UPSC Daily Current Affairs- 25th November 2022 | Current Affairs & Hindu Analysis: Daily, Weekly & Monthly PDF Download

GS-I

Context

Recently in a significant development in the Tibetan Buddhist circles, the Nyingma sect has identified a boy from Spiti in Himachal Pradesh as the “reincarnation” of the late Taklung Setrung Rinpoche, a scholar known for his knowledge of Tibetan Tantric school.

About Nyingma Sect:

• The Nyingmapa order has the longest history establishment history of transmitting all the four major traditions of Tibetan Buddhism.
  • This is reflected in the name Nyingma, which literary means “Old Order”.
  • The Other three main Tibetan Buddhism schools, Sakya, Kagyu, and Gelug, collectively refer to New Order (Sarma).
  • They rely on the translation of Buddhist script from India during the second dissemination of Buddhism to Tibet.
• Nyingmapa’s trace their translation lineage back to the Samye Monastery, the first Tibetan Buddhist monastery in Tibet.
  • During the time, hundreds of scholars and translators translated Sutras and Tantras to the Tibetan Language.
  • The Same Monastery where the first seven locals are ordained as monk marks the bugging of Monkshood in Tibet.
• The Rinpoche used to live in the Takthok monastery of Ladakh, one of the oldest monasteries related to the sect.
• Its followers are spread across Tibet, Bhutan, Ladakh, Sikkim and other Himalayan pockets.
• Nyingma in Tibetan means “ancient” and has roots going back to the 8th century.
• The Nyingma sect is also known as the Red Hat sect because its Lamas wear red robes and hats.

Some Unique Aspects Nyingmapa Tradition:

• The practice of Dzogchen (Great Perfection). It the highest perfection in deity visualization.
  • It seeks to directly examine the fundamental mind without the aid of Visualization like statue and Thangkha.
• The tradition of Terma. Padmasambhava has hidden lots of scriptures in a different location for the future master to find and preach.

Teachings of the Nyingma Sect:

• Its teachings are mainly based on those of Padmasambhava, called Guru Rinpoche and Shantarakshita who were brought to Tibet through the rule of the Emperor Trisong Detsen from 742 to 797 CE.
• Buddhist teachings are classified into nine yanas with ‘Dzogchen’ being most important.
• Dzogchen (Great Perfection) philosophy revolves around pure awareness which can be achieved through meditation.
• This Vajrayana tradition involves use of ritual, symbols and tantric practices to achieve nirvana.
• Therefore, Nyingma stresses on teachings attributed to Padmasambhava, the Dzogchen doctrines as well as Tantric practices.
• The Nyingma School is also associated with Termas (hidden treasures).

Some major Monasteries of Nyingmapa Sect in Tibet

• There is the monastery of Nyingmapa in every corner of Tibet.
• The most important monastery in Tibet is Mindrolling monastery near Lhasa airport, Dorjee dark monastery, Rongbuk Monastery at Everest Basecamp and Samye Monastery.

Source: The Hindu

Need to rewrite history to free it from distortions, says Shah

Context

Speaking during the 400th birth anniversary of Lachit Barphukan, the famed Ahom general and an icon of Assamese nationalism, the Union Home Minister emphasised the importance of rewriting India's history to remove distortions. 

Lachit Barphukan:

• About:
  • Lachit Barphukan (1622 - 1672) was a commander and Borphukan (one of the 5 patra mantris (councillors) in the Ahom Kingdom), in the Ahom kingdom.
    • The Ahom kingdom was a late medieval kingdom in the Brahmaputra Valley in Assam.
    • It maintained its sovereignty for nearly 600 years having successfully resisted Mughal expansion in Northeast India.
  • He is well known for his leadership in the 1671 Battle of Saraighat, which ended a prolonged attempt by Mughal forces to take over the Ahom kingdom, earning him the title ‘Assam’s Shivaji’.
• Battles of Alaboi and Saraighat:
  • Background:
    • Between 1615 and 1682, the Mughal Empire made a series of attempts, under Jahangir and then Aurangzeb, to annex the Ahom kingdom.
    • Between 1667 and 1682, the Ahoms under a series of rulers, starting with Chakradhwaj Singha, (reigned 1663-70) launched a counter-offensive to reclaim lost territories. This included the battles Lachit is remembered for.
  • About the battles:
    • In 1669, Aurangzeb dispatched the Rajput Raja Ram Singh I to recapture territories won back by the Ahoms. As a result, the battle of Alaboi was fought in the Alaboi Hills near Dadara in North Guwahati.
    • Despite relying on guerrilla warfare, Borphukan lost the Battle of Alaboi, in which 10,000 Ahoms lost their lives.
    • Unlike in Alaboi, where he was forced to fight on land, Lachit in Saraighat drew the Mughals into a naval battle.
    • In 1671, he won a decisive (ended a prolonged attempt by Mughals to take over the kingdom) battle against the mighty Mughal army of Aurangzeb (led by Ram Singh I) with a relatively smaller army, which became known as the 'Battle of Saraighat.'

News Summary - Highlights of the event:

• The 400th birth anniversary of Lachit Barphukan unveils a new eposide of India’s history in which rulers in Assam defeated Muslim invaders in different ages and secured sovereignty of their motherland.
• From Maharaja Prithu of Assam who defeated Bakhtiar Khilji in 1206 to Lachit Barphukan who defeated Mughals in 1671, the stories of all the valorous heroes of Assam have been unveiled before the students of history to research and explore.
• According to the Home Minister, during the period when Lachit Barphukan raised his sword against the Mughals, Chatrapati Shivaji in the south of India, Guru Govind Singh in the north, and Veer Durgadas Rathore in Rajasthan waged the same struggle against the same enemy.
• Lachit Barphukan had not only protected the North East, but the entire South East Asia.
• To honour his contributions, the Lachit Barphukan award is still given to the top cadet at the National Defence Academy today.
• Home minister said that the government is continuously working towards reviving India’s glorious history by removing distortions.
• A nation that takes pride in its magnificent past and draws inspiration from its heroes may build a brighter future for itself and its citizens.

 Source: Indian Express

GS-II

Context: The Global Hunger Index (GHI) 2022 has brought more unwelcome news for India, as far as its global ranking on a vital indicator of human development is concerned. India ranked 107 out of 121 countries.

• The Government of India attempted to discredit the index immediately in its attempt to deny the findings of the report, even going so far as to term it a conspiracy against India.

About Malnutrition:

• It refers to deficiencies, excesses or imbalances in a person’s intake of energy and/or nutrients.
• It is a chronic problem and a longstanding challenge for the public administration of India.
• The term malnutrition addresses 3 broad groups of conditions:
• Undernutrition:
  • It includes wasting (low weight-for-height), stunting (low height-for-age) and underweight (low weight-for-age)
  • Together, the stunted and wasted children are considered to be underweight, indicating a lack of proper nutritional intake and inadequate care post-childbirth.
• Micronutrient-related malnutrition:
  • It includes micronutrient deficiencies (a lack of important vitamins and minerals) or micronutrient excess; and
• Overweight:
  • It includes obesity and diet-related noncommunicable diseases (such as heart disease, stroke, diabetes and some cancers).

About Global Hunger Index:

• The GHI is an important indicator of nutrition, particularly among children, as it looks at 4 factors:
  • Child stunting
  • Child wasting
  • Child mortality
  • Undernutrition (calorific deficiency) across the population.
• GHI is a tool for comprehensively measuring and tracking hunger at global, regional, and national levels.
• It is an annual by European NGOs of Concern Worldwide and Welthungerhilfe.

India’s performance in GHI 2022:

• India has a score of 29.1 which places it under ‘serious’ category.
• Among the South Asian countries, India (107) is ranked below Sri Lanka (64), Nepal (81), Bangladesh (84), and Pakistan (99). Afghanistan (109) is the only country in South Asia that performs worse than India on the index.

Issues with addressing the problem of malnutrition:

Manpower constraints:

• Over 50% Child Development Project Officer (CDPO) posts were vacant in Jharkhand, Assam, Uttar Pradesh, and Rajasthan, pointing to severe manpower constraints in successfully implementing the scheme of such importance.

No routine in social audits:

• Social audits that are meant to allow for community oversight of the quality of services provided in schools are not carried out routinely.

Inadequate funding & implementation:

• Gaps remain in how the already existing centrally-sponsored schemes are funded and implemented.
• The budgets being allocated are nowhere near the scale of the funds that are required to improve nutrition in the country.
• For example, the Saksham Anganwadi and Prime Minister’s Overarching Scheme for Holistic Nutrition (POSHAN) 2.0 scheme (which now includes the Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) scheme), which seeks to work with adolescent girls, pregnant women, nursing mothers and children below three.
• However, the budget for this scheme for FY2022-23 was less than 1% more than the actual spend in FY2020-21.

Issues with cash transfers:

• Cash transfers seem to be a favoured solution for several social sector interventions in India today, and this includes the health and nutrition sectors.
• But evidence of the impact of cash transfer on child nutrition in India is limited so far.
• The effect of cash transfers is also limited in a context where food prices are volatile and inflation depletes the value of cash.

Social Factors:

• Equally, there are social factors such as ‘son preference’, which sadly continues to be prevalent in India and can influence household-level decisions when responding to the nutrition needs of sons and daughters.

Other factors:

• Malnutrition persists due to depressed economic conditions in large parts of the country, the poor state of agriculture in India, persistent levels of unsafe sanitation practices, etc.

Measures Taken to Tackle Malnutrition:

• Poshan Abhiyan:
  • It is a multi-ministerial convergence mission with the vision to ensure the attainment of malnutrition free India by 2022.
  • The Ministry of Women and Child Development (MWCD) is implementing POSHAN Abhiyaan.
• Prime Minister’s Overarching Scheme for Holistic Nutrition (POSHAN) 2.0 scheme:
  • It now includes the Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) scheme, which seeks to work with adolescent girls, pregnant women, nursing mothers and children below three.
• Integrated Child Development Services:
  • It represents one of the world’s largest and unique programmes for early childhood care and development.
  • The beneficiaries under the Scheme are children in the age group of 0-6 years, pregnant women and lactating mothers.
  • The Ministry of Women and Child Development is the implementing agency.
• Mid-Day Meal Scheme:
  • The Mid-day Meal Scheme is a school meal programme in India designed to better the nutritional standing of school-age children
  • It covers all school students studying in Classes 1 to 8 of government schools, government-aided schools, special training centres, including madrasas supported under Samagra Shiksha Abhiyan.
• National Food Security Mission:
  • It was launched in 2007-08 by the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare as a Centrally Sponsored Scheme.
  • It focuses on the sustainable increase in the production of targeted crops through area expansion and productivity enhancement.
• National Nutrition Mission:
  • It is the government’s flagship programme to improve nutritional outcomes for children, pregnant women and lactating mothers.
  • To reduce stunting and wasting by 2 percent per year (total 6 per cent until 2022) among children and anaemia by 3 percent per year (total 9 per cent until 2022) among children, adolescent girls and pregnant women and lactating mothers.
  • The Ministry of Women and Child Development is the nodal ministry for implementation.

Suggestions Measures to Improve Malnutrition in India:

• Need of a comprehensive programme:
  • A comprehensive programme targeting adolescent girls is required if the intergenerational nature of malnutrition is to be tackled.
• Cash transfers:
  • Cash transfers can also be used to incentivise behavioural change in terms of seeking greater institutional support.
  • Food rations through PDS and special supplements for the target group of pregnant and lactating mothers, and infants and young children, are essential.
• Fixing the pre-existing schemes:
  • Fixing the pre-existing schemes is the obvious answer to addressing India’s multi-dimensional nutrition challenge.
  • Getting the already existing schemes right requires greater involvement of local government and local community groups in the design and delivery of tailored nutrition interventions.
• Keeping it a top priority:
  • The need of the hour is to make addressing child malnutrition the top priority of the government machinery, and all year around.

Source: The Hindu

Context:

• India’s transparency regime is in trouble as the very institution mandated to guard it (Central Information Commission or CIC) has become responsible for its downfall.
• It had passed orders seeking transparency in many cases of public importance.
• However, the present set of Information Commissioners have together adopted a new jurisprudence that has created additional hurdles in a citizen’s quest for accountability.

Central Information Commission:

• Established under the Right to Information (RTI) Act 2005, it is the apex body under India’s transparency regime.
• Its most vital mandate is to decide the disclosure or the non-disclosure of information.
• Citizens can file applications under the Right to Information Act with any public body and are guaranteed a reply from the public information officer of that public body within 30 days.
• Under the RTI Act, when an applicant is denied information by a government department, the first appeal is made to the appellate authority in the department. If unresolved, the RTI applicant can move the office of the Central Information Commission (CIC)—for queries related to central government—or State Information Commission.
• Information Commissioners (ICs) appointed to the CIC are equal in status to the Chief Election Commissioner, and that of a Supreme Court judge; having a a five-year fixed term and terms of service.
• In its current form, Section 8 of the RTI Act lists ten exemptions, ranging from any information that may hurt national security, impede the process of ongoing investigations to cabinet papers and deliberations of the council of ministers.

Challenges to RTI:

• Centre’s dominance: After the amendments of 2019, the Centre gave itself powers to change and decide these terms whenever it wished, thereby striking at the independence of the commission and those who man it.
• Lack of public welfare orientation: The CIC has become more like a walking dead institution, where records will show that not a single order for disclosure has been forthcoming in matters of public importance.
• Delay in hearings: Cases at the CIC come up for a hearing roughly after a two year wait. If the matter is not already infructuous or lost its significance, one can look forward to the commission deciding one’s case.
• In a case seeking disclosure of documents relating to the making of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Amendment Act, 2019, the commission has resorted to keeping the matter pending for final order for more than three months now, something which is unheard of.
• Lack of transparency: In matters of public importance, such as cases seeking disclosure of files related to the national lockdown during COVID-19, or the case seeking disclosure of data pertaining to phone tapping orders passed by the Home Ministry, the Commission has adopted a new way of delegating its mandate — to decide cases — to the Ministry before it.
• Vagueness: In most cases, the Ministries reiterate their stand of non-disclosure, most often under vague grounds of national interest.
• Lack of procedure: The CIC refuses to accept any further challenge to such orders, therefore, refusing to do its duty of deciding the cases.
• One of the cardinal rules of natural justice is that no one should be a judge in their own cause.
• However, the commission now allows, or rather wants, the very Ministry that stands accused of violating the RTI Act to act as the judge in their own cause and decide whether a disclosure is necessary.
• Such as, CIC refused to hear the Internet Freedom Foundation’s challenge to the fresh non-disclosure order passed by the Home Ministry in the phone tapping case.
• Ultra-virus actions: In another case related to disclosure of non-performing assets and top defaulters of a co-operative bank, the matter was listed out-of-turn to issue a “stay” order against the Bank’s First Appellate Authority’s order for disclosure. A stay order is unheard of and there is no provision in the RTI Act for the same.
• High number of vacancies: information commissions are purposely deprived of commissioners to scuttle the effective functioning of the RTI Act.

Suggestions for future:

• Simplicity: Unlike court cases, RTI matters do not involve complex legal arguments and are simple to adjudicate.
• Reduce pendency: In May 2014, close to 35,000 appeals were pending before the CIC.
• In June 2019, about 31,000 appeals were pending, over 9,000 of those pending for over a year.
• Fill vacancy: Currently, four out of the ten positions of information commissioners are vacant.
• Several information commissions in the states were either non-functional or working at a reduced capacity.
• Prune the exemption list: In an RTI ratings report by the Canada-based Centre for Law and Democracy, India’s rank slipped from second position in 2011 to eighth in 2018.
• It flagged blanket exemptions from the RTI to “security, intelligence, research and economic institutes” and “information held by private entities which perform a public function”.
• Protect whistle-blowers: In March 2018, Nanji Sondarva was allegedly clubbed to death in Gujarat’s Rajkot district after filing an RTI application seeking details of a newly constructed road in his village.
• 84 RTI activists have been murdered since 2005 for seeking information on illegal construction, alleged scams in social welfare scheme.
• CIC as a constitutional body: the RTI is safeguarding a fundamental right guaranteed under the Constitution.
• Article 19 (1)(a) of the Constitution guarantees freedom of speech and expression to citizens, but without the RTI, one cannot express oneself, including while making an electoral choice.
• the Supreme Court has also interpreted RTI as a fundamental right—in 1975 and 1982.
• Political parties under RTI: Political parties are reluctant to share information with citizens.
• The CIC classified political parties as a public authority since they benefit from land allotted by the government at cheap rates, free air time with state broadcasters during elections, and are allowed to claim income tax exemptions.

Way forward:

• Citizens must mount intense pressure on authorities to act and appoint commissioners of integrity.
• Lawyers must help willing citizens take matters to court and seek justice.
• If there is a failure to do so, India will lose its cherished right to know.

Source: Live Mint

GS- III

Context

India’s proposal for induction of fresh water turtle Batagur kachuga earned wide support at CoP 19 to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) being held at Panama City

About

• It is a freshwater turtle species, and found in deep flowing rivers with terrestrial nesting sites.
• Distribution:
• It is native to India, Bangladesh and Nepal. Historically, the species was widespread in the Ganga River, both in India and Bangladesh.
• It also occurs in the Brahmaputra basin. Currently in India, the National Chambal River Gharial Sanctuary is the only area with substantial population of the species.
• Conservation Status:
  • IUCN : Critically Endangered
  • IWPA : Schedule I
  • CITES : Appendix II
• Characteristics: In comparison to their female counterparts, the males are shorter and reach only half their length.
• Major Threats:
  • Loss or degradation of habitat due to pollution and large scale development activities like water extraction for human consumption and irrigation and irregular flow from the upstream dams and reservoirs.
  • Sand mining and growing of seasonal crops along Ganga River are majorly affecting the sandbars along the river that are used by the species for nesting.
  • Drowning by illegal fishing nets.
  • Poaching and illegal trade.

About CITES:

• CITES is an international agreement to which States and regional economic integration organizations adhere voluntarily.
• Although CITES is legally binding on the Parties – in other words they have to implement the Convention – it does not take the place of national laws.
• Rather it provides a framework to be respected by each Party, which has to adopt its own domestic legislation to ensure that CITES is implemented at the national level.

Source: Live Mint

Context

Indian Air Force is conducting the Annual Joint Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief (HADR) Exercise 'Samanvay 2022' from 28 November 2022 to 30 November 2022 at Air Force Station Agra.

About

• It aims to assess the efficacy of institutional Disaster Management structures and contingency measures and involves static and flying displays of various HADR assets and a 'Table Top Exercise'.
• Samanvay 2022 will promote a synergistic approach towards HADR by various national and regional stakeholders involved in Disaster Management including the Civil Administration, the Armed Forces, NDMA, NIDM, NDRF, DRDO, BRO, IMD, NRS and INCOIS.
• It is expected to contribute in the evolution of institutional frameworks for effective communication, interoperability, cooperation and their application for successful conduct of HADR.
• The exercise also aims to provide a unique platform for exchange of domain knowledge, experience and best practices with the participating ASEAN member countries.

Source: PIB

 The Tamil Nadu Government, issued a notification declaring Arittapatti and Meenakshipuram villages in Madurai district the first biodiversity heritage site in the State.

Biodiversity Heritage sites (BHS):

• “Biodiversity Heritage Sites” (BHS) are well defined areas that are unique, ecologically fragile ecosystems – terrestrial, coastal and inland waters and, marine  having rich biodiversity comprising components such as
• species richness, high endemism, presence of threatened species, keystone species or land races, or biological components having cultural or aesthetic values.
• As per Section 37 of the Biological Diversity Act, State Governments are empowered to notify such sites, in consultation with ‘local bodies’.
• State Government in consultation with the Central Government may frame rules for the management and conservation.
• Significance:
• protecting its rich and exclusive ecosystem
• conservation ethics in the community

About Arittapatti:

• Arittapatti BHS is 139.63 hectares in Arittapatti village (Melur block) and 53.8 hectares in Meenakshipuram village (Madurai East taluk).
• Arittapatti village, known for its ecological and historical significance, houses around 250 species of birds including three important raptors – birds of prey, namely the Laggar Falcon, the Shaheen Falcon and Bonelli’s Eagle.
• It is also home to wildlife such as the Indian Pangolin, Slender Loris and pythons
• The area is surrounded by a chain of seven hillocks or inselbergs that serve as a watershed, charging “72 lakes, 200 natural springs and three check dams
• The Anaikondan tank, built during the reign of Pandiyan kings in the 16th century is one among them.
• Several megalithic structures, rock-cut temples, Tamil Brahmi inscriptions and Jain beds add to the historical significance of the region.

Source: The Hindu