The Hindu Newspaper Analysis 6 June 2023

The Hindu Newspaper Analysis for UPSC

The Hindu Newspaper Analysis 5 June 2023

 The Hindu Editorial Today

• The National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF), under the Union Education Ministry, announced the India Rankings 2023 of higher education institutions here on Monday.
• The Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Madras retained its position as the best educational institution in overall ranking for the fifth consecutive term, while Indian Institute of Science, Bengaluru was rated the best university in the country for eight years in a row.
• Miranda House, Delhi was ranked the best college and the Indian Institute of Management, Ahemdabad the top management institute. The National Institute of Pharmaceutical Education and Research, Hyderabad was named the best institute in the field.
• The All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Delhi was ranked the best medical college and Saveetha Institute of Medical and Technical Sciences, Chennai got the honour of top dental college. The National Law School of India University, Bengaluru was rated the best law college in the country. The Indian Institute of Technology, Madras also received the honour of best engineering college for the eighth consecutive year.

What is the National Institutional Ranking Framework?

• Launch: The National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF) was approved by the Ministry of Education (Erstwhile Ministry of Human Resource Development) in September 2015.
• It is the first-ever effort by the government to rank Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) in the country.
• Participation in NIRF was made compulsory for all government-run educational institutions in 2018.

Assessment on Five Parameters:

• Teaching, Learning and Resources (TLR)
• Research and Professional Practice (RP)
• Graduation Outcomes (GO)
• Outreach and Inclusivity (OI)
• Peer Perception.

• The complexity of the India-China border problem precludes a permanent solution on an immediate basis.
• The India-China engagement got an impetus after the visit by then Indian Prime Minister to China in December 1988. Since then, four agreements have been signed between the two countries (in 1993, 1996, 2005 and 2013) to maintain peace along the LAC, laying the framework for dealing with the border issue and covering the spectrum of engagement from the highest levels of government to border personnel meetings in the field.
• Existing Confidence Building Measures and engagement mechanisms need to be strengthened

• The Indian Railways carries nearly 15 million passengers every day now compared to the peak of 23 million a day the year before the COVID-19 pandemic. India has an ambitious plan to improve its rail infrastructure, and in the year 2023-24, ₹2.4-lakh crore has been allocated for capital expenditure.
• Accidents per million train kilometre have fallen over the last decade, but poor maintenance of tracks and the rolling stock and overstretched staff are problems that the Railways can no longer camouflage with glitzy facades. Safety measures including anti-collision systems are expanding, but evidently not at an adequate pace.
• In 2021, the Prime Minister announced that 75 new semi-high speed trains labelled Vande Bharat would be started over 75 weeks, and several have been started already. There has been attention on passenger amenities also, but nothing can be more important than safety.

• The world’s largest grouping of crude oil producers, commonly known as OPEC+, agreed on Sunday to extend ongoing production cuts into 2024 as it seeks to keep oil prices from falling amid concerns about a global economic slowdown.
• The more than 20-nation OPEC+ bloc, which has been striving to curtail supply in order to support prices in the face of flagging demand, had in a surprise move in April announced additional output cuts amounting to 1.66 million bpd.
• While the demand for bringing oil products under the ambit of GST so as to help rationalise fuel prices is unlikely to be met any time soon, especially given the revenue implications for States, the Centre can take the lead and provide a fiscal fillip to the economy by cutting its levies on the key transport fuels.

• What is OPEC+?
• OPEC: Established in 1960 by founding members Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and Venezuela, OPEC has since expanded and now has 13 member states.
• Member countries are: Algeria, Angola, Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Libya, Nigeria, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Venezuela.
• Headquarter: Vienna, Austria.
• OPEC produces about 40% of the world’s crude oil and its members’ exports make up around 60% of global petroleum trade.
• OPEC+: In 2016, with the addition of another 10 allied major oil-producing countries, the OPEC is known as OPEC+.
• OPEC+ countries include 13 OPEC member countries and Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Brunei, Kazakhstan, Malaysia, Mexico, Oman, Russia, South Sudan and Sudan.
• Objective:
• The objective of the organisation is to “coordinate and unify the petroleum policies of its Member Countries and ensure the stabilisation of oil markets in order to secure an efficient, economic and regular supply of petroleum to consumers, a steady income to producers and a fair return on capital for those investing in the petroleum industry.

• A deepfake is something that a machine has produced using deep learning and which contains false information. It pays to keep the definition of deepfakes, however vague, in front of us because of the way deepfakes distort reality and attempt to persuade us that something false is true.
• For now, among all the countries, China has responded strongest. It has banned deepfaked visuals whose creators don’t have permission to modify the original material and which aren’t watermarked accordingly.
• The success of this policy is no doubt assured by the country’s existing surveillance network. Every measure short of this requires at least an ampoule of self-restraint. And that is rooted in the kind of people that we are.

• About International Energy Agency (IEA)
• Origin: In 1974 to ensure the security of oil supplies.
• Objectives: The IEA was established as the main international forum for energy cooperation on a variety of issues such as security of supply, long-term policy, information transparency, energy efficiency, sustainability, research and development, technology collaboration and international energy relations.
• Working:
• The IEA is an autonomous intergovernmental organisation within the OECD framework.
• The IEA works with governments and industry to shape a secure and sustainable energy future for all.
• Members:
• It is made up of 30 member countries, 8 association countries, and 3 accession countries.
• A candidate country to the IEA must be a member country of the OECD.
• IEA member countries are required to maintain total oil stock levels equivalent to at least 90 days of the previous year’s net imports.
• India became an Associate Member of IEA in 2017.
• Important Reports:
• World Energy Outlook
• Energy Technology Perspectives
• World Energy Balances
• World Energy Statistics
• Net Zero by 2050

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