Current Affairs: January 2022 | Current Affairs & General Knowledge - CLAT PDF Download

Corruption Perception Index

• It was released by Transparency International.
• India ranked at 85th among 180 countries with a score of 40. (Ranked 86th last year).
• Report said while India’s score has remained stagnant over past decade, some mechanisms that could help reign in corruption are weakening.
• Denmark, New Zealand and Finland have topped index jointly.
• Index ranks countries by their perceived levels of public sector corruption according to experts and business people.
  • It uses a scale of 0 (highly corrupt) to 100 (very clean.)

Online Campaigning

Due to the ongoing pandemic and associated health risks, recently EC put temporal restrictions on physical rallies for upcoming state elections while allowing virtual campaigns through social media platforms.

About online election campaigning

• Election campaigns are the means by which candidates and political parties prepare and present their ideas and positions on issues to the voters.
• Online campaign not only includes promoting political and electoral campaign material on social media platforms such as Twitter, Facebook and Instagram, it also includes reaching out to voters with audio message, phone calls, videos and LED screen-mounted vans from small town to remote villages.
• The preferred modes of election messaging include audio-video animation with text, and digital banner and posters for targeted assembly constituencies.

Electronic Voting Machines (EVMS)

About Electronic voting machine (EVM)

• EVM is a microcontroller-based portable instrument designed to modernise the election procedure of conducting elections.
• EVM consists of two Units – a Control Unit and a Balloting Unit. These units are joined together by a Cable.
• EVMs were first used in Parur Assembly Constituency of Kerala in the year 1982.
• In 1988, a new Section 61A was inserted in the Representation of the People Act, 1951 empowering ECI to use electronic voting machines.
• An EVM being used by ECI can record a maximum of 2,000 votes.
• EVMs can cater to a maximum of 64 candidates (including NOTA). There is provision for 16 candidates in one Balloting Unit.

Local Reservation In Private Sector

The Haryana government has challenged in Supreme Court, the order by the Punjab & Haryana High Court, to halt 75% quota in private jobs for locals.

• The Haryana State Employment of Local Candidates Act, 2020, came into force on January 15, 2022.
• It provides for 75% reservation to local youngsters in private sector jobs that offered a monthly salary of less than ₹30,000. It covers private companies, societies, trusts and partnership firms.
• Haryana is not the first state in India to push for such a move. Others like Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Madhya Pradesh have already tried to reserve private jobs for locals. But, all of them have run into hurdles.

Related information on the issue of legislation for “sons of the soil”
The Madhya Pradesh government in 2020 reserved all government jobs for “children of the state”. This raised questions relating to the fundamental right to equality.

• Constitutional provisions on the issue of legislation for “sons of the soil”
  • Article 16: Guarantees equal treatment under law in matters of public employment & prohibits the state from discriminating on grounds of place of birth or residence.
  • Article 16(2): “No citizen shall, on grounds only of religion, race, caste, sex, descent, place of birth, residence or any of them, be ineligible for, or discriminated against in respect or, any employment or office under the State”.
    (i) The provision is supplemented by the other clauses in the Constitution that guarantee equality.
  • Article 16 (3): It provides an exception by saying that Parliament may make a law “prescribing” a requirement of residence for jobs in a particular state. This power vests solely in the Parliament, not state legislatures.
  • Why does the Constitution prohibit reservation based on domicile?
    (i) As India has common citizenship, which gives citizens the liberty to move around freely in any part of the country, the requirement of a place of birth or residence cannot be qualifications for granting public employment in any state.

Hyderabad Declaration’ on E-governance Adopted

• 24th National e-Governance conference unanimously adopted the Hyderabad declaration.
  • Conference was jointly held by Ministry of Electronics & Information Technology (MeitY), Department of Administrative Reforms & Public Grievances, in collaboration with Telangana Government.
• e-Governance is use of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) at all level of Government to transform relations with citizens, businesses, and other arms of government.
  • It has helped Government to enhance coverage, increase transparency, improve response to citizens and lower costs and has facilitated citizens to have better access, equity & social empowerment.

Some e-governance initiatives

• Bhoomi Project for (Karnataka): Online Delivery of Land Records.
• eSeva (Andhra Pradesh)
• Gyandoot (MP): Service delivery initiative.
• Lokvani (UP): For handling of grievances, land record maintenance and providing a mixture of essential services.
• FRIENDS (Fast, Reliable, Instant, Efficient Network for the Disbursement of Services) in Kerala.

Sherpa

• First BRICS Sherpas meeting of 2022 was held virtually.
• About Sherpas:
  • A Sherpa is a personal representative of the leader of a member country at an international Summit such as the G8, G20 etc.
    (i) The term is derived from the Nepalese Sherpa people, who serve as guides for mountaineers in the Himalayas.
  • They coordinate the agenda, seek consensus, and participate in a series of preSummit consultations to help negotiate their leaders’ positions.
  • There is only one Sherpa per Summit for each member country.

Henley Passport Index

• Index lists the world’s passports according to the number of destinations their holders can access without a prior visa.
  • It is released by Henley & Partners, a global leader in residence and citizenship planning.
• India’s passport power has improved this quarter compared to 2021. It now ranks 83rd (90th rank last year).
  • Japan and Singapore top the index

Unemployment in India

India’s unemployment rate went up to 7.91 per cent in December 2021 from 6.3 per cent in 2018-2019 and 4.7 per cent in 2017-18.

• Unemployment is more in the urban areas as compared to the rural areas.
• Unemployment among women is higher than men, both in urban as well as rural areas.
• Further, of the women willing to seek work in urban areas, 92.1 per cent don’t get any work. This count for rural women stands at 54.8 per cent.

About unemployment

• The term unemployment refers to a situation when a person who is actively searching for employment is unable to find work. Unemployment is considered to be a key measure of the health of the economy.
• The unemployment rate refers to the unemployed who are willing to work and are actively looking for a job expressed as a per cent of the labour force.
• Labour force consists of persons who are of 15 years of age or more and are either of the following two categories:
  • o are employed
  • o are unemployed and are willing to work and are actively looking for a job

Few Recent initiatives taken by the central government to support workers

• Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Yojana (PMGKY): Under scheme, central government contributed both 12% employer’s share and 12% employee’s share under Employees Provident Fund (EPF).
• Aatmanirbhar Bharat Rozgar Yojna (ABRY) Scheme: Launched in October 2020 to incentivise employers for the creation of new employment along with social security benefits and restoration of loss of employment during the COVID-19 pandemic.
• Increase in unemployment benefits: The unemployment benefit under the Atal Beemit Vyakti Kalyan Yojana (launched in July 2018) was enhanced from 25% to 50% of the average earning for insured workers who have lost employment due to COVID-19.
• Prime Minister’s Street Vendor’s Aatma Nirbhar Nidhi (PM SVANidhi) scheme: As part of scheme, the central government provided an initial working capital of up to Rs 10,000 to street vendors. As of June 2021, Rs 2,130 crore disbursed to 21.57 lakh beneficiaries.
• Interlinking of databases: In Union budget 2022, it has been announced that portals such as Udyam, e-Shram, National Career Service (NCS) and Atmanirbhar Skilled EmployeeEmployer Mapping (ASEEM) will be interlinked to act as live, organic databases, providing G2C, B2C and B2B services.

Domestic Systemically Important Banks (D-SIBS)

• SBI, ICICI Bank & HDFC Bank continue to remain D-SIB.
• D-SIB means that the bank is too big to fail. According to the RBI, some banks become systemically important due to their size, cross-jurisdictional activities, complexity and lack of substitute and interconnection.
  • Banks whose assets exceed 2% of GDP are considered part of this group.
• As per the framework, from 2015, the central bank has to disclose names of banks designated as D-SIB.

Airtel Payments Bank as a Scheduled Bank

• Airtel Payments Bank has been categorised as a scheduled bank by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI).
• All banks which are included in the Second Schedule to the RBI Act, 1934 are Scheduled Banks.
  • These banks comprise Scheduled Commercial Banks and Scheduled Co-operative Banks.
• Benefits of being a scheduled bank:
  • Becomes eligible for debts/loans at the bank rate from the RBI
  • Automatically acquires the membership of clearing house
  • Rediscount of first class exchange bills from the RBI

Defence Exports

Recently, Philippines signed a $375 million deal for BrahMos supersonic cruise missiles.

About BrahMos

• BrahMos is a universal long range supersonic cruise missile system that can be launched from land, sea and air against surface and sea-based targets.
  • BrahMos is a joint collaboration between India (Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO)) and Russia (NPO Mashinostoyenia).
  • Name represents Brahmaputra and Moskva rivers.
• It is a two stage missile with a solid propellant booster engine as first stage and liquid ramjet as second stage.
  • It operates at fire and forget principle.
• The range of the missile was originally capped at 290 km as per obligations of the Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR).

Indigenous Aircraft Carrier (IAC) Vikrant

• IAC Vikrant is heading out for the next set of sea trials.
  • India currently operates a solitary aircraft carrier, INS Vikramaditya.
• Vikrant, a STOBAR (short take-off but arrested landing) aircraft carrier, has an indigenous content of 76%.
  • Designed by the Indian Navy’s Directorate of Naval Design, Vikrant has been built at the state-owned Cochin Shipyard Limited.
• Apart from India, only US, UK, Russia, France and China have the capability to build aircraft carriers.

Operation Sard Hawa

• Border Security Force (BSF) launched operation ‘Sard Hawa’ at the international border of Rajasthan, under which vigil will be beefed-up to check the instances of infiltration due to the dense fog in the area.
• The operation will be carried out from January 23 to 28.
• BSF conducts “Operation Garam Hawa” in summer and “Operation Sard Hawa” in winter every year.
• BSF is a central armed police force (CAPF) that functions under the Union government. It was raised in 1965.
• BSF is deployed along the Pakistan and Bangladesh borders. It is also deployed in areas affected by Left Wing Extremism etc.

India State of Forest Report (ISFR) 2021

The Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change (MoEFCC) recently released the India State of Forest Report (ISFR) 2021.

About India State of Forest Report (ISFR)

• It is an assessment of India’s forest and tree cover, published every two years by the Forest Survey of India under the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change.
• The first survey was published in 1987, and ISFR 2021 is the 17th report.
• Data is computed through wall-to-wall mapping of India’s forest cover through remote sensing techniques.

Cheetah Reintroduction Plan

• Recently, The Government of India has decided to reintroduce Cheetahs in National Parks over five years, under 'Action Plan for Introduction of Cheetah in India’.
  • Cheetah is the only large carnivore that got completely wiped out from India in 1952, mainly due to over-hunting and habitat loss.
• As per the action plan, a cohort of around 10-12 young African Cheetahs that are ideal for reintroduction will be sent from Namibia or South Africa to the grassland habitats that the Asiatic cheetahs occupied in the past as a founder stock during the first year.
• Amongst the 10 surveyed sites of the central Indian states, Kuno Palpur National Park (KNP) in Madhya Pradesh has been rated the highest. This is because of its suitable habitat and adequate prey base.

Red Sanders

Recently, Red Sanders (Red Sandalwood) has fallen back into the ‘Endangered’ category in the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s (IUCN) Red List.

About Red Sanders

• It is an Indian endemic tree species, with a restricted geographical range in the Eastern Ghats of India.
  • It is endemic to a distinct tract of forests in Andhra Pradesh.

Significance of Red Sanders

• Timber industry: The timber of Red Sanders is highly demanded domestically and internationally, and especially in East Asian countries like China and Japan. Red Sandalwood timber is used for making furniture, woodcraft and musical instruments.
  • The rare wavy grain variant is highly valued in Japan for its acoustic properties.
• Medicinal value: The wood at the center of the trunk (heartwood) is used as medicine. It is used for treating digestive tract problems, fluid retention, cough and for blood purification.

Zoji La Pass

• For the first time Border Roads Organisation (BRO) has kept the Zoji mountain pass open beyond 31st December.
• Zoji La Pass is a high mountain pass at an elevation of 3,528 m (11,575 ft) above the sea level, located in the Kargil district of Ladakh.
  • It is the strategic link connecting Ladakh to Srinagar and the rest of India.
• To provide all-weather connectivity to Ladakh, the Zojila Tunnel is being constructed.
• Once completed, at 14.15 km, it will be India’s longest road tunnel, and Asia’s longest bidirectional tunnel.

Marital Rape and Conjugal Rights

Recently, the Centre sought reasonable time from Delhi High Court to share government opinion on Marital Rape after consultation with all stakeholders.

About Marital Rape and Legal position in India

• Rape represents any non-consensual sexual intercourse or consent gained by using any kind of fear, fraud or under situation of unsoundness of mind, intoxication etc.
• Such sexual intercourse or Rape between non-spouses is illegal but Marital Rape, i.e., the act of having non-consensual sexual intercourse with one’s own wife, is kept outside the definition of rape in many countries.
• In India also, under Section 375 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), non-consensual sexual intercourse or sexual acts by a man with his own wife, the wife not being under fifteen years of age, is kept as exception outside the definition of rape.
  • Section 376A criminalizes the rape of judicially separated wife.
• Also, the either spouse carries the right for ‘Restitution of Conjugal Rights’ under Divorce Act, 1869 (related to the divorce of persons belonging to the Christian religion), Special Marriage Act (SMA) of 1954 and Hindu Marriage Act (HMA) of 1955 etc.
• Although Section 3 of the Protection of Women from Domestic Violence, 2005 contradicts the exception provided by section 375 and considers any physical, sexual, verbal, and emotional abuse as Domestic Violence.

Conjugal Rights (Right to Stay Together)
Conjugal means relating to marriage. So, conjugal rights represent the ‘rights relating to marriage or created by marriage’.

• It traces its roots in medieval ecclesiastical law of England when women lacked individual identity and were treated as husband’s personal possession.
• Conjugal rights are part of Indian laws dealing with marriage, divorce etc., allowing a spouse to move to court for restitution of conjugal rights in case wife or husband withdraws from society without reasonable excuse.
• Though a gender-neutral law with utility in saving marriage, the restitution provisions were recently challenged in Supreme Court (Ojaswa Pathak versus Union of India) as:
  • It goes against the individual dignity, bodily autonomy and privacy (in Joseph Shine judgement, 2018- SC held that State can’t exercise authority in a person’s private affairs).
• Decree of restitution of conjugal rights goes against individual right to autonomy and self-determination and a coercive act from state.
• It goes against individuality and empowers courts to attach the property if the restitution order isn’t complied.

Census First Phase, National Population Register (NPR) Data Collection Put off till September 2022

• Exercise was scheduled to be held from AprilSeptember, 2020 but was postponed indefinitely due to pandemic.
  • Census involves a detailed questionnaire eliciting particulars of every person, including age, sex, birthplace, mother tongue, religion etc.
  • NPR collects basic demographic data and biometric particulars.
• NPR is a Register of all usual residents of the country regardless of whether they are citizens or non-citizens of India.
  • A “usual resident of the country” is one who has been residing in a local area for at least last 6 months or intends to stay in a particular location for next 6 months.
• It is prepared at local (village/ward of town), subdistrict, district, state and national levels under provisions of Citizenship Act 1955 and Citizenship (Registration of Citizens and Issue of National Identity Cards) Rules, 2003.