UPSC Daily Current Affairs- 20th October 2023 | Current Affairs & Hindu Analysis: Daily, Weekly & Monthly PDF Download

GS-I

Someshwara inscription

Subject: History

Why in News?

Recently, archaeologists discovered a rare inscription connected to the Alupa dynasty during a recent archaeological exploration at Someshwara near Mangaluru, Karnataka.

About the Someshwara inscription:

• This inscription is very significant in the study of Tuluva history and culture.
• It has two panels on the top, and in between the two panels, the first line is engraved.
• The rest of the inscription written below the panels is in Kannada script and the language of 12th century characters announcing the death of Alupendra I.
• The human figures shown in the inscription represent Kulashekara Alupendra himself. 
• In the first figure, he is shown standing in Tribhanga (tri-bent posture). He holds a sword in his right hand while the left hand rests on a gurani (shield).
• To the left of this panel, divided by a pillar, the King is again shown in a sitting posture on a mound, resting both his palms on the centre of his legs in dhyana mudra.

Who was Kulashekara Alupendra?

• Kulashekara Alupendra I was a famous ruler of the Alupas of South Canara.
• He was responsible for the establishment of a new city called Kulashekara in Mangaluru.
• He also laid down strict rules and regulations for temple administration, which are still followed in all temples in this region.
• He was the first ruler to give royal patronage to Tulu language and culture, ruling from both the capitals, Mangaluru and Barkuru.
• Alupendra I ruled Tulunadu from 1156-1215 A.D., as known from his other records.
• Though the present inscription is undated, it is datable to 12th century on the basis of paleography.

Source: The Hindu

Why are Earthquakes so frequent in Afghanistan?

Subject: Geography

Why in News?

On October 15, Afghanistan was struck by a formidable earthquake with a magnitude of 6.3, adding to the woes of a nation still reeling from a series of devastating quakes just days earlier.

• This recent seismic activity reflects Afghanistan’s turbulent history of earthquakes, often with catastrophic consequences.

Understanding Earthquakes

• Tectonic Plate Movement: The Earth’s lithosphere consists of tectonic plates that move due to internal heat energy. Fault lines are formed along the discontinuities where these plates interact.
• Earthquake Mechanism: Earthquakes occur when these lithospheric plates suddenly slip past one another, releasing energy that propagates as seismic waves. The point where the slip starts is known as the focus or hypocenter, with the epicenter being its surface projection.

What exactly causes Earthquakes?

• As we know, the earth’s outermost surface, crust, is fragmented into tectonic plates.
• The edges of the plates are called plate boundaries, which are made up of faults.
• The tectonic plates constantly move at a slow pace, sliding past one another and bumping into each other.
• As the edges of the plates are quite rough, they get stuck with one another while the rest of the plate keeps moving.
• Earthquake occurs when the plate has moved far enough and the edges unstick on one of the faults.
• The location below the earth’s surface where the earthquake starts are called the hypocenter, and the location directly above it on the surface of the earth is called the epicentre.

Afghanistan’s Seismic Vulnerability

• Tectonic Plate Intersection: Afghanistan’s location atop the convergence of the Indian and Eurasian tectonic plates results in frequent seismic activity.
• Eurasian Plate: Afghanistan sits on the Eurasian Plate, with the Arabian Plate subducting northward in the west and the Indian Plate doing the same in the east.
• Complex Geology: The Hindu Kush mountain range and the Pamir Knot add complexity to this geological region, leading to folding, faulting, and earthquakes.
• Continual Compression: The northward movement of the Indian Plate toward Eurasia causes compression, uplifting the Himalayas, and transmitting tectonic stress. This leads to crustal deformation, faulting, and seismic activity.
• Active Fault Systems: Afghanistan is intersected by active fault systems like the Chaman Fault and the Main Pamir Thrust, which are prolific sources of earthquakes.

History of Earthquake Afghanistan

• October 11 Quakes: In October 2023, a series of powerful earthquakes, including a magnitude 6.3 tremor, wreaked havoc in Herat province, claiming the lives of at least a thousand people.
• June 2022 Tragedy: A magnitude 6.1 earthquake in Khost and Paktika provinces in June 2022 left over 1,000 casualties.
• 2015 Catastrophe: A major earthquake in northeastern Afghanistan in 2015 claimed over 200 lives in Afghanistan and northern Pakistan.
• 2002 Devastation: A 6.1-magnitude earthquake in 2002 resulted in approximately 1,000 casualties in northern Afghanistan.
• 1998 Disaster: In 1998, northeast Afghanistan experienced a catastrophic earthquake and subsequent tremors, causing the loss of at least 4,500 lives.

Source: The Hindu

Hooghly River

Subject: Geography

Why in News?

Police recently recovered five bodies after seven people performing tarpan rituals on Mahalaya morning were swept away by a high tide in the Hooghly River.

About the Hooghly River:

• The Hooghly River, also known as the Bhagirathi-Hoogly and Kati-Ganga Rivers, is one of the significant rivers in West Bengal.
• It is a distributary or arm of the Ganges River, about 260 km long.
• Course:
  • It is formed in Murshidabad, where Ganga splits into two parts – while the part flowing through Bangladesh is called the Padma.
  • The other part is the Hooghly, which flows through a heavily industrialised area of West Bengal.
  • The Hooghly river is silted up above Kolkata, and the river flows to the west and south to the estuary of Rupnarayan and then south and southwest to enter the Bay of Bengal through a 32 km-wide estuary.
• The Hooghly’s majority of water comes from the Farakka Feeder Canal instead of natural water. 
• The Farakka Barrage is a dam that diverts water from the Ganges into a canal near the town of Tildanga in Malda district. This supplies the Hooghly with adequate water even in the dry season.
• Haldi, Ajay, Damodar, and Rupnarayan are the rivers that feed the lower reaches of the Hooghly. 
• The important cities near the Hoogli River are Jiaganj, Azimganj, Murshidabad, and Baharampur.
• It is spanned by a cantilever bridge between Haora and Kolkata and by the Bally Bridge between Bally and Baranagar.

Source: The Hindu

GS-II

Hang Gliders

Subject: Polity 

Why in News?

The Gyan Sahayak Scheme, introduced by the Gujarat state government, has stirred controversy, facing opposition from various quarters of society.

Why discuss this?

• The scheme seeks to address teacher vacancies in government schools through contractual appointments until regular appointments are finalized.
• Many states in India have opted for the contractual filling of govt job vacancies ever since the regime change in 2014.

Understanding the Gyan Sahayak Scheme

• Interim Solution: The scheme aims to temporarily fill teaching positions in primary, secondary, and higher secondary government schools until regular appointments could be made.
• Basis in National Education Policy (NEP) 2020: The scheme draws inspiration from the NEP 2020, which emphasizes the need for teachers with interdisciplinary skills, beyond traditional academic subjects.

Scope of the Scheme

• Applicability: The Gyan Sahayak Scheme is applicable to government and grant-in-aid schools, particularly Mission Schools of Excellence.
• Vacancy Statistics: The government announced the hiring of 15,000 Gyan Sahayaks for primary schools and 11,500 for secondary and higher secondary schools.
• Salary Structure: Gyan Sahaks receive varying monthly salaries based on their school level: Rs 21,000 for primary, Rs 24,000 for secondary, and Rs 26,000 for higher secondary.
• Vacancy Context: Gujarat reports an estimated 32,000 teaching vacancies in government and grant-in-aid schools, primarily affecting primary and secondary schools. Some secondary schools rely on Pravasi teachers to meet staffing needs.

Eligibility Criteria

• Primary Gyan Sahayak: Candidates must have cleared the Gujarat Examination Board’s Teachers Eligibility Test (TET)-2.
• Secondary and Higher Secondary Gyan Sahayak: Candidates should have cleared the Teacher Aptitude Test (TAT).
• Age Limit: Both primary and secondary school Gyan Sahayaks must be under 40 years of age, while higher secondary school Gyan Sahayaks can be up to 42 years old.
• Merit-Based Selection: Selection involves the preparation of a merit list based on percentile ranks from TET-2 results, followed by the allocation of Gyan Sahayak positions to School Management Committees (SMCs) through district education officers.

Source: Indian Express

Why Special and Local Laws also need to be reformed?

Subject: Polity

Why in News?

Recent legislative bills aimed at amending criminal laws in India have garnered significant attention for ushering in long-awaited reforms.

• However, these reforms primarily focus on one aspect of India’s complex criminal justice system.
• What remains often overlooked are the extensive Special and Local Laws (SLLs) that encompass some of the most critical offences and procedures.

What are Special and Local Laws (SLLs)?

• Cognizable crimes are categorized either under the ‘Indian Penal Code (IPC)’ or under the ‘Special and Local Laws (SLL)’.
• The SLL identify criminal activities that the state government frames for specific issues.

Significance of SLLs

• Quantitative Importance: In 2021, nearly 39.9% of all cognizable offenses registered fell under SLLs, according to Crime in India Statistics.
• Qualitative Relevance: SLLs have ignited crucial debates concerning the boundaries of the state’s power in criminalization, particularly with respect to individual rights and liberties.

Need for Reform in SLLs

• Diverse Substantive Issues: SLLs, like the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967 (UAPA) and the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act, 1999 (MCOCA), suffer from ambiguous and vague definitions of offenses, raising concerns about their application to civil or regulatory wrongs.
• Procedural Challenges: SLLs have diluted universally accepted due process values, with examples like expanded search and seizure powers under the UAPA and admissibility of police-recorded confessions under the MCOCA.
• Bail Hurdles: Stringent provisions under SLLs, such as Section 43(D)(5) of the UAPA and Section 37 of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985, make securing bail nearly impossible.

Shift from Complete Codification

• IPC’s Original Vision: The Indian Penal Code (IPC), enacted in 1860, aimed to comprehensively codify all criminal laws, inspired by Jeremy Bentham’s idea of a “Pannomion”—a single, comprehensive collection of rules.
• Changing Landscape: Over time, there has been a shift towards enacting and applying SLLs, which has deviated from the original concept of complete codification.
• Unsuccessful Aspects: While the IPC faces criticism for its archaic morality and colonial roots, it is essential to acknowledge its success in codifying penal laws.

Addressing the Limitation: A Second Generation of Reforms

• Incorporating SLLs: All SLLs that criminalize or seek to criminalize specific conduct should be integrated as separate chapters within the larger penal code.
• Procedural Integration: SLLs creating distinct procedures for reporting offenses, arrests, investigations, prosecutions, trials, evidence, and bail should be included either as separate procedures within the CrPC or as exceptions to its general provisions.

Conclusion

• As India increasingly relies on Special and Local Laws for various reasons, it is vital to ensure that these laws do not overshadow the original concept of codifying penal laws, as embodied in the IPC and CrPC.
• Failing to incorporate the substantive and procedural aspects of SLLs into ongoing reform efforts represents a significant limitation.
• Therefore, a second generation of reforms is imperative to address these gaps and maintain the integrity of India’s criminal justice system.

Source: The Hindu

GS-III

PM to launch India’s first Regional Rapid Transit System (RRTS)

Subject: Economics

Why in News?

PM Modi will inaugurate the first leg of the Regional Rapid Transit System (RRTS), India’s first mass rapid system dedicated to regional connectivity.

• Trains on the first section will eventually cut the journey time between Delhi and Meerut to less than an hour.

Regional Rapid Transit System (RRTS)

• About
  • With semi high-speed rail connectivity at its core, the RRTS is an integrated, mass transit network.
  • It aims to ensure balanced and sustainable urban development through better connectivity and access across the NCR.
• Origin
  • The idea of such a network lies in a study which the Indian Railways was commissioned to carry out in the year 1998-99.
  • The study identified the possibility of an RRTS network to connect various locations in the NCR through fast commuter trains.
  • The proposal was re-examined in the year 2006 with the extension of the Delhi Metro lines to some NCR towns such as Gurgaon, Noida and Ghaziabad.
  • It was soon taken up by the National Capital Region Planning Board (NCRPB) while developing its Functional Plan on Transport for NCR-2032.
  • NCRPB identified and recommended eight RRTS corridors to connect NCR towns with high speed rail-based commuter transit services.
• Objective
  • It seeks to unlock the entire potential of the NCR in various ways in addition to enhancing multi-modal connectivity at the existing transportation hubs.
  • One of the most significant aims of the project is to nudge commuters towards public transportation.
    • Hence, it will have a positive impact on relieving the congestion both on its road/highways as well as existing metro and railway networks.
  • The project aims to give a push to employment generation and the opening up of newer commercial hubs along the current contours of the NCR.
  • Shorter travel times are expected to increase the overall economic productivity of the region.
• Features
  • RRTS trains will travel significantly faster than metro trains.
  • These will operate at a speed of 160 km/hour but are designed to be able to run at speeds up to 180 km/hour.
  • The RRTS is modelled on systems such as the RER in Paris, Regional-Express trains in Germany and Austria as well as the SEPTA Regional Rail in the United States, among others.

How is the RRTS different from existing metro or railways systems?

• When compared with metros, the RRTS network is faster.
• Compared with the Indian Railways, though the RRTS train will cover relatively smaller distances. It will do so at higher frequency and provide relatively more comfort than the average Railways coach.

Namo Bharat trains

• About
  • India’s first regional rapid train, between Delhi and Meerut, has been named “Namo Bharat”.
  • Today, PM is scheduled to:
    • inaugurate the priority section of the Delhi-Ghaziabad-Meerut Regional Rapid Transit System (RRTS) corridor and
    • flag off the “RapidX train” connecting Sahibabad and Duhai Depot.
• Construction
  • The National Capital Region Transport Corporation (NCRTC) has constructed the RRTS also known as Namo Bharat.
    • NCRTC is a joint venture company of the Central government and the governments of Delhi, Haryana, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh.
    • NCRTC, under the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, is mandated with implementing the RRTS project across the National Capital Region.\

Source: The Hindu

An opportunity to recast India’s food system

Subject: Economy

Why in News?

World Food Day underscores the challenges of India’s food system, which caters to the world’s largest population.

• India, with its enormous population, faces unique challenges in ensuring a sustainable and resilient food system. This system must not only guarantee nutrition security but also provide reasonable economic returns for food producers while safeguarding the environment.

• Nutrition Challenges:
  • Despite progress, a significant portion of the population still suffers from nutrient deficiencies.
  • The National Family Health Survey 2019-21 reports alarming statistics, with 35% of children being stunted, and 57% of women and 25% of men being anaemic.
  • Simultaneously, imbalanced diets and sedentary lifestyles have led to increasing rates of obesity, affecting 24% of adult women and 23% of adult men.
• Livelihood Issues:
  • Farm incomes in India are inadequate to sustain marginal and small farmers.
  • Over 68% of marginal farmers supplement their income with non-farm activities, highlighting a lack of skills or opportunities for income diversification.
• Environmental Vulnerabilities:
  • Depleting natural resources and changing climate patterns pose a significant threat to India’s food production.
  • Nearly half of India’s cultivable land is deficient in organic carbon, a critical indicator of soil health.
  • Groundwater, a primary source of irrigation, is rapidly depleting, particularly in states like Punjab.

• Shifting Consumer Demand:
  • Encourage a shift towards healthier and sustainable diets.
  • Engage the private sector, civil society, and health community to promote locally-grown, nutritious foods.
  • Leverage public sector touchpoints like the Public Distribution System, mid-day meals, and institutional procurement to improve the quality of food consumed by the majority.
• Supporting Farmers:
  • Promote the transition of farmers towards remunerative and regenerative agricultural practices.
  • Increase funding for sustainable agriculture initiatives, such as the National Mission on Natural Farming.
  • Shift from input subsidies to direct cash support per hectare to promote efficient input use.
• Transforming Value Chains:
  • Encourage middlemen and corporations to procure directly from farmers, prioritize sustainably harvested produce, and implement fair trade practices.
  • Support young agri-tech enterprises facilitating farm-to-buyer linkages.
  • Enable trading of produce between Farmer Producer Organizations (FPOs) to ensure a fair share of value for farmers.

• Transforming India’s food system is a formidable task, but the magnitude of the challenge should not deter our ambitions. By acting swiftly and strategically, India can set an example for the world in building a sustainable and resilient food system that ensures nutrition security, supports livelihoods, and protects the environment.

Source: Indian Express