai	·         The queen of the princely state of Jhansi. ·         Fought in the First War of India’s Independence in 1857 ·         Refused to cede her territory to Britishers because of the Doctrine of Lapse
Durga Bhabhi	Durgawati Devi, who was popularly known as Durga Bhabhi, was a member of the Naujawan Bharat Sabha, she helped Bhagat Singh escape in disguise from Lahore after the 1928 killing of British police officer John P Saunders.
Rani Gaidinliu	Rani Gaidinliu was a Naga spiritual and political leader who fought the British. She joined the Heraka religious movement which later became a movement to drive out the British. Gaidinliu was finally arrested in 1932 when she was just 16 and later sentenced to life. She was released in 1947.
Rani Chennamma	The queen of Kittur, Rani Chennamma, was among the first rulers to lead an armed rebellion against British rule (1824).  Rani Chennamma defeated the British in her first revolt but was captured and imprisoned during the second assault by the East India Company.
Begum Hazrat Mahal	After her husband, Nawab of Awadh Wajid Ali Shah was exiled after the 1857 revolt, Begum Hazrat Mahal, along with her supporters, took on the British and wrested control of Lucknow.
Velu Nachiyar (queen of Shivaganga estate, TN)	She went on to produce the first human bomb as well as establish the first army of trained women soldiers in the late 1700s

 

Revolutionaries

 

Mangal Pandey	Mangal Pandey is believed to have sparked off the mutiny of Indian soldiers at Meerut that eventually became the great revolt of 1857.
Tantya Tope	Tantya Tope was a trusted lieutenant of Nana Sahib, the adopted son of Peshwa Baji Rao II of the Maratha empire. Nana Sahib lost his ancestral rights under the ‘Doctrine of Lapse’ that disallowed adopted heirs of Indian rulers from ascending to the throne.
Bhagat Singh, Sukhdev, Rajguru	Bhagat Singh, who was inspired by communist thought, anti-colonialism, and anti-communalism, was involved in the symbolic bombing of the Central Legislative Assembly. He was hanged by the British at the age of 23. Along with Bhagat Singh, Sukhdev and Rajguru were also hanged to death.
Chandrashekhar Azad	He gave himself the name ‘Azad’ and vowed never to be held captive; when cornered by police in his final moments, he chose to shoot himself.
Ashfaqulla Khan	Khan helped form the HSRA and was part of the Kakori incident. April 1927, Bismil, Khan, Rajendra Lahiri, and Roshan Singh were sentenced to death.
Ramprasad Bismil	Bismil was associated with the Arya Samaj from an early age. He started writing powerful patriotic poems in Urdu and Hindi under the pen names ‘Bismil’, ‘Ram’, and ‘Agyat’. He was executed at the age of 30.

Mains Link:
Q. Explain how the upraising of 1857 constitutes an important watershed in the evolution of British policies towards colonial India. (UPSC 2016)

GS Paper 1

Syllabus: Society: Population

Source: The Hindu

Direction: The world population prospectus report 2022 was released last month. This is just an analysis of the trend.

Findings:

India is at the 3rd stage of the demographic transition (DT).

• India is experiencing a slowing population growth rate due to constant low mortalityand rapidly declining fertility. Its population growth is further expected to fall to 1% by 2025.

Challenges in Demographic Transition:

• Many States have not achieved a low TFR (e.g. Bihar, UP): The reasons being high illiteracy levels, rampant child marriage, and low contraceptive usage compared to other states.
  • The total fertility rate of a population is the average number of children that would be born to a woman over her lifetime
• Male-dominant sex ratio: It is 943 females per 1,000 males (2011). Reason being- preference for sons and sex selection (both pre-and post-natal)
• Marriage squeeze: Not many girls are available in comparison to boys, leading to an instance of bride purchase.
• Elderly population: It is now increasing and is expected to be 12% by 2050 (from above 9% now).

Suggestions by author

• Improve the status of womenin Indian society, and quality of life
• prioritize improvement in sex ratio.
• For Elderly: Advanced investments in the development of a robust social, financial and healthcare support system
• Extensive investment in human capital like education and health

Insta Links

Reaping India’s demographic dividend

Mains Link

Q. What do you understand by demographic transition? By emphasising on demographic dividends, our government must not ignore the inevitability of population ageing and take steps to address the challenges that will arise in the future. (250 Words)

GS Paper 2

Syllabus: Police Reforms

Direction: Can make a few notes, but be very selective. Read it once to understand the changes.

Context: On the 75 anniversary of India’s importance, the author analyses the need for police reforms

IPC 1861: The main objective was to use the police as a weapon of repression and strengthen the hold the British had over India. The prevention (and detection) of crime was never their priority. Most of the constabulary was illiterate and not paid even a ‘living wage’.

• Fraser commission reforms (1902-03) were not accepted.

However, Since independence there have been numerous changes:

• For women:
  • Check the social evil of dowry: the Dowry Prohibition Act was passed in 1961.
  • Sections 498A (cruelty by husband and his relatives) and 304B (dowry death) along with certain amendments in the Evidence Act.
  • Custodial torture and sexual harassment of women have been held to be violations of fundamental rights.
• For children:
  • The definition of rape has been widened and offences related to sexual assault made tougher.
  • Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, 2012, and the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015, have been enacted
• For business:
  • Ease of doing business: Electronic documents and signatures have been given legal sanctity to facilitate online transactions and check cybercrime under the Information Technology Act of 2000.
• Against discrimination:
  • The Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, was enacted in 1989.
  • Reading down Section 377 of the IPC (a relief to the LGBTQ+ community)
• Against terrorism
  • The National Investigation Agency was constituted in 2008 (after the deadly 26/11 terror attacks in Mumbai) to investigate and prosecute offences affecting national security.
• For Individual:
  • The right to privacy has been recognised as a fundamental right.
  • ‘Sedition’ (Section 124A) act is under the scrutiny of the supreme court.
• Institutional changes:
  • Move towards inquisitorial system: Attempt to blend some elements of the inquisitorial system into the (prevalent) adversarial system by making judicial inquiry into custodial death and custodial rape mandatory.
  • Introduction of the police commissionerate system (Kolkata, Mumbai, Hyderabad, Chennai, Lucknow and Noida)
  • Reformation rather than retribution: The Probation of Offenders Act, 1958, with an objective more to reform, rather than punish, offenders.
  • Power to arrest having been curtailed, the use of handcuffs restrained
  • The presence of a lawyer permitted during interrogation
  • CCTV cameras installed in the police stations
  • Human rights bodies are allowed to keep a constant eye.

Limitations of reforms:

• Police continue to be haunted by allegations of being a brute force.
• The trust deficit does not appear to have bridged.
• Committee/ SC guidelines: Prakash Singh v. Union of India (2006): but implementation has been poor.
• Despite ‘Police’ is a State subject, no State government has given due attention to police reforms so far
• Directive of separating investigation from law and order was not implemented by States and Union Territories in the true spirit
• No State or UT has adopted the Model Police Act drafted by Soli J. Sorabjee.
• Overarching power of DM:
  • District Superintendent of Police is unable to transfer his Station House Officers without the approval of the District Magistrate in U.P.
  • The performance appraisal report of a Superintendent of Police is still written by the District Magistrate despite SC’s directions to the contrary

Solution:

• Additional funding and training
• Improving soft skills and ensuring investigation in an impartial manner
• Unwanted and mechanical arrests need to be stopped
• More offences can be made bailable and more brought under the ambit of compounding to lighten the burden on jails
• The use of technology and forensic techniques must be encouraged to enhance the quality of evidence.
• Specialised wings need to be established to deal with newer types of crime.

Conclusion:

The police should be accountable only for their constitutional goal of establishing the rule of law.

Insta Links

Police Reforms

Mains Links

Q. Trace the journey of police reforms in India since independence. Examine as to why despite many attempts at reforms, the police are top heavy, selectively efficient and unsympathetic. Suggest measures to have a more responsive and respected police force. (250 Words)

GS Paper 2

Syllabus:  Issues Relating to Health, Education, Human Resources.

Source: Indian Express

Direction: Go through once to understand the issue.

Context: Evaluation of health care in India

Health Care System in India: multi-tiered structure.

• Village-level PHC: a community worker operates and provides services covering 12 diseases/needs.
• Block-level: there is a 30-bed community health centre operated by four specialists
• District level: Hospital/medical college

History of healthcare reforms: Bhore Committee Report (1946), the Kartar Singh Committee Report (1973), National Rural Health Mission (NRHM) of 2005 and the Ayushman Bharat Mission of 2019.

NRHM was remarkable as it set the Indian Public Health Standards (IPHS) for physical infrastructure, human resources and service delivery, and led to a three-fold increase in budget.

Outcomes out of NRHM:

• Institutional deliveries improved from 41% in 2005 to 89% in 2021,
• The maternal mortality ratio (MMR) went down from 407 per one lakh women in 2,000 to 113 per one lakh women in 2021,
• The infant mortality ratio reduced from 58/1,000 live births in 2005 to about 28/1,000 live births in 2021
• The healthcare system’s footfall has registered an impressive improvement in states like Bihar and UP.

Limitations: The primary healthcare system continues to be plagued with gaps and deficiencies, over-

crowding, poor facilities, low budget (barely 1.1% of GDP)

Solution:

Other solutions

• National policy should be nimble and allow for differential strategies because a single system may not be apt for the entire country.
• The Centre should adopt the principles of flexibility, and decentralisation and provides the space for innovation for states and districts to plan, design and implement primary care in accordance with local needs. The Centre government’s role should be limited to measuring outcomes.

Insta Links

Issues related to the Health sector

Mains Links

Q. Mention the issues with the public healthcare system in India. How can these issues be addressed? Explain. (250 Words)

GS paper 2

Syllabus: Bilateral, regional and global grouping and agreements, India-EU relations etc

Source: The Hindu

Direction: If you don’t have India- EU notes ready, can take a few points from the article.

Context: While India celebrates its 75th year of Independence, it also celebrates 60 years of diplomatic relations with the European Union (EU).

Significant milestone in India-EU relations:

• 1960s: India was one of the first to establish relations with the European economic community.
• Cooperation agreement (1994): It defined the relationship between India and the EU.
• First India-EU Summit (2000): It marked a watershed in the evolution of the relationship.
• 2004: Strategic partnership
• Joint Action Plan (2005): to enhance trade and investment and bring peoples and cultures together.
• 15th India-EU Summit (2020): It highlighted engagement across these areas:
  • Foreign policy and security cooperation
  • Trade and economy
  • Sustainable modernisation partnership
  • Global governance
  • People-to-people relations.

Areas of cooperation:

• Bilateral trade: Bilateral trade between the two surpassed $116 billion in 2021-22.
  • The EU is India’s second-largest trading partner after the U.S
• Avenues of collaboration:
  • For example, the ‘green strategic partnership’ between India and Denmark aims to address climate change, biodiversity loss and pollution
  • India-Nordic Summit focused on green technologies
• Defence Cooperation:
  • India and the EU regularly conduct joint military and naval exercises which reflects their commitment to a free, open, inclusive and rules-based order in the Indo-Pacific.
  • France’s on-time delivery of 36 Rafale fighter jets and willingness to offer Barracuda nuclear attack submarines to the Indian Navy
  • Leading European defence equipment manufacturers are willing to partner with Indian companies aligned with the ‘Make in India’ programme.
• Free-Trade Agreement: India and the EU had launched talks for Free Trade Agreement (FTA), officially called broad-based BTIA, in 2007.
• Start-up and innovation ecosystem:
  • Science and Technology Joint Steering Committee between the two focuses on areas such as healthcare, Artificial Intelligence, and earth sciences.
  • In 2020, there was an agreement for research and development cooperation in the peaceful uses of nuclear energy between the European Atomic Energy Community and the Government of India.

Challenges: Both have differing opinions and divergent interests in some areas.

• Russian intervention in Ukraine: India’s reluctance to explicitly condemn Russia’s intervention in Ukraine
• Double standard on gas imports from Russia: India has called out the EU’s double standards on the same, for the EU purchases 45% of its gas imports from Russia in 2021.
• Rise of China: There is also ambiguity on the EU’s strategy in tackling the rise of China.
  • Its muted response during the Galwan clash is a case in point.
• Hesitancy: India’s economic, political and demographic weight could be deftly leveraged by the EU to counterbalance China’s influence across the region. But there seems to be some hesitancy about this.

Conclusion:

• Divergence and convergence: India and the EU should not let divergences of views overwhelm the many areas of convergence among them.
• India-EU free trade: The proactive resumption of the ambitious India-EU free trade and investment agreement in 2021 is a step in the right direction.
• Indo-Pacific partnership: European partners acknowledge India as an important pillar in ensuring stability in the Indo-Pacific region.
  • The EU wants to be more than just a trading bloc and is seeking alliances with like-minded countries like India.
• Political and economic poles: Indian External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar rightly said, “ India and the EU are each political and economic poles in an increasingly multi-polar world.
  • The ability to work together, therefore, can shape global outcomes.”

Insta Links:

India-EU relations

Practice Questions:

GS Paper 3

Source: Indian Express

Direction: Go through it once. Try to understand the trend. No need to remember data/facts.

Context:  A report titled “Impact Assessment Study of the Labour Reforms” was published recently, it analysed labour reforms conducted in Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Jharkhand, and Uttar Pradesh during the period 2004-05 to 2018-19.

Status of employment:

• • • 1980 to 1990: Every 1% of GDP growth generated roughly two lakh new jobs
    • 1990 to 2000:Every 1% of GDP growth generated roughly one lakh jobs.

The trend in labour reform:

• • • Pre-2014 Reforms: The government focused on improving labour administration by simplifying procedures and digitisation.
    • Post-2014 Reforms: Focus on reforming the content of the laws e.g. New labour codes.

Since labour is a ‘Concurrent’ list subject, we look at the performance of states on these labour reforms:

• • • Little success: The labour reforms were undertaken so far had little effect on increasing employmentin large enterprises in India.
      • The reforms failed to serve the primary purpose of labour laws like to protect workers, not promote the interests of investors.
    • Employment in formal enterprises is becoming more informal.
    • Increasing contractualization: Large investors are employing increasing numbers of people on short-term contracts, while perversely demanding more flexibility in laws.
    • Rajasthan, the first state to implement the reforms, seems to have benefitted the least from them.

Conclusion:

More GDP does not automatically produce more incomes at the bottom. India needs to focus on the creation of jobs, labour policies must focus on the generation of better-quality livelihoods for Indian citizens or all citizens’ ease of earning better livelihoods and with more dignity.

Insta Links

New Labour laws

Mains Links

1. What are the issues with current labour laws in the country? Examine the need for carrying out labour reforms to progress on the performance of India’s manufacturing sector. (250 Words)

GS1/ GS3

Syllabus: Post-independence India, Economy: Infrastructure

Source: The Hindu

Direction: This editorial piece shows Nehru’s legacy. Can go through it once. No need to note it down.

Context: On the 75^th anniversary, the author highlights J.L Nehrus’ legacy

In 1947, Nehru, as Prime Minister, inherited an India that was politically shattered, socially divided and emotionally devastated. Yet, he steered the country through those turbulent times and laid out the vision of a modern, progressive nation that quietly earned the respect of the global community.

Contributions:

• Prime Minister Nehru’s 17-year rule set the stage for momentum in the Indian economy (e.g. green revolution white revolution, digitization, telecommunication) and his management model became a template for many succeeding Prime Ministers.
• Nehru’s vision of India was anchored in a set of ideas such as democracy, secularism, inclusive economic growth, a free press and non-alignment in international affairs and also in institutions that would lay the foundation for India’s future growth.

The temples of modern India by Nehru:

• Bhakra-Nangal dam
• Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited
• All India Institute of Medical Sciences
• Oil and Natural Gas Corporation and Indian Oil Corporation (Indian Oil became the first Indian company to be listed in the Fortune 100, in 2014)
• National Library of India
• National Institute of Design.
• Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) (now worth over the US $ 95 bn)
• Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) and Indian Institutes of Management (IIM).
• Kendriya Vidyalayas
• Khadi and Village Industries Commission
• Modern city: Chandigarh
• Election Commission of India
• Planning Commission (now NITI Aayog)
• Cooperative movement (Amul is the largest milk producer in the world)

Conclusion:

Among the political leaders of the newly independent nations of the 20th century, Nehru stands out as a unique personality who combined intellectual stature with mass popularity.

Insta Links

PSU’s strategic sale

Mains Link

Q. Critically analyse the rationale behind divestment and strategic sale of Public Sector Units (PSUs) and their possible macroeconomic impacts. (250 Words)