The Hindu Newspaper Analysis 1 December 2022

The Hindu Newspaper Analysis for UPSC

• Manufacturing and mining output contracted year-on-year in the July-September quarter, dragging Gross Value Added growth to a slower-than-expected 5.6%, which together with high inflation and weak exports combined to slow overall Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth to a 6.3% pace, as per estimates released by the National Statistical Office.
• Chief Economic Adviser V. Anantha Nageswaran said the data confirms that the economy’s recovery from the pandemic continues and is on track to clock between 6.8% to 7% real GDP growth this year.
• Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is the total monetary or market value of all the finished goods and services produced within a country’s borders in a specific time period.
• GDP = private consumption + gross private investment + government investment + government spending + (exports – imports).

About CEA –

• The Chief Economic Adviser (CEA) is a post in Government of India and is equivalent to rank of Secretary to the Government of India.
• The CEA is the ex-officio cadre controlling authority of the Indian Economic Service.
• The CEA is head of Economic Division of the Department of Economic Affairs, Ministry of Finance, Government of India.
• An eight-member team from Chinnakkanal that comes under the Munnar forest division, which has been instrumental in bringing down the incidents of man-animal conflict in the region, has won recognition for its efforts.
• Taking note of its contributions in mitigating man-animal conflicts as well as in ensuring the protection of wild elephants over the past eight months, the Wildlife Trust of India has selected the team for its award this year.
• The Wildlife Trust of India (WTI) is a non-profit conservation organisation dedicated to safeguarding India’s natural heritage. It is an Indian conservation organization. WTI was founded in November 1998 in New Delhi, India, in response to the rapidly deteriorating state of wildlife in India. Wildlife Trust of India is a registered charity in India (under Section 12A of the Income Tax Act, 1961).
• When it comes to nutrition, or more specifically micronutrient malnutrition, there is an urgent need to address the maladies that poor nutrition can inflict on the masses, especially given the diverse populations in India.
• Malnutrition exacerbates the magnitude of the public health crises we face, and is India’s most serious challenge and concern. As in National Family Health Survey-5 data, every second Indian woman is anaemic, every third child is stunted and malnourished, and every fifth child is wasted.
• According to an FAO Food Security Report for 2021, India ranks 101 out of 116 countries in the Global Hunger Index 2021, with a 15.3% undernourished population, the highest proportion of stunted children (30%), and wasted children (17.3%).
• The picture the Global Nutrition Report 2021 paints is cause for concern, noting that stunting among children in India is significantly higher than the Asian average of 21.8%.
• Pilot projects on the distribution of fortified rice have been taken up in select States, including Maharashtra (Gadchiroli district) as part of a targeted Public Distribution programme for the masses.
• The health benefits accruing from food fortification have made 80 countries to frame laws for the fortification of cereal flour, and 130 countries with iodised salt, where 13 countries have mandated rice fortification.
• Despite the programme’s proven efficacy, activists have expressed concern that excess iron overload from fortified rice has been dangerous for Jharkhand’s tribal population suffering from sickle cell anaemia and thalassaemia.
• Anemia is a condition in which you lack enough healthy red blood cells to carry adequate oxygen to your body’s tissues.
• The Union government appears determined to turn its conflict with the judiciary over judicial appointments into something unseemly.
• One is the daily diatribe by Union Law Minister Kiren Rijiju, who appears to have been given an assignment to target the Collegium system with trenchant criticism of its known, but uncorrected flaws, and top it with unwarranted remarks such as asking the Court not to send any files, if it felt it was sitting on them.
• The second is the Government’s strategy of delaying appointments recommended by the Collegium as a counterblast to its loss of primacy in the matter.
• It is not difficult to bring relations between the judiciary and the executive back on track, if only the two sides are willing to address each other’s concerns.
• A five-judge Constitution Bench of the Supreme Court is examining a bunch of petitions recommending reforms in the process of appointment of members of the Election Commission.
• The Dinesh Goswami Committee in 1990 suggested that the Chief Election Commissioner be appointed by the President (read: executive) in consultation with the Chief Justice of India and the Leader of the Opposition (and in case the Leader of the Opposition was not available, then consultation be held with the leader the largest opposition group in the Lok Sabha). It said this process should have statutory backing. Importantly, it applied the same criteria to the appointments of Election Commissioners, along with consultation with the Chief Election Commissioner.
• The National Commission to Review the Working of the Constitution, under Justice M.N. Venkatachaliah, said that the Chief Election Commissioner and other Election Commissioners should be appointed on the recommendation of a body comprising the Prime Minister, the Leaders of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha, the Speaker of the Lok Sabha and the Deputy Chairman of the Rajya Sabha.
• The 255th Report of the Law Commission, chaired by Justice A.P. Shah, said the appointment of all the Election Commissioners should be made by the President in consultation with a three-member collegium consisting of the Prime Minister, the Leader of the Opposition of the Lok Sabha (or the leader of the largest opposition party in the Lok Sabha), and the Chief Justice of India. It also suggested measures to safeguard Election Commissioners from arbitrary removal, in a manner similar to what is accorded to the Chief Election Commissioner, who can only be removed by impeachment, which is by no means easy.
• The second issue is to afford the same security from arbitrary removal to Election Commissioners that the Constitution affords to the Chief Election Commissioner.

Background:

• Presently, Election Commissioners are appointed by the President of India, on the aid and advice of the Council of Ministers
• The Election Commission (Conditions of Service of Election Commissioners and Transaction of Business) Act, 1991, prescribes that the term of a CEC and Election Commissioner is 6 years or till the age of 65 years, whichever is earlier.
• Article 324 of the Indian Constitution, dealing with the appointment of Election Commissioners, called for the enactment of legislationto oversee such appointments, but the government had yet to do so.
• The SC was hearing petitions seeking reforms in the system of appointing Election Commissioners.
• One such tradition, popular in India, sees all living beings, and even inanimate things, as composed of the same five basic elements – the panch tatva of earth, water, fire, air and space. Harmony among these elements — within us and between us — is essential for our physical, social and environmental well-being.
• India’s G-20 Presidency will work to promote this universal sense of oneness. Hence our theme — “One Earth, One Family, One Future”.
• India’s G-20 agenda will be inclusive, ambitious, action-oriented, and decisive.
• Let us join together to make India’s G-20 Presidency a Presidency of healing, harmony and hope.
• Let us work together to shape a new paradigm — of human-centric globalisation.
• The Supreme Court on Wednesday sought the government’s response about evolving a “Project Great Indian Bustard” conservation programme like the Project Tiger to bring attention to the peril faced by the critically endangered bird.
• Project Tiger is touted by the government as one of the most successful conservation programmes for a single species in the world.
• The court is hearing a series of petitions highlighting the numerous deaths of Great Indian Bustards due to power transmission lines criss-crossing their habitat in Gujarat and Rajasthan.
• About:
  • The Great Indian Bustard (Ardeotis nigriceps) , the State bird of Rajasthan, is considered India’s most critically endangered bird.
  • It is considered the flagship grassland species, representing the health of the grassland ecology.
  • Its population is confined mostly to Rajasthan and Gujarat. Small populations occur in Maharashtra, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh.
• Threat:
  • The bird is under constant threats due to collision/electrocution with power transmission lines, hunting (still prevalent in Pakistan), habitat loss and alteration as a result of widespread agricultural expansion, etc.
• Protection Status:
  • International Union for Conservation of Nature Red List (IUCN): Critically Endangered
  • Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES): Appendix1
  • Convention on Migratory Species (CMS): Appendix I
  • Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972: Schedule I

• From 2030, 160 million to 200 million people can be exposed to lethal heatwaves in India every year, and nearly 34 million Indians will face job losses due to heat stress-related productivity decline. By 2037, the demand for cooling is likely to be eight times more than the current level, the World Bank has said in a report.
• In this scenario, it is imperative for India to deploy alternative and innovative energy efficient technologies for keeping spaces cool. According to the report, “Climate investment opportunities in India’s cooling sector”, this could open an investment opportunity of $1.6 trillion by 2040, besides reducing greenhouse gas emissions significantly and creating 3.7 million jobs.
• With the demand for cooling shooting up, there will be a demand for a new air-conditioner every 15 seconds, the report said, leading to an expected rise of 435% in annual greenhouse gas emissions over the next two decades. Thus, there is a need to shift to a more energy-efficient pathway which could lead to a reduction in expected CO2 levels.

Sharing is caring!