The Hindu Newspaper Analysis 14 December 2022

The Hindu Newspaper Analysis for UPSC

• The Chinese troops unilaterally tried to alter the status quo on the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in Arunachal Pradesh on December 9 and the move was contested by Indian soldiers in a firm and resolute manner, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said on Tuesday.
• Making a statement in both Houses of Parliament on the clash at Yangtse in Tawang sector, Mr. Singh said: “The ensuing face-off led to a physical scuffle in which the Indian Army bravely prevented the PLA [People’s Liberation Army] from transgressing into our territory and compelled them to return to their posts. The scuffle led to injuries to a few personnel on both sides.”
• For one, this is increasingly a sign that areas of active contestation and attempts at unilaterally altering the status quo along the boundary are no longer going to be limited to the Western Sector. China has traditionally been active in areas close to Ladakh given the significance of the Xinjiang-Tibet region in its domestic narrative. However, with its sights on an ageing Dalai Lama, and the issue of his succession, Beijing will want to bring into focus its claims on Tawang, and the rest of Arunachal Pradesh.
• China has invested in infrastructure in the Eastern Sector over many years. This includes rail, road, and air connectivity, better telecommunications, as well as improved capacity to station and supply troops and artillery.
• The other major factor is the centrality of the boundary issue in the India-China relationship. External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar has repeatedly asserted that it is no longer possible to separate the boundary question from the overall relationship and that peace and tranquillity on the LAC is the key to restoring relations.

The Hindu Editorial Today

What is the OIC?

• About:
  • The Organisation of the Islamic Cooperation is the world’s second-largest multilateral body after the UN.
  • It was established by the First Islamic Summit Conference held in Morocco in September 1969.
  • It was known as the Organisation of Islamic Conference until 2011
• Objective:
  • To safeguard and protect the interests of the Muslim world in the spirit of promoting international peace and harmony among various people of the world.
• Members:
  • As of now, 57 members, all of them are Islamic countries or Muslim majority members.
  • The Central African Republic, Russia, Thailand, Bosnia & Herzegovina, and the unrecognised Turkish Cypriot “state”, have Observer status.

India & OIC

• India has the world’s second-largest Muslim community, and had been invited to the founding conference at Rabat in 1969, but was humiliatingly ejected at Pakistan’s behest.
• In 2006, as India turned the economic corner and improved ties with the US, Saudi Arabia invited Delhi to join as an observer.
• However, India refrained from joining citing that it did not want to join an organisation founded on religion. Secondly, there was the risk that improving bilateral relations with individual member states would come under pressure in a grouping, especially on issues such as Kashmir.
• The OIC is mainly controlled by Saudi Arabia, but Pakistan, as the only Islamic country with nuclear weapons, has had a large say since its inception.
• Changing terms:
  • After building close ties with powerful members such as UAE and Saudi Arabia, India has been confident of riding over any statement by the grouping.
  • India has consistently underlined that J&K is an “integral part of India and is a matter strictly internal to India”, and that the OIC has no locus standi on the issue.
  • In 2019, India made its maiden appearance at the OIC Foreign Ministers’ meeting, as a “guest of honour”.
  • The OIC includes two of India’s close neighbours, Bangladesh and Maldives. Both countries privately admit they do not want to complicate their bilateral ties with India on Kashmir.
• Significance of OIC for India:
  • OIC’s growing economic and energy interdependence with India has become important in recent times.
  • Individually, India has good relations with almost all member nations. Ties with the UAE and Saudi Arabia

• Recent comments by the Vice-President, Jagdeep Dhankar, and the Law Minister, Kiren Rijiju, can be read as a concerted attack on the collegium system, the Supreme Court of India, and even the basic structure doctrine (conveniently forgetting that it is this doctrine that has kept the Indian Constitution intact).
• The Supreme Court, conceived as the custodian of the Constitution and the final arbiter of the law, has had an inconsistent history.
• While the government under Indira Gandhi intended to destroy the judiciary during the Emergency, the entire Court, barring Justice H.R. Khanna, was also complicit in the erosion of citizens’ rights that took place then.
• The present move — of attempting to undermine and discredit the judiciary, as seen in the comments — is part of the larger mission to make the executive the most powerful entity.
• Parallels can be drawn with ‘elected autocracies’, where elected governments use the very institutions integral to democracy to kill democracy itself and destroy civil liberties.
• Even if concurrence was not contemplated, for our founding fathers, an independent judiciary was non-negotiable. B.R. Ambedkar was unambiguous that appointments should have no political pressure and considerations, but that ‘consultation with persons who are well-qualified … to give proper advice’ would be appropriate.
• Both the Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi governments attempted to manipulate the process. The collegium was created as a historical response to contemporaneous challenges, and succeeded in preventing the executive from hijacking judicial appointments.

Features of the bill:

• Implement the provisions of the CITES
  • CITES is an international agreement between governments to ensure that international trade in specimens of wild animals and plantsdoes not threaten the survival of the species.
• Provides much more power at the hands of the Central Government:
  • The central government can designate a Management Authority, which grants export or import permitsfor the trade of specimens.
  • Central Government can regulate or prohibit the import, trade, possession or proliferation of invasive alien species (plant or animal species which are not native to India and whose introduction may adversely impact wildlife or its habitat)
  • The central government may also notify a conservation reserve ( typically act as buffer zones to or connectors and migration corridors between established national parks, and wildlife sanctuaries)
• Reduces the number of schedules from Six (currently) to Four now: Currently, there are six schedules: protected plants (one), specially protected animals (four), and vermin species (one). The new bill removes the schedule for vermin species (Vermin refers to small animals that carry diseases and destroy food e.g. Monkeys, Nilgai)
• Exception for ‘live elephant’: The Bill allows for Commercial Trade In Live Elephants. The Bill, therefore, allows for commercial trade in elephants
  • This is contrary to the previous act (Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972) which specifically prohibits trade in Wild Animals including captive and wild elephants.
• For sanctuaries falling under Scheduled Areas (where FRA 2006 is applicable and comes under the 5^thSchedule), the management plan must be prepared after due consultation with the Gram Sabha concerned
• States can declare areas adjacent to National parks and Sanctuaries as Conservation Reserve, for protecting flora and fauna, and their habitat.
• Increases the Penalties: For General violation ( increases to Rs 1,00,000 from Rs25,000) and for specially protected animals ( increases to 25,000 from Rs 10,000)
• There is growing evidence to suggest that the most conspicuous trend in the manufacturing sector in India has been a shift of manufacturing activity and employment from bigger cities to smaller towns and rural areas.
• A steady stream of investments in rural locations over the last two decades has ensured that 42% of factories and 62% of fixed capital is in the rural side
• The movement of manufacturing away from urban locations was brought out by the Work Bank in a report a decade ago (Ghani, Ejaz et al (2012) “Is India’s Manufacturing Sector Moving Away from Cities? Policy Research Working Paper, World Bank).
• The shift towards rural manufacturing faces two major challenges. First, though firms reap the benefits of lower costs via lower rents, the cost of capital seems to be higher for firms operating on the rural side. This is evident from the shares in rent and interest paid. The rural segment accounted for only 35% of the total rent paid, while it had 60% of the total interest payments. The benefits reaped from one source seem to be offset by the increased costs on the other front.
• Second, there exists an issue of “skills shortage” in rural areas as manufacturing now needs higher skilled workers to compete in the highly technological global ‘new economy’. Manufacturers who depend only on low-wage workers simply cannot sustain their competitive edge for longer periods as this cost advantage vanishes over time.
• With just 55 to 60 District Disability Rehabilitation Centres (DDRC) made functional so far out of the targeted 269 in designated districts, the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Social Justice and Empowerment has said that it feels the Union government is “somewhat casual” in its approach to complete this task.
• The Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment had told the panel that it had increased the number of disabilities covered from seven to 21 in 2018 and that the revised guidelines for setting up the rest of the DDRCs would be implemented in 2022-23.
• District Disability Rehabilitation centres (DDRC) spread across the country are providing effective rehabilitation services to the persons with disabilities for last two decades. These centres are run jointly by District Management Team headed by DM/Collector and a reputed NGO (Usually Indian Red Cross Society). To upscale their services, a MODEL DDRC has been conceptualised by the Department of Empowerment of Persons With Disability in the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment  Government of India.
• In the model DDRCs services like hearing aids test lab, speech therapy room, visual therapy room, psychologist room, physiotherapist room, gait practice parallel bar and tele-medicine/tele-therapy like facilities hsall be available. Besides, these DDRC will also assist PwDs in registration of UDID portal now. These DDRC will act as milestone in providing quality rehabilitation services to PwDs and set an example for newer DDRCs to come in future
• In September 2019, the National Commission for Scheduled Tribes recommended the inclusion of Ladakh under the Sixth Schedule.
  • The Commission took note of the fact that the newly created Union Territory of Ladakh is predominantly a tribal region in the country.
    • The total tribal population in the Ladakh region is more than 97 per cent.

About Sixth Schedule of the Constitution

• It provides for the administration of tribal areas in Assam, Meghalaya, Tripura and Mizoram to safeguard the rights of the tribal population in these states.
  • This special provision is provided under Article 244(2) and Article 275(1) of the Constitution.
• It seeks to safeguard the rights of the tribal population through the formation of Autonomous District Councils (ADC).
  • ADCs are bodies representing a district to which the Constitution has given varying degrees of autonomy within the state legislature.

• S.-China relations have witnessed an unprecedented downturn in 2022. Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan in August and the imposition of heavy restrictions on China’s semiconductor industry by the U.S. in October have fanned the flames of rivalry between the two nations.
• Biden and Mr. Xi discussed outstanding matters related to U.S.-China relations for nearly three hours on the sidelines of the G-20 meeting in Bali. Easing tensions and reopening channels of communication were agreed upon by both the leaders.
• While the meeting between the two heads of states certainly imply that there is a move toward bringing in more stability into bilateral relations, to what extent could this move be aimed at taking the relation to where it was before the trade war remains questionable.

Q) With reference to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), consider the following statements:

1. It was established by the signing of the Bangkok declaration.
2. India is a founding member.

Which of the above statements is/are correct?

1. 1 only
2. 2 only
3. Both 1 and 2
4. Neither 1 nor 2

एसोसिएशन ऑफ साउथईस्ट एशियन नेशंस (आसियान) के संदर्भ में निम्नलिखित कथनों पर विचार करें:

1. इसकी स्थापना बैंकॉक घोषणा पर हस्ताक्षर करके की गई थी।
2. भारत एक संस्थापक सदस्य है।

उपरोक्त कथनों में से कौन-सा/से सही है/हैं?

1. केवल 1
2. केवल 2
3. 1 और 2 दोनों
4. न तो 1 और न ही 2

ASEAN

• It is a group of  Association of Southeast Asian Nations, which was established in 1967 with the signing of the Bangkok declaration.
• Founding members: Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore and Thailand.
• Presently ASEAN comprises 10 member states namely Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Brunei, Laos, Myanmar, Cambodia and Vietnam.
• It promotes intergovernmental cooperation and facilitates economic, political, security, military, educational, and sociocultural integration between its members and other countries in Asia.

Q) Mopa International Airport is located in:

1. Goa
2. Kerala
3. Tamil Nadu
4. Karnataka

मोपा अंतर्राष्ट्रीय हवाई अड्डा स्थित है:

1. गोवा
2. केरल
3. तमिलनाडु
4. कर्नाटक

Explanation :

Prime Minister Narendra Modi recently inaugurated the first phase of the international airport at Mopa in north Goa.

• The airport is named after late Goa Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar.
• The airport which was built at cost of ₹2,870 crore will begin its operations from 5 January, 2023.
• The foundation stone of the airport was laid by the Prime Minister in November 2016.
• This will be the second airport in the state after the Dabolim airport in South Goa.
• The airport will have the capacity to handle 44 lakh passengers a year in the first phase and it will go up to one crore passengers a year after the entire project is complete.
• The airport has been built on the theme of sustainable infrastructure and has solar power plant, green buildings, LED lights on the runway, besides rainwater harvesting, state of the art sewage treatment plant with recycling facilities, among other such facilities.
• It has adopted some of the best-in-class technologies like 3-D Monolithic Precast buildings, StabilRoad, Robomatic Hollow precast walls, 5G compatible IT infrastructure.

Q) A global initiative ’30 x 30’ is sometimes seen in news. Which of the following statements reflect this initiative?

1. At least 30% of the energy requirement must be met by renewable sources by 2030
2. At least 30% of the cultivated area should be brought under organic farming by 2030
3. At least 30% of people below poverty must be brought out of poverty by 2030
4. At least 30% of earth’s land and ocean area is protected by 2030

एक वैश्विक पहल ’30 x 30′ कभी-कभी समाचारों में देखी जाती है। निम्नलिखित में से कौन सा कथन इस पहल को दर्शाता है?

1. 2030 तक कम से कम 30% ऊर्जा आवश्यकता को नवीकरणीय स्रोतों से पूरा किया जाना चाहिए
2. 2030 तक कम से कम 30% खेती वाले क्षेत्र को जैविक खेती के तहत लाया जाना चाहिए
3. 2030 तक गरीबी से नीचे के कम से कम 30% लोगों को गरीबी से बाहर लाया जाना चाहिए
4. पृथ्वी का कम से कम 30% भूमि और महासागर क्षेत्र 2030 तक सुरक्षित है

• 30×30: Conserving and protecting at least 30 per cent of Earth’s surface, on land and at sea, by 2030.

Q) Consider the following statements regarding a national political party in India.

1. A party may gain or lose national party status from time to time, depending on the fulfilment of certain conditions.
2. A political party would be considered a national party if it is ‘recognised’ in four or more states.

Which of the above statements is/are correct?

1. 1 only
2. 2 only
3. Both 1 and 2
4. Neither 1 nor 2

भारत में एक राष्ट्रीय राजनीतिक दल के संबंध में निम्नलिखित कथनों पर विचार करें।

1. कुछ शर्तों की पूर्ति के आधार पर एक पार्टी समय-समय पर राष्ट्रीय पार्टी का दर्जा प्राप्त या खो सकती है।
2. चार या अधिक राज्यों में ‘मान्यता प्राप्त’ होने पर एक राजनीतिक दल को एक राष्ट्रीय दल माना जाएगा।

उपरोक्त कथनों में से कौन-सा/से सही है/हैं?

1. केवल 1
2. केवल 2
3. 1 और 2 दोनों
4. न तो 1 और न ही 2

• National parties are usually India’s bigger parties, such as the Congress and BJP. However, some smaller parties, like the communist parties, are also recognised as national parties.
• A party may gain or lose national party status from time to time, depending on the fulfilment of these laid-down conditions.
• As per the ECI’s Political Parties and Election Symbols, 2019 handbook, a political party would be considered a national party if:

1. it is ‘recognised’ in four or more states; or
2. if its candidates polled at least 6% of total valid votes in any four or more states in the last Lok Sabha or Assembly elections and has at least four MPs in the last Lok Sabha polls; or
   iii. if it has won at least 2% of the total seats in the Lok Sabha from not less than three states.

Q) The ‘Aichi Targets’ were adopted by which of the following?

1. United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change
2. Convention on Biological Diversity
3. Vienna Convention
4. United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification

निम्नलिखित में से किसके द्वारा ‘आइची लक्ष्य’ को अपनाया गया था?

1. जलवायु परिवर्तन पर संयुक्त राष्ट्र फ्रेमवर्क कन्वेंशन
2. जैविक विविधता पर सम्मेलन
3. वियना सम्मेलन
4. मरुस्थलीकरण का मुकाबला करने के लिए संयुक्त राष्ट्र सम्मेलन

Explanation:

• The Aichi Targets, adopted during the 2010 CBD summit in Nagoya, included goals such as reducing deforestation by at least half during the coming decade and curbing pollution so that it no longer harmed ecosystems.

Mains Practice Question:

Q) “Poor soil management will erode food security”. Explain (150 words)

“खराब मिट्टी प्रबंधन खाद्य सुरक्षा को नष्ट कर देगा”। समझाना (150 शब्द)

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