UPSC DAILY CURRENT AFFAIRS (21ST SEPTEMBER, 2023)

Promotion of Tribal Products for North East Region (PTP-NER 2.0)

Syllabus: GS-2/Government Schemes and Initiatives

Context

• The Tribal Cooperative Marketing Development Federation of India Ltd. (TRIFED) has launched phase 2 of the ‘Promotion of Tribal Products for North East Region’ (PTP-NER 2.0) scheme.

About the Scheme:

• It is a Central Sector scheme and is launched by the Ministry of Tribal Affairs.
• This scheme aims to enhance procurement, logistics and marketing of tribal products from the North East Region.
• It will be implemented in eight states of North Eastern Region- Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Tripura and Sikkim.
• The scheme has been implemented in two phases:
  • In the First Phase of the scheme , 8 states and 38 districts were covered. Organisation of 64 Tribal Artisans Empanelment Melas (TAeM) were done by the teams of TRIFED and North Eastern Handicrafts and Handlooms Development Corporation (NEHHDC). A variety of products were procured ranging from textiles, forest produce, bamboo items, jewelry, pottery, paintings, etc. 
  • In the Second Phase of the scheme, 29 districts will be covered by the teams of TRIFED and NEHHDC to reach out to tribal artisans and showcase their cultural heritage.

Significance of the Scheme

• It will strengthen the job opportunities for tribal artisans by promoting their products.
• It will improve tribal products’ global value chain and create sustainable livelihoods for tribal communities.
• The scheme would uplift the socio-economic status of tribal artisans while preserving and promoting their rich traditional craftsmanship and cultural heritage.

Truenat Test 

Syllabus: GS2/Health

In News

• Kerala has been accorded sanction by the Indian Council for Medical Research (ICMR) to use Truenat test to diagnose Nipah. 

TrueNat

• TrueNat is a portable, chip-based and battery-operated machine developed by a Goa-based company Molbio Diagnostics Private Limited. It is a cost-effective and a miniature version of the Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) test.
• It was originally developed to detect Tuberculosis (TB) in one hour. The World Health Organisation has approved TrueNat for detecting TB.
• ICMR has also approved the use of TrueNat for the diagnosis of infectious diseases such as Covid and Hepatitis, among others.

TrueNat for Nipah and Biosafety levels (BSL)

• Hospitals with BSL 2 level labs can perform the TrueNat for Nipah.
• Biosafety levels (BSL) are used to identify the protective measures needed in a laboratory setting to protect workers, the environment, and the public.
• The four biosafety levels are BSL-1, BSL-2, BSL-3, and BSL-4, with BSL-4 being the highest (maximum) level of containment.

Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR)

• Mandate: It is the apex body in India for the formulation, coordination and promotion of biomedical research.
• Background: In 1911, the Government of India set up the Indian Research Fund Association (IRFA) for sponsoring and coordinating medical research in the country. It was redesignated the ICMR in 1949.
• Governance: The governing body of the council is presided over by the Union Health Minister. It is assisted in scientific and technical matters by a scientific advisory board comprising eminent experts in different biomedical disciplines.
• Funding: The ICMR is funded by the Government of India through the Department of Health Research, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.
• In 2007 the organization established the Clinical Trials Registry – India, which is India’s national registry for clinical trials.

Tussle Between the Union Government and the Delhi Waqf Board

Syllabus: GS2/Governance

In News

• The Union Housing and Urban Affairs Ministry has taken over 123 properties taken care of by the Delhi Waqf Board.

About

• These properties include mosques, dargah and graveyards, and the Union Government has taken over these properties based on the report of a two-member committee on denotified Waqf properties.
  • This committee was set up following a Delhi High Court order.
• The Waqf Board has challenged in the High Court the Union Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs letter which “absolves” the board from all matters pertaining to 123 properties.

What is the Stand of the Waqf Board?

• The Waqf Board which had gone to court following the delisting of 123 properties, and asked for a halt to the surveys being conducted, filed a fresh application after the demolition of the boundary wall of the mosque-madrasa complex at Babur Road. 
  • The Delhi High Court, however, allowed the survey to continue. 

Centre’s Stand

• The Centre opposed the Waqf Board’s plea against inspection of the properties under question, and claimed that the Delhi Waqf Board is not and cannot be the owner of any of the 123 properties and at best could only be a custodian, that too only if it’s a Waqf property.
• The survey of some of the leading mosques and dargahs continues for now though the graveyards have not been touched yet.

What is Waqf?

• The very literal meaning of Waqf is detention or confinement and prohibition. 
• As per Islam, it is the property that is now available only for religious or charitable purposes, and any other use or sale of the property is prohibited. 
• As per Sharia law, once Waqf is established, and the property is dedicated to Waqf, it remains as Waqf property forever.

Central Waqf Council

• It is a statutory body under the administrative control of the Ministry of Minority Affairs that was set up in 1964 as per the provision given in the Waqf Act, 1954 as Advisory Body to the Central Government on matters concerning the working of the Waqf Boards and the due administration of Auqaf.
• However, the role of the Council was expanded significantly under the provisions of the Waqf (Amendment) Act, 2013. 
• The Council has been empowered to advise the Central Government, State Governments and State Waqf Boards.  
• The Council consists of the Chairperson, who is the Union Minister in charge of Waqf and such other members, not exceeding 20 in number, as may be appointed by the Government of India. 
• As per Section 40 of the Waqf Act 1995 (as amended in 2013) the State Waqf Board is empowered to decide any question which arises as to whether a particular property is a Waqf property or not or whether a Waqf is a Sunni Waqf or a Shia Waqf.  

Agri-Credit and Crop Insurance

Syllabus: GS3/Economy

In News

• The Union Finance Minister and Union Agriculture Minister unveiled initiatives focused on agri-credit (KCC & MISS) and crop insurance (PMFBY/RWBCIS) to enhance financial inclusion in the agriculture sector.

New Initiatives Launched

• Kisan Rin Portal (KRP):  This digital platform aims to revolutionize access to credit services under the Kisan Credit Card Scheme (KCC) by offering a comprehensive view of farmer data & loan disbursement specifics and fostering seamless integration with banks. It will also assist farmers in availing subsidized agriculture credit through the Modified Interest Subvention Scheme (MISS).
• Ghar-Ghar KCC Abhiyaan: This Door to Door KCC Campaign will be implemented from 1st October 2023 to 31st December 2023 to achieve universal financial inclusion. It will do so by fostering the saturation of KCC Accounts among eligible non-KCC account holder PM Kisan beneficiary farmers. It will be primarily implemented by NABARD.
• Launch of Weather Information Network Data Systems (WINDS) Manual: It aims to establish a network of Automatic Weather Stations & Rain Gauges at the taluk/block and gram panchayat levels to support various agricultural services.

Schemes for Agri-Credit

• Modified Interest Subvention Scheme (MISS): It is a central sector scheme launched in the year 2006-07 with a view to provide short term Agri-loans availed by farmers through Kisan Credit Card (KCC) for their working capital requirements at concessional rate of interest. 
• Kisan Credit Card Scheme (KCC): It was introduced in 1998 so that farmers may use KCC to readily purchase agricultural inputs for their production needs. KCC is implemented by Commercial Banks, Cooperative Banks and Rural Regional Banks (RRBs) under the overall guidance of the Department of Financial Services. 

Crop Insurance

• Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY): It was launched in 2016 and provides a comprehensive insurance cover against failure of the crop.
  • The scheme is administered by the Ministry of Agriculture and is implemented by empanelled general insurance companies. 
  • The scheme is compulsory for loanee farmers availing Crop Loan /KCC account for notified crops and voluntary for others. 
• Restructured Weather Based Crop Insurance Scheme (RWBCIS): It was launched in 2016 to mitigate the hardship of the insured farmers against the likelihood of financial loss on account of anticipated crop loss resulting from adverse weather conditions. 
  • While PMFBY is based on yield, RWBCIS uses weather parameters as “proxy‟ for crop yields in compensating the cultivators for deemed crop losses.
  • All standard Claims are processed and paid within 45 days from the end of the risk period. 
  • The scheme is being administered by the Ministry of Agriculture.

Socialist and Secular

Syllabus: GS2/Polity

News:

• The leader of the Congress in Lok Sabha recently claimed that the words “socialist” and “secular” were missing in the Preamble of the Constitution of India, the copies of which were given to MPs recently.

Preamble:

• These two words were originally not a part of the Preamble. They were added by The Constitution (42nd Amendment) Act, 1976.
• The Preamble of the Constitution puts in words the ideal contained in the Objectives Resolution, which was adopted by the Constituent Assembly on January 22, 1947. 

Introduction of “Socialist” and “Secular” come in the Preamble: Socialist:

• Indira Gandhi government had attempted to cement her approval among the masses on the basis of a socialist and pro-poor image with slogans such as “garibi hatao” (Eradicate poverty). 
• It inserted the word in the Preamble to underline that socialism was a goal and philosophy of the Indian state.
• It needs to be stressed, however, that the socialism envisaged by the Indian state was not the socialism of the USSR or China of the time.
  • It did not envisage the nationalisation of all of India’s means of production. 
  • Indira Gandhi herself clarified that “we have our own brand of socialism”, under which “we will nationalise only the sectors where we feel the necessity”. She underlined that “just nationalisation is not our type of socialism”.

Secular:

• The people of India profess numerous faiths, and their unity and fraternity, notwithstanding the difference in religious beliefs, was sought to be achieved by enshrining the ideal of “secularism” in the Preamble.
• In essence, this means that the state protects all religions equally, maintains neutrality and impartiality towards all religions, and does not uphold any one religion as a “state religion”.
• A secular Indian state was founded on the idea that it is concerned with the relationship between human being and human being, and not between human being and God, which is a matter of individual choice and individual conscience. 
• Secularism in the Indian Constitution, therefore, is not a question of religious sentiment, but a question of law.
• The secular nature of the Indian state is secured by Articles 25-28 of the Constitution.
• The description of India as a “secular” country has been debated intensely over the past four decades; with critics claiming that these “imposed” terms sanction “pseudo-secularism”, “vote-bank politics” and “minority appeasement”.

Wasn’t Secularism Already an Integral Part of the Constitution even before the 42nd Amendment?

• In essence, it was always a part of the philosophy of the Constitution. The founders of the Indian Republic adopted Articles 25, 26, and 27 with the explicit intention of furthering and promoting the philosophy of secularism in the Constitution.
• The 42nd Amendment only formally inserted the word into the Constitution and made explicit what was already implicit in various provisions and overall philosophy of the founding document of the Republic.
• In fact, the Constituent Assembly specifically discussed the inclusion of these words in the Preamble, and decided not to do so. Dr B R Ambedkar put forward the following argument:

Has this Issue been Discussed Earlier too?

• Various petitions have been filed in the Supreme Court, seeking the removal of the words “socialist” and “secular” from the Preamble.
• Petitioners have argued that these words were never intended to be in the Constitution, and that such insertion is beyond the amending power of the Parliament under Article 368.
• Others argued that the country has changed its direction from being ‘socialist’ to welfare to ‘neo-liberalism’. 
• In 2008, the Supreme Court had rejected a plea demanding the removal of “socialist” on the ground that “Socialism in a broader sense means welfare measures for the citizens. It is a facet of democracy. It hasn’t got any definite meaning. It has a different meaning at different times.”

NUAKHAI

Syllabus: Prelims/Current Events of National Importance

News: 

• The Prime Minister of India recently greeted the people on the auspicious occasion of Nuakhai.

About:

• Names: Nuakhai is also called Nuakhai Parab or Nuakhai Bhetghat. It is also known as Navakhai Parv in Chhattisgarh. 
• Where: Nuakhai is an agricultural festival mainly observed by tribal people as well as Hindus of Western Odisha. It is also celebrated in the adjoining areas of Simdega in Jharkhand, where the culture of Western Odisha is much predominant.
• Why? Nuakhai is observed to welcome the new rice of the season. The word nua means new and khai means food, so the name means the farmers are in possession of the newly harvested rice. 
• When? It is observed on panchami tithi (the fifth day) of the lunar fortnight of the month of Bhadrapada(August–September), the day after the Ganesh Chaturthi festival.
• History: Nuakhai is of fairly ancient origin, originating from Pralambana yajna (which involves cutting of the first crop and reverent offering of the same to the mother goddess). In its current form, the festival dates back to the the time of the first Chauhan King Ramai Deva of Patnagarh in west Odisha.

Celebrations:

• This festival has 9 sets of rituals that start from Behrana to Nuakhai and all conclude in Juhar Bhet. 
• Beheren – This is the announcement of the meeting to be fixed on the date.
• Nuakhai – This ritual is popular and it is observed to eat the new crop after offering it to the deity, followed by dancing and singing.
• Juhar bhet – It is taking blessings on elderly people and sharing gifts with them.

Asia Pacific Forum

Syllabus: GS2/Important International Institutions

News

• The President of India, Droupadi Murmu recently inaugurated the Annual General Meeting and Biennial Conference of the Asia Pacific Forum on Human Rights in New Delhi.

About

• Background: The Asia Pacific Forum (APF) was established in 1996.
• Secretariat: Sydney, Australia.
• Mandate: To bring together National Human Rights Institutions (NHRIs) of the Asia Pacific to address human rights challenges in the region.
• Members: From five founding members, the APF membership has expanded to 26 NHRIs  – 16 ‘A status’ members, nine ‘B status’ members and one currently suspended member (Afghanistan).
• Membership Criteria: To be admitted as a full member, a NHRI must fully comply with the minimum international standards set out in the Paris Principles. NHRIs that partially comply with the Paris Principles are granted associate membership.

Paris Principles 

• The Paris Principles (‘Principles Relating to the Status of National Human Rights Institutions’) set out the minimum standards that NHRIs must meet in order to be considered credible and to operate effectively.
• They were endorsed by the Vienna World Conference on Human Rights and the UN General Assembly in 1993.

APF and GANHRI

• The Asia Pacific Forum (APF) is one of four regional networks of NHRIs within the Global Alliance of National Human Rights Institutions (GANHRI).
• Other 3 Regional groupings of NHRIs are
  • Network of African National Human Rights Institutions (NANHRI)
  • European Network of National Human Rights Institutions (ENNHRI)
  • Network of National Institutions in the Americas
• Full membership of the APF is equivalent to the GANHRI accreditation of “A status” and associate membership of the APF is equivalent to the GANHRI accreditation of “B status”.

Global Alliance of National Human Rights Institutions (GANHRI)

• GANHRI was previously known as the International Coordinating Committee of institutions for the promotion and protection of human rights (ICC). 
• GANHRI is a global network of national human rights institutions (NHRIs). It is constituted as a non-profit entity under Swiss law.

Tharosaurus Indicus

Syllabus:GS3/ Science and Technology

News

• The Oldest fossils of a plant-eating dinosaur have been found in the Thar desert near the Jaisalmer Basin, Rajasthan by the Geological Survey of India.

Background

• The scientists discovered the remains of a Sauropod dinosaur, which is the same clade as the long-necked herbivores in Jurassic Park – these happened to be the oldest known fossils of this particular kind of sauropod.
• The fossils belong to the family Dicraeosauridae and from the superfamily Diplodocoidea.
• These are the first Dicraeosaurid sauropods to have been found in India.

Tharosaurus Indicus

• The scientists named the dinosaur Tharosaurus indicus, with Tharo deriving from the Thar desert; saurus from the Greek ‘sauros’, or lizard; and indicus from its Indian origin. 
• At 167 million years old, they are the oldest known Diplodocoid fossils in the world. 
• However, members of the Dicraeosauridae family of sauropods – to which Tharasaurus belongs – were not nearly as large. This family was unique: its members were smaller and had shorter necks and tails compared to the other long-necked sauropods.

History of Sauropods

• Sauropods first appeared on the earth during the Jurassic period, about 200 million years ago. They were one of the most dominant clades of dinosaurs, surviving until the late Cretaceous period 65 million years ago, when dinosaurs went extinct.
• However in India, sauropod fossils from the Early Jurassic and the Late Cretaceous period have been found, very few have from the Middle or Late Jurassic period, which would be about 160-180 million years ago.
• India has also been home to a few early, more primitive sauropods, like Kotasaurus and Barapasaurus. They were both discovered in the Kota Formation, a geological rock unit in Telangana, from the Early Jurassic period.
• In 2006, another middle Jurassic sauropod dinosaur fossil was found in the Kutch basin of Gujarat, named Camarasaurus supremus, which was also the oldest fossil of that group found at the time.

India: The Site of Radiation of Diplodocoid Dinosaurs 

• Some 167 million years ago when Tharosaurus lived, India was part of a group of continents in the southern hemisphere with Africa, South America, Madagascar, and Antarctica, together called Gondwanaland. 
• With the discovery of the oldest diplodocoid, it is highly likely that these diplodocoid sauropods could have originated in India during the Middle Jurassic period and used the land connections at the time to migrate to Madagascar, Africa, and South America. After that they could have made their way to North America and the rest of the world.
• Another piece of evidence that supports their theory was that diplodocoid fossils in other continents like Africa, the Americas, and Asia come from a younger geological interval.
• Also Archaic sauropod fossils from during the start of the Jurassic period –like of Kotasaurus and Barapasaurus – were also found in India.
• Together, the record from India suggests that the Indian landmass was one of the most important places for the early evolutionary history of sauropod dinosaurs.

Pink Diamonds

Syllabus:GS3/ Science and Technology

News

• The researchers have found the “missing ingredient” for pink diamonds by measuring the age of elements of the crystals of an Argyle rock sample.

Background

• Pink diamonds are some of the world’s most expensive stones due their rarity and beauty.
• More than 90% of all the pink diamonds ever found were discovered at the Argyle mine in the remote northwest of Australia.However most other diamond mines are located  in the middle of a continent.

Ingredients for Forming Pink Diamonds

• For formation of the Pink diamond three ingredients are needed. Two of the three ingredients for forming pink diamonds had already been known.
  • The first ingredient is carbon, and it must be more than 150 km deep.
  • The second is the right amount of pressure, to give the color to the diamonds. 
  • The third and missing ingredient was the event that sent the diamonds shooting up to the surface.
• The immense pressure that twisted color into the diamonds occurred during collisions between western Australia and northern Australia 1.8 billion years ago. 

The Missing Ingredient

• According to the study published in the journal Nature Communications, the pink diamonds were brought to the earth’s surface by the break-up of the first supercontinent Nuna around 1.3 billion years ago.
• When Nuna started to break up it re-aggravated the “scar” from that event. Magma shot up through this old scar and took the diamonds along for the ride.

Significance

• Knowing the “missing ingredient” for pink diamonds could assist future efforts to find the rare stones.
• Also old mountain belts marking Nuna’s breakup near the edges of continents i.e. Canada, Russia, southern Africa and Australia have the potential to be home to a new “pink diamond paradise”.

Examples of Ethics (Copyright infringement by Open AI)

GS Paper 4 Syllabus: Applications of Ethics

Context: Prominent authors, including John Grisham and George R.R. Martin (of Games of Thrones fame), are suing OpenAI in a proposed class-action lawsuit, accusing the company of training its AI chatbot ChatGPT on their work without permission.

The Authors Guild, representing U.S. authors, filed the lawsuit, asserting that authors should control how their works are used by generative AI to preserve literature.

Ethical issues highlighted in this case are:

Facts for Prelims (FFP)

Paryushan 2023

Context: Paryushan Parv is a significant festival in Jainism, observed by both Digambara and Shwetambar communities.

• It is a time for deep reflection, repentance, and redemption for Jains.

Significance:

• Spiritual Significance: Paryushan Parv inspires individuals to cultivate virtuous qualities. It involves fasting, penance, meditation, and self-reflection, aiming for soul purification and vowing to avoid future transgressions. It’s a time for seeking righteousness and spiritual purity, ultimately aiming for salvation.
• Five Duties of Paryushan: These include Samvatsari (forgiveness and reconciliation), Keshlochan (introspection and self-improvement), Pratikraman (seeking forgiveness for past wrongdoings), Penance (commitment to spiritual growth), and self-criticism and apology for past mistakes.

National Higher Education Qualifications Framework (NHEQF)

Context: India has recently introduced a National Higher Education Qualifications Framework (NHEQF) after a prolonged delay.

• The NHEQF is meant to streamline higher education qualifications, but it has several shortcomings.

Issues with National Higher Education Qualifications Framework (NHEQF):

• NHEQF coexists with other frameworks, such as the National Credit Framework and the Academic Bank of Credits, creating confusion and defeating the purpose of a unified framework.
• Certain disciplines like agriculture, law, medicine, and pharmacy are not included, despite their importance.
• The NHEQF draws heavily from the European Bologna process, which may not fully suit India’s diverse and complex higher education system.

Old Pension Scheme (OPS): A Caution by RBI

Context: Several Indian states reverting to the Old Pension Scheme (OPS) from the New Pension Scheme (NPS) have been cautioned by an RBI article, which deems this move a “major step backwards” in fiscal management.

States such as Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Punjab, and Himachal Pradesh have switched to OPS.

What is fiscal management?

Fiscal management refers to the process of planning, organizing, and controlling a government’s finances to ensure responsible and effective use of public funds. It involves activities such as budgeting, revenue collection, expenditure allocation, and debt management to achieve economic stability and meet government objectives.

Observations by RBI:

• Reverting to the Old Pension Scheme (OPS) might briefly reduce state expenses, but it will surpass the New Pension Scheme (NPS) contributions by the 2030s.
• This shift could inflate the pension burden by around 4.5 times compared to NPS.
• By 2060, this additional OPS burden could reach about 1% of GDP annually for states.
• This move goes against the global trend of adopting defined contribution plans and is considered fiscally unsustainable.

Cauvery Water Management Authority

Context: The Cauvery Water Management Authority (CWMA) needs to take action in formulating a distress-sharing formula for the Cauvery River, as recent submissions by Karnataka and Tamil Nadu have highlighted the urgency of the matter.

• Both states, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka acknowledge the concept of distress sharing, but the disagreement lies in the specifics of the formula.

Tamil Nadu considers factors such as deficit in inflows to Karnataka’s reservoirs and rainfall patterns in the Cauvery catchment, while Karnataka believes that the distress situation cannot be determined until the end of January, taking both southwest and northeast monsoons into account.

The Cauvery Water Management Authority (CWMA) is a regulatory body established by the Indian government to oversee the equitable distribution and management of the Cauvery River’s waters among the riparian states of Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, and Puducherry.