{"id":16250,"date":"2018-02-23T13:23:29","date_gmt":"2018-02-23T07:53:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.forumias.com\/?p=16250"},"modified":"2018-02-23T12:24:06","modified_gmt":"2018-02-23T06:54:06","slug":"answers-mains-marathon-upsc-mains-current-affairs-questions-february-22-2018","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/answers-mains-marathon-upsc-mains-current-affairs-questions-february-22-2018\/","title":{"rendered":"Answers: Mains Marathon \u2013 UPSC Mains Current Affairs Questions \u2013 February 22, 2018"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong><a href=\"http:\/\/blog.forumias.com\/mains-marathon\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Archives<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Q.1) With reference to UNICEF\u2019s latest report, \u201cEvery Child Alive: The urgent need to end newborn deaths\u201d. Discuss the reasons for which India has been ranked 12<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">th<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> in having highest infant mortality rates among low middle income countries. How the recent union budget seeks to address the welfare for women and children? (GS\u20131)\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>Introduction:<\/b><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">UNICEF recently came up with a report name.ly, \u201cEvery Child Alive: The urgent need to end newborn deaths\u201d, which says that when newborns in Pakistan, the Central African Republic and Afghanistan face the worst odds, India ranks below Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Nepal, and Bhutan.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><b>What are the reasons that can be assigned to India for which it has been ranked 12th in having highest infant mortality rates?<\/b><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">There are three-fold reasons behind India\u2019s high infant mortality rate. They are as follows:<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>Education:<\/b><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Education still remains low on priority in rural areas.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Thus, new mothers and pregnant women lack the basic fundamentals of pregnancy as well as post baby care.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><b>Sanitation:<\/b><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Another major reason is that many women do not have sufficient access to clean water, nutritious food and regular medical assistance.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><b>Poverty:<\/b><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Poverty is one of the vital causes for high infant mortality rate in India which gives access to malnutrition and diseases like birth asphyxia, pneumonia, birthing complications, neonatal infections, diarrhea, and malaria and so on.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><b>How the recent union budget seeks to address the welfare for women and children?<\/b><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Union Budget of 2018 has heightened its focus on welfare for women and children.<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This year\u2019s budget has provided the Women and Child Development Ministry with an increase in funds by almost 12%, bringing the total to Rs. 24,700 Crores.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><b>Integrated Child Protection Scheme (ICPS:<\/b><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The allocations towards Integrated Child Protection Scheme (ICPS), the only scheme in India that addresses child protection increased by 77 crores from Rs. 648 crores (RE 2017-18) to Rs. 725 crores (BE) which is a 12% increase.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><b>Anganwadi Service:<\/b><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The largest development scheme for children implemented through the Anganwadis has seen a 7% increase over last year which is Rs. 15245.19 crores (RE 2017-18) to 16334.88 crores (BE 2018-19).<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><b>Nutrition:<\/b><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The National Nutrition Strategy was released by the NITI Aayog last year based on which the implementation of the National Nutrition Mission will receive a boost from 550 crore (RE) to Rs. 2928.7 crores (BE).<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Q.2) \u201cThe anti-defection law works best as an insurance against violation of the people\u2019s mandate for a party, but it cannot be made a tool to stifle all dissent.\u201d Discuss and Provide the significance of the Tenth Schedule of the Indian Constitution. (GS\u20132)<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>Introduction:<\/b><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The 10th Schedule to the Indian Constitution, popularly referred to as the \u2018Anti-Defection Law\u2019 was inserted by the 1985 Amendment (52nd) to the Constitution.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It defines defection and disqualification in order to get rid of evil of political defection in lure of political advantage and lure of office, which certainly pose a threat on the essence of parliamentary system that is stability.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u2018Defection\u2019 has been defined as, \u201cTo abandon a position or association, often to join an opposing group\u201d.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><b>Significance of the Tenth schedule:<\/b><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Significance of the Tenth schedule are as follows:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The anti defection law was enacted to ensure that a party member do not violate the mandate of the party and in case he do so he will be disqualified from participating in the election.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Anti-Defection Law allows Parliament to announce those members defected who oppose or do not vote in line with party\u2019s decision.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The aim of Anti-Defection Law is to prevent members of Parliament to change parties for any personal motive.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><b>Arguments in favor of Anti-Defection:<\/b><\/p>\n<p><strong>Arguments in favor of Anti-Defection are as follows:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Provides stability to the government by preventing shifts of party allegiance.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Ensures that candidates elected with party support and on the basis of party manifestoes remain loyal to the party policies.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Promotes party discipline.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><b>Arguments against Anti-Defection:<\/b><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Arguments against Anti-Defection are as follows:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Legislators often argue that defection is a matter of choice and as individuals they have a right to decide who to support.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Several democracies have not adopted an anti-defection law, even though legislators often switch to the other side.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In the U.K., Australia and the U.S., parliamentarians and senators often take positions contrary to their parties or vote against the party\u2019s view, yet continue within the same party.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Legislators should be allowed to express their own views and a defection law amounts to curtailment of the delegate\u2019s freedom of choice.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Anti-Defection goes against the basis of a representative democracy in which the elected representative is expected to act in public interest<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The anti-defection law breaks the link between the elected representative and his electors.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Q.3) What is the Cauvery water dispute? What are the solutions made available to Karnataka and Tamil Nadu by the apex court to resolve the issue? \u00a0Do you agree with the verdict provided by the apex court in this matter? GS &#8211; 2 <\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>Introduction:<\/b><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">As Kerala and Puducherry also claimed share of Cauvery water after India attained Independence, a <\/span><b>Fact Finding Committee<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> was set-up in 1970 to figure out the situation on ground.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">After submission of the report, the states reached at an agreement in 1976.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">However, later when Tamil Nadu got its new government, it refused to give consent to terms of agreement which led to fresh disputes.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In 1986, Tamil Nadu government appealed the Central government to constitute a tribunal for solving the issue under <\/span><b>Inter-State Water Disputes Act, 1956.<\/b><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Centre constituted the <\/span><b>Cauvery Water Disputes Tribunal (CWDT<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">) finally in 1990 to resolve the dispute following a Supreme Court order.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Tribunal announced its final order in 2007<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The award made an annual allocation of 419 TMC to Tamil Nadu in the entire Cauvery basin, 270 TMC to Karnataka, 30 TMC to Kerala, and 7 TMC to Puducherry.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Karnataka had contested the final verdict of the dispute tribunals, arguing that a major share of the water will go to Tamil Nadu, leaving almost six Karnataka districts, including Bengaluru, without enough water for drinking and farming.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Over the years, the Supreme Court has passed a series of orders setting a limit to the amount of water to be released by Karnataka to Tamil Nadu.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In 2016, the Tamil Nadu government sought the Supreme Court\u2019s intervention claiming that Karnataka had failed to fully comply with a series of orders passed by the court regarding timely release of water from the Cauvery River.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Karnataka argued that it was unfair to require the state to release a fixed amount of water irrespective of the availability of water. The state also made strong case on drinking water needs of Bengaluru.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><b>What are the solutions made available to Karnataka and Tamil Nadu by the apex court to resolve the issue?<\/b><\/p>\n<p><strong>The solutions made available to Karnataka and Tamil Nadu by the apex court to resolve the issue are as follows:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The judgment was passed on a batch of appeals by the states of Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Kerala challenging the 2007 award passed by the Cauvery River Water Disputes Tribunal<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Supreme Court curtailed Tamil Nadu\u2019s share of Cauvery water by 14.75 tmcft and increased Karnataka\u2019s share to meet Bengaluru\u2019s drinking water needs.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Tamil Nadu will get 404.25 tmcft, which will be 14.75 tmcft less than what was allotted by the tribunal in 2007.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Karnataka will now release only 177.25 TMC ft Cauvery water from Billigundlu site to Mettur dam in Tamil Nadu.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The SC has given the Centre 6 weeks to frame a scheme to make sure the final decisions are implemented.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The SC has also directed the formation of the <\/span><b>Cauvery Management Board (CMB)<\/b><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The 2007 tribunal award of 30 TMC ft to Kerala and 7 TMC ft water to Puducherry will remain unchanged.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Yes, verdict provided by the apex court in this matter is quite justified because:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Referring to river Cauvery as a <\/span><b>\u201cnational asset\u201d,<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> the Supreme Court has further said that \u201cno state can claim exclusive right to a river passing through different states\u201d<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Court acknowledged Bengaluru\u2019s need of water and based the supply of water to Bengaluru on the ground that both the National Water Policy and also courts of different countries hold that drinking water should be given \u201cfirst priority.\u201d<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Archives Q.1) With reference to UNICEF\u2019s latest report, \u201cEvery Child Alive: The urgent need to end newborn deaths\u201d. Discuss the reasons for which India has been ranked 12th in having highest infant mortality rates among low middle income countries. How the recent union budget seeks to address the welfare for women and children? (GS\u20131)\u00a0 Introduction:&hellip; <a class=\"more-link\" href=\"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/answers-mains-marathon-upsc-mains-current-affairs-questions-february-22-2018\/\">Continue reading <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Answers: Mains Marathon \u2013 UPSC Mains Current Affairs Questions \u2013 February 22, 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-16250","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":1704594496},"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16250","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=16250"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16250\/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=16250"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16250"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16250"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}