The Hindu Newspaper Analysis 21 March 2023

The Hindu Newspaper Analysis for UPSC

The Hindu Newspaper Analysis 18 March 2023

 The Hindu Editorial Today

• Japanese Prime Minister discusses Ukraine issue, G-7 and G-20 agendas and bilateral ties with PM Modi during his visit to India to launch the ‘New Plan for a Free and Open Indo-Pacific’.
• Kishida’s remarks were significant as they came the same day Chinese President Xi Jinping landed in Moscow to discuss the Ukraine conflict with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

What is Group of Seven (G7)?

• It is an intergovernmental organisation that was formed in 1975.
• The bloc meets annually to discuss issues of common interest like global economic governance, international security and energy policy.
• The G7 countries are the UK, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the US.
• All the G7 countries and India are a part of G20.
• The G7 does not have a formal charter or a secretariat.
• The G20 was formed in 1999 in the backdrop of the financial crisis of the late 1990s that hit East Asia and Southeast Asia in particular.

Members:

• Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Republic of Korea, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Turkey, the United Kingdom, the United States and the EU.

• India concluded its eighth stint in the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) at the end of December 2022.
• India has enhanced the focus on terrorism. As Chair of the UNSC Counter-terrorism Committee (CTC), we brought the CTC meeting to India in October 2022.
• India has been the largest contributor of UN peacekeepers, including as a pioneer in women peacekeeping.
• The Security Council was established by the UN Charter in 1945.

Composition:

• The UNSC is composed of 15 members: 5 permanent and 10 non-permanent.
• Five permanent members: China, France, the Russian Federation, the United Kingdom, and the United States.
• Ten non-permanent members: Elected for two-year terms by the General Assembly.
• Five from African and Asian States,
• One from Eastern European States,
• Two from Latin American States,
• Two from Western European and other States.

• Adversarial relations between the ruling party and the Opposition are inevitable in a democracy and, in a way, such relations that bring strong differences of opinion and contentious views to the fore are critical.
• Democracy flourishes when there is reconciliation through legislative debate.
• Other grievances expressed by the Opposition that their legislators do not get sufficient play on Sabha TV, the official broadcaster, also seem to have merit.
• Article 93 of the Constitution provides for the election of both the Speaker and the Deputy Speaker.
• The Speaker is the constitutional and ceremonial head of the House.
• There is a Speaker and a Deputy Speaker for the Lok Sabha and a Chairman and a Deputy Chairman for the Rajya Sabha.
• The institutions of Speaker and Deputy Speaker originated in India in 1921 under the provisions of the Government of India Act of 1919 (Montague-Chelmsford Reforms).
• At that time, the Speaker and the Deputy Speaker were called the President and Deputy President respectively and the same nomenclature continued till 1947.
• The Government of India Act of 1935 changed the nomenclatures of President and Deputy President to the Speaker and Deputy Speaker respectively.
• Criteria: The Constitution of India requires the Speaker should be a member of the House.
• Voting: The Speaker (along with the Deputy Speaker) is elected from among the Lok Sabha members by a simple majority of members present and voting in the House.
• Term of Office of the Speaker: The Speaker holds Office from the date of his/her election till immediately before the first meeting of the next Lok Sabha (for 5 years).
• The speaker once elected is eligible for re-election.
• Whenever the Lok Sabha is dissolved, the Speaker does not vacate his office and continues till the newly-elected Lok Sabha meets.

• Millets, a family of coarse grains and popular staple, are having an unprecedented moment in the sun.
• The United Nations has declared 2023 as the International Year of Millets and Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, in the Budget speech in February, singled them out as ‘Shree Anna’ — roughly translated as the ‘best among grains’ — adding that the Indian Institute of Millets Research in Hyderabad would be supported as a centre of excellence.
• Why such a ‘super food’ got sidelined by the Green Revolution of the 1960s in favour of rice and wheat has little to do with nutrition and more with the development of high yielding varieties of rice and wheat, that produced twice or thrice per acre.
• Coupled with guaranteed procurement by the government, the rice-wheat combination enabled India to be food secure even in droughts and climate blights.

• India is now one of the fastest-growing economies globally. However, this growth has not resulted in a corresponding increase in its Human Development Index (HDI).
• The HDI is a composite statistical measure created by the United Nations Development Programme to evaluate and compare the level of human development in different regions around the world.
• The HDI assesses a country’s average accomplishment in three aspects: a long and healthy life, knowledge, and a decent standard of living. According to the Human Development Report of 2021-22, India ranks 132 out of 191 countries, behind Bangladesh (129) and Sri Lanka (73).
• The HDI is calculated using four indicators: life expectancy at birth, mean years of schooling, expected years of schooling, and Gross National Income (GNI) per capita.
• Governments must prioritise human development alongside economic growth to ensure that the benefits of growth are more evenly distributed.
• This requires a multi-faceted approach that addresses income inequality and gender inequality; improves access to quality social services; addresses environmental challenges; and provides for greater investment in social infrastructure such as healthcare, education, and basic household amenities including access to clean water, improved sanitation facility, clean fuel, electricity and Internet in underdeveloped States.
• India must prioritise investments in human development and job creation, particularly for its youth.

• Climate change is a threat to human well-being and planetary health and there is a rapidly closing window of opportunity to secure a liveable and sustainable future for all, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) said in a report on Monday.
• The UN panel does not itself undertake scientific assessments but only evaluates the state of scientific evidence on various aspects of climate change.
• “Overshooting 1.5°C will result in irreversible adverse impacts on certain ecosystems with low resilience, such as polar, mountain, and coastal ecosystems, impacted by ice-sheet, glacier melt, or by accelerating and higher committed sea level rise,” the IPCC said in the report.
• Certain future changes are “unavoidable and/or irreversible” but could be limited by deep, rapid and sustained global greenhouse gas emissions reduction, it added.

Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change?

• It is the international body for assessing the science related to climate change.
• It was set up in 1988 by the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) and United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) to provide policymakers with regular assessments of the scientific basis of climate change, its impacts and future risks, and options for adaptation and mitigation.
• IPCC assessments provide a scientific basis for governments at all levels to develop climate related policies, and they underlie negotiations at the UN Climate Conference – the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).

Q) Consider the following statements regarding the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC):

1. It was established as a result of the Paris Agreement on climate change in 2015.
2. It directly engages in scientific research to understand human-induced climate change.

Which of the above statements is/are correct?

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

जलवायु परिवर्तन पर अंतर सरकारी पैनल (IPCC) के संबंध में निम्नलिखित कथनों पर विचार करें:

1. इसे 2015 में जलवायु परिवर्तन पर पेरिस समझौते के परिणामस्वरूप स्थापित किया गया था।
2. यह मानव-प्रेरित जलवायु परिवर्तन को समझने के लिए सीधे वैज्ञानिक अनुसंधान में संलग्न 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

About Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC):

• The IPCC is the United Nations body for assessing the science related to climate change.
• It was established by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) in 1988.
• Membership: It has 195 Member countries.
• Objective: To assess scientific, technical, and socio-economic information relevant to the understanding of human-induced climate change, potential impacts of climate change, and options for mitigation and adaptation.
• The main activity of the IPCC is the preparation of reports assessing the state of knowledge of climate change. These include assessment reports, special reports and methodology reports.
• The IPCC does not itself engage in scientific research. Instead, it asks scientists from around the world to go through all the relevant scientific literature related to climate change and draw up logical conclusions.

Q) Global Terrorism Index, recently seen in the news, is an annual report of which one of the following organizations?

1. Financial Action Task Force
2. Transparency International
3. World Economic Forum
4. Institute for Economics and Peace

हाल ही में समाचारों में देखा गया वैश्विक आतंकवाद सूचकांक, निम्नलिखित में से किस संगठन की वार्षिक रिपोर्ट है?

1. वित्तीय कार्रवाई टास्क फोर्स
2. ट्रांसपेरेंसी इंटरनेशनल
3. विश्व आर्थिक मंच
4. अर्थशास्त्र और शांति संस्थान

About Global Terrorism Index:

• It is published annually by the Institute for Economics and Peace (IEP), a global think tank headquartered in Sydney, Australia
• The index provides a comprehensive summary of the key global trends and patterns in terrorism over the past 15 years.
• The report ranks 163 countries (99.7% of the world’s population) on the impact of terrorism.
• Indicators: Include the number of terrorist incidents, fatalities, injuries, and hostages.
• The index is produced using data from Terrorism Tracker of Dragonfly — which provides event records on terrorist attacks since January 1, 2007 — and other sources.
• Highlights of Global Terrorism Index 2023:
• Afghanistan retains the top spot on the list of the country impacted by terrorism. Afghanistan has topped for the fourth consecutive year.
• India ranked 13th on the index, marking only a marginal decrease from the previous year.
• Pakistan saw the second-largest increase in terror-related fatalities globally last year, with a total of 643 dead.

Q) With reference to the REACHOUT scheme, consider the following statements:

1. It aims to develop skilled and trained manpower in Earth Sciences.
2. It is implemented under the Ministry of Earth Sciences.

Which of the above statements is/are Incorrect?

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

रीचआउट योजना के संदर्भ में निम्नलिखित कथनों पर विचार कीजिये:

1. इसका उद्देश्य पृथ्वी विज्ञान में कुशल और प्रशिक्षित जनशक्ति विकसित करना है।
2. इसे पृथ्वी विज्ञान मंत्रालय के तहत लागू किया गया है।

उपरोक्त में से कौन सा/से कथन गलत है/हैं?

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

Explanation :

Recently, the Union Minister of Earth Sciences said that an umbrella scheme Research, Education and Training Outreach (REACHOUT) is being implemented by the Ministry of Earth Sciences for capacity building.

• The Research, Education and Training Outreach (REACHOUT) scheme consists of
  • R&D in Earth System Science (RDESS)
  • International Training Centre for Operational Oceanography (ITCOocean)
  • Program for Development of Skilled manpower in Earth System Sciences (DESK)
• This scheme is being implemented for the entire country and not State/UT-wise.
• The main objectives of the above sub-schemes are
  • Supporting various R &D activities in the thrust areas of different components of Earth System Sciences that are theme and need-based and that would help in attaining the National goals set up for MoES.
  • Develop useful collaborations with international organizations for the mutual transfer of advanced knowledge in science and technology in Earth Sciences and to provide services to developing countries.

Q) Consider the following statements regarding the Defence Acquisition Council (DAC):

1. It is the highest decision-making body of the Defence Ministry on procurement.
2. The Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) acts as the chairman of DAC.

Which of the above statements is/are correct?

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

रक्षा अधिग्रहण परिषद (डीएसी) के संबंध में निम्नलिखित कथनों पर विचार करें:

1. यह खरीद पर रक्षा मंत्रालय की सर्वोच्च निर्णय लेने वाली संस्था है।
2. चीफ ऑफ डिफेंस स्टाफ (सीडीएस) डीएसी के अध्यक्ष के रूप में कार्य करता 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

About Defence Acquisition Council (DAC):

• What is it? The DAC is the highest decision-making body of the defence Ministry on procurement.
• Objective: To ensure expeditious procurement of the approved requirements of the armed forces.
• Formation: It was formed after the Group of Minister’s recommendations on ‘Reforming the National Security System’, in 2001, post-Kargil War (1999).
• Composition:
• The defence minister is the chairman of DAC.
• Its members include the Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) and chiefs of the Army, Navy, and Air Force.

Q) Male Mahadeshwara Hills Wildlife Sanctuary, which was recently seen in the news, is located in which state?

1. Gujarat
2. Karnataka
3. Rajasthan
4. None of these

हाल ही में खबरों में रहा माले महादेश्वरा हिल्स वन्यजीव अभयारण्य किस राज्य में स्थित है?

1. गुजरात
2. कर्नाटक
3. राजस्थान
4. इनमें से कोई नहीं

• The Male Mahadeshwar hill Wild Life Sanctuary is located in the state of Karnataka.
• It was declared a Wildlife Sanctuary in 2013.
• It is contiguous to BRT Tiger Reserve, Sathyamangalam Tiger Reserve and the Cauvery Wildlife Sanctuary.
• Flora: The forests of MM Hills wildlife sanctuary are principally of dry deciduous type degrading to scrub forest in the fringe areas, and are interspersed with patches of moist deciduous, semi-evergreen, evergreen and shola forests occurring at varying altitudes.
• Fauna: Animals including tiger, elephant, leopard, wild dog, bison, sambar, spotted deer, barking deer,

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