The Hindu Newspaper Analysis 21st September 2022

The Hindu Newspaper Analysis for UPSC

The Hindu Newspaper Analysis 22nd September 2022

• China remains a formidable challenge and has increased its presence not only along India’s land borders, but also in the maritime domain by leveraging anti-piracy operations to normalise its naval presence in the Indian Ocean Region (IOR), Navy chief Admiral R. Hari Kumar said on Wednesday.
• He said China now had a base in Djibouti, and was also involved in the development of various ports in the IOR, Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Pakistan and many other countries.

• To control stubble burning and reduce air pollution during winter, the Delhi government will spray a bio-decomposer free of cost over 5,000 acres of paddy fields in the city this year, Environment Minister Gopal Rai said on Tuesday.
• A bio-decomposer capsule, developed by the Indian Agricultural Research Institute, turns into a solution through a week-long process, after which it decomposes straw and stubble into manure.

• The Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) meeting (September 15-16) in Samarkand, Uzbekistan, was a test case for governments on how to deal with current conflicts and attempt new guidelines for the future.
• India’s presence at the meeting of the Council of Heads of State of the SCO was significant, reflecting a desire to be a part of both blocs, without antagonising either.
• The justification provided is that it represented a ‘new version’ of Non-alignment, viz., steering an independent course, despite open association with rival blocs
• The philosophical underpinning for this seems to be that ‘Nonalignment of the past’ had not succeeded, and a way had to be found for “multiple engagements of the future”.
• Refashioning India’s foreign policy has become vital at a time when India is facing a confluence of old and new situations and threats, which often intersect.
• While, China today presents an acute ‘near-term problem’ for India, it is important that India does not fall into the trap that the current adversarial relationship with China is ‘carved in stone’, and can or never will be altered.
• India’s foreign policy should be creative enough to leave an opening for an improvement in India-China relations over the longer term.

• The decision by the insurgent Nationalist Socialist Council of Nagalim (Isak-Muivah faction) to re-engage in talks with the Union government, conditionally, on the basis of the Framework Agreement signed in August 2015, is a welcome one.
• This breaks a deadlock that has persisted in talks since October 2019, which was set as a deadline for the peace accord.

Appointment of governors

• The governor is appointed by the president under his hand and seal
• The SC in 1979 said that the office of governor is not an employment under the central government. It is an independent constitutional office and is not under the control of or subordinate to the central government

Reason for adopting this system of appointment of governor

• Direct elections would be incompatible with the parliamentary system established in the states
• Direct election could create conflicts
• Direct election would be a costly affair
• An elected governor could be a non-neutral person
• The system of presidential nomination enables the centre to maintain its control over the states
• Keeping in mind, the above mentioned reasons, the appointment form of appointing the governor was taken.

Qualification

1. 1. He should be a citizen of India
   2. He should have completed the age of 35 years

Conventions that have developed while appointing a governor

• He should be not from a state where he is appointed
• While appointing the governor, the president is required to consult the CM of the state concerned

Term of governor’s office

• He holds the office for a term of five years
• However, his term is subjected to the pleasure of the President
• The constitution has not laid down any grounds for the removal of the governor by president

• In the past 15 years, India has seen several episodes of extreme rainfall in 24 hours: Mumbai received over 900mm of rain in 2005, Chennai had over 300mm in 2015, and now Bengaluru saw over 130mm.
• As climate change intensifies, we face the gloomy prospect of failure by governments, society and citizens across the world to limit the warming to 1.5°C above pre-industrial times.
• Higher rates of evaporation from oceans, seas and land are pumping larger amounts of water vapour into the atmosphere in shorter periods of time.
• A warmer atmosphere is able to hold more water vapour, and this has led to an increase in heavy downpours.
• Taking the case of Varthur, one of the lakes which was in the news during the floods, the built-up area in this catchment has increased from 32% to 79% between 2001 and 2020.
• Urbanisation is a global and inevitable process, and with cities as engines of the economy, built-up areas will continue to grow. But we need to draw upon these experiences and the growing perils of climate change and extreme rain events and change course.
• a combination of deft, hard and well-designed civil and hydrologic re-engineering is essential to undo the damage from earlier developments, and to invest in ‘blue’ and ‘green’ infrastructure with accountable governance and management to make this successful.

• “There are many branches on the tree of life. There is no one way to be, and there is room for everyone to be who they are”- the Madras High Court observed in S. Sushma vs Commissioner of Police (2021).
• This verdict prohibited conversion therapy in Tamil Nadu and the court suggested that action should be initiated against the professionals involving themselves in any form of conversion therapy, including withdrawal of licence to practice.
• The so-called ‘conversion therapy’ is a range of dangerous and discredited practices that falsely claim to change a person’s sexual orientation or gender identity or expression.
• The National Medical Commission, the apex regulatory body of medical professionals in India, has recently directed all State Medical Councils to ban conversion therapy under the Indian Medical Council (Professional Conduct, Etiquette and Ethics) Regulations, 2002.
• The Supreme Court of India decriminalised homosexuality in its landmark judgment in Navtej Singh Johar & Ors vs. Union of India (2018).

• While the I-T Act allows cash donations of up to ₹2,000 only, the Representation of the People Act, 1951, requires parties to submit details to the EC of donations of above ₹20,000 each.
• Last week, Chief Election Commission Rajiv Kumar wrote to the Law Ministry proposing changes to the mandatory reporting of donations. The EC proposed that parties should declare each donation over ₹2,000, rather than the existing limit of ₹20,000.

What are Electoral Bonds?

• Electoral Bond is a financial instrument for making donations to political parties.
• The bonds are issued in multiples of Rs. 1,000, Rs. 10,000, Rs. 1 lakh, Rs. 10 lakh and Rs. 1 crore without any maximum limit.
• State Bank of India is authorised to issue and encash these bonds, which are valid for fifteen days from the date of issuance.
• These bonds are redeemable in the designated account of a registered political party.
• The bonds are available for purchase by any person (who is a citizen of India or incorporated or established in India) for a period of ten days each in the months of January, April, July and October as may be specified by the Central Government.
• A person being an individual can buy bonds, either singly or jointly with other individuals.
• Donor’s name is not mentioned on the bond.

• China has offered Pakistan’s visiting Army Chief technical help as the country deals with record floods, but did not announce any substantial financial assistance which its “all-weather” ally has been seeking.
• Both Pakistan and Sri Lanka, facing financial stress, have been engaged in long-running talks with Beijing for assistance, but with negotiations in both cases having made little headway, both countries have turned to the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

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