[Mission 2023] INSIGHTS DAILY CURRENT AFFAIRS + PIB SUMMARY 23 March 2023

GS Paper 1

Source: Indian Express

Context: California has experienced an exceptionally wet winter with 11 atmospheric rivers battering the state and a twelfth such storm threatening to cause even more flooding, landslides and road closures.

• California has received 147% of average rainfall so far this season, according to the state Department of Water Resources.

About Atmospheric rivers:

• Atmospheric rivers are vast airborne currents of dense moisture carried aloft for hundreds of miles from the Ocean and funnelled over land to fall as bouts of heavy rain and snow.

California prone to drought:

• During any normal 20-year period of the 20th century, about 10 years were wet and 10 years were dry.
• But in the past 25 years, only nine years were wet and 16 were dry, meaning the state needs seven more wet years to recover. And climate change points to future years that are likely to get warmer, exacerbating the increasingly dry climate.

How does the rain affect wildfires?

• This winter’s bountiful rainfall has already triggered considerable growth in grasses and scrub that will dry out by summer, leaving a larger, thicker fuel bed for wildfires.
• The heavy rains can create dangers around burn scars from previous wildfires. The denuded land becomes susceptible to mudslides.

Impacts on regional climate and people:

• Heat balance: They transport huge amounts of water vapour from one place to another which is essential for the transfer of heat and equalizing heat across various latitudes.
• Precipitation
• Climate change: They are being amplified by global warming as they are predicted to grow longer, wetter and wider in a warming climate.
• People:
  • Pros: In dry conditions, atmospheric rivers can replenish water supplies and quench dangerous wildfires.

They can also deliver the usually needed rainfall to a region which is necessary for human life.

• Cons: In wet conditions, they can cause damaging floods and debris flow, wreaking havoc on local economies.
• Visibility is also diminished as these rivers increase haze-fog conditions which harm agriculture and transport.

GS Paper 2

Source: The Hindu

Context: The Supreme Court asked the Centre to provide data that may point to a more dignified, less painful and socially acceptable method of executing prisoners other than death by hanging.

• The Bench has sought fresh data to substantiate the argument that a more humane means of execution can be found.

Death penalty:

• The death penalty, also known as capital punishment, is a legal sentence in some countries where a person is put to death by the state as a punishment for a crime they have committed.
• Section 354 (5) of the Code of Criminal Procedure mandates that a person sentenced to death shall “be hanged by the neck till he is dead”.

Table: Pros and Cons of the Death Penalty

Judgements related to death sentences:

• There are two leading judgments on the issue — Bachan Singh vs the State of Punjab (1980), which upheld the death penalty, but limited it to the ‘rarest of rare cases’, and
• Deena Dayal vs Union of India and Others (1983), upheld the method by ruling that hanging is “as painless as possible” and “causes no greater pain than any other known method”.
• The 35th Report of the Law Commission (1967) noted that electrocution, the use of a gas chamber and lethal injection were considered by some to be less painful.

Centre’s stand on death by hanging:

• In its 2018 affidavit, the government argued that death by hanging was the only “viable” option to execute a death warrant. However, the government also sought additional time to examine the methods followed in other countries.

What is the practice in other countries?

• According to Amnesty International, 55 countries around the world have the death sentence on the books.
• In the United States, an intravenous lethal injection is given in every state (27 states and American Samoa) that allows the death penalty. Electrocution is a secondary method in some states.
• Execution by firing squad is employed in China and Saudi Arabia uses beheading apart from other methods.

Insta Links:

Death Penalty

Mains Link: UPSC 2014

Instances of President’s delay in commuting death sentences have come under public debate as denial of justice. Should there be a time limit specified for the President to accept/reject such petitions? Analyse.

GS Paper 2

Syllabus: Functioning of Indian Democracy

Source: TH

Context: The question of whether or not India’s democratic values have declined in recent years has been debated at the University of Cambridge.

Data on democratic values in India: By the Sweden-based V-Dem (Varieties of Democracy) Institute –

• The deliberative democracy index: It measures whether political decisions are made through public reasoning or emotional appeals and coercion.
• The egalitarian democracy index: It examines equal access to rights and liberties.
• The electoral democracy index: It evaluates election cleanliness and lack of fraud.
• The liberal democracy index: It measures the protection of individual and minority rights against state tyranny.
• The participatory democracy index: It measures active citizen engagement in electoral and non-electoral political processes.
• The values of these indexes have been declining, and in 2022 they reached the levels last seen during the 1975 Emergency.

Some incidents depicting declining democratic values in India:

• The arrest of citizens for posting online content critical of the government.
• The shutdown of domestic access to the Internet.
• The government censored political information on the Internet.
• Allegations of the government using social media to disseminate misleading/false information to influence the population.
• Harassment of journalists.

Analysing Indian Democracy:

Insta Links:

India’s democracy, diminished and declining

Mains Links:

To enhance the quality of democracy in India the Election Commission of India has proposed electoral reforms in 2016. What are the suggested reforms and how far are they significant to make democracy successful? (UPSC 2017)

Prelims Links: UPSC 2021

GS Paper 3

 Syllabus: Agriculture/Geography

Source: UNWater, DTE

 Context: Recently, ‘United Nations World Water Development Report 2023: partnerships and cooperation for water’, was released. Also, UN 2023 Water Conference is currently being held in New York

Major findings of the report:

• Global:
  • Globally, two billion people do not have safe drinking water and 3.6 billion lack access to safely managed sanitation
  • The global urban population facing water scarcity is projected to increase from one-third (2016) to nearly half of the global urban population in 2050, with India projected to be the most severely affected.
• India:
  • 80% of people living under water stress lived in Asia; in particular, northeast China, as well as India and Pakistan.

Recommendations:

• Smart management and conservation of the world’s water resources means bringing together governments, businesses, scientists, civil society and communities – including indigenous communities – to design and deliver concrete solutions.”
• Water-energy-food nexus is critical in a transboundary context E.g. transboundary water cooperation arrangement established by the Mahakali Treaty (Pancheshwar Multipurpose Project) between India and Nepal, which aims to achieve water and energy security for both parties.
• Partnerships that focus on knowledge co-creation instead of knowledge transfer aim to embrace the diversity of expertise and experience within a knowledge system.
• Water resources management practices should incorporate traditional elements: E.g. paar systems in western Rajasthan, India, and amunas in Peru
• Use of technology:g., Google began a flood forecasting initiative in 2018, with the goal of preventing catastrophic damage

Terms related to water:

Other steps to conserve Water:

• Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) Goal 6 includes a specific goal on water and sanitation (Goal 6)
• UN-mandated Paris Agreement recognizes the interlinkages between water and climate change.
• Dublin Principles water was established as an “economic good”

About the Report:

The WWDR is published by UNESCO on behalf of UN-Water and its production is coordinated by the UNESCO World Water Assessment Programme. It is an annual report released on Launched on World Water Day (22^nd March) every year

About the UN 2023 Water Conference (New York from March 22-24, 2023)

It will be the second UN Conference dedicated to water after the one held in Mar del Plata, Argentina, in 1977. UN has launched a global campaign called ‘Be the Change’ to mark World Water Day 2023.

We will cover its outcome once the conference gets over.

Jal Jeevan Mission

• The Jal Jeevan Mission aims to deliver safe and enough drinking water to all rural Indian households by 2024 through individual household tap connections.
• It is the Ministry of Jal Shakti’s main programme
• It started in 2019
• Focus: Community-based approach to water, with comprehensive information, education, and communication as a fundamental component of the goal.

Works Under Jal Jeevan Mission

Insta Links

• Water warning: How ‘vanishing’ rainfall is threatening economic stability
• Growing water crisis and One water Approach (OWA)

Mains Links:

How and to what extent would micro-irrigation help in solving India’s water crisis? (UPSC 2021)

Prelims links

GS Paper 2

Syllabus: Government Policies and Interventions for Development in various sectors and Issues arising out of their Design and Implementation

Source: LM

Context: Addressing India’s digital gender divide will enable the Indian economy to achieve more inclusive growth in the long term.

Data related to India’s digital gender divide:

• National Family Health Survey (2019-21): One in three women in India (33%) have ever used the internet, compared to more than half (57%) of men [Rural India – 49% vs 25%].

Gendered barriers that need to be addressed:

Lack of access: Low levels of infrastructure, coverage and smartphone penetration → gender inequality → low access to digital devices and services.

• Solution: Bridging the access gap (especially in rural areas) by
  • Enabling smartphone and internet access through wider connectivity and penetration in rural areas,
  • Providing affordable solutions and educating households on the benefits of digital access.

Digital illiteracy: Inequality in functional literacy → Overall 59% (66% in rural areas) of women between 15-49 years have not completed 10 or more years of schooling → often cannot make optimum use of smartphones.

• Solution: Digital education would help this large cohort leapfrog the traditional development gender divide.

Cyber safety and security: Women may be more vulnerable to online harassment, cyberbullying and cyberstalking → which in turn widens the digital divide.

Areas that can play a catalytic role in bridging the gender digital divide:

• Designing digital solutions to advance gender equity: The involvement of girls and women in co-creation will accelerate digital adoption and help reduce the digital gender divide.
• Digital literacy and capacity building: Early access to digital technology to absorb new knowledge and skills → essential for employability → higher earning, and economic opportunities.
• Responsible technology: Protecting user privacy and data must be a top priority → stakeholders in the technology industry and the government need to collaborate.

The Indian government’s Initiatives in this direction:

• PM Gramin Digital Saksharta Abhiyan under the vision of Digital India. It specifically targets the rural population, with 60 million households covered.
• The National Digital Library for children and adolescents proposed in the UB for 2023-24 will ensure equitable access to quality education and improve digital literacy levels.
• The ‘Stay Safe Online’ campaign by MeitY, conceptualised as part of India’s G20 presidency, will prioritize awareness creation.

Way ahead: India is home to the largest number of women (~691 million) in the world → opportunities for women to contribute, participate and innovate in this ever-expanding and dynamic digital ethos.

Conclusion:

• With its position at the G20’s helm and drive towards a trillion-dollar-plus digital economy, the country has its building blocks in place to be at the forefront of the next digital revolution.
• With the stage for a transformative and gender-equal digital revolution been set, India must take advantage of the mutually reinforcing forces of socioeconomic and digital empowerment.

Insta Links:

The importance of women-led digital solutions

GS Paper 2

Syllabus: Issues Relating to Development and Management of Social Sector/Services relating to Health

Source: TH

Context: The existing target of ending tuberculosis (TB) by 2030 lacks implementation and clarity about definitions of “end”.

Background:

• In 1993, the World Health Organisation (WHO) declared TB a global health emergency.
• Founded in 2001, the Stop TB Partnership (a UN-hosted organisation) takes bold and smart risks to serve the needs and amplify the voices of the people, communities, and countries affected by TB.
  • The Stop TB board meets in Varanasi, India, and will coincide with World TB Day 2023 (March 24).
• The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, TB and Malaria (2002) began disbursing money directed towards the global TB epidemic in 2003.

Current obstacles in the global fight against TB:

• The response has been short on urgency and long on processes.
• For example, The Global Fund remains hostage to the zero-sum games imposed by donors and the champions of the three diseases.

Key areas that remain under-served:

• Development and wide use of an adult TB vaccine: The current vaccine is delivered at birth.
• Getting newer therapeutic agents for TB.
  • Moving to an injection-free and shorter all-oral pills regimen for TB (the current standard is for at least six months) will improve compliance and reduce patient fatigue.
• The space of diagnostics. There are exciting developments for use of AI-assisted handheld radiology with 90-second reporting and 95% plus accuracy for diagnosing TB.
  • This is a mature technology and should be rolled out universally immediately.

Best practices:

• The COVID-19 vaccine development process shows what can be done with the help of collective will and action.
• India convened the InDx diagnostics coalition in Bengaluru for COVID-19.
• TN-KET (Tamil Nadu Kasanoi Erappila Thittam/TB death-free project)

Way ahead:

• Using social safety programmes to address the poverty drivers of the TB epidemic.
• Leveraging the mobile and computational data revolution to improve treatment outcomes.

Conclusion:

• India’s leadership of the G20 and the focus on health could be catalytic, in the same manner, that the Japanese G7 presidency in 2001 was for the creation of the Global Fund.
• Providing historical symmetry, Japan leads the G7 in 2023, providing leaders of both nations and groupings to act synergistically towards ending TB.

Insta Links:

Tuberculosis in India: Road to Elimination