UPSC Key-16 June, 2023: What you should read in the news today

Syllabus:

Preliminary Examination: Current events of national and international importance.

Main Examination: 

• General Studies I: Role of women and Social empowerment

• General Studies II: Government policies and interventions for development in various sectors and issues arising out of their design and implementation.

Key Points to Ponder:

• What’s the ongoing story- The Delhi Police filed a chargesheet Thursday against BJP MP and Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) chief Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh for alleged sexual harassment, assault and stalking of six women wrestlers. In a 1500-page chargesheet, police have mentioned statements of at least 22 witnesses from across four states, including wrestlers, a referee, coach and physiotherapist, who have corroborated the allegations of the six women wrestlers against Singh. Around 220 WFI staffers, wrestlers, referees and coaches, along with Singh and his associates, were among those examined in the case.

• What you know about the protest so far?

• How Government has responded?

• Who is Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh?

• What are the “major findings” after a preliminary scrutiny of the probe committee that looked into allegations of sexual harassment?

• What is the accusation against Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh?

• What do these charges mean?

• Section 354: What does the law say?

• Section 354A: What does the law say?

• What is Section 354D IPC?

• Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, 2012- Know the Salient features of the Act and its amendment

• Who is regarded as child as per the provisions of POCSO Act, 2012?

• Why Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, 2012?

• What are the challenges associated with child sexual abuse?

• What are the Initiatives, legislations and laws taken by the Government of India in this direction?

• What are the Rights of a child in India as per the Indian Constitution?

• What is ‘Age of Consent’?

• According to the Protection of Children from Sexual Offenses (POCSO) Act of 2012, what age is specified as the “age of consent”?

• What is PoSH Act Rules 2013?

• How did the PoSH Act come to be?

• How does the PoSh Act describe sexual harassment at the workplace?

• What does the PoSH Act say about the complaints committee?

• What is internal complaint committee?

• What is the role of internal complaint committee?

• What is the procedure for complaint under the Act?

• What protection is available in the Act against a false complaint of sexual harassment?

• Women in sports in India-what data’s and facts says?

• What is the major issue that affects female athletes participation in sports?

• What are the challenges faced by Indian sportswomen?

• How are females discriminated against in sporting activities?

• ‘Absence of Internal Complaints Committee under the Prevention of Sexual Harassment Act, 2013 in the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI)’-comment

• Can the problem be solved by putting together anti-sexual harassment committees in all sports departments, federations, and government sports bodies?

• Does the Vishaka guidelines apply to female athletes?

• When was Wrestling Federation of India established?

• Did India’s most esteemed female wrestlers make the correct decision by publicly condemning the Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh?

• “The recent case of Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh is characterised by a dangerous combination of political nexus and male domination of positions of power”-Analyse

Other Important Articles Covering the same topic:

📍The charges against Brij Bhushan and his aide Tomar

Data ‘breach’: Probe looks at likely leaks from 11 states

Syllabus:

Preliminary Examination: Current events of national and international importance.

Mains Examination: 

• General Studies II: Important aspects of governance, transparency and accountability, e-governance applications, models, successes, limitations, and potential; citizens charters, transparency & accountability and institutional and other measures.

• General Studies III: Basics of cyber security

Key Points to Ponder:

• What’s the ongoing story-As part of its investigation into the alleged CoWIN data breach, the Indian Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-In) — the nodal cyber security agency — is in discussions with at least 11 state governments that had developed their own databases during the Covid-19 pandemic and seeded citizens’ personal data including their Aadhaar details, The Indian Express has learnt.

• What is the context or underlying circumstances surrounding the issue?

• What happened exactly?

• What exactly is CoWIN data breach?

• What is CoWIN?

• What happened to the CoWIN data?

• How the Telegram bot was able to throw up citizens’ data linked to a phone number

• What is the application programming interface?

• What is Government’s stand?

• How serious is a data leak?

• Why does data matter?

• What is Data Protection?

• What is personal data?

• What is non-personal data?

• Personal data and Non-personal data-compare

• What is CERT-In (Indian Computer Emergency Response Team) cyber security?

• What does computer emergency response team CERT India do?

• Why Cyber Security is required?

• What kind of data’s are vulnerable and What information can be compromised?

• What are the or what should be the features of Cyber Security?

• Know Cyber Security initiatives in India- Computer Emergency Response Team – India (CERT-IN), Cyber Surakshit Bharat Initiative, National Cyber Security Coordination Centre (NCCC), Cyber Swachhta Kendra, Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre (I4C), Cyberdome (Kerala)

• Global Cybersecurity Index (GCI)-Know the facts like who publishes and what are the components of this Index etc.

• Snooping and Surveillance in the name of Cyber and National Security-Where to draw the line?

• Supreme Court of India on snooping and surveillance-People’s Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL) vs Union of India case in 1996, Rule 419A of the Indian Telegraph Rules, 1951

• Personal Data Protection Bill 2019-key Highlights

• Supreme Court on Right to Privacy (Justice K.S. Puttaswamy vs. Union of India, 2017)-know the verdict

• Justice B N Srikrishna committee recommendation on Data Protection-Know key recommendations

• Personal Data Protection Bill 2019- how this Bill propose to regulate data transfer?

• Key features of Personal Data Protection Bill 2019-know in brief

• What is data localisation? Know the Case for Data Localisation in India.

• What Srikrishna Committee Report says on data localisation?

• Initiative/steps taken by Government of India for Data Protection and Data Privacy-Know in detail

• Justice Raveendran Committee Report-Know in detail

• But was there a breach?

• How serious is a data leak?

• What next?

• What is the stance of India regarding the matter of Cyber Security?

Other Important Articles Covering the same topic:

📍CoWIN data ‘leak’: Why the govt statement raises more questions than it answers

GOVT & POLITICS

Ahead of Modi’s visit, DAC clears procurement of armed UAVs from the US

Syllabus:

Preliminary Examination: Current events of national and international importance.

Mains Examination: 

• General Studies II: Bilateral, regional and global groupings and agreements involving India and/or affecting India’s Interest

• General Studies III: Security challenges and their management in border areas – linkages of organized crime with terrorism.

Key Points to Ponder:

• What’s the ongoing story- Ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s US visit next week, the Defence Acquisition Council (DAC) Thursday approved the procurement of armed Predator Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV) from General Atomics, it is learnt. The procurement of the drones was cleared at a meeting of the DAC chaired by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, according to a PTI report. The deal now awaits the final nod from the Cabinet Committee on Security.

• What are unmanned aerial vehicles?

• Drones, or unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs)-Know in detail

• What is the Request for Information (RFI) that the Army has issued and when?

• What use of the equipment has been specified in the Request for Information (RFI)?

• Has this kind of system been used in combat?

• What is Anti-drone technology?

• MQ-9B Predator armed drones-Know its features

• Defence Acquisition Council-About, Role and Functions

• Why Defence Acquisitions Council was created?

• Who chairs the Defence Acquisition Council in India?

• Do You Know-The Indo-US defence ties have been on an upswing in the last few years. In June 2016, the US designated India a ‘Major Defence Partner’, paving way for sharing of critical military equipment and technology. The two countries have also inked key defence and security pacts over the past few years, including the Logistics Exchange Memorandum of Agreement (LEMOA) in 2016 that allows their militaries to use each other’s bases for repair and replenishment of supplies. The two sides signed COMCASA (Communications Compatibility and Security Agreement) in 2018 which provides for interoperability between the two militaries and provides for the sale of high-end technology from the US to India. In October 2020, India and the US sealed the BECA (Basic Exchange and Cooperation Agreement) agreement to further boost bilateral defence ties.

• What is the basic exchange and cooperation agreement?

• What are the four major foundational agreements that the U.S. signs with allies and close partners to facilitate interoperability between militaries and sale of high end technology?

• What is Communications Compatibility and Security Agreement (COMCASA)

• How COMCASA is different from CISMOA?

• What is Logistics Exchange Memorandum of Agreement (LEMOA)?

• What is General Security Of Military Information Agreement (GSOMIA)?

Other Important Articles Covering the same topic:

📍India in advanced stage of talks with US for procuring MQ-9B drones

EXPRESS NETWORK

Global warming breaches 1.5°C threshold in summer for 1st time

Syllabus:

Preliminary Examination: General issues on Environmental ecology, Bio-diversity and Climate Change – that do not require subject specialization.

Mains Examination: General Studies III: Conservation, environmental pollution and degradation, environmental impact assessment.

Key Points to Ponder:

• What’s the ongoing story– For the first few days of June, global mean temperatures were more than 1.5 degrees Celsius higher than pre-industrial averages, the European Centre for Medium Range Weather Forecast (ECMWF) said on Thursday, making this the first time the 1.5 degree-threshold was breached in the summer months.

• ‘1.5 degrees Celsius’-what you know about this?

• Why are we Talking about 1.5°C?

• What was the pre-industrial average temperature?

• What does 1.5C above pre-industrial levels mean?

• Why is 1.5 degrees important?

• What Is Climate Change?

• How Is Climate Change measured over time?

• What Causes Climate Change?

• What are the effects of Climate Change?

• At the 21st Conference of the Parties (COP21) in December 2015, 195 nations adopted the Paris Agreement-can you recall which agreement was that?

• Have you heard of Paris Agreement? If yes, then what all you know about it?

• For Your Information-The goal of the 2015 Paris Agreement is to ensure that the rise in global mean temperatures, as compared to pre-industrial times, does not exceed 2 degrees Celsius, and preferably be restricted within 1.5 degrees. But the thresholds mentioned in the Paris Agreement are not about daily or even annual global temperatures. Rather, those thresholds refer to long-term warming, meaning global temperatures over a period of 20 to 30 years, on an average, must not exceed 1.5 degrees or 2 degrees Celsius.

• What is the significance of Paris Agreement?

• The first UNFCCC document to mention a limit to global warming of 1.5°C was the Cancun Agreement, adopted at the sixteenth COP (COP16) in 2010-True or False?

• What was the Cancun Agreement?

• Are we close enough to 1.5°C?

• Do You Know-The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) had said last month that there was a 66 per cent chance that in one of the next five years (2023-27), annual global temperatures would breach the 1.5 degrees threshold. Last year, it was 1.15 degrees Celsius higher than the pre-industrial times, the WMO said. The warmest ever year, so far, has been 2016 when global mean temperatures were 1.28 degrees Celsius higher. In its statement last month, WMO said it was near certain that one of the next five years (2023-27) would leave 2016 behind.

• What are the Impacts of 1.5°C and 2°C of Warming?

• What Transitions could Enable Limiting Global Warming to 1.5°C?

• What are the Connections between Sustainable Development and Limiting Global Warming to 1.5°C above Pre-Industrial Levels?

Other Important Articles Covering the same topic:

📍What happens after warming hits 1.5 degrees Celsius? A guide to climate overshoot

THE EDITORIAL PAGE

Three years after Galwan

Syllabus:

Preliminary Examination: Current events of national and international importance.

Mains Examination: General Studies II: India and its neighbourhood- relations.

Key Points to Ponder:

• What’s the ongoing story– Ex-Navy Chief Arun Prakash writes: Ahead of the third anniversary of the India-China Galwan clash, Senior Colonel Zhao Xiaozhuo of the PLA Academy of Military Sciences, reminded us, at the recent Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore, of China’s “complex and systematic” build-up of defence capabilities, adding ominously: “India is unlikely to catch up to China in the coming decades because of its weak industrial infrastructure.”

• What happened in the Galwan?

• What is the importance of this region for India?

• How significant are they for the Indian military?

• India-China Relations during Nehruvian Era-Know in detail

• The 1962 India-China War-Know the background

• India-China Border Dispute-what is present situation?

• For Your Information-India and China have held 18 rounds of military talks and 27 meetings of the Working Mechanism for Consultation and Coordination on India-China Border Affairs (WMCC) so far. The talks have led to disengagement of troops at the post 2020 friction points with the creation of buffer zones, but legacy issues such as Depsang Plains and Demchok continue to fester, leading to limited or no patrolling by Indian troops at these points

• What is Line of Actual Control?

• China’s aggressive attitude towards Indo-China Border and What impact can it have on India-China relations?

• Changing dynamics in Indo-China relationships-what are the points of irritation in recent scenario?

• Jingoism and not pragmatism nowadays dominate bilateral relations of India with her Neighbours -do you think so? Attest your opinion with few examples

• Resolving the Sino-Indian imbroglio-How?

• What lies ahead?

Other Important Articles Covering the same topic:

📍Three years after Galwan

THE IDEAS PAGE

When women travel free

Syllabus:

Preliminary Examination: Indian Polity and Governance-Constitution, Political System, Panchayati Raj, Public Policy, Rights Issues, etc.

Mains Examination: General Studies I: Social empowerment

Key Points to Ponder:

• What’s the ongoing story-The newly-elected Karnataka government implemented the first of its five schemes, promised before the elections, namely “Shakti” on June 11, which offers women free bus travel in non-premium services by state-run road transport corporations. The response to this scheme, especially from the women of the state, has been tremendously positive. A photograph of an elderly woman bowing and touching the steps of a state-run bus reverently before entering it, has become emblematic. State-supported mobility for women through a scheme like this one holds great emancipatory possibilities.

• What is the Shakti scheme in Karnataka?

• What is meant by female mobility?

• How does gender affect mobility?

• What is the gender difference in mobility?

• “Across history, new possibilities and modes of mobility for women have brought about revolutionary changes in their lives as well as in the societies in which they lived”-Discuss

• How provision of free state-owned public transport will expand the vistas of female mobility and the opportunities and choices?

• What Impact Shakti Scheme will make on economically marginalised sections of society?

Other Important Articles Covering the same topic:

📍Karnataka: Women, transgender persons can travel for free in government buses from June 11

EXPLAINED

LANDFALL OF A CYCLONE

Syllabus:

Preliminary Examination: Indian and World Geography-Physical, Social, Economic Geography of India and the World.

Mains Examination: 

• General Studies I: Important Geophysical phenomena such as earthquakes, Tsunami, Volcanic activity, cyclone etc., geographical features and their location-changes in critical geographical features and in flora and fauna and the effects of such changes.

• General Studies III: Disaster and disaster management.

Key Points to Ponder:

• What’s the ongoing story-The landfall process of Cyclone Biparjoy started near Jakhau port in the state’s Kutch district on Thursday evening and continued till midnight, according to the India Meteorological Department (IMD). The cyclone crossed Saurashtra & Kutch and adjoining Pakistan coasts between Mandvi (Gujarat) and Karachi (Pakistan) late night on Thursday. The Gujarat government has so far shifted more than 94,000 people living in eight coastal districts to temporary shelters. It has also issued prohibitory orders, shut down public transport and advised people to remain indoors.

• What is the “landfall” of a cyclone?

• What is the damage caused by a cyclone’s landfall?

• How long does a landfall last?

• How Cyclone ‘Biporjoy’ will affect?

• Why Bay of Bengal Receives more Cyclone than Arabian Sea?

• World Meteorological Organisation (WMO)-About, Role, Vision and Mission

• India Meteorological Department (IMD)-About, Role, Vision and Mission

• Temperate cyclones and Tropical cyclones-Compare and Contrast

• In India, how cyclones are classified?

• Cyclones are given many names in different regions of the world-What are they?

• Typhoons, hurricanes, tornados, willy-willies and tropical cyclones-Know the difference

• How Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) classifies the low pressure systems in the Bay of Bengal and the Arabian Sea on the basis of capacity to damage?

• Low Pressure, Depression, Deep Depression, Cyclonic Storm, Severe Cyclonic Storm and Severe Cyclonic Storm-Know the differences

• Cyclones are also classified into five different levels on the basis of wind speed-can you tell how exactly?

• Explain and elaborate cyclogenesis?

• The development cycle of tropical cyclones may be divided into three stages-What are those?

• When it comes to cyclone then the Indian subcontinent is one of the worst affected regions in the world-why?

• What are the pre-disaster measures?

• What are the post-disaster management?

• What is the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction?

• Sendai Framework and Hyogo framework-compare

• What is priority of the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction?

• What are the main targets of Sendai Framework?

• What are the types of hazard as per Sendai Framework?

• What are the steps taken by India for disaster management?

Other Important Articles Covering the same topic:

📍What are some of the deadliest cyclones to have hit India in the past?

📍What will happen after cyclone Biparjoy makes a landfall?

📍For safety’s sake

ECONOMY

Why RBI’s move on wilful defaulters has sparked controversy

Syllabus:

Preliminary Examination: Current events of national and international importance.

Mains Examination: General Studies III: Indian Economy and issues relating to planning, mobilization, of resources, growth, development and employment.

Key Points to Ponder:

• What’s the ongoing story– The Reserve Bank of India (RBI), in a controversial move, has allowed wilful defaulters and loans accounts involved in frauds to go in for a compromise settlement with banks to settle their dues. A section of bankers say the RBI decision may be detrimental to the banking system and depositors as the wrongful actions of such defaulters and fraudsters are being condoned, placing the burden of their misdeeds on the shoulders of ordinary citizens, especially depositors.

• Who are wilful defaulters?

• For Your Information-As per the Reserve Bank of India’s classification, a ‘wilful default’ would be deemed to have occurred if the borrower has defaulted in meeting their repayment obligations to the lender even when they have the capacity to honour the said obligations. There were 15,778 wilful default accounts involving an amount of Rs 340,570 crore as of December 2022 as against 14,206 accounts involving Rs 285,583 crore a year ago in December 2021 and 12,911 accounts for Rs 245,888 crore in December 2020, according to Transunion Cibil, a credit information company registered with the RBI. A wilful default happens when the borrower has not utilised the finance from the lender for the specific purpose for which finance was availed, and has diverted the funds for other purposes, siphoned off funds, or disposed of or removed the movable fixed assets or immovable property given for the purpose of securing a term loan without the knowledge of the bank.

• What is the limit of Wilful Defaulter?

• What are the consequences of wilful defaulters?

• What is the recent RBI’s directive for wilful defaulters?

• What is a compromise settlement?

• What did RBI say?

• Why has this been termed as a detrimental step?

• Does this mark a policy reversal?

• Why is loan recovery important?

Other Important Articles Covering the same topic:

📍Wilful defaulters, fraudsters can go for compromise settlement: RBI

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