UPSC Daily Current Affairs- 11th March 2023 | Current Affairs & Hindu Analysis: Daily, Weekly & Monthly PDF Download

Coffee production

What is Cyclone Freddy?

Corruption in India

What is the U.S.-India initiative on Critical and Emerging Technology (iCET)?

About the U.S.-India initiative on Critical and Emerging Technology (iCET):

• It was launched by the US President and Indian Prime Minister on the sidelines of the Quad summit on May 2022.
• Goal: To elevate and expand Indo-U.S. strategic technology partnership and defense industrial cooperation between the governments, businesses, and academic institutions of the two countries. 
• The initiative will be spearheaded by the National Security Council Secretariat in India and the US National Security Council.
• The initiative would help forge links between the government, academia, and industry in areas such as AI, quantum computing, 5G/6G, biotech, space, and semiconductors.
• Under iCET, the two sides have identified six focus areas of co-development and co-production: 
  • strengthening innovation ecosystems;
  • defense innovation and technology cooperation;
  • resilient semiconductor supply chains;
  • space;
  • STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) talent;
  • next-generation telecom;

Democratic Decentralisation

Why in News?

2023 is the 30th anniversary of the passing of the 73rd and 74th Amendments. These amendments are made in the constitution in order to promote the democracy at grassroot level. 

About decentralisation in India:

• Democratic decentralization is the process of devolving the functions and resources of the state from the centre to the elected representatives at the lower levels so as to facilitate greater direct participation of citizens in governance.
• A major step towards decentralisation was taken in 1992 and the Constitution was amended to make the third-tier of democracy more powerful and effective.
• The Constitution (73rd Amendment) Act, 1992 has added a new part IX.
• The Amendment envisages the Gram Sabha as the foundation of the Panchayat Raj System to perform functions and powers entrusted to it by the State Legislatures.
• It provides for a three tier Panchayat Raj System at the village, intermediate and district levels.

Significance of Decentralisation:

• It was the creation of an idealistic imagined space that would be above politics; that would free it from the usual give and take and contests of politics.
• Local government would be held to a higher standard than other tiers of governance.
  • For example, we take partisanship and competition to be central to politics elsewhere.
• But somehow, we expected panchayats to be this font of consensus (some states give incentives for election by consensus).
  • And, it has to be said, there was no serious demand side push for decentralisation.
• The 73rd and 74th amendments did achieve a lot:
  • In some areas, they led to the state acquiring a distinct presence on the ground;
  • they gave millions of citizens identities as representatives;
  • they provided a conduit for sharing power;
  • they created deliberative spaces, led to the creation of new norms, especially around the participation of women and a churn in local elites
  • They slowly built up local capacities, and led to a wide range of functions being devolved to local government.

Key issues associated with local govt:

• Local governments remain hamstrung and ineffective; mere agents to do the bidding of higher level governments.
• Democracy has not been enhanced in spite of about 32 lakh peoples’ representatives being elected to them every five years, with great expectation and fanfare.
• The constraint lies in the design of funding streams that transfer money to local governments.
• The volume of money set apart for them is inadequate to meet their basic requirements.
• Much of the money given is inflexible; even in the case of untied grants mandated by the Union and State Finance Commissions, their use is constrained through the imposition of several conditions.
• There is little investment in enabling and strengthening local governments to raise their own taxes and user charges.
• Local governments do not have the staff to perform even basic tasks.
  • Furthermore, as most staff are hired by higher level departments and placed with local governments on deputation, they do not feel responsible to the latter; they function as part of a vertically integrated departmental system.
  • The current Union government has further centralised service delivery by using technology, and panchayats are nothing more than front offices for several Union government programmes.
• Criminal elements and contractors are attracted to local government elections, tempted by the large sums of money now flowing to them.
  • They win elections through bribing voters and striking deals with different groups.

Suggestive Measures:

• Democratic decentralisation is barely alive in India and to curb existing issues gram Sabhas and wards committees in urban areas have to be revitalised.
• Consultations with the grama sabha could be organised through smaller discussions where everybody can really participate.
• Even new systems of Short Message Services, or social media groups could be used for facilitating discussions between members of a grama sabha.
• Local government organisational structures have to be strengthened.
• Panchayats are burdened with a huge amount of work that other departments thrust on them, without being compensated for the extra administrative costs.
• Local governments must be enabled to hold State departments accountable and to provide quality, corruption free service to them, through service-level agreements.
• India’s efforts in decentralisation represent one of the largest experiments in deepening democracy.
• We can keep track of corrupt local government representatives; at the higher level
• Given diverse habitation patterns, political and social history, it makes sense to mandate States to assign functions to local governments.

Way Forward

• Gram Sabhas and wards committees in urban areas have to be strengthened in order to achieve the objective of people’s participation in real terms.
• Maximum efforts should be made towards recruitment and appointment of support and technical staff to ensure the smooth functioning of panchayats.
• A comprehensive mechanism should be adopted for taxation at the local levels as without local taxation, Gram Panchayats cannot be held accountable.
• The Ministry of Panchayati Raj should monitor the release and expenditure of Finance Commission grants in order to ensure that there is no delay in their release.
• It should also be ensured that the allotted grants are utilised in a proper and effective manner.
• Panchayats should be encouraged to carry out local audits at regular intervals so that Finance Commission grants are not delayed.

Source: Indian Express

GS-III

World Wide Fund for Nature and the report

Why in News?

A Recent study reported that over 170 trillion plastic particles are floating in the oceans.

Key highlights  of the study :-

• Oceans across the world are polluted by a growing plastic smog composed primarily of microplastics, according to the study.
• Egypt, Nigeria, and South Africa are the largest contributors to plastic leakage on the continent.
• Algeria and Morocco joined the list of top 20 coastal countries contributing to marine plastic pollution, said a 2022 report by World Wide Fund for Nature.
• India: the waste dumped in the south Asian seas daily is generated from 60 major Indian cities, according to UNEP.

Policy interventions so far:-

• In 1988, the International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships added Annex V, which established legally-binding agreements among 154 countries to end the discharge of plastics from naval, fishing, and shipping fleets.
• These interventions were followed by the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea in 1982 and the Convention on the Prevention of Marine Plastic by Dumping of Wastes and other Matter in 1972.
• In 1991, the Plastic Industry Trade Association launched ‘Operation Clean Sweep’ with the goal of zero loss of plastic pellets, powders, and flakes from factories with decreasing pellet ingestion in biota observed.

About World Wide Fund for Nature:-

• It is an international non-governmental organization.
• It is working in the field of wilderness preservation and reduction of human impact on the environment.
• It was established in 1961.
• It is headquartered in Gland, Switzerland.
• It is the world’s leading conservation organization and works in more than 100 countries.
• WWF aims to stop the degradation of the planet’s natural environment and build a future in which humans live in harmony with nature.
• Currently, its work is organized around these six areas: food, climate, freshwater, wildlife, forests, and oceans.
• Publications:  Living Planet Report, every two years since 1998.

Source: DOWN TO EARTH

ALH Dhruv helicopters

Why in News?

The defence forces have halted the operations of the ALH Dhruv helicopters till the time investigators find the reason behind the accident that took place off the Mumbai coast recently.

About ALH Dhruv helicopters:

• Advanced Light Helicopter (ALH) Dhruv is a multi-role and multi-mission light utility helicopter in the 5.5-ton weight class, intended for both military and civil operators.
• It is developed indigenously by Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL).
• The ALH choppers are operated by all three Indian defense forces, including the Army, Navy, and Air Force, along with the Indian Coast Guard.
• The major variants of Dhruv are classified as Dhruv Mk-I, Mk-II, Mk-III & Mk-IV. 
• Exported countries: Bolivia, Myanmar, Israel, Maldives, and Nepal.
• The Mk-IV version of the HAL ALG Dhruv helicopter is the Armed variant for Attack, Close Air Support, and High altitude operations.
• Features of Dhruv Mk-IV:
  • It is also called ALH Rudra and can carry a 20 mm Turret Gun, 70 mm Rocket, and Air to Air missiles.
  • It has a twin-engine configuration allowing continued flight virtually throughout the flight envelope. 
  • It has a maximum take-off weight of 5800 kg and a range of 590 km.
  • ALH Mk-IV has a rigid rotor design making it aggressively maneuverable in air.
  • It has a dedicated Electronic Warfare suite for self-protection.
  • Its countermeasures suite can include: radar and missile detectors, infrared jammer, chaff and flare dispensers.

Source: Indian Express