The Hindu Newspaper Analysis 12 December 2022

The Hindu Newspaper Analysis for UPSC

The Hindu Newspaper Analysis 9 December 2022

• The era of classifying terrorists as “bad” or “good” on the basis of “political convenience” must end immediately, a concept note circulated by India in the UN Security Council here has said, underlining that categorising terror acts by intent as religious or ideologically motivated will dilute the shared global commitment to fighting terrorism.
• Stressing that terrorism cannot be associated with any religion, nationality, civilisation or ethnic group, the note said all acts of terrorism were criminal. “Terrorism in all its forms and manifestations must be condemned. There cannot be an exception or justification for any act of terrorism, regardless of its motivation and wherever, whenever and by whomsoever committed. The era of classifying terrorists as ‘bad’, ‘not so bad’ or ‘good’ on the basis of political convenience must end immediately,” it said.
• India, the current President of the 15-nation Council

The Hindu Editorial Today

UNSC?

• About:
  • The Security Council was established by the UN Charter in 1945. It is one of the six principal organs of the United Nations.
    • The other 5 organs of the United Nations are—the General Assembly (UNGA), the Trusteeship Council, the Economic and Social Council, the International Court of Justice, and the Secretariat.
  • The UNSC, with a mandate to maintain international peace and security, is the centrepiece of global multilateralism.
• 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.
  • India’s Membership:
    • India has served seven times in the UN Security Council as a non-permanent member and in January 2021, India entered the UNSC for the eighth time.
    • India has been advocating a permanent seat in UNSC.

• India and other countries should “respect” and follow the ASEAN’s policy on Myanmar rather than taking a “different” path, Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi says.
• the Myanmar military government that came to power in February 2021 after deposing the elected National Unity Government and jailing thousands of leaders, including Aung San Suu Kyi
• The plan calls for an immediate end to violence in the country; dialogue among all parties; the appointment of a special envoy; humanitarian assistance by ASEAN; and the special envoy’s visit to Myanmar to meet with all parties.

What is the Association of Southeast Asian Nations?

• About:
  • It is a regional grouping that promotes economic, political, and security cooperation.
  • It was established in August 1967 in Bangkok, Thailand with the signing of the ASEAN Declaration (Bangkok Declaration) by the founding fathers of ASEAN, namely Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore and Thailand.
  • Its chairmanship rotates annually, based on the alphabetical order of the English names of Member States.
  • ASEAN countries have a total population of 650 million people and a combined Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of USD 2.8 trillion.
• Members:
  • ASEAN brings together ten Southeast Asian states – Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam – into one organisation.

• Whether or not Indian policymakers articulate it as such, China is contemporary India’s principal strategic contradiction. Every other challenge, be it Pakistan, internal insurgencies, and difficulties in relations with its neighbours, fall in the category of secondary contradictions.
• New Delhi has had a complicated relationship with Washington which is increasingly getting normalised and interests-driven. Despite its withdrawal from the region, Washington is seeking to re-engage southern Asia (Pakistan, South Asia in general, the Indo-Pacific, and perhaps even the Taliban).
• For China, the best-case scenario is an India vigorously preoccupied with Pakistan which ensures that India is not focused on the growing threat from China, thereby providing Beijing with the opportunity to displace traditional Indian primacy in South Asia. So, for India, a course-correction on Pakistan, even if it is only post facto, is a strategically sensible one.
• For New Delhi, the message from the China test is a rather straightforward one — smart balancing China in Southern Asia and beyond must form a key element in India’s grand strategic planning and decision making.

• The share of urban consumers who were pessimistic about the Indian economy continued to decline in November 2022 as COVID-19 cases continued to decrease. The pace of decline in pessimistic levels also sharply improved. For instance, between January and May this year, the share of respondents pessimistic about the general economic situation declined from 66% to 63% — a 3%-point decrease. But between July and November, the share decreased from 63% to 55% — an 8%-point decrease.
• But over half the respondents (55%) continued to be pessimistic about the general economic situation.

• Tourism Ministry to prepare comprehensive plan for developing tourism circuits along the Ganga in line with Arth Ganga, organic farming and cultural activities; exhibitions and fairs have been planned in 75 towns along the main stem of the river.
• Marking a shift in emphasis, the Union government’s flagship Namami Gangeprogramme, conceived to improve the sanitation levels in the Ganga, is now geared towards conservation, tourism and providing livelihoods.
• Arth Ganga, or harnessing economic potential from the Ganga, follows from a directive by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in December 2019, after chairing a similar meeting of the Ganga taskforce.
• Namami Gange Programme is an Integrated Conservation Mission, approved as a ‘Flagship Programme’ by the Union Government in June 2014 to accomplish the twin objectives of effective abatement of pollution and conservation and rejuvenation of National River Ganga.
• It is being operated under the Department of Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation, Ministry of Jal Shakti.

What is the Artemis I Mission?

• Artemis I is an uncrewed mission of NASA.
  • Named after the sister of Apollo in Greek mythology, it is NASA’s successor to the Apollo lunar missions from fifty years ago.
• It will test the agency’s Space Launch System (SLS) rocket and Orion crew capsule.
  • The SLS is the largest new vertical launch system NASA has created since the Saturn V rockets used in the 1960s and 1970s.
• Artemis I is the first in a series of increasingly complex missions to build a long-term human presence at the Moon for decades to come.

Mission Details:

1. NASA’s powerful new rocket, the Space Launch System (SLS), will send astronauts aboard the Orion spacecraft nearly a quarter million miles from Earth to lunar orbit.
2. Astronauts will dock Orion at the Gateway and transfer to a human landing system for expeditions to the surface of the Moon.
3. They will return to the orbital outpost to board Orion again before returning safely to Earth.

• The Bill to amend the Multi-State Cooperative Societies (MSCS) Act, 2002, was introduced in the Lok Sabha on December 7. Opposition parliamentarians alleged that the Bill’s provisions encroached upon the rights of State governments, demanding that it be referred to a Standing Committee.
• According to the International Cooperative Alliance (ICA), cooperatives are people-centred enterprises jointly owned and democratically controlled by and for their members to realise common economic, social and cultural needs and aspirations. Multi-State cooperatives are societies that have operations in more than one State — for instance, a farmer-producers organisation which procures grains from farmers from multiple States.
• The Bill provides for the creation of a central Co-operative Election Authority to supervise the electoral functions of the MSCSs.
• Notably, the constitutional domain of States in regulating cooperative societies was upheld by the Supreme Court last year when it struck down a part of the 97th Constitution Amendment.
• Constitutional Provisions Related to Cooperatives:
  • The Constitution (97^thAmendment) Act, 2011 added a new Part IXB right after Part IXA (Municipals) regarding the cooperatives working in India.
  • The word “cooperatives” was added after “unions and associations” in Article 19(1)(c) under Part III of the Constitution. This enables all the citizens to form cooperatives by giving it the status of fundamental right of citizens.
  • A new Article 43B was added in the Directive Principles of State Policy (Part IV) regarding the “promotion of cooperative societies”.

• In post-independent India, Odisha became the first State to enact a law restricting religious conversions, which later became a model framework for other States. Odisha’s 1967 Act provides that no person shall directly or indirectly convert any person from one religious faith to another by force, inducement or any fraudulent means. Later, Madhya Pradesh brought in the Madhya Pradesh Dharma Swatantraya Adhiniyam (1968).
• More than ten Indian States have passed laws prohibiting certain means of religious conversions — Arunachal Pradesh (1978), Gujarat (2003), Chhattisgarh (2000 and 2006), Rajasthan (2006 and 2008), Himachal Pradesh (2006 and 2019), and Tamil Nadu (a law was enacted in 2002, but repealed in 2004), Jharkhand (2017), Uttarakhand (2018), Uttar Pradesh (2021), and Haryana (2022).

Q) ‘India Inequality Report 2022: Digital Divide’ released by the

1. Pratham
2. GreenPeace
3. Amnesty International
4. Oxfam India

‘भारत असमानता रिपोर्ट 2022: डिजिटल डिवाइड’ द्वारा जारी किया गया

1. प्रथम
2. ग्रीनपीस
3. एमनेस्टी इंटरनेशनल
4. ऑक्सफैम इंडिया

According to ‘India Inequality Report 2022: Digital Divide’ released by the NGO Oxfam India – growing inequalities based on caste, religion, gender, class, and geographic location are being worryingly replicated in the digital space in India.

Q) With reference to the religious history of India, consider the following statements :

1. The concept of Bodhisattva is central to the Hinayana sect of Buddhism.
2. Bodhisattva is a compassionate one on his way to enlightenment.
3. Bodhisattva delays achieving his own salvation to help all sentient beings on their path to it.

Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

1. 1 only
2. 2 and 3 only
3. 2 only
4. 1, 2 and 3

भारत के धार्मिक इतिहास के संदर्भ में निम्नलिखित कथनों पर विचार कीजिएः

1. बोधिसत्व की अवधारणा बौद्ध धर्म के हीनयान संप्रदाय के केंद्र में है।
2. बोधिसत्व आत्मज्ञान के मार्ग पर एक दयालु व्यक्ति हैं।
3. बोधिसत्व सभी सत्वों को उनके मार्ग पर चलने में मदद करने के लिए अपने स्वयं के उद्धार को प्राप्त करने में देरी करते हैं।

ऊपर दिए गए कथनों में से कौन सा/से सही है/हैं?

1. केवल 1
2. केवल 2 और 3
3. केवल 2
4. 1, 2 और 3

Explanation:

• Statement 1: It is central to the Mahayana sect of Buddhism.
• In non-Mahayana Buddhism, it usually refers either to Maitreya, the Buddha of the Future, or to the historical Buddha Gautama prior to his enlightenment.
• Statement 2 and 3: A bodhisattva is literally a living being (sattva) who aspires to enlightenment (bodhi) and carries out altruistic practices. The bodhisattva ideal is central to the Mahayana Buddhist tradition as the individual who seeks enlightenment both for him- or herself and for others. Clearly 2 is correct.
• Compassion, an empathetic sharing of the sufferings of others, is the bodhisattva’s greatest characteristic.
• It is held that the bodhisattva makes four vows expressing a determination to work for the happiness of others: “However innumerable sentient beings are, I vow to save them; however inexhaustible the passions are, I vow to master them; however limitless the teachings are, I vow to study them; however infinite the Buddha-truth is, I vow to attain it.”
• Clearly 3 is correct.

Q) Which of the following Article of the Indian Constitution gives every person the right to freedom of conscience and the right to freely profess, practice, and propagate religion subject to public order, morality, and health?

1. Article 19
2. Article 21
3. Article 25
4. Article 26

भारतीय संविधान का निम्नलिखित में से कौन सा अनुच्छेद प्रत्येक व्यक्ति को अंतःकरण की स्वतंत्रता का अधिकार देता है और सार्वजनिक आदेश, नैतिकता और स्वास्थ्य के अधीन धर्म को स्वतंत्र रूप से मानने, अभ्यास करने और प्रचार करने का अधिकार देता है?

1. अनुच्छेद 19
2. अनुच्छेद 21
3. अनुच्छेद 25
4. अनुच्छेद 26

Explanation:

• The Supreme Court said it would examine veiled intentions behind religious conversions through allurement by offering food, medicines, treatment, etc.
• Article 25: Freedom of conscience and free profession, practice and propagation of religion.
• The MHA has said that the right to freedom of religion does not include a fundamental right to “convert people to a particular religion”.

Q) The ‘Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety’ and ‘Nagoya Protocol on Access and Benefit Sharing’ were negotiated under the aegis of the

1. United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change
2. United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification
3. United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity
4. None of the above

‘कार्टाजेना प्रोटोकॉल ऑन बायोसेफ्टी’ और ‘नागोया प्रोटोकॉल ऑन एक्सेस एंड बेनिफिट शेयरिंग’ के तत्वावधान में बातचीत की गई थी

1. जलवायु परिवर्तन पर संयुक्त राष्ट्र फ्रेमवर्क कन्वेंशन
2. मरुस्थलीकरण का मुकाबला करने के लिए संयुक्त राष्ट्र सम्मेलन
3. जैविक विविधता पर संयुक्त राष्ट्र सम्मेलन
4. उपर्युक्त में से कोई नहीं

Explanation:

• At the 1992 Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro, world leaders agreed on a comprehensive strategy for “sustainable development” — meeting our needs while ensuring that we leave a healthy and viable world for future generations. One of the key agreements adopted at Rio was the Convention on Biological Diversity.
• The Convention on Biological Diversity is the international legal instrument for “the conservation of biological diversity, the sustainable use of its components and the fair and equitable sharing of the benefits arising out of the utilization of genetic resources” that has been ratified by 196 nations.
• The Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety to the Convention on Biological Diversity & the Nagoya Protocol on Access to Genetic Resources and the Fair and Equitable Sharing of Benefits Arising from their Utilization to the Convention on Biological Diversity

UPSC Mains Result 2022

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