The Hindu Newspaper Analysis 15 June 2023

The Hindu Newspaper Analysis for UPSC

The Hindu Newspaper Analysis 14 June 2023

• The government will appoint a Finance Commission in the next few months to determine how much of the Centre’s tax revenue should be given away to States (the vertical share) and how to distribute that among States (the horizontal sharing formula).
• Currently, the Centre gives away 41% of its tax pool to the States.
• When the previous Finance Commission was appointed in 2017, its terms of reference became quite contentious because it was asked to take into account the 2011 population figures in determining the expenditure needs of a State.
• The second issue of focus for the Finance Commission should be government spending on what has come to be called freebies. All political parties are guilty on this count, some more than others, but trying to apportion blame will be a wrong start.

 The Hindu Editorial Today

The Finance Commission is constituted by the President under article 280 of the Constitution, mainly to give its recommendations on distribution of tax revenues between the Union and the States and amongst the States themselves.

Who appoints the Finance Commission and what are the qualifications for Members?

• The Finance Commission is appointed by the President under Article 280 of the Constitution. As per the provisions contained in the Finance Commission [Miscellaneous Provisions] Act, 1951 and The Finance Commission (Salaries & Allowances) Rules, 1951, the Chairman of the Commission is selected from among persons who have had experience in public affairs, and the four other members are selected from among persons who:
• are, or have been, or are qualified to be appointed as Judges of a High Court; or
• have special knowledge of the finances and accounts of Government; or
• have had wide experience in financial matters and in administration; or
• have special knowledge of economics

When was the first Commission Constituted and how many Commissions have been Constituted so far?

• The First Finance Commission was constituted vide Presidential Order dated 22.11.1951 under the chairmanship of Shri K.C. Neogy on 6th April, 1952. Fifteenth Finance Commissions have been Constituted so far at intervals of every five years.

• In India, the “pharmacy of the world”, the gender disparity in clinical trials has even bigger implications, thanks to generic drug production and consumption. It has been demonstrated in various studies that women’s bodies respond differently to the components of generic drugs.
• Like depression, cardiac issues are now acknowledged as having a slightly more prevalence in women. Yet, they continue to be diagnosed and treated like ‘lesser men’.
• The exclusion of women from clinical trials and research projects addressing sex-agnostic critical illnesses such as cancer and heart disease has resulted in a limited understanding of sex-specific symptoms and responses to treatment.

• Notwithstanding contention regarding the assessment methods of various global surveys, it is true that India’s high prevalence of stunting, wasting, and anaemia continues to pose public health risks for children and women. India must strengthen its existing social sector schemes, such as the Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS), to tackle this.
• The ICDS targets children aged 0-6 years, pregnant women, and lactating mothers; addresses non-formal pre-school education; and breaks the cycle of malnutrition, morbidity, and mortality.
• Empirical research highlights the correlation between early-life poverty, malnutrition, and inadequate stimulation, and later cognitive and economic challenges. Studies have shown that interventions focusing on nutrition, education, and health during early childhood can significantly improve human capital, particularly in developing countries.
• An additional Anganwadi worker could be added to each of India’s 13,99,661 Anganwadi centers to lessen the load of these workers.
• To unlock the ICDS’ full potential and address persistent issues, it is essential to revisit and re-evaluate its strategies and implementation. Empowering Anganwadi workers is just a start.

• Background: Launched in 1975, it is one of the world’s largest programmes providing an integrated package of services for the holistic development of the child.
• The Scheme has been renamed as Anganwadi Services.
• Aim: It is providing for supplementary nutrition, immunization and pre-school education to the children is a popular flagship programme of the government.
• Funding: ICDS is a centrally sponsored scheme implemented by state governments and union territories.
• Coverage: The scheme is universal covering all the districts of the country.

• The 22nd Law Commission of India on Wednesday sought fresh suggestions from various stakeholders, including public and religious organisations, on the Uniform Civil Code (UCC).
• The previous 21st Law Commission had also examined the subject and solicited the views of stakeholders through its appeal. The previous commission has also issued a consultation paper on “Reforms of family law” in August 2018.
• Pursuant to the same, overwhelming responses have been received by the commission, it said in a communiqué.
• “Since more than three years have lapsed from the date of issuance of the said consultation paper, bearing in mind the relevance and importance of the subject and also the various court orders, the 22nd Law Commission considered it expedient to deliberate afresh over the subject,” the panel said.

• About:
• UCC is one that would provide for one law for the entire country, applicable to all religious communities in their personal matters such as marriage, divorce, inheritance, adoption etc.
• Article 44 of the Constitution lays down that the state shall endeavour to secure a UCC for the citizens throughout the territory of India.
• Article 44 is one of the Directive Principles of State Policy (DPSP).
• DPSP as defined in Article 37, are not justiciable (not enforceable by any court) but the principles laid down therein are fundamental in governance.
• About Law Commission:
• The Law Commission of India is a non-statutory body constituted by the Government of India from time to time.
• It functions to the Ministry of Law and Justice as an advisory body.
• History:
• The first Law Commission was established during the British Raj era in 1834 by the Charter Act of 1833 and was chaired by Lord Macaulay.
• In 1955, the first independent Law Commission was created.
• Objective: To carry out research in the field of law and makes recommendations to the Government (in the form of Reports) as per its terms of reference.
• The commission’s recommendations are not binding on the Government.
• The Law Commission has so far submitted 277 Reports.
• The commission consists of legal experts and is headed by a retired judge.
• The Commission is constituted for a fixed tenure.

• Overall consumption and sharing of news declined in India from last year’s figures, along with a sharp decrease in access to online news (-12 percentage points), while television, too, saw a 10 percentage points decline as a news source, according to the Reuters Institute Digital News Report, 2023, released on Wednesday.
• The 12th edition of the report, produced in collaboration with the Asian College of Journalism, surveys the news consumption habits of consumers across 46 markets.
• As per the report, India registered a small decrease of 3 percentage points in overall trust in news (38%) from last year’s figure, and was ranked 24th among 46 countries in this regard. Finland remained the country with the highest levels of overall trust in news (69%), while Greece had the lowest levels (19%), globally
• YouTube was the most preferred social media platform for news with 56% of the respondents accessing it.
• WhatsApp (47%) and Facebook (39%) were the next two preferred social media platforms for news in India among the survey respondents.
• Dainik Bhaskar, a Hindi daily, featured among the top 10 brands accessed both online and offline by the survey respondents.

• Three States, Gujarat, Maharashtra and Telangana, have deferred a proposal, approved by the Centre’s Genetic Engineering Appraisal Committee (GEAC), to test a new kind of transgenic cotton seed that contains a gene, Cry2Ai, that purportedly makes cotton resistant to pink bollworm, a major pest. This conflict shows that a broad acceptance of genetically modified crops continues to be elusive.
• There are an array of crops — brinjal, tomato, maize, chickpea — in various stages of trials that employ transgenic technology. However, cotton remains the only transgenic crop that is being commercially cultivated in India. After a long hiatus, the GEAC, the apex technical body charged with evaluating proposals for testing genetically modified (GM) seeds, approved the environmental release of Mustard hybrid DMH-11 and its parental lines, during its 147th meeting on 18 October, 2022 for seed production and testing. This is one step away from full commercial cultivation.
• the GEAC, which is under the Union Environment Ministry.
• A genetically modified organism (GMO) is any living organism whose genetic material has been modified to include certain desirable techniques.
• Genetic modification has previously been used for the large-scale production of insulin, vaccines, and more.
• In crops, genetic modification involves the manipulation of DNA instead of using controlled pollination— the conventional method to improve crops— to alter certain characteristics of the crop.

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