The Hindu Newspaper Analysis 30 December 2022

The Hindu Newspaper Analysis for UPSC

The Hindu Newspaper Analysis 29 December 2022

The Hindu Editorial Today

• The Election Commission (EC) on Thursday announced the development of a prototype of a multi-constituency remote electronic voting machine (RVM) to enable remote voting by migrant voters.
• The machines can handle multiple constituencies from one remote booth.
• The EC invited all recognised political parties — eight national and 57 State parties — to a demonstration of the prototype on January 16. The panel has already shared a concept note with them on the legal, operational, administrative and technological challenges. The commission urged the parties to submit their views by January 31.
• The ECI also informed that if the prototype satisfies the stakeholders, domestic migrant workers will not have to travel to their hometown to register their votes.
• The Representation of the People Act, 1950 and 1951, The Conduct of Election Rules, 1961, and The Registration of Electors Rules, 1960, will need to be amended to introduce remote voting, the statement said.

• According to data by the Reserve Bank of India, frauds have cost the country an estimated ₹100 crore a day over the last seven years.
• An emerging technology, it uses the unique characteristics of a person’s voice as identification. The technology creates a digital voiceprint and compares it to a caller’s voice. Voice authentication can significantly improve security over knowledge-based authentication methods, which fraudsters have exploited to scam people.
• Unlike a password, a customer’s voice is impossible to spoof or copy, and is far more challenging to hack. VT verifies a caller swiftly in seconds by analysing the caller’s voice and flags suspicious calls. VT allows privacy because it does not require users to reveal personal information.

• The conviction of former Maldivian President Abdulla Yameen by a criminal court in the Maldives just a year ahead of general elections could affect his plans to lead the PPM-PNC opposition alliance.
• The Maldives Constitution disqualifies any candidate convicted of criminal charges and sentenced to a term of more than a year unless they are later acquitted or a three-year period has elapsed since their release.
• Yameen has had a rough relationship with India during his presidential term after he declared an emergency in the island state. As opposition leader he has spearheaded the “India Out” campaign, and has been unrepentant despite the latest verdict, trying to link his incarceration to pressure from India.
• India’s infrastructure aid, credit lines, loans and commissioning of various projects (Greater Male Connectivity Project, Hanimaadhoo airport, Hulhumale cricket stadium, Gulhifalhu port) have meant high visibility.
• In addition, close ties and high-level military exchanges since 2018 have raised speculation that India is eyeing a base.
• Even as the Solih government has been prompt in countering Mr. Yameen’s allegations, condemning the “India Out” campaign, and arresting a senior opposition leader for threatening violence against the Indian High Commission, the protests have gained some traction in parts of the country.

• By issuing decrees banning girls/women from school, gyms and public parks, and from working at NGOs, the Taliban regime controlling Afghanistan seems to have made it clear that it does not intend to keep the promises it made of protecting women’s rights.
• It also seems to be reneging on its other assurances, such as ensuring an inclusive government, the safety of minorities, and disallowing terror groups to operate from Afghanistan.
• We also have to be conscious of the fact that some key supporters of the Taliban have faced attacks in Kabul (China, Russia, Pakistan) from groups inimical to the Taliban.
• The 2011 India-Afghanistan Strategic Partnership Agreement recommitted Indian assistance to help rebuild Afghanistan’s infrastructure and institutions; education and technical assistance for capacity-building in many areas.
• SALMA DAM: The 42MW Salma Dam in Herat province. The hydropower and irrigation project, completed against many odds and inaugurated in 2016, is known as the Afghan-India Friendship Dam.
• ZARANJ-DELARAM HIGHWAY: The other high-profile project was the 218-km Zaranj-Delaram highway built by the Border Roads Organisation. Zaranj is located close to Afghanistan’s border with Iran. The $150-million highway goes along the Khash Rud river to Delaram to the northeast of Zaranj.
• PARLIAMENT: The Afghan Parliament in Kabul was built by India at $90 million. It was opened in 2015; Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the building.
• STOR PALACE: In 2016, Afghan President Ashraf Ghani and Prime Minister Modi inaugurated the restored Stor Palace in Kabul, originally built in the late 19th century, and which was the setting for the 1919 Rawalpindi Agreement by which Afghanistan became an independent country.

Who are the Bondas?

• The Bondas are Munda ethnic group who live in the isolated hill regions of the Malkangiri district of southwestern Odisha near the junction of the three states of Odisha, Chhattisgarh, and Andhra Pradesh.
• They are a scheduled tribe of India and are also known as the Remo (meaning “people” in the Bonda language).
• The tribe is one of the oldest and most primitive in mainland India; their culture has changed little for more than a thousand years.
• Their isolation and known aggressiveness continue to preserve their culture despite the pressures of an expanding Indian population.

• India’s current account balance recorded a deficit of $36.4 billion (or a nine-year high of 4.4% of GDP) in the quarter ended September, rising from $18.2 billion (2.2%) in the previous quarter.
• Net invisible receipts were higher in the first six months, year-on-year (y-o-y), due to higher net receipts of services and private transfers. Services exports in Q2 grew 30.2% y-o-y on rising software exports, business and travel services. Private transfer receipts, mainly representing remittances by Indians employed overseas, rose 29.7% to $27.4 billion.
• Net foreign direct investment slid to $6.4 billion from $8.7 billion. Net foreign portfolio investment in Q2 saw higher inflows of $6.5 billion compared with $3.9 billion a year earlier.

Q) With reference to the Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO), consider the following statements:

1. It functions under the Drugs and Cosmetics Act of 1940.
2. It grants licenses to certain specialised categories of critical Drugs.

Which of the above statements is/are correct?

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

केंद्रीय औषधि मानक नियंत्रण संगठन (CDSCO) के संदर्भ में निम्नलिखित कथनों पर विचार कीजिये:

1. यह 1940 के ड्रग्स एंड कॉस्मेटिक्स एक्ट के तहत कार्य करता है।
2. यह महत्वपूर्ण दवाओं की कुछ विशिष्ट श्रेणियों को लाइसेंस प्रदान 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

What is CDSCO?

• It is the Central Drug Authority for discharging functions assigned to the Central Government under the Drugs and Cosmetics Act of 1940.
• It works under the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare the National Regulatory Authority (NRA) of India.
• Under the Drugs and Cosmetics Act, CDSCO is responsible for
• Approval of Drugs.
• Conduct Clinical Trials.
• Laying down the standards for Drugs.
• Control over the quality of imported Drugs in the country.
• Coordination of the activities of State Drug Control Organizations.
• Further CDSCO along with state regulators, is jointly responsible for the grant of licences to certain specialised categories of critical Drugs such as vaccines and sera, etc.
• The Indian government has announced plans to subject all medical devices, including implants and contraception, to CDSCO scrutiny.
• Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI): DCGI is the head of the department of the CDSCO of the Government of India responsible for approval of licences of specified categories of drugs such as blood and blood products, IV fluids, vaccines and sera in India.
• DCGI also sets standards for the manufacturing, sales, import, and distribution of drugs in India.

Q) With reference to the Urban Local Bodies, consider the following statements:

1. These are constitutionalized through the 73rd Constitutional Amendment Act of 1992.
2. The municipality has a fixed term of 5 years from the date appointed for its first meeting.

Which of the above statements is/are correct?

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

शहरी स्थानीय निकायों के संदर्भ में निम्नलिखित कथनों पर विचार कीजिये:

1. इन्हें 1992 के 73वें संविधान संशोधन अधिनियम के माध्यम से संवैधानिक बनाया गया है।
2. नगरपालिका की पहली बैठक के लिए नियत तिथि से 5 वर्ष की निश्चित अवधि होती 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

Provisions of the Urban Local Body

• The Urban Local Bodies were constitutionalized through the 74th Constitutional Amendment Act of 1992.
• This act added a new Twelfth Schedule to the Constitution and it contains 18 functional items of municipalities.
• Reservation:
• The act provides not less than one-third of the total number of seats for women (including the number of seats reserved for women belonging to the SCs and the STs).
• It also provides for the reservation of seats for the scheduled castes and the scheduled tribes in every municipality in the proportion of their population.
• There will be no bar on State Legislatures from making provisions for the reservation of seats in any municipality or office of Chairperson in the municipalities in favour of the backward class of citizens.
• Term: The municipality has a fixed term of 5 years from the date appointed for its first meeting.
• Elections:

Q) Good Governance Day is observed on:

1. December 25
2. December 22
3. December 29
4. December 21

सुशासन दिवस मनाया जाता है:

1. 25 दिसंबर
2. 22 दिसंबर
3. 29 दिसंबर
4. 21 दिसंबर

Explanation :

In 2014, the then newly-elected Narendra Modi government announced that December 25 would be celebrated as “Good Governance Day”.

• It is observed on the occasion of former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s birth anniversary.
• It aims to increase awareness of government services and accountability among people and inculcate “good governance” as a habit for civil servants.
• The day is celebrated to ensure that the country’s residents are treated fairly by the government and they receive advantages of various government services.
• In 2019, the government launched the Good Governance Index on this occasion.
• The GGI is a scientifically prepared tool based on various parameters of good governance which assess the level of any state at a given point of time and help in shaping future development.

Q) With reference to the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR), consider the following statements:

1. It is a statutory organisation under the Ministry of Women & Child Development.
2. It is established under the Commissions for Protection of Child Rights (CPCR) Act, 2005.

Which of the above statements is/are correct?

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

राष्ट्रीय बाल अधिकार संरक्षण आयोग (NCPCR) के संदर्भ में निम्नलिखित कथनों पर विचार कीजिये:

1. यह महिला एवं बाल विकास मंत्रालय के तहत एक वैधानिक संगठन है।
2. इसकी स्थापना बाल अधिकार संरक्षण आयोग (सीपीसीआर) अधिनियम, 2005 के तहत की गई 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

What is NCPCR? 

• It is a statutory body set up under the Commissions for Protection of Child Rights (CPCR) Act, 2005.
• It works under the Ministry of Women & Child Development.

Members

• A chairperson who, is a person of eminence and has done outstanding work for promoting the welfare of children.
• Six members were appointed by the Central Government out of which at least two are women, who are having experience in Education, Child Health, Juvenile justice Elimination of child labour, Child psychology or sociology Laws relating to children.
• Mandate: The Commission ensures that all Laws, Policies, Programmes, and Administrative Mechanisms align with the Child Rights perspective as enshrined in the Constitution of India and also the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. The Child is defined as a person in the 0 to 18 years age group.

Q) With reference to the National Mobile Monitoring System (NMMS) application, consider the following statements:

1. It was launched by the NITI Aayog.
2. It permits taking real-time attendance of workers.

Which of the above statements is/are correct?

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

राष्ट्रीय बाल अधिकार संरक्षण आयोग (NCPCR) के संदर्भ में निम्नलिखित कथनों पर विचार कीजिये:

1. यह महिला एवं बाल विकास मंत्रालय के तहत एक वैधानिक संगठन है।
2. इसकी स्थापना बाल अधिकार संरक्षण आयोग (सीपीसीआर) अधिनियम, 2005 के तहत की गई 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

Explanation :

Recently, the central government has ordered that digitally capturing attendance is now mandatory for all workers employed under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGREGS) and will be applicable from January 1, 2023.

• It was launched by the Ministry of Rural Development.
• The NMMS App permits taking real-time attendance of workers at Mahatma Gandhi NREGS worksites along with geo-tagged photographs.
• This will increase citizen oversight of the programme besides potentially enabling the processing of payments faster.
• This facilitates them to record their findings online along with time-stamped and go-coordinate tagged photographs for all the schemes of the Department of Rural Development.
• This would also enable better record keeping of inspections by field and supervisory officials and also facilitate analysis of the findings for better programme implementation.

Mains Practice Question:

Q) India is projected to surpass China as the world’s most populous country by 2023. Discuss the challenges of rising population and suggest a way forward. (250 words)

भारत के 2023 तक दुनिया के सबसे अधिक आबादी वाले देश के रूप में चीन को पार करने का अनुमान है। बढ़ती जनसंख्या की चुनौतियों पर चर्चा करें और आगे का रास्ता सुझाएं। (250 शब्द)

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