UPSC Daily Current Affairs- 3rd February 2024 | Current Affairs & Hindu Analysis: Daily, Weekly & Monthly PDF Download

GS-I

Will Europe ever return ‘Looted’ Asian Artifacts?

Subject: Art and Culture

Why in News?

European museums have faced increasing pressure to return cultural artifacts to their countries of origin.

• The restitution of these artifacts carries significant implications for diplomacy and international relations.

France’s Pledge and Precedent

• France’s Commitment: President Emmanuel Macron pledged support during the visit of Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet to return Khmer artifacts and expand the National Museum of Cambodia.
• First European Leader: Macron became the first European leader to address demands for the return of looted antiquities in 2017, emphasizing France’s commitment to restoring cultural heritage.

Cases of Repatriation

• Musee Guimet’s Return: France’s National Museum of Asian art, Musee Guimet, agreed to return a seventh-century Khmer statue to Cambodia, taken during the colonial era.
• Global Initiatives: Germany and France allocated funds for reviewing African heritage objects, possibly signaling similar efforts for Asian artifacts.
• The Met’s Decision: The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York pledged to return sculptures to Cambodia and Thailand, setting a precedent for other institutions.

Legal Basis and Challenges

• UNESCO Convention: 1970 UNESCO Convention on the Means of Prohibiting and Preventing the Illicit Import, Export and Transfer of Ownership of Cultural Property
• Non-binding: It is a key legal framework for repatriation, but it doesn’t apply retrospectively to colonial-era looting.
• National Legislation: Some countries, like Austria, are proposing national laws for returning objects acquired during colonialism.

Reasons for repatriation

• Soft Power Benefits: Repatriation can enhance a nation’s soft power, showcasing a commitment to international law, reconciliation, and better relations with affected countries.
• Rebranding Opportunity: Returning artifacts is seen as an opportunity for Western governments to rebrand and mend historical wrongs, especially in regions like Southeast Asia.
• EU’s Role: The European Parliament discusses the need for recognizing and addressing colonial legacies and restitution, potentially creating a permanent EU body on restorative justice.
• Cooperation is Key: To gain recognition similar to the United States, European museums need to cooperate openly with the governments of the regions from which the artifacts originated.

Conclusion

• The return of cultural artifacts taken during colonialism is not only a legal and ethical issue but also a diplomatic endeavor.
• European museums that engage in proactive repatriation efforts can build goodwill, foster cooperation, and enhance their soft power on the global stage.

Source: Indian Express

GS-II

What is Inclusive Education for Disabled at Secondary Stage (IEDSS) scheme?

Subject: Polity and Governance

Why in News?

The Karnataka government recently suspended five officers for dereliction of duty in the implementation of the Inclusive Education for Disabled at Secondary Stage (IEDSS) scheme.

About Inclusive Education for Disabled at Secondary Stage (IEDSS) scheme:

• IEDSS has been launched from the year 2009-10. This Scheme replaces the earlier scheme of Integrated Education for Disabled Children (IEDC). 
• The aim of this scheme is to enable all students with disabilities to pursue four years of secondary education in an inclusive and enabling environment, after completing eight years of elementary schooling.
• It provides assistance for the inclusive education of disabled children in classes IX-XII.
• The scheme covers all children studying at the secondary stage in Government, local body and Government-aided schools, with one or more disabilities as defined under the Persons with Disabilities Act (1995) and the National Trust Act (1999) in the class IX to XII, namely blindness, low vision, leprosy cured, hearing impairment, locomotory disabilities, mental retardation, mental illness, autism, and cerebral palsy, and may eventually cover speech impairment, learning disabilities, etc.
• Girls with the disabilities receive special focus to help them gain access to secondary schools, as also to information and guidance for developing their potential. 
• Setting up of Model inclusive schools in every State is envisaged under the scheme.
• Components:
  • Student-oriented components, such as medical and educational assessment, books and stationery, uniforms, transport allowance, reader allowance, stipend for girls, support services, assistive devices, boarding the lodging facility, therapeutic services, teaching learning materials, etc.
  • Other components include appointment of special education teachers, allowances for general teachers for teaching such children, teacher training, orientation of school administrators, establishment of resource room, providing barrier free environment, etc.
• Implementing Agency:
  • The School Education Department of the State Governments/Union Territory (UT) Administrations are the implementing agencies.
  • They may involve NGOs having experience in the field of education of the disabled in the implementation of the scheme.
• Financial Assistance:
  • Central assistance for all items covered in the scheme is on 100 percent basis.
  • The State governments are only required to make provisions for scholarship of Rs. 600/- per disabled child per annum.
• This scheme now subsumed under Rashtriya Madhyamik Shiksha Abhiyan (RMSA) from 2013.

Source: The Hindu

Uttarakhand readies Final UCC draft

Subject: Polity and Governance

Why in News?

Uttarakhand is taking important steps to implement a Uniform Civil Code (UCC).

• The state has received the final report from a committee, which is a significant move towards fulfilling its commitment to equality and justice.

Uttarakhand UCC

• Expert Committee: Uttarakhand appointed a committee, led by retired Justice Ranjana Prakash Desai, to draft the UCC.
• In the State Assembly: The UCC report will be presented in the State Assembly on February 5 for discussion. It will go through a detailed review before becoming law.

Key Recommendations

• Gender Equality: The final UCC draft focuses on achieving gender equality and removing unfairness in various areas, including property rights and adoption rules.
• Language Choice: Notably, the UCC draft is around 750 pages long, entirely written in Hindi, without any Urdu or other languages.
• Protection of Tribal Community: The report suggests that the tribal community should not be included in the UCC. Their specific needs and concerns will be addressed separately.

Ensuring Equal Rights

• Ban on Regressive Practices: The UCC draft recommends strong punishments for practices like triple talaq, iddat, and halala, which relate to marriage and divorce in Muslim personal law. It also proposes banning polygamy and polyandry.
• Legalizing Live-In Relationships: The draft suggests making live-in relationships legal, with mandatory registration for such couples.
• Equal Inheritance Rights: Women are granted the same rights as men when it comes to inheritance under the proposed UCC.
• Minimum Marriage Age: The UCC draft suggests setting the minimum age for women’s marriage at 21 years.

Conclusion

• Uttarakhand’s efforts to establish a Uniform Civil Code demonstrate its commitment to ensuring equal rights and justice for all.
• The careful drafting process, inclusive approach, and strong recommendations underscore the state’s determination to promote gender equality and eliminate regressive practices.

Source: Times of India

GS-III

Indian Renewable Energy Development Agency Limited (IREDA)

Subject: Environment 

Why in News?

IREDA in partnership with its knowledge partner Boston Consulting Group (BCG) recently convened a Strategic Meeting focusing on key aspects of business expansion and initiatives aimed at cost reduction in fund utilization.

About Indian Renewable Energy Development Agency Limited (IREDA):

• It is a Mini Ratna (Category–I) non-banking financial institution under the administrative control of the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE).
• It is a Public Limited Government Company established as a Non-Banking Financial Institution (NBFC) in 1987.
• IREDA has been notified as a “Public Financial Institution” under Section 4 ‘A’ of the Companies Act, 1956, and registered as  NBFC with the Reserve Bank of India (RBI).
• IREDA is primarily engaged in promoting, developing and extending financial assistance for setting up projects relating to new and renewable sources of energy and energy efficiency/conservation.
• IREDA is the single largest "Green Financier" in the country. It caters to all technologies in the renewable energy sector and predominantly provides financing for the sector.
• Motto: ENERGY FOR EVER
• Objectives:
  • To give financial support to specific projects and schemes for generating electricity and/ or energy through new and renewable sources and conserving energy through energy efficiency.
  • To maintain its position as a leading organization to provide efficient and effective financing in renewable energy and energy efficiency/ conservation projects.
  • To increase IREDA`s share in the renewable energy sector by way of innovative financing.
  • Improvement in the efficiency of services provided to customers through continual improvement of systems, processes, and resources.
  • To strive to be a competitive institution through customer satisfaction.
• Funding: IREDA generates its revenue through the interest and principal repayments from the projects it finances, as well as by raising funds from the market and through borrowings.

Source: PIB

Millipedes

Subject: Environment and Ecology

Why in News?

Researchers recently discovered a new genus and five new species of millipedes in remote African jungles.

About Millipedes:

• They are any member of the arthropod class Diplopoda. (Arthropods are animals with hard exoskeletons and jointed limbs.)
• They are cylindrical or slightly flattened invertebrates. 
• The word “millipede” translates to “a thousand feet”—but while millipedes have many feet, none of them quite have a thousand.
• They're not insects. They are actually more closely related to lobsters, crayfish, and shrimp.
• There are approximately 12,000 species distributed worldwide.
• Habitat: They are typically found in areas of high moisture and decaying vegetation, such as under trash, in piles of grass and leaves, etc.
• Features:
  • They are usually blackish or brownish in color, but some are also red, orange, or have mottled patterns. 
  • Their bodies are split into a number of segments, and each segment has two sets of legs that attach to the body's underside, except for the first (head) segment, which is legless, and the next three segments, which each contain one pair of legs.
  • In addition, each segment contains two pairs of internal organs (i.e., two pairs of ganglia and two pairs of heart arteries). 
  • The length ranges from 2 to 280 mm (0.08 to 11 inches). 
  • They are not poisonous, but many species have glands capable of producing irritating fluids that may cause allergic reactions in some individuals.
  • Most millipedes are nocturnal and are primarily scavengers, feeding on decaying plants and occasionally dead insects. , although some species attack the roots of living plants.

Millipedes vs Centipedes:

• Both centipedes and millipedes are made up of segments that link together to form one long body.
• Millipedes have two sets of legs per segment, positioned directly under their body.
• Centipedes have one set of legs per segment, positioned on the side of their body.
• Centipedes mostly eat insects after killing them with their venom. Millipedes feast on decomposing plants.
• They respond to threats in different ways. A millipede will coil up and release a smelly secretion. Centipedes can bite, (which is typically harmless to humans) and run away quickly.

Source: NewsWeek

Cygnus X-1

Subject: Science and Technology

Why in News?

Astro Sat, India’s first, dedicated multi-wavelength astronomy mission, accomplished the difficult task of measuring the X-ray polarisation of the Cygnus X-1 black hole system. 

About Cygnus X-1:

• It was discovered over four decades ago.
• It is one of the first confirmed black hole systems in our galaxy.
• The black hole in Cygnus X-1 is 20 times heavier than the Sun, and has a companion - a heavy supergiant star (40 times more massive than the Sun) in a binary system.
• It is located at a distance that is about 400 times more than the distance between Earth and Sun.
• Due to the gravitational pull of the black hole, material from the supergiant falls and spirals in towards the black hole.
• This process leads to the formation of a thin accretion disk which is responsible for soft X-rays.

Significance of X-ray Polarisation

• Normal X-ray measurements only reveal the energy or intensity of the radiations.
• Polarisation characteristics of X-rays, which tells about the orientation of the oscillating electric field, holds clues on the geometry and other properties of the black hole.
• This measurement of high polarization in this source in the 100-380 keV implies that radiation emitted from the source at energies above 100 keV, is likely to have originated at the black hole jet.
• Polarization is one of the properties that a photon carries from the celestial objects in the sky.

Source: Indian Express

Can India become a $7 Trillion Economy by 2030?

Subject: Indian Economy

Why in News?

The Indian government’s recent review of the economy has set an ambitious target of achieving a $7 trillion economy by 2030.

• This article analyzes the feasibility of this goal and explores the factors that contribute to India’s economic outlook.

$7 Trillion Economy: Key Findings

• Robust Growth: The review expects India to sustain a growth rate of 7% or higher in the fiscal years 2023-24 and beyond.
• Economic Strengths: The government highlights significant strengths, including substantial infrastructure investments, a healthy financial sector, strong household finances, comfortable forex reserves, controlled inflation, and a decreasing fiscal deficit.
• $7 Trillion Vision: Based on these factors, the review envisions India reaching a $7 trillion economy by 2030.

India’s Economic Journey

• Historic Growth: India took 60 years to reach a $1 trillion economy (2007-08), achieved $2 trillion in just seven years (2014-15), and surpassed $3 trillion by 2021-22.
• Current Status: India is now the world’s fifth-largest economy, with a GDP estimated to reach $3.7 trillion by the end of 2023-24.

Obstacles to Rapid Growth

• Slower Growth Phase: After a period of rapid growth, India’s economy began to decelerate post-2014, exacerbated by events such as demonetization in 2016 and the pandemic-induced contraction.
• Ambitious Targets: India had set ambitious targets of becoming a $5 trillion economy by 2024-25 and a $10 trillion economy by 2029-30, but achieving them will require overcoming challenges.
• Growth Rate Hurdle: To reach a $7 trillion economy by 2030, India must achieve a compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) of 11.9% from 2023-24 to 2029-30, compared to the expected CAGR of 6.7% from 2013-14 to 2023-24.

Challenges Ahead

• Global Economic Trends: Developed economies are facing declining growth due to inflation and environmental concerns, which could affect India’s export prospects.
• Protectionism: Increasing protectionism in the global trade landscape poses challenges for India’s export-oriented growth.
• Geo-Political Uncertainties: Geo-political tensions can fuel inflation and hinder economic growth, presenting additional hurdles.

Conclusion

• While India’s economic potential remains substantial, achieving a $7 trillion economy by 2030 is a formidable challenge.
• The nation must navigate global economic shifts, tackle protectionist policies, and address geo-political uncertainties to realize this ambitious vision.
• Success will require sustained efforts and innovative strategies to drive economic growth and resilience.

Source: First Post