UPSC Daily Current Affairs- 3rd October 2022 | Current Affairs & Hindu Analysis: Daily, Weekly & Monthly PDF Download

Context

Gandhi’s Birth Anniversary was celebrated on October 2.

About Mahatma Gandhi:

• Mahatma Gandhi was born on October 2, 1869 as Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi to the dewan (chief minister) of Porbandar and Putlibai.
• He was an Indian lawyer, politician, social activist, and writer who led the national movement against the British rule in India and South Africa.
• Rabindranath Tagore gave him the title “Mahatma” and Subash Chandra Bose gave him the title “Father of the Nation”.
• In 1893, Gandhi went to South Africa for legal work and remained there for 21 years, fighting for Indian rights and defending indentured labour in low courts against racial discrimination.
• He founded Ashram settlement at Phoenix and Tolstoy farm towards leading a simple community life.
• During the Boer war and the Zulu rebellion he helped the Government at the hour of its need, by raising Indian Ambulance and Stretcher-bearer Corps which served close to the line of fire. Gandhi was awarded Kaiser-i-hind for this service.
• He founded the Natal India congress 1894. The British Indian committee in the Transvaal fought against restriction on Indian trade, movement and residence. During the campaign against the ‘Black’ Registration Act, Gandhi lit a grand bonfire of thousands of the registration certificates.

Contribution to National Movement:

• Champaran Movement (1917) in Bihar under the strategy of civil disobedience was led by Gandhi to make Britishers agree to the demand of farmers, who were forcefully made to grow Indigo. He signed an agreement in which Britishers granted control and compensations to the farmers, cancelled the hikes in revenue and collection.
• Kheda Movement (1918) in Gujarat was led by Gandhi towards non-payment of taxes and involved social boycott of the revenue officials.
• Ahmedabad Mill Strike (1918) in Gujarat led by Gandhi against owners of mill on the issue of plague bonus and workers ended up getting a 35% wage increase.
• Khilafat Movement (1919): Gandhi had a major influence on the Muslim population and helped in uniting the country at the time of crisis, when Britishers tried their best to divide the nation on religious grounds. Gandhi participated actively in the movement, and became a prominent spokesperson for the All-India Muslim Conference
• Non-cooperation Movement (1920): He convinced people that non-cooperation was the key to Independence. He also set the goal of Swaraj or self-governance.
• Unity’ Fast (1924): Gandhi imposed on himself a 21-day fast to end Hindu-Muslim tension.
• Dandi March (1929) or Satyagraha campaign against the salt tax was led by Gandhi where he marched 388 kilometres from Ahmedabad to Dandi in Gujarat to make salt. This led the beginning of the civil disobedience movement that lasted till 1934.
• Quit India Movement (1942) was led by Gandhi in 1942 with the slogan of “Do or Die” against the British rule and India’s involvement in the World War II.

Gandhi as a Philosopher:

• Gandhi was an original and consistent thinker in the matter of peace building and also an astute peace builder. He, beyond the violent values of his time, struggled for nonviolence and dialogue among nations.
• Gandhi believed that in the absence of a concrete ethical foundation, the political could not function democratically and non-violently.
• He believed in the moral legitimacy of non-violence be a strategy of peace-making. While violence damages and undermines all forms of life, nonviolence uplifts all.
• He advocated an awareness of the essential unity and spiritual growth of humanity through critical self-examination and towards a ‘shared humanity’ and a pluralistic peace.
• Peace is the result of a long process of compassionate dialogue and tireless caring across cultural, religious, and political boundaries.
• In an age of increasing ‘globalisation of selfishness’, there is an urgent need to read and practise the Gandhian social and political philosophy in order re-evaluate the concept of peace.

Context

2nd October is the birth anniversary of Lal Bahadur Shastri. He served as the second Prime Minister of India.

Key Points

• He was born on 2nd October, 1904 in Mughalsarai, a small railway town seven miles from Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh.
• Participated in the freedom movement since 1930.
• He joined the Kashi VidyaPeeth in Varanasi, one of the many national institutions set up in defiance of the British rule.
• ‘Shastri’ was the bachelor’s degree awarded to him by the Vidya Peeth but has stuck in the minds of the people as part of his name.
• He was minister in the Union Cabinet from 1951 to 1956 when he resigned taking responsibility for the railway accident and later from 1957-1964.
• He was India’s second Prime Minister (1964-66).
• During Shastri’s brief Prime Ministership, the country faced two major challenges. While India was still recovering from the economic implications of the war with China (1962), failed monsoons, drought and serious food crisis presented a grave challenge. The country also faced a war with Pakistan in 1965.
• Shastri’s famous slogan ‘Jai Jawan Jai Kisan’, symbolised the country’s resolve to face both these challenges.
• Shastri’s Prime Ministership came to an abrupt end on 10th January 1966, when he suddenly expired in Tashkent, then in USSR and currently the capital of Uzbekistan.
• He was there to discuss and sign an agreement (Tashkent Agreement) with Muhammad Ayub Khan, the then President of Pakistan, to end the war.
• He signed an agreement with then Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) on persons of Indian origin there, in 1964 — an endorsement of the importance of neighbourhood.
• He was the first person to be posthumously awarded the Bharat Ratna (1966).

GS- II

National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA)

Context

NDMA celebrated its 18th Formation Day on September 28, 2022, in New Delhi.

• The theme for this year’s Foundation Day was “Volunteerism in Disaster Management."

About NDMA:

• NDMA is India’s apex statutory body for disaster management.
• NDMA was formally constituted on 27th September 2006, by the Disaster Management Act, 2005.
• The Prime Minister is its chairperson and it has nine other members. One of the nine members is designated as Vice-Chairperson.
• Disaster Management Act also envisaged the creation of State Disaster Management Authorities (SDMAs) headed by respective Chief Ministers and the District Disaster Management Authorities (DDMA) headed by the District Collectors/ District Magistrate and co-chaired by Chairpersons of the local bodies.
• The primary responsibility for the management of disaster rests with the State Government concerned. However, the National Policy on Disaster Management puts in place an enabling environment for all i.e., the Centre, state and district.
• Aim: to spearhead and implement a holistic and integrated approach to Disaster Management in India. To build a safer and disaster resilient India by a holistic, pro-active, technology driven and sustainable development strategy that involves all stakeholders and fosters a culture of prevention, preparedness and mitigation.

Functions & Responsibilities:

• Lay down policies on and guidelines for the functioning of Disaster Management.
• Approve the National Plan.
• Approve plans prepared by the Ministries or Departments of the Government of India in accordance with the National Plan.
• Lay down guidelines to be followed by the State Authorities in drawing up the State Plan.
• Lay down guidelines to be followed by the different Ministries or Departments of the Government of India for the Purpose of integrating the measures for prevention of disaster or the mitigation of its effects in their development plans and projects.
• Coordinate the enforcement and implementation of the policy and plans for disaster management.
• Recommend provision of funds for the purpose of mitigation.
• Provide such support to other countries affected by major disasters as may be determined by the Central Government.
• Take such other measures for the prevention of disaster, or the mitigation, or preparedness and capacity building for dealing with threatening disaster situations or disasters as it may consider necessary.

Volunteerism in Disaster Management:

• With regard to importance of initial response to a disaster, it is critical to train volunteers in certain basic skills in disaster management so that they are able to respond in an informed and prompt manner as well as assist the concerned agencies in rescue and relief operations.
• Apda Mitra Scheme:
  • The scheme was started by NDMA to train community volunteers in disaster response in selected flood-prone districts of India.
  • More than 5500 volunteers have been trained under the pilot scheme.
  • “Sewa, Samarpan & Paropkar” is the identity of Aapda Mitras.
  • Significance: In any disaster, however quick the government machinery may be, volunteers from the affected community are normally the first to act, external help takes time to reach the affected people, and this time lag is very crucial in saving lives and livelihood.
• National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) conducts community awareness programmes for the capacity building of community in disaster management.
• NDRF is also conducting School Safety Programme (SSP) and imparting basic training to school children as well as teachers to evacuate themselves during an earthquake.
• NDMA runs awareness generation campaigns through electronic and print media, including social media, on various disasters, from time to time. These campaigns include Do’s & Don’ts, Audio-Visual films, messages containing preparedness before, during and after disaster events.
• Example of Kerela Floods 2018: A team of 30 volunteers, comprising journalists, lawyers, fishermen and IT workers, managed several operations like supplying food, taking control of the Rescue Operation Centre of the district disaster management authority, handling distress calls and coordinating rescue effort with several choppers through personal contacts in Air Force and NDRF.

Recently, the US President hosted the first-ever U.S.- Pacific Island Country Summit in Washington, D.C, and announced USD 810 million in funding for Pacific Islands.

What were the Key Highlights of the Summit?

• Expand US Presence: The announced USD 600 million will be in the form of a 10-year package to clean up and develop dirty waters to support the tuna industry, which will also expand climate and development aid and its diplomatic presence.
• Countering China’s Aggressive Policy: China had made inroads in the strategic but sparsely populated region by asserting itself strongly in recent years in the pacific islands through investment, police training and, most controversially, a security pact with the Solomon Islands. Therefore, the US is re-engaging with the region that has been tied closely to it since World War II.
• Forging Alliances: The US administration recently formed Partners in the Blue Pacific with Australia, New Zealand, Japan and Britain and further said that Canada and Germany will join and that France, itself a South Pacific power, as well as the European Union, South Korea and India would participate as non-members.

What are Pacific Island Countries?

• About: 
  • The Pacific Island Countries are a cluster of 14 states which are located largely in the tropical zone of the Pacific Ocean between Asia, Australia and the Americas.
  • They include Cook Islands, Fiji, Kiribati, Republic of Marshall Islands, Federated States of Micronesia (FSM), Nauru, Niue, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu and Vanuatu.
• Significance:
  • Largest Exclusive Economic Zones (EEZs): The islands are divided on the basis of physical and human geography into three distinct parts — Micronesia, Melanesia and Polynesia.
  • Despite their small land area, the islands are spread out over a wide swath of the Pacific Ocean. Kiribati and FSM, have EEZs larger than that of India.
• Economic Potential:
  • Large EEZs have a great deal of economic potential since they can be used to exploit the wealth of fisheries, energy, minerals, and other marine resources present there.
  • Potential Vote Bank: The 14 PICs, bound together by shared economic and security concerns, account for as many votes in the United Nations, and act as a potential vote bank for major powers to mobilise international opinion.

GS-III

Context

Recently the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) signalled that it would not extend deadline for implementation for tokenization of card based payments and mandated the adoption of card-on-file (CoF) tokenisation as an alternative to card storage.  This rule is applicable to all stakeholders except card issuers and card networks.

What is Tokenization?

• Tokenisation is a process by which card details are replaced by a unique code or token, allowing online purchases to go through without exposing sensitive card details.
• Under tokenisation services, a unique alternate code is generated to facilitate transactions through cards.
• It is the process of substituting a 16 digit customer card number with a non-sensitive equivalent value, referred to as a token.
• This essentially means that a customer’s card information will no longer be available on any Merchant, Payment Gateway, or 3rd party that helps in the processing of digital transactions today.
• With card tokenisation, consumers no longer need to fear saving their card details.
• Cardholders will have to give an explicit consent that will be collected for tokenisation.

Who can offer tokenisation services?

• Tokenisation can be performed only by the authorised card network and recovery of original Primary Account Number (PAN) should be feasible for the authorised card network only.
• Adequate safeguards have to be put in place to ensure that PAN cannot be found out from the token and vice versa, by anyone except the card network. RBI has emphasised that the integrity of the token generation process has to be ensured at all times.

What is the size of the industry?

• As per the RBI’s annual report for 2021-22, during 2021-22, payment transactions carried out through credit cards increased by 27 per cent to 223.99 crore in volume terms and 54.3 per cent to 9.72 lakh in value terms.

Why RBI wants cards to be tokenized?

• Customer’s card details are stored by merchants, and if their security measures are inadequate, this puts all the customers at risk. There have been several instances in the past where merchant websites have been hacked and debit and credit card details have been leaked. This is what the RBI wants to eliminate.
• By mandating card tokenization, the burden of security is now on payment processors and banks, not merchants.
• Thus, a tokenised card transaction is considered safer as the actual card details are not shared with the merchant during transaction processing.
• Tokenization ensures standardization for card on file transactions through higher security standards which is irreversible as compared to existing reversible cryptographic standards.

How does this card tokenisation work?

• At check-out time on an online shopping portal, one has to enter card details and opt for tokenisation. The merchant forwards it to the respective bank or the card networks (VISA, Rupay, Mastercard, etc). A token is generated and sent back to the merchant, which then saves it for the customer.
• Now, the next time the customer comes back to shop, she has to just select this saved token at check-out time. The same masked card details and last four digits of customer’s card number will be visible. Customer needs to enter your CVV and complete the transaction.
• The customer, does not need to remember the token. The end-customer experience is not changing while making the payment.
• The implementation of the tokenisation request is carried out through the Additional Factor of Authentication (AFA) by the cardholder.
• This algorithmically generated token protects sensitive information and prevents card frauds as it allows you to make payments without exposing your bank details.

Benefits of tokenization in a nutshell:

Largely designed to counter online frauds and curb digital payment breaches, tokenization comes with a slew of benefits. Some of them are:

• Enhanced safety and security: Tokens generated will be unique to a single card at a specific merchant and this will take up the overall security of making card-based transactions. It eliminates the risk of storing card details online and ensures the uncompromised convenience of storing customer’s token details on the merchant site.
• Quicker checkouts: Tokenized Mastercard will allow the convenience of quick checkouts as one doesn’t need to punch in the card number for each purchase.
• No more ‘False Declines’: Many times, legitimate online payments using valid cards are declined on the grounds of the transaction looking like a fraud. With tokenization, this becomes a thing of the past as the usage of tokens for payments confirms security of the highest order.
• Easy card management: With tokenization, one can also keep track of all your cards and the merchants they have been tokenized with.
• No need for a physical card: With tokenization, one can store a virtual version of one’s card on a smartphone for the days one forgets to carry your wallet.
• Added benefits: Tokenization also comes with cashback benefits when secured with platforms like Amazon, Paytm, Swiggy, Flipkart and Phonepay among others.

Context

Ecologists and environmental economists scorn how superficially countries maintain their financial and national accounts.

• Amounts spent on building human skills, providing education, nutrition, and safeguarding health, land, air, and water quality or forests are classified as consumption expenditure in the national accounts, except for the associated construction and equipment purchased.

What is Green Accounting?

• Green accounting is a type of accounting that attempts to factor environmental costs into the financial results of operations.
• It has been argued that gross domestic product ignores the environment and therefore policymakers need a revised model that incorporates green accounting.
• The major purpose of green accounting is to help businesses understand and manage the potential quid pro quo between traditional economic goals and environmental goals.
• Sustainability checks on the output generated:
  • National accounts measure output by assessing income generation.
  • Environmental economic accounts measure output as the change in natural capital (as distinct from physical capital- buildings, roads, machinery- all of which degrade natural capital).
  • The flaw in the national accounts’ approach of focusing on the output generated from capital is that it does not have a “sustainability” check.
  • Environmental economists instead deduct the value of natural capital degraded in the process of generating income from the annual output, to assess whether economic growth is negative or positive.
  • Negative growth is unsustainable because it borrows from the future to enjoy income today—a Ponzi scheme that cannot be played endlessly—akin to a country accumulating debt without building the capacity to repay it.
• The flawed logic of substitutability and an infinite supply of natural resources:
  • The logic of not accounting for the stock of natural resources in the United Nations Statistical Commissions’ (UNSC) approved system of national accounts, followed worldwide, is simply that natural resources were, till very recently, presumed to be inexhaustible and in specific cases even substitutable.
  • For instance, Wood can be replaced by limestone-based cement and iron for building houses. Coal is replaceable with petroleum oil, natural gas, biofuels, or newer forms of renewable energy for our energy services.
  • Ecologists and environmental economists reject the assumption of infinite substitutability of natural resources as based on less than adequate knowledge of how nature works.
  • They view the stock of natural resources as the outcome of innumerable complementary processes between specific resources, linking them together organically.
  • Extracting a part of the whole, could disturb the equilibrium and send a stable ecosystem over the “tipping point”—a phrase the world is now familiar with since the impact of cumulative carbon emissions on global warming and climate has become the subject of close scientific scrutiny.

System of Environmental-Economic Accounts (SEEA):

• Recognising the need to make economic accounting environment-sensitive, the UNSC formulated the System of Environmental-Economic Accounts (SEEA) in 2012.
• The SEEA (central framework) applies the accounting concepts, structures, rules, and principles of the System of National Accounts (SNA) to environmental information.
• It allows for the integration of environmental information (often measured in physical terms) with economic information (often measured in monetary terms) in a single framework.

India – A graduated approach to green accounting:

• In India, the Central Statistical Organisation (CSO) leads in embedding environmental economic valuations into natural capital stocks and services.
• Following the 1992 Earth Summit, CSO produced a Framework for the Development of Environmental Statistics (FDES).
• A Compendium of Environmental Statistics was released in 1997 and updated periodically.
• The Ministry of Statistics and Plan Implementation commissioned a set of studies between 2000 to 2006 assessing and valuing land, forests, air, water, and subsoil resources.
• An expert group chaired by Dr. Patho Dasgupta released a report “Green National Accounts in India” in 2013, which proposed a framework, aligned with the SEEA framework.
• The CSO released physical accounts for four resources—land, water, minor minerals, and forests in 2018.
• EnviStats India 2019 added a quality index for two resources—soil and water and valued two services—cropland ecosystem services and natural resource-based tourism services.
• The task of making government financial accounting systems compatible with environmental economic accounting is being led by the Government Accounting Standards Advisory Board (GASAB) under the Comptroller and Auditor General, which published a Concept Paper on “Natural Resource Accounting in India” in June 2020.
• There has been significant activity, since the 1990s, around natural resource accounting. However, India is nowhere near integrating environmental accounts into national accounts.

Way Forward: Miles to go

• A 2020 UNSC global survey of implementation of environmental-economic accounting found that 89 countries had compiled at least one account in the last five years—up from just 54 in 2014—whilst 62 countries are doing so regularly.
• One way of checking governments’ commitment to a program is to assess the resources being made available for it.
• In 2020, on average, governments had allocated only 3.7 full-time staff for environmental-economic accounting.
• Developed countries had allocated, on average, five full-time staff, illustrating marginal but consistent commitment to green accounting.
• Nevertheless, environmental economic accounting at the ecosystem level (SEEA EA) is already crucial for sector decision-making – best illustrated by the case of carbon emissions.
• Achieving the 2030 global target of reducing carbon emissions to 45 percent below the 2010 level is one way to make governol. After all, only that which gets measured gets done. The private sector, and citizens believe that environmental economic accounting is a useful tool. After all, only that which gets measured gets done.

GS- IV

Context

Gandhi’s unwavering faith in high principles both in life and death were shaped by his love for the Bhagwat Gita and is a perfect example for all of us to follow.

Who was Mahatma Gandhi?

• Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (2nd October 1869 – 30th January 1948), also remembered as ‘Father of the Nation’, was the leader of India’s independence movement against British rule.
• He was conferred with the title of Mahatma (great-soul) Gandhi.
• His life was dedicated to many other noble causes like poverty alleviation, women’s rights, and eradication of the practice of untouchability, among others.
• He was the pioneer of the nonviolence philosophy that has inspired civil rights leaders across the world.
• His birthday, 2nd October, is celebrated as Gandhi Jayanti in India and conferred as the International Day of Non-Violence.

What is the Importance of Bhagwat Gita in Gandhi’s Life?

• A Gospel of Selfless Action:
  • According to Gandhi, Gita teaches us the only desire that is worth pursuing is to realize that we are the soul (or self), aspire to become like Him (God) (i.e., possess his supreme qualities), and to attain eternal bliss instead of being obsessed with material pursuits such as fame, money, and relationships.
  • This is the process of self-realization, which entails understanding that we are the soul (not the body and mind) and are caught in the endless cycle of life and death due to our karma.
  • Karma simply means that any thought, speech, or action undertaken upon others will have a corresponding result in our lives.
• Role of Action:
  • The Gita acknowledges that for the world to continue running, action (whether mental or physical) needs to be taken.
  • The Gita says, “Do your allotted work but renounce its fruits- be detached and work- have no desire for reward and work."
  • Renunciation of the fruits of one’s actions is the central message in the Gita.
  • Renunciation does not mean indifference to results but a renouncer is the one who performs his duty with cheerfulness and thoroughness and remains desireless of the fruit of the action.
• Ahimsa and Truth:
  • Gandhi believed that when one enforces the Gita’s central teaching in life, one is bound to follow Ahimsa and Truth.
  • Nonviolence or Ahimsa as per Gandhi Ji is described as the state to do no harm in thoughts, words and actions to all living beings.
  • It is not just refraining from undertaking violent action but also a whole way of life.
  • Since it extends to all living organisms, it encompasses consuming vegetarian food, a sustainable lifestyle, and the protection of the environment.
  • Because when there is no desire for fruit, there is no temptation for untruth or himsa (violence).
  • The cause of any untruth or ahimsa will be rooted in the fulfillment of attaining a desire fuelled by ego. For instance, sins like murder, theft, etc cannot be performed without attachment.
• Serving God through the Service of Mankind:
  • A further message in the Gita is that mankind should serve God by serving one another and Gandhi adhered to this message unwaveringly.
  • To this, he elucidated how the soul’s natural progress is towards selflessness and purity.
  • This is why he was able to effortlessly dedicate his whole life to the freedom and betterment of the lives of the people of India.
  • He believed that what we think of in the last moments will become who we are and by doing so one will acquire the qualities and nature of this God (or revered Gurus) in the next birth.
  • But for this to happen in the dying moment, one has to live a life free of attachment and aversion and have a heart that is ready to love and forgive all. Once we have mastered these skills, the peace we get should be channeled into spiritual practices.