Current Affairs Compilations for UPSC IAS Prelims 2022

Mains Oriented Articles

GS Paper 2

• Open justice – Supreme Court strikes a blow for both media freedom and fair procedure
• Why is India reaching out to Latin America?
• Schooling Reforms – On National Curriculum Framework
• NCERT textbook revision
• Representation in India’s police forces

GS Paper 3

• India’s trade stance remains a little too protectionism happy

Prelims Oriented Articles (Factly)

• Union Cabinet gives nod to Indian Space Policy 2023
• Govt. amends rules regulating online real money gaming
• IT Ministry notifies body to flag ‘fake’ content about govt
• Govt. releases pre-draft of National Curriculum Framework for school
• US, 10 countries issue first-ever anti-spyware declaration
• Cabinet approves revised domestic gas pricing guidelines
• FTP opens doors for some second hand goods imports
• Justice system plagued by low budgets: India Justice Report 2022
• India elected to UN Statistical Commission

Mains Oriented Articles

GS Paper 2

Open justice – Supreme Court strikes a blow for both media freedom and fair procedure

News:  The Supreme Court in the Madhyamam Broadcasting Limited vs Union of India case, annulled the Union government’s telecast ban on the Malayalam news channel.

What were the observations made by the court while delivering the judgment?

-The Centre said that the media channel is having alleged links with Jamaat-e-Islami Hind (JEIH). But the Court points out that JEIH is not a banned organisation. So, “it will be rather precarious for the state to contend that links with the organisation would affect the sovereignty and integrity of the nation.”

-The court agrees that restrictions on press freedom could lead to a “homogenised view on issues that range from socioeconomic polity to political ideologies” which “would pose grave dangers to democracy”.

-The Court could appoint an amicus curiae, who could be given access to the material whenever the state claims immunity from disclosure.

What is the significance of the ruling on Freedom of Press in India?

The ruling highlights a) An independent press is vital for the robust functioning of a democratic republic, b) The “anti-establishment” views of Media channels are not adequate grounds for invoking the national security exception to free speech, c) The need for greater openness and more freedom of the press, without which both justice and democracy are incomplete, d) Set standards for restrictions based on national security and the use of sealed envelopes by Centre, e) Enforces the established principle of natural justice thereby relevant material must be disclosed to the affected party along with ensuring right to appeal.

About the freedom of the press in India

Article 19 of the Constitution protects the freedom of the media. Like other fundamental rights, this freedom is subject to reasonable restrictions. Article 19(2) provides several reasons to curtail free speech “in the interests of the sovereignty and integrity of India, the security of the state, friendly relations with foreign states, public order, decency or morality or in relation to contempt of court, defamation or incitement to an offence”.

However, the Constitution doesn’t detail a benchmark to test the reasonableness of a restriction.

This non-availability of benchmarks resulted in governments at all levels have been using restrictions arbitrarily to clamp down on journalists and thereby restrict media freedom in India.

How courts in the past had different views on freedom of the press?

The court judgments in matters of free speech have often varied. A senior advocate once said that “depending on where your matter goes, who those two judges are, the outcome can be completely, radically different.”

For example, a) A SC bench at present is looking at “hate speech” without even defining the term, b) In 2010, a SC bench upheld the ban on a book that was critical of Islam. In that, the court held “We are not against your right (to free speech). But we are more for public interest and public peace in the country.” c) In 2017, the court refused to ban a book which allegedly defamed the entire vysya community, d) A recent trial court judgment upheld a complaint against Rahul Gandhi for his alleged remarks on the surname Modi, for which he has been sentenced to two years in prison for defamation.

What should be done?

The court’s view on freedom of the press has to be reasonably consistent. SC must not leave matters to individual judges and specific cases to decide the law. As this can only result in contradictory guidelines on free speech. To avoid that, the SC should constitute a full bench of seven or nine judges to review all free speech judgments (or those curtailing them) of the past, both at the apex court level and the high courts. This bench a) Can bring out the real limits to free speech, and the legitimate exercise of this right, b) Define hate speech clearly, and c) Laid down guidelines for police forces to determine when a speech actually constitutes a threat to public order of a magnitude where things may go out of control.

Why is India reaching out to Latin America?

News: India is trying to strengthen its relations with Latin American countries like Brazil, Argentina, etc. The article explains India’s interest in Latin America.

What has been the history of relations between India and Latin America?

After independence, India had a very limited diplomatic and economic reach. This forced India to prioritise ties with its neighbourhood and major Western powers.

However, in its first annual report in 1948, the external affairs ministry said its focus on Latin America was limited despite India’s interest in the region.

There were also domestic challenges with Latin American countries. Due to which, these two countries were not able to build their relations.

Why is India now interested in Latin America?

First, trade with Latin America has increased dramatically. Since 2000, trade has increased by roughly 25% each year and is now close to $50 billion. The rise has been driven by industries such as automobiles.

Second, India’s desire to diversify its energy dependencies has pushed it towards Latin America. Indian energy majors like ONGC are active in Colombia and Bharat Petroleum in Brazil. 

Renewable energy is also a priority, with opportunities for collaboration in ethanol and green hydrogen.

The region also contains critical deposits of resources such as copper and lithium, which will be critical to India’s energy transformation ambitions.

How has Latin America responded to India’s outreach?

Latin America has welcomed increased Indian interest and has tried to attract investment. The Panamanian foreign minister pointed out that Latin American nations can connect Indian companies with the wider Americas market.

The region has suffered due to Covid, Ukraine war and their economies are also struggling with poverty and inequality. In such a scenario, increased economic engagement with India is a key priority for many of the region’s economies.

What are the challenges?

India’s trade with Latin America is negligible in comparison to China’s enormous $450 billion trading in that region. China is also a major lender to the region.

While other businesses are competing to take advantage of Latin America’s abundant natural resources, Indian businesses have lagged behind.

Hence, in order to overcome these challenges, India will need to step up its economic diplomacy and join regional economic institutions like the Inter-American Development Bank.

Schooling Reforms – On National Curriculum Framework

News– The draft National Curriculum Framework (NCF) for School Education 2023 is proposed by the government.

What are some facts about the draft National Curriculum Framework (NCF) for School Education 2023?

It has recommended major changes in assessment across different levels of schooling.

It envisages students moving across arts, commerce and science more freely, an increase in self-assessment, and board exams taking place at least twice a year.

What is the way forward for proper implementation of the draft National Curriculum Framework (NCF) for School Education 2023?

The document should be put in the public domain soon. That will remove unjustified fears. It will also encourage stakeholders to start a constructive engagement with reform proposals.

Education policymakers should take lessons from the past experiments. Continuous and comprehensive evaluation was ushered in 2009 but has to end in 2017. Good ideas with poor execution are not successful.

NCERT textbook revision

News- Recently, revision of NCERT books has created political controversy. 

What are the revisions in NCERT textbooks? 

The textbook rationalisation has resulted in some of the most sweeping changes in the curriculum since the NDA government came to power.  

It includes removing all references to the 2002 Gujarat riots, reducing content related to the Mughal era and the caste system, and dropping chapters on protests and social movements, European presence in the Americas, etc. 

Have there been controversies around NCERT textbooks earlier? 

NCERT textbooks over the years have become the government’s medium for political communication and a battleground of competing ideologies. 

New textbooks drafted in 2002-03 were criticised for portraying the Muslim rulers of India as savage invaders, and the mediaeval period as era of Islamic domination.  

The UPA government made its own changes to school textbooks. In 2012, cartoons that were deemed derogatory to Jawaharlal Nehru and B R Ambedkar were removed from political science textbooks.  

Why are controversies created by NCERT textbooks revision? 

Many of these changes are seen as political. There are allegations that the rationalisation aims to align the curriculum with the ideology of the ruling party. Some of the changes appear to match the views expressed by members of the ruling establishment.  

The rationale for the dropping of the various chapters is that these deletions would not affect the knowledge of children and an unnecessary burden would be removed. 

But deleted chapters bring a different level of knowledge and understanding to the students. 

It is not a simple case of reducing the load. It is because many of the deleted chapters have not been covered by previous classes. Furthermore, the level of discussion varies in textbooks for different classes. For example, chapter ‘Confrontation of Cultures’ that has been deleted from the Class 11 history textbook, has not been covered anywhere previously. 

It is the deletion from the Class 12 history book that is the most striking. Most of the chapter contains fresh material and perspectives to understand the developments that took place during the mediaeval period.  

How to ensure that changes made in NCERT books are not questioned? 

It would not be a proper thing to never bring changes in textbooks. New research may throw up interesting sources or interpretations of periods, institutions, rulers and the common people.  

But these have to be based on rigorous research. Ideological orientation should not decide the history curriculum. 

Representation in India’s police forces

News: India Justice Report 2022 has been recently released.

What are the findings of the report for the police in India?

Overall Performer: Overall, the Telangana police have bagged the top rank among States while West Bengal has come last.

Overall Vacancies: The overall police vacancies increased from 20.3% of the sanctioned strength to 22.1% between January 2020 and January 2022.

Vacancies for Police constables: West Bengal was the worst performer among large and mid-size States with vacancies amounting to 44.1% of the sanctioned strength.

Kerala was at the top with constable vacancies making up 4.6% of the sanctioned strength.

Vacancies for Police officers: Bihar has the highest percentage of vacancies at 53.8% as against the sanctioned strength.

Must Read: The Just In Justice – A detailed report on the legal system shows how and why the poor are its biggest victims

How have States performed in fulfilling their quotas for Women, SC and ST communities in the Police?

Karnataka was the only State to meet its SC, ST, and Other backward classes quotas.

Scheduled Caste

Police Officers: Among large and mid-sized States, Gujarat at 131% was the best performer in terms of the percentage of actual SC police officers to its reservation quota while Uttar Pradesh came last with 43% SC officers against its quota.

Police Constables: Karnataka had 116% of SC constables against its quota, while Haryana had the lowest at 63%.

Small States: As for small States, Goa and Sikkim were the best performers for the percentage of SC officers and constables, respectively.

Scheduled Tribes

Police Officers: Karnataka, at 176%, was the best performer on the police officer level, going beyond its reserved ratio.

Police Constables: Bihar fulfilled its quota by 278%, while Punjab came in last in large and medium States at 0.01%.

Women 

Most States have their own specific quotas for the number of women required in the police force.

For instance, six UTs and nine States have a target of 33% reservation for women while it varies from Bihar’s 35% to 10% in Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya and Tripura. Five States/UTs, including Kerala and Mizoram, have no reservations.

As per the findings, no State which had the 33% criteria, managed to meet it and it will take another 24 years to have 33% women in police forces across States.

However, among large and medium States, Andhra Pradesh which reserves 33% of overall police posts for women, performed the best with 21.8%. Jharkhand was the worst performer with its share of women in police being just 6.2%.

In small States, Himachal Pradesh was at the top with 14% while Tripura came in last with just 5.3%. Among Union Territories, Ladakh had 28.3% women in police, while Jammu and Kashmir had just 3.3%.

Why is India

Source: The Hindu

GS Paper 3

India’s trade stance remains a little too protectionism happy

News– Recently, the government unveiled a new Foreign Trade Policy

What are issues with the recently released new trade policy?

The policy is a recitation of the laws and processes that regulate Indian trade. It makes no real effort to engage with the policy issues at stake.

No attempt has been made to explain how New Delhi views global economic systems and India’s place in them.

Multinational companies are reorienting supply chains to reduce their dependence on China. India is a more reliable commercial partner for the West. Trade policy does not contain the strategy for relocating supply chains to India .

It is not looking for ways to build trust with trading partners such as Japan.  how to share the burdens of global sourcing and supply to promote a shared economic security.

What are the reasons behind lack of focus on trade related issues among policymakers?

India’s approach to trade remains incoherent and contradictory. Indian policymakers no longer seem to believe India can become a great trading nation.

Policymakers at the highest level are keen to debate geopolitical shifts. But in case of trade, decision-making is left to middle-level bureaucrats or to chambers of commerce. This is odd because geopolitics and trade policy have become intimately connected today.

What are other issues with the foreign trade strategy of India?

India is offering halfhearted incentives for manufacturers to shift their operations to India. It is offering $10 billion for semiconductor subsidies while the US plans $40 billion.

There is a lack of political will. They cannot promise that India will become part of the redirected, resilient supply chains that investors in Japan and the West want to build.

Prelims-Oriented Articles (Factly)

Union Cabinet gives nod to Indian Space Policy 2023

Source: The post is based on the article “Union Cabinet gives nod to Indian Space Policy 2023” published in The Hindu on 7th April 2023

What is the News?

The Union Cabinet has approved the Indian Space Policy, 2023.

What is Indian Space Policy, 2023?

Aim: To enhance the role of the Department of Space, boost activities of Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) missions and give a larger participation of research, academia, startups and industry.

Key Features of the Indian Space Policy:

The policy delineated the roles and responsibilities of ISRO, space sector PSU NewSpace India Limited (NSIL) and the Indian National Space Promotion and Authorization Center (IN-SPACe).

It allows the private sector to take part in end-to-end space activities that include building satellites, rockets and launch vehicles, data collection and dissemination.

The strategic activities related to the space sector will be carried out by NSIL, a public sector undertaking under the Department of Space, which will work in a demand-driven mode.

INSPACe will be the interface between Indian Space Research Organisation and non-governmental entities.

ISRO will not do any operational and production work for the space sector and focus its energies on developing new technologies, new systems and research and development.

The operational part of ISRO’s missions will be moved to the NSIL.

Govt. amends rules regulating online real money gaming

Source: The post is based on the article “Govt. amends rules regulating online real money gaming” published in The Hindu on 6th April 2023

What is the News?

The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) has notified rules regarding online gaming under the Information Technology Rules,2021.

How do the new rules define an online game?

The new rules define an ‘online game’ as “a game that is offered on the internet and is accessible by a user through a computer resource or an intermediary”. 

What are self-regulatory organizations (SROs)?

As per the rules, the government will appoint multiple self-regulatory organizations (SROs) comprising industry representatives, educationists and other experts such as child experts, psychology experts, and so on. To begin with, the government will notify three SROs. 

SROs will be responsible for declaring online games permissible on the basis of whether games allow wagers. The SRO can declare online real money games as permissible if it is satisfied that “the online real money game does not involve wagering on any outcome”. 

What are the games banned?

The new rules for online gaming prohibit any game that involves betting and wagering. Permissibility will be determined with the simple principle of whether wagering is involved

SRO can declare online real money games as permissible if it is satisfied that the online real money game does not involve wagering on any outcome.

What do the rules say about the role of intermediaries?

The rules ​​make it obligatory on the part of intermediaries to make a reasonable effort to not host, publish or share any online game that can cause the user harm, or that has not been verified as a permissible online game by an online gaming self-regulatory body/bodies designated by the Central Government.

The intermediary will also have to ensure that no advertisement or surrogate advertisement or promotion of an online game that is not a permissible online game, is hosted on its platform.

What is the significance of these rules?

The uniform legal framework provided by these rules will boost investor confidence. This will also help reduce regulatory fragmentation at the state level as also, create a more stable business environment and weed out gambling platforms.

IT Ministry notifies body to flag ‘fake’ content about govt

Source: The post is based on the article “IT Ministry notifies body to flag ‘fake’ content about govt” published in Indian Express on 7th April 2023

What is the News?

The government of India has notified the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Amendment Rules, 2023.

What do the IT rules 2023 provide for?

The IT rules,2023 say that the Government will appoint a fact-checking body for online content. The body will flag “fake, false, or misleading” news about the government. 

Content marked as such by the body will have to be taken down by online intermediaries such as Facebook and Twitter.

If the online intermediaries fail to decide against taking action on content identified as “fake” or “false” by the Centre’s notified fact-checking unit, they will risk losing their safe harbour protections. This means that they can now be called as a party in court proceedings.

Note: Earlier, the Government had proposed that any piece of news that has been identified as “fake” by the fact-checking unit of the Press Information Bureau(PIB) will not be allowed on online intermediaries. However, the final draft has removed the reference to PIB.

What are the concerns against these rules?

The Editors Guild of India said that the determination of fake news cannot be in the sole hands of the government and will result in censorship of the press. 

The News Broadcasters & Digital Association said it will have a chilling effect on the media” and should be withdrawn.

Govt. releases pre-draft of National Curriculum Framework for school

Source: The post is based on the article “Govt. releases pre-draft of National Curriculum Framework for schools” published in The Hindu on 7th April 2023

What is the News?

The Ministry of Education has released a “pre-draft” version of the National Curriculum Framework for School Education.

What is the National Curriculum Framework?

Click Here to read

The Ministry of Education has commenced the development of four National Curriculum Frameworks (NCF), namely NCF for School Education, NCF for Early Childhood Care and Education, NCF for Teacher Education, and NCF for Adult Education.

The National Steering Committee under the Chairpersonship of Dr K. Kasturirangan was set to undertake and guide the development of NCFs.

What does NCF for school education provide?

The pre-draft covers the framework of the curriculum for age groups 3 to 18.

Values and roots: A key part of the document is the inclusion of values and their “rootedness” in India.

– The document leans towards making students acquainted with true sources of knowledge, which have been a philosophical preoccupation of ancient Indians.

Moral development: It focuses on the moral development of a child through panchakosha vikas or five-fold development. This concept is an ancient explanation of the importance of the body-mind link in human experience and understanding.

– It recommends developing moral values for the child through a balanced diet, traditional games, yoga asanas, as well as a wide variety of stories, songs, lullabies, poems, and prayers to develop a love for cultural context.

Curriculum: The document says that for Grade 10 certification, students will have to take two essential courses from humanities, math and computing, vocational education, physical education, arts education, social science, science and interdisciplinary areas. 

– In Grades 11 and 12, students will be offered choice-based courses in the same disciplines for more rigorous engagement.

– For Class 11 and 12, Modular Board Exams will be offered as opposed to a single exam at the end of the year and the final result will be based on the cumulative result of each exam.

US, 10 countries issue first-ever anti-spyware declaration

Source: The post is based on the article “US, 10 countries issue first-ever anti-spyware declaration” published in Wion on 6th April 2023

What is the News?

The US and 10 other nations have issued the first-ever significant anti-spyware declaration. India was not part of this declaration.

What is Spyware?

Click Here to read

What is the aim of the anti-spyware declaration?

The declaration seeks to realize the importance of stringent domestic and international controls on the proliferation and use of this spyware technology.

The declaration committed to preventing the export of software, technology, and equipment to end-users who are likely to use spyware for malicious cyber activity, including unauthorized intrusion into information systems.

The countries also said they would engage in robust information sharing on commercial spyware proliferation and misuse including better identifying and tracking these tools.

Which countries have signed an anti-spyware declaration?

Countries such as Australia, Canada, Costa Rica, Denmark, France, New Zealand, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, the United Kingdom and the United States have signed this declaration.

What was the need for this declaration?

Commercial spyware has been misused across the world by authoritarian regimes and in democracies.

Too often, such powerful and invasive tools have been used to target and intimidate perceived opponents and facilitate efforts to curb dissent; limit freedoms of expression and enable human rights violations.

Cabinet approves revised domestic gas pricing guidelines

Source: The post is based on the article “Cabinet approves revised domestic gas pricing guidelines” published in PIB on 6th April 2023

What is the News?

The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs has approved a new mechanism to fix pricing for domestic natural gas in India.

What are the changes made in the prices of Natural Gas?

Earlier, the prices of natural gas produced from legacy or old fields also known as APM gas was priced based on the benchmark rates of gas in surplus nations like the US, Canada, and Russia. Now, the Government has decided to index the APM prices to the price of imported crude oil. 

The price of such natural gas shall be 10% of the monthly average of Indian Crude Basket and shall be notified on a monthly basis. 

The move will make PNG or cooking gas cheaper by 10% and lower the cost of CNG by 6-9%. The reduced prices shall also lower the fertilizer subsidy burden and help the domestic power sector.

What is the need for changes in the prices of Natural Gas?

In 2022, the government set up a committee headed by Kirit Parikh to examine gas prices and determine a pricing formula that takes into account the interests of both local consumers and producers. The committee recommended a price range for current production from legacy or old fields, which account for about two-thirds of the country’s total gas production.

FTP opens doors for some second hand goods imports

Source: The post is based on the article “FTP opens doors for some second hand goods imports” published in The Hindu on 7th April 2023

What is the News?

The government of India has notified the new Foreign Trade Policy(FTP) 2023.

What does the Foreign Trade Policy 2023 provide for the import of second-hand goods?

FTP 2023 has adopted a new approach to the import of second-hand electronics and IT goods.

The policy allows the import of used second-hand goods into the country for the purpose of repair, refurbishing, re-conditioning or re-engineering with an intent to re-export them.

However, such imports will be conditional upon importers ensuring that any waste generated during the repair or refurbishing process is treated as per domestic laws and environmental, safety and health norms.

Note: The import of second-hand air conditioners, desktop and laptop computers, their refurbished spares as well as diesel generators will continue in the ‘restricted’ imports category that requires prior authorisation.

What is the significance of these new rules on the import of second-hand goods?

This move will encourage reconditioning and refurbishment activities for re-exports. 

It would also enhance effective control and regulation in relation to the import of such goods and prevent unwarranted importation of such second-hand electronic goods into India proving detrimental to the indigenous markets.

Justice system plagued by low budgets: India Justice Report 2022

Source: The post is based on the article “Justice system plagued by low budgets: India Justice Report 2022” published in Indian Express on 6th April 2023

What is the News?

The India Justice Report (IJR) 2022 has been released.

What are the key findings of the report?

Low spending on judiciary: India’s justice system as a whole remains plagued by low budgets. This could be due to the fact that except for two union territories, Delhi and Chandigarh, no state spends more than 1% of its total annual expenditure on the judiciary.

Justice Delivery: Out of the 18 large and medium-sized states having a population of over 1 crore each, Karnataka ranked first in “justice delivery” followed by Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Gujarat and Andhra Pradesh.

Judges per million population: India had only 19 judges per one million people (when calculated against the sanctioned strength), which falls behind the Law Commission’s 1987 target of reaching 50 judges per million population in a decade. 

Police stations and prisons: Prisons are over-occupied at over 130% with more than two-thirds or 77.1% of the prisoners still awaiting the completion of investigation or trial. 

– Moreover, around 25% of the police stations in India do not have a single CCTV.The representation of women in prison staff is also only 13%. 

– The share of jails with video conferencing increased to 84% as opposed to the previous 60% in 2020.

Police: The report flags the issue of inadequate women representation in the police, which currently stands at 11.75%, despite their numbers doubling in the last decade.

– The police-to-population ratio is 152.8 per lakh whereas the international standard is 222.

Diverse representation: Karnataka remains the only state to consistently meet its quota for SC, ST and OBC positions both among Police officers and the constabulary.In judiciary, at the Subordinate/District Court level, no state met all three quotas.

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What are the suggestions given by the report?

India elected to UN Statistical Commission

Source: The post is based on the article “India elected to UN Statistical Commission” published in The Hindu on 7th April 2023

What is the News?

India has been elected to the UN Statistical Commission for a four-year term.

What is the United Nations Statistical Commission?

The United Nations Statistical Commission was established in 1947.

It is the highest body of the global statistical system bringing together the Chief Statisticians from member states from around the world.

Functions: It is responsible for setting statistical standards and the development of concepts and methods, including their implementation at the national and international levels.

– The commission also oversees the work of the United Nations Statistics Division (UNSD), and it is a Functional Commission of the UN Economic and Social Council.

Headquarters: New York, USA.

Composition: The Commission consists of 24 member countries of the United Nations elected by the United Nations Economic and Social Council on the basis of equitable geographical distribution.

Term: The term of office of members is four years.

Note: India was a member of the Statistical Commission last in 2004 and the country is returning to the UN agency after a gap of two decades.