[Mission 2023] INSIGHTS DAILY CURRENT AFFAIRS + PIB SUMMARY 12 May 2023

GS Paper 2

 Syllabus: Governance: Government Policies and Interventions

 

Source: TH

 Context: The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) has flagged 32 new cases of misleading advertisements and claims made by food business operators.

• FSSAI has referred the cases to licensing authorities and warned that offenders face penalties of up to INR 10 lakh or suspension or cancellation of licenses for repeated offences.

 

What are misleading advertisements?

Misleading advertisements are those that make false or exaggerated claims about a product or service with the intention of deceiving consumers.

 

Examples of misleading advertisements:

 

 

Legal provisions against misleading advertisements:

 

 

Tags given to packaged foods:

 

Conclusion:

To improve food safety in India, companies should provide evidence to support their claims and modify advertisements for better consumer understanding. FSSAI and state food authorities should conduct surveys to ensure better enforcement and administration of the FSS Act. Compensation and fines should be increased in cases of injury or death, and more food testing laboratories should be established.

 

About:

Central Consumer Protection Authority (CCPA)

Central Consumer Protection Authority (founded 2019; HQ: New Delhi; Ministry: Ministry of Consumer Affairs Food and Public Distribution) is a regulatory authority set up under Section 10 of the Consumer Protection Act, 2019 in relation to matters affecting the rights of consumers by individuals or entities

 

Food Safety and Standards Authority of India

FSSAI (founded 2008; HQ: New Delhi) is a statutory body established under the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare, Government of India. The FSSAI has been established under the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006, which is a consolidating statute related to food safety and regulation in India.

 

Insta Links

 Regulating misleading advertisements

  

Mains Links

 Do you think that the brand ambassadors of products should be held accountable for misleading advertisements and endorsements? Examine. (250 Words)

  

Prelims Links

GS Paper 3

 Syllabus: Challenges to Internal Security/Indigenization of Technology

 

Source: IE 

Context: On May 11, 1998, codenamed Operation Shakti (literally, “strength”)/Pokhran-II, India conducted three nuclear bomb test explosions at the Indian Army’s Pokhran Test Range.

 

Timeline of Operation Shakti/Pokhran-II: 

Foundation of India’s nuclear programme laid by physicist Homi J Bhaba:

• Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR): India’s first research institution dedicated to the study of nuclear physics opened (1945) in Bombay, after Bhaba’s successful lobbying.
• Department of Atomic Energy (DAE): Founded in 1954 with Bhabha as director.

 

The threat of China and Pakistan:

• The 1962 Sino-Indian War and China’s subsequent nuclear bomb test at Lop Nor in 1964.
• The 1965 India-Pakistan war, with China openly supporting Pakistan.
• Therefore, India was surrounded by two unfriendly nations and needed to take steps towards building self-sufficiency.

 

The “discriminatory” NPT:

• By the 1960s, discourse around nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation as the Cold War arms race pushed the US and the USSR to great extremes.
• In 1968, the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) came into existence, defining nuclear-weapon states as those that have built and tested a nuclear explosive device before January 1, 1967 – the US, Russia (formerly USSR), the UK, France and China.
• This disallows any other state from acquiring nuclear weapons.
• The government of India refused to accede to the terms of the treaty because it failed to address India’s concerns.

 

Pokhran-I/Operation Smiling Buddha:

• By the 1970s, Vikram Sarabhai (Bhaba’s successor at the DAE) had worked to significantly broaden India’s nuclear technology.
• The Indira Gandhi government showed political will and on May 18, 1974, India carried out its first nuclear test at the Pokhran test site.
• This test was conceptualised as a “peaceful nuclear explosion” with “few military implications”.

 

International sanctions on India post-Pokhran-I:

• The world was not willing to buy India’s version of the motive behind Pokhran-I and countries like the US and Canada imposed significant sanctions.
• These sanctions (majorly on tech transfer) would be a major setback for India’s nuclear journey and majorly decelerate its progress.

 

The period between the two tests:

• Domestic political instability: The Emergency of 1975 and PM Morarji Desai’s opposition to nuclear weapons brought the programme to a grinding halt.
• 1980s: Dr APJ Abdul Kalam was made in charge of India’s missile programme (1983) and India exponentially increased its plutonium stockpiles.
• 1990S:
  • With the fall of the USSR in 1991, India lost one of its biggest military allies.
  • The US continued to provide military aid to Pakistan.
  • Discussions regarding a Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT) were also underway in the UN (it would be finalised in 1996, but India did not sign it).

 

Pokhran-II – Projecting India’s strength:

• In 1995, permission for carrying out a nuclear test was granted. However, logistical and political reasons pushed back the tests further.
• In 1998, the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government showed political will and successfully conducted Operation Shakti.
• Unlike the 1974 test, the Indian Government declared itself as a state possessing nuclear weapons following Pokhran-II.
• Though the test invited sanctions from some countries (like the US), the condemnation was far less than in 1974.
• The test helped India enter the highly guarded club of countries with the capability to deploy nuclear weapons, helping it to cement its status as a dominant nation-state.

 

India’s nuclear doctrine (presented in 1999) since Pokhran-II:

• It highlighted a credible minimum deterrence (CMD) and a no-first-use (NFU) policy, while concurrently supporting non-proliferation and universal disarmament.
• The sole purpose of India’s nuclear deterrence is to deter adversaries’ use or threat of use of nuclear weapons.
• The policy changed India’s image and the US (once an adversary of India’s nuclear programme) signed a civil nuclear deal with India in 2008, acknowledging India as a responsible nuclear player.

 

Way ahead:

• India needs actions at two levels for sustainable national security:
  • To address immediate security threats by intelligently building sufficient and resilient retaliatory capability to signal credible deterrence.
  • To make long-term innovative diplomatic investments towards the creation of a global environment conducive to peace and universal nuclear disarmament.
• Simultaneously, India can leverage the economic, political and cultural appeal to showcase the advantages of its philosophy of nuclear deterrence.

  

Insta Links:

Evolution of India’s nuclear policy

GS Paper 4

 Syllabus: Determinants and consequences of ethics in-human actions.

 

Context: The article argues that the recent remissions of Anand Mohan Singh and the convicts in the Bilkis Bano case are ethically wrong and politically motivated.

About Remission:

 

Ethical issues with remission:

 

Conclusion:

Remission is an important aspect of the criminal justice system that allows for the reduction of a sentence for a prisoner. It should be used judiciously and with consideration of principles of justice, mercy, and public safety.

 

Insta Links

The injustice of exceptionalism

  

Mains Links

What are the ethical considerations in the granting of remission for prisoners, and how should governments balance the principles of justice, mercy, and public safety in making these decisions? (150 Words)

Content for Mains Enrichment (CME)

 

Source: Niti Aayog

Every day, in this section we are bringing best practices from each category. Today’s best practices will cover ‘E-governance and digitization’

 

Initiatives:

 

Source: TOI

Punjab has become the first state in India to enforce the “right to walk” by making it mandatory for road-owning agencies, including the NHAI, to provide footpaths and cycle tracks in all future expansion of roads and construction of new ones.

 

The state government has issued these directions and instructed all agencies to prepare an action plan to construct footpaths and cycle tracks with a time frame and budget provision.

 

Usage: The example can used as solution to reduce deaths related to road accidents. It also shows the values of Commitment to safety, Empathy and concern, Responsiveness to citizen’s demands and Commitment to equity

Facts for Prelims (FFP)

Source: IE

 

Context: The annual mean temperature of the world is known to have increased by 1.1 degree Celsius from the average of the 1850-1900 period. But this increase is not uniform. It varies in different regions and also at different times of the year.

 

Major findings:

Findings	Explanation
Land Temperature Increase	Overland, the annual mean temperatures have risen by as much as 1.59 degrees Celsius since preindustrial times.
Ocean Temperature Increase	Oceans, in contrast, have warmed by about 0.88 degree Celsius.
Temperature Rise over India	Annual mean temperatures over India had risen by 0.7 degree Celsius from 1900 while the global temperature rise has been 1.1 degrees C.
Reason for Lower Temperature Rise in India	The relatively lower rise in temperatures over India can be attributed to a complex set of atmospheric phenomena, including heat transfers from the tropics to the poles through prevailing systems of air circulation.
Impact of Aerosols	Aerosols scatter sunlight back so that lesser heat is absorbed by the land.  Aerosol concentration in the Indian region is quite high. This could also lower the warming effect.
Polar Region Warming	The polar regions, particularly the Arctic, have seen significantly greater warming than the world average. The IPCC report says the Arctic region has warmed at least twice as much as the world average.
Causes of Polar Region Warming	Albedo effect, changes in clouds, water vapour and atmospheric temperatures.

 

 

Source: PIB

 Context: The Union Health Ministry has launched the SAKSHAM (Stimulating Advanced Knowledge for Sustainable Health Management) Learning Management Information System (LMIS) developed by the National Institute of Health & Family Welfare (NIHFW)

 

 

Source: LM

 

Context: India’s Ministry of Jal Shakti has announced that over half of the nation’s villages have achieved ODF Plus status under the Swachh Bharat Mission Gramin (SBM-G) Phase II.

 

Meaning of ODF+ status:

It means that these villages not only maintain their Open Defecation Free (ODF) status but also implement solid or liquid waste management systems.

 

Leading states: Telangana, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, and Uttar Pradesh are among the top-performing states, while Goa and Sikkim lead among smaller states. Over 1 lakh gram panchayats have also passed resolutions banning Single Use Plastic.

 

About SBM-Gramin:

The Swachh Bharat Mission Gramin (SBM-G) Phase I was launched in 2014 to eliminate open defecation in rural areas by 2019. Phase II, implemented from 2020-21 to 2024-25, focuses on sustainability of ODF status. It also includes:

• Solid and Liquid Waste Management (SLWM)
• Plastic Waste Management (PWM)
• Faecal Sludge Management (FSM)
• GOBARdhan
• Information Education and Communication
• Behaviour Change Communication
• Capacity Building

 

 

Source: ET

 Context: Telangana has become the first state in the country to launch a state robotics framework with a vision to create a sustainable robotics ecosystem.

 

Aim: It intends to leverage robotics technology in key domains, including agriculture, healthcare, industrial automation, and consumer robotics. The ultimate goal of the framework is to become a leader in robotics and promote a sustainable robotics industry in Telangana

 

Implementation:

• Telangana Robotics Innovation Centre (TRIC) will be established as an independent entity to implement the framework
• Robo park and robotics accelerator for start-ups will also be established

 

Source: TH

 

Context: The World Health Organization (WHO) has declared an end to the global health emergency for mpox after 10 months.

• WHO declared mpox as a public health emergency of international concern in July 2022 to combat the spread of the disease. The WHO recently also declared an end to the public health emergency status for COVID-19.

 

Source: TH

 

Context: A recent study conducted by the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT)-Roorkee has found that the sludge from sewage treatment plants (STP) in India, which is rich in organic chemicals, has “high potential” for use as fertilizer.

 

About sludge:

 

Source: HT

 

Context:  A baby has been born in the UK using a technique called mitochondrial donation treatment (MDT) (popularly called ‘Three Parents Baby’), which involves using the DNA of three people in an effort to prevent children from inheriting incurable diseases.

 

Working:

The procedure combines the sperm and eggs from the biological parents with mitochondria from a donor’s eggs. Harmful mutations in mitochondria, which are inherited only from the mother, can affect all the children a woman has. As of now, the technique is still in its experimental stage.

Approximately 1 in 5,000-10,000 children are born each year with mitochondrial disease. Concerns: Development of designer babies, dilutes parenthood, costly in nature etc.

 

Context: The Myanmar military used a thermobaric or vacuum bomb, also known as a fuel-air explosive, in an attack on a village in Sagaing last month, killing more than 160 people, including children, according to Human Rights Watch (HRW).

 

Myanmar has been facing violence since the military overthrew the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi in February 2021 and brutally suppressed nonviolent protests.

 

Source: HT

 Context: The National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) has approved the relocation of three tigresses from Ranthambore Tiger Reserve (RTR) to Mukundra Hills Tiger Reserve (MHTR) in Kota and Ramgarh Vishdhari Tiger Reserve in Bundi.

 

Reason for relocation:

To maintain the one plus two (one male, two female) rule and to address the increasing population of big cats at RTR. The death of five tigers, including three cubs, and the mysterious disappearance of one male tiger led the state to seek permission from NTCA to relocate the tigresses.

 

About the two reserves:

 

About NTCA:

National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) (formed 2005, following the recommendations of the Tiger Task Force) is a statutory body under the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change. It was constituted under Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972, for strengthening tiger conservation. It is responsible for management of Project Tiger and India’s many Tiger Reserves in India.