{"id":15338,"date":"2018-02-06T16:00:05","date_gmt":"2018-02-06T10:30:05","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.forumias.com\/?p=15338"},"modified":"2018-02-03T18:46:49","modified_gmt":"2018-02-03T13:16:49","slug":"answers-mains-marathon-upsc-mains-current-affairs-questions-february-5-2018","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/answers-mains-marathon-upsc-mains-current-affairs-questions-february-5-2018\/","title":{"rendered":"Answers: Mains Marathon \u2013 UPSC Mains Current Affairs Questions \u2013 February 5, 2018"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong><a href=\"http:\/\/blog.forumias.com\/mains-marathon\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Archives<\/a>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Q.1)Democracy is in decline state all over the world as per the recently released Democracy index. In this context discuss the reasons behind India\u2019s poor performance?(GS-2)<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Global democracy has declined significantly over the last year, according to the latest edition of the Democracy Index 2017. \u00a0The \u00a0\u00a0report was released by the Economist Intelligence Unit. The report shows that democracy is in decline across the world. It is the worst performance since 2010-\u201911 in the aftermath of the global financial crisis.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>Some highlights of the report:<\/b><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Democracy Index also provides a snapshot of the current state of democracy worldwide. This year\u2019s report includes a special focus on how media freedom and freedom of expression are faring in every region.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The index ranks 165 independent states and two territories on the basis of five categories: electoral process and pluralism, civil liberties, the functioning of government, political participation and political culture. The list has been divided into four broad categories \u2014 full democracy, flawed democracy, hybrid regime and authoritarian regime.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Norway, Iceland and Sweden are the top three on the list while Chad, Syria and North Korea bring up the bottom.<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> T<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">he total score of 89 countries fell when compared to their ranking in 2016.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Asia recorded the biggest decline compared to other regions of the world. According to the index, Asia (5.63) lagged behind North America (8.56), Western Europe (8.38) and Latin America (6.26). Indonesia was the worst-performing nation, falling to 68th position from 48th rank.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>India\u2019s position and reasons for low performance:<\/b><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">India was one of the countries whose score declined the most.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It fell ten places in the rankings from 32 to 42 as its score deteriorated by 0.58 points to 7.23 (on a scale of 0 to 10).<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In the \u2018media freedom ranking\u2019, India ranked 49 out of 167 countries that the index covered.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The report has classified India as a <\/span><b>\u201cflawed democracy\u201d<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> and attributed the dip in India\u2019s rankings to lack of freedom of speech and free media.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The report notes that the rise of <\/span><b>conservative religious ideologies<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> has mainly affected India.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The strengthening of right-wing Hindu forces in an otherwise secular country led to a <\/span><b>rise of vigilantism<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> and <\/span><b>violence against minority communities,<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> particularly Muslims, as well as other dissenting voices.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In some states in India, the authorities there have <\/span><b>restricted freedom of the press,<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> closed down several newspapers and heavily controlled mobile internet services.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">India has also become a more dangerous place for journalists, especially the central state of Chhattisgarh and the northern state of Jammu and Kashmir.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Several journalists were murdered in India in 2017, as in the previous year.Journalists are at risk from government , military and non-state actors and radical groups, and threat of violence has a chilling effect on media coverage.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It has not managed to score so well on other four parameters &#8212; <\/span><b>political culture, functioning of government, political participation and civil liberties.<\/b><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Q.2) Indian judiciary is often alleged to be corrupt. In this context, discuss the relevance of \u201cin-house mechanism\u201d for clean judiciary with recent examples. \u00a0Why the judiciary needs a revamp?(GS-2)<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>Meaning of \u00a0\u201cin-house procedure\u201d:<\/b><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The in-house procedure, crystallised in a 1995 Supreme Court judgment in the C. Ravichandran Iyer case.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The procedure \u00a0was developed in 1999 in order to deal with allegations of misdemeanor against Judges, including accusations of sexual harassment against Judges of Supreme Courts.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Under the In-house procedure, when a complaint is received against a Judge of the High Court, by the Chief Justice of the High Court, he shall first examine it himself. If it is found by him that it is frivolous or directly related to the merits of a substantive decision in a judicial matter or does not involve any serious complaint of misconduct or impropriety, he shall file the complaint and inform the CJI accordingly<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><b>Relevance of \u201cin-house procedure\u201d for clean judiciary with recent example:<\/b><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It helps in judge\u2019s accountability.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It will serve as a safeguard for the members of the higher judiciary from being maligned or being subjected to vilification by false and frivolous.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It helps in investigation into complaints against sitting high court judges.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> \u00a0<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It will bring transparency and fairness in judicial decisions.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Its own procedure consistent with the principles of natural justice.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The adoption of the In-House Procedure would enable a complaint against a Judge being dealt with at the appropriate level within the institution. <\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Such a procedure would serve a dual purpose.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ol>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In the first place, the allegations against a Judge would be examined by his peers and not by an outside agency and thereby the independence of the judiciary would be maintained. <\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The awareness that there exists a machinery for examination of complaints against a Judge would preserve the faith of the people in the independence and impartiality of the judicial process. <\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p><b>Recent example of in-house mechanism:<\/b><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Recently, Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra has decided to recommend the removal of Allahabad High Court judge Justice S N Shukla as part of an <\/span><b>in-house procedure<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> after he was found guilty of misconduct by an internal probe into a <\/span><b>medical college admission scam.<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> \u00a0The judge was in <\/span><b>\u00a0news for committing judicial impropriety and spreading corruption in the higher judiciary.<\/b><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Since Justice Shukla has not resigned as yet, as per the in-house mechanism, the CJI is bound to write to the President and the Prime Minister for initiation of proceedings to remove the judge by way of an impeachment motion.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>Indian judiciary needs a revamp because of the following reasons:<\/b><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Judicial Corruption exists because <\/span><b>public trials are almost never heard by the public.<\/b><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><b>Lack of accountability<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> breeds corruption.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Judicial accountability is as important as <\/span><b>accountability of the executive <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">or <\/span><b>legislature<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Judicial accountability promotes at least <\/span><b>three discrete values<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">: <\/span><b>the rule of law<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, <\/span><b>public confidence in the judiciary<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, and <\/span><b>institutional responsibility<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Judges become corrupt when they enjoy absolute power and their strong personal agendas dominates over merit of the case.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><b>Corruption in lower courts:<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> India\u2019s judicial corruption is a cancer that begins at the lower levels and inches its way up.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">According to the <\/span><b>Global Corruption Report 2007, <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">t<\/span><b>he perception of corruption is higher in India and Pakistan in comparison to Hong Kong, Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand.<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In Pakistan, 55 per cent of the respondents said the judiciary was corrupt.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">A <\/span><b>Transparency International report released in 2007<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> showed that 77 % per cent of respondents in a survey in India believe the judiciary is corrupt.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Q.3) Write a short note on any two of the following:<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">a) .<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Difference between Aadhaar and SSN(GS-3)<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">b) \u00a0<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">INS Karanj(GS-3)<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">c) <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Protein lamin B2(GS-3)<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>a) Aadhaar:<\/b><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Aadhaar is a <\/span><b>12-digit unique identification number<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> issued to Indian citizens by the Central government.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It is issued and managed by <\/span><b>Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI).<\/b><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Aadhaar captures <\/span><b>biometric and demographic data<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> while verifying \u00a0details of every resident Indian citizen\u2019s .<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Aadhaar is now governed by Aadhaar Act 2016.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Aadhaar facilitates <\/span><b>financial inclusion<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> of the underprivileged and weaker sections of the society and is therefore a <\/span><b>tool of distributive justice and equality.<\/b><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It promotes <\/span><b>hassle-free people-centric governance.<\/b><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It is one of the key pillars of \u2018<\/span><b>Digital India\u2019<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> and is the largest biometrics based identification system in the world.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Aadhaar identity platform enables the Government of India to directly reach residents of the country in delivery of various subsidies, benefits and services.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><b>Social Security Number (SSN):<\/b><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The United States enacted the landmark Social Security Act in 1935, giving birth to the Social Security Number (SSN). <\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><b>Difference:<\/b><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Aadhaar can be used as a <\/span><b>single proof of identity<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> and address for any resident in India. On the other hand <\/span><b>SSN (Social Security Number<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">) is <\/span><b>used to track worker\u2019s earnings<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> and <\/span><b>keep a record of social security benefits<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> to be received by them. Temporary workers are also allowed to obtain SSN in certain cases.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Aadhaar project involves <\/span><b>collection of biometric data<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> which includes fingerprints, face and iris of eyes, whereas <\/span><b>SSN captures demographic data.<\/b><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Aadhaar number can be <\/span><b>adopted by any public or private entity <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">as a sole means of identifying an individual. <\/span><b>SSN <\/b><b>is required by private entities<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> in case of any transaction with the revenue service.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><b>b) INS Karanj<\/b><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Navy\u2019s third state-of-the-art Scorpene class submarine, INS Karanj, was launched by Reena Lanba, wife of Chief of Naval Staff Admiral Sunil Lanba. The new submarine is named after the earlier Kalvari class INS Karanj, which was decommissioned in 2003.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>Third Scorpene class submarine joins Naval fleet:<\/b><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Six Scorpene class submarines are being built under Project 75 by the Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders Limited (MDSL), Mumbai, under a $3.75 billion technology transfer signed in October 2005 with the Naval Group of France.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>Scorpene class<\/b><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Scorpene class is the Navy\u2019s first modern conventional submarine series in almost two decades, since <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">INS Sindhushastra<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> was procured from Russia in July 2000<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">INS Kalvari<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, the first to be launched, was commissioned in December 2017 by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">INS Khanderi<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, which was launched in January 2017, is currently undergoing deep dive trails and is expected to be commissioned later this year, according to Navy officials<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><b>c) Protein lamin B2:<\/b><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Lamin B2 is a protein that in humans is encoded by the LMNB2 gene. It is the second of two type B nuclear lamins, and it is associated with laminopathies.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>Lamin B2 controls the shape and the function of the nucleolus<\/b><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The aggregate occupied more volume than when the nucleoli were separate entities.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">When the lamin B2 was restored to its normal level, the nucleoli regained their original shape.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This strongly suggests that lamin B2 controls the shape of the nucleolus<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Besides controlling the shape, lamin B2 also controls the function of the nucleolus.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><b>Depletion of Lamin B2<\/b><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">When the lamin B2 level was depleted in the cancer cells, there was an increase in the levels of ribosomal RNA precursors<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Lamin B2 also modulates the entry and exit of a multifunctional RNA binding protein (nucleoli). This protein too forms an aggregate in the absence of lamin B2<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Archives\u00a0 Q.1)Democracy is in decline state all over the world as per the recently released Democracy index. In this context discuss the reasons behind India\u2019s poor performance?(GS-2) Global democracy has declined significantly over the last year, according to the latest edition of the Democracy Index 2017. \u00a0The \u00a0\u00a0report was released by the Economist Intelligence Unit.&hellip; <a class=\"more-link\" href=\"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/answers-mains-marathon-upsc-mains-current-affairs-questions-february-5-2018\/\">Continue reading <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Answers: Mains Marathon \u2013 UPSC Mains Current Affairs Questions \u2013 February 5, 2018<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":61,"featured_media":2292,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[25,9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-15338","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-mains-marathon-answers","category-public","entry"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/pen-paper-laptop.jpg?fit=1000%2C500&ssl=1","views":{"total":0,"cached_at":"","cached_date":1699980578},"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15338","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/61"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15338"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15338\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2292"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15338"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15338"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15338"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}