[Mission 2023] INSIGHTS DAILY CURRENT AFFAIRS + PIB SUMMARY 19 January 2023

GS Paper 2

Syllabus: Development and management of social sectors/services related to Education etc

Source: IE

Direction: The article highlights the findings of the ASER 2022, what can be deduced from these findings and way ahead.

Context: Following two years of school closures caused by Covid-19, the recently released 17th Annual Status of Education Report (ASER) for 2022 contains both bright spots and areas of concern.

Background:

• Pratham, a non-governmental organisation (NGO), has been surveying children aged 6 to 14 and publishing ASER since 2005 to track trends in school enrolment, attendance, and reading and arithmetic abilities.
• This year’s report (published after 2018) surveyed 7 lakh children in 19,060 villages across 616 districts across the country.

Conclusion: FLN is critical for increasing the country’s productivity in terms of human capital. As a result, the government’s priority should be to raise learning and teaching standards.

Insta Links:

Needed, education data that engages the poor parent

Mains Links:

National Education Policy 2020 is in conformity with Sustainable Development Goal 4 (2030). It intends to restructure and reorient the education system in India. Critically examine the statement. (UPSC 2020)

GS Paper 2

Syllabus: Governance, Social Justice

Source: DTE

Context: A study jointly conducted by CRY — Child Rights and You and Chanakya National Law University, Patna stated that online sexual exploitation and abuse (OCSEA), has extended its presence across India during the pandemic and the extent of such crimes is becoming a matter of concern.

Key findings from POCSO and Beyond: Understanding Online Safety during COVID Report –

• Adolescent girls and boys within 14-18 years, belonging to the lower income strata were figured as the most vulnerable age group.
• Just 30 per cent of the parents said they would go to the police station and file a complaint, while 70 per cent ruled out that possibility.
• Only 16 per cent of parents claimed to be familiar with any OCSEA-related laws, indicating a lack of information and faith in the legal system and law enforcement.
• Nearly 33 per cent of the parents among the respondents reported that strangers approached their children via Online Platforms.

Laws on sharing of online Child Sexual Abusive Material (CSAM) in India:

• In India, viewing adult pornography in private is not an offence.
• As per the Information Technology (IT) Act, 2002, it is punishable to show children any pornographic content.

Current system of detecting CSAM in India:

• Help from foreign agencies
• Operation Megh Chakra and Operation Carbon:launched by the CBI.

India’s efforts so far:

• ‘Aarambh India’: a Mumbai-based NGO, partnered with the IWF, and launched India’s first online reporting portal to report images and videos of child abuse.
• National cybercrime reporting portal
• Jairam Ramesh Committee made recommendations on ‘the alarming issue of pornography on social media and its effect on children and society as a whole’.
• State governments are increasingly adopting “Child-Friendly Policing” to encourage reporting of abuses.

Major Initiatives for Preventing Child Sexual Abuse in India:

• POCSO Act, 2012
• Integrated Child Protection Scheme
• Child Abuse Prevention and Investigation Unit
• Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao
• Juvenile Justice Act/Care and Protection Act, 2000
• Child Marriage Prohibition Act (2006)
• Child Labour Prohibition and Regulation Act, 2016
• Operation Smile

Effects of Sexual Abuse on Child:

• Children fall for post-traumatic stress disorder diagnosis, depression, conduct disorders, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, and obsessive-compulsive disorder.
• Strong feelings of hopelessness, suicidal ideation, and suicidal attempt.
• Getting detached from family and friends.

Ethical aspects related to Child Abuse:

• Deteriorating moral ideologies in the society – rising cases of paedophilia.
• Parents trying to not open up with their children or talk about this in society.

InstaCurious:

Article 19 of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) states the following:

States Parties shall take all appropriate legislative, administrative, social and educational measures to protect the child from all forms of physical or mental violence, injury or abuse, neglect or negligent treatment, maltreatment or Exploitation, including sexual abuse, while in the care of parent(s), legal guardian(s) or any other person who has the care of the child.

Insta Links:

• Child Abuse
• An online fight where children need to be saved

GS Paper 3

Syllabus: Environment and Conservation

Source: TH

Direction: The article covers Ecologically sensitive zones (ESZ) and the issues related to the ESZ.

Context: The creation of the Ecologically sensitive zones (ESZ) has sparked protests in Kerala and can be a hint of what is likely to occur in other parts of the country.

• ESZ Context: The problem begins with a notification that ought to have been community-specific but which a ministry offered as a ‘one size fits all’ solution.

Background:

• Protected areas cover 5.26% of India’s land area as 108 national parks and 564 wildlife sanctuaries notified under the Wildlife (Protection) Act 1972 (WPA).
• These protected areas are based on the ‘fortress conservation model’. For example, activities permitted in ‘reserve forests’ are not permitted in national parks and wildlife sanctuaries.
• Surrounding these protected areas is an area of approx. 3.4% of the country’s land, falls under the ESZ regime.
• Governments have notified 341 ESZs in 29 States and 5 UTs, while another 85 ESZs are awaiting notification.
• Together, protected areas and the ESZs cover 8.66% of India’s land area.

What are ESZ/Ecologically Fragile Areas (EFA)?

 Meaning: ESZ is intended to protect ‘protected areas’ – national parks and wildlife sanctuaries – by effectively creating insulating layers around such protected areas where humans and nature can be at peace with each other.

Objectives of creating ESZ:

• To create a shock absorber by regulating and managing the activities around protected areas.
• To serve as a transition zone between areas of high protection and areas of lower protection.

Notified and regulated by: They are notified by the Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC) and regulated under the Environment Protection Act 1986 (though the EPA does not mention the word ‘ESZ’).

Criteria to designate ESZ:

• Based on species (endemism, rarity, etc)
• Based on the ecosystem (sacred groves, frontier forests, etc)
• Based on geomorphological features (uninhabited islands, origins of rivers, etc)

Extent of ESZ:

• An ESZ’s distribution can vary in breadth and extent. For example, the extent of ESZ from the boundary of a protected area ranges from 0 to 45.82 km (in Pin Valley National Park, HP).
• The ESZs span notified forests outside protected areas, most of which could also come under gram sabhas’ jurisdiction under the FRA.

Issues with ESZ: 

Not in sync with FRA and PESA:

• The Forest Rights Act (FRA) 2006, recognises the customary and traditional rights (both individual and collective) of forest-dwellers on forest land, including inside protected areas.
  • Under the FRA, a new category of forests called ‘community forest resource’ (CFR) has been created and has to be managed by the Gram Sabhas.
• Similarly, the Provisions of the Panchayat (Extension to Scheduled Areas) Act (PESA) 1996, empower Gram Sabhas to safeguard and preserve community resources on forest and revenue lands in Scheduled Areas.
• However, the MoEFCC has shown no inclination to amend the Indian Forest Act 1927, the Wildlife (Protection) Act and the EPA 1986 to comply with PESA and FRA.

The case of Kerala:

• The Western Ghats (WG) cover 48% of Kerala and nearly 30% of the state is covered by forests.
• There is also a network of lakes, canals and wetlands, as well as a 590-kilometre-long coastline, all of which are governed by a set of environmental conservation laws.
• This leaves little space for its 3.5 crore population, which has a population density of 900 people per square km (much higher than the national average).
• According to an SC directive, at least one km from the boundary of every protected area in Kerala should be marked as ESZ
• The Kerala State Assembly recently unanimously passed a resolution urging the Central Government to exempt the state’s human settlements, farmlands, and public institutions from the ESZ’s scope.

Conclusion:

• Mining and other activities have long depleted the nation’s natural resources.
• As a result, the government’s role should not be limited to that of a “facilitator” of economic activity.
• It must strive to achieve long-term sustainable development by balancing economic development, environmental conservation and the rights of forest dwellers.

Insta Curious:

The fortress conservation model is based on the belief that biodiversity protection is best achieved by creating protected areas where ecosystems can function in isolation from human disturbance. It assumes that local people use natural resources in irrational and destructive ways, and as a result cause biodiversity loss and environmental degradation.

Insta Links:

What are the Eco-sensitive Zones (ESZs)?

Mains Links:

How does the draft Environment Impact Assessment (EIA) Notification, 2020 differ from the existing EIA Notification, 2006? (UPSC 2020)

Prelims Links: (UPSC 2014)

GS Paper 3

Syllabus: Achievements of Indians in science & technology.

Source: Live Mint

Context: With the space sector opening up, startups have begun to rapidly transform the industry.

Measures for encouraging the private sector in the space programme:

• Indian National Space Promotion and Authorisation Centre (IN-SPACe) in Ahmedabad.
  • IN-SPACe is an autonomous, single-window nodal agency; formed to promote, authorise, monitor and supervise the space activities of NonGovernmental Private Entities (NGPEs) in India.
• With the formation of IN-SPACE, over 100 companies have come up in this sector and in 2022 they raised as much as $110 million.
• Reforms in the space sector enable more private players to provide end-to-end services.
• NewSpace India Ltd (NSIL), is mandated to transfer the matured technologies developed by the ISRO to Indian industries.
• Change in strategy: the present supply-based model has been changed to a demand-driven model, wherein NSIL shall act as an aggregator of user requirements and obtain commitments.
• Regulatory regime:
  • The first to be updated was the SpaceCom and SpaceRS policies, further liberalizing the traditional Satellite Communication and Remote Sensing sectors, respectively, thus enabling entrepreneurs and industries to take up end-to-end activities in these domains

Private players’ entry will support the Indian space Industry in the following ways:

• Participation in the private sector will give rise to new innovations and technology.
• It will provide an opportunity to harness the talent pool in the country, by providing them with immense opportunities for exploration.
• A reduction in the cost of operation with efficient practices, building a supply chain to accommodate the downstream players.
• Also, it will allow procuring non-Indian orbital resources to build their space-based systems for communication services in and outside India.

Private players find smaller satellite markets a more lucrative option.

Advantages of smaller satellites:

• Smaller satellites use industry-grade rather than space-grade components.
• These smaller satellites are parked closer to earth, where radiation is lower and have a shorter lifespan.
• Moreover, while an INSAT class satellite will cost at least ₹400 crores, smaller satellites can be built for just ₹10 crores
• Above all, they do not need large launch vehicles such as the PSLV or GSLV, which cost ₹300 crore and ₹450 crores, respectively.
• Potential: According to European Space Agency data, anywhere between 70,000 to 100,000 satellites will be launched in the next 15 years and over 80% will be small satellites weighing less than 500 kg.

Role of ISRO in the Private space industry:

• The private sector will rely on ISRO for infrastructure—be it launch facilities, tracking systems, technology transfers and capacity building
• ISRO will focus on non-commercial greater complexity scientific missions such as focusing on deep-space missions and putting an Indian in space through its Gaganyaan
• ISRO has set up NewSpace India Ltd (NSIL) to handle the commercial end of the business.
• ISRO is the 6th largest space agency in the world and holds an exceptional success rate
• Indian Space Association (ISpA): ISpA aspires to be the collective voice of the Indian Space industry.
• The introduction of the Indian Space Activities Bill will give greater clarity to private players on how to be an integral part of the space sector.

Limitations of the private sector in space: 

• Policy Bottlenecks: India is yet to legislate specific space laws to regulate the private sector. Hence, ensuring openness and clarity about the working framework becomes difficult in the current situation.

• Monopolization: Space is capital intensive industry, and only a few rich corporates can afford the investment. Hence, accommodating all players and ensuring an equitable platform becomes difficult.
• Funding: India’s space budget of $1.7 billion (in 2022) was minuscule compared to the US’s $30 billion and China’s $14 billion (which includes $1 billion from its private players).
• Profit Motive: Space in general, should be an enabler of Technological equity for citizens. This aspect becomes difficult to ensure when private entities operate with profit interest.
• Intellectual property issue: The lack of a robust space-centric IPR policy in India, raises issues regarding sharing and diversification of space resources.

Conclusion

At present, India needs a space policy, which can be clear and liberal on private players. With this proposed new policy for space, India wants to tap into the private sector, which could help the industry grow.

Mains Links:

The mission Prarambh, marks the Indian private sector’s first foray into the promising space launch market, opening opportunities for the privatisation of space which is heavily dominated by ISRO. Discuss.

Prelims Links: