UPSC Daily Current Affairs- September 29, 2022 | Current Affairs & Hindu Analysis: Daily, Weekly & Monthly PDF Download

GS-I

Context 

• Recently, the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting has announced that the Dadasaheb Phalke Award for the year 2020 will be accorded to legendary actress Ms Asha Parekh. The award will be presented at the 68th National Film Award ceremony in New Delhi.
• Previous recipients of the awards were Rajnikant (2019) and Amitabh Bachhan (2018).

What do we Know about Dadasaheb Phalke Award?

About:

• The Dadasaheb Phalke Award is part of the National Film Awards, a highly coveted collection of honours in the film industry. The Award is named after Dhundiraj Govind Phalke, the pioneering filmmaker who gave India its first film– ‘Raja Harishchandra’, in 1913.
• The award is considered the highest honour in the Indian film fraternity. It is awarded for “its outstanding contribution to the growth and development of Indian cinema.

Overview:

• The award was instituted by the government in 1969, and consists of a ‘Swarna Kamal’, a cash prize of INR 10 lakh, a certificate, a silk roll, and a shawl.
• The award is presented by the President of India in the presence of the Union Minister of Information and Broadcasting, the Chairpersons of the juries, the representatives of the Film Federation of India, and the Confederation of All India Cine Employees among senior officials.
• The first recipient of the award was Devika Rani Roerich in 1969.

Who was Dhundiraj Govind ‘Dadasaheb’ Phalke?

• He was born in 1870 at Trimbak in Maharashtra. He studied engineering and sculpture and developed an interest in motion pictures after watching the 1906 silent film The Life of Christ.
• Before venturing into films, Phalke worked as a photographer, owned a printing press, and even worked with the famed painter Raja Ravi Varma.
• In 1913, Phalke wrote, produced, and directed India’s first feature film, the silent Raja Harishchandra. As a result of its commercial success, Phalke went on to make 95 more films and 26 short films in the next 19 years.
• He is known as “Father of Indian Cinema”.

Context

• Recently, Prime Minister paid tribute to India's charismatic revolutionary Bhagat Singh on his birth anniversary, and announced that the Chandigarh airport will be renamed after Bhagat Singh as a tribute to the great freedom fighter.

Who was Bhagat Singh?

Early Life:

• Born as Bhaganwala on the 26th September 1907, Bhagat Singh grew up in a petty-bourgeois family of Sandhu Jats settled in the Jullundur Doab district of Punjab.
• He belonged to a generation that was to intervene between two decisive phases of the Indian national movement - the phase of the 'Extremism' of Lal-Bal-Pal and the Gandhian phase of nonviolent mass action.

Role in Freedom Struggle:

• In 1923, Bhagat Singh joined the National College, Lahore which was founded and managed by Lala Lajpat Rai and Bhai Parmanand.
• The College was set up as an alternative to the institutions run by the Government, bringing to the field of education the idea of Swadeshi.
• In 1924 in Kanpur, he became a member of the Hindustan Republican Association, started by Sachindranath Sanyal a year earlier. The main organiser of the Association was Chandra Shekhar Azad and Bhagat Singh became very close to him.
• It was as a member of the HRA that Bhagat Singh began to take seriously the Philosophy of the Bomb.
• Revolutionary Bhagwati Charan Vohra wrote the famous article Philosophy of the Bomb. Including the philosophy of the bomb, he authored three important political documents; the other two were the Manifesto of Naujawan Sabha and the Manifesto of HSRA.
• Armed revolution was understood to be the only weapon with which to fight British imperialism.
• In 1925, Bhagat Singh returned to Lahore and within the next year he and his colleagues started a militant youth organisation called the Naujawan Bharat Sabha.
• In April 1926, Bhagat Singh established contact with Sohan Singh Josh and through him the 'Workers and Peasants Party' which brought out the monthly magazine Kirti in Punjabi.
• For the next year Bhagat Singh worked with Josh and joined the editorial board of Kirti.
• In 1927, he was first arrested on charges of association with the Kakori Case, accused for an article written under the pseudonym Vidrohi (Rebel).
• In 1928, Bhagat Singh changed the name of the Hindustan Republican Association to the Hindustan Socialist Republican Association (HSRA).
• In 1930, when Azad was shot, the HSRA collapsed.
• Naujawan Bharat Sabha replaced HSRA in Punjab.
• To take revenge for the death of Lala Lajpat Rai, Bhagat Singh and his associates plotted the assassination of James A. Scott, the Superintendent of Police. However, the revolutionaries mistakenly killed J.P. Saunders. The incident is famously known as Lahore Conspiracy case (1929).
• In 1928, Lala Lajpat Rai had led a procession to protest against the arrival of the Simon Commission. The police resorted to a brutal lathi charge, in which Lala Lajpat Rai was severely injured and later succumbed to his injuries.
• Bhagat Singh and B.K. Dutt threw a bomb on 8th April, 1929 in the Central Legislative Assembly, in protest against the passing of two repressive bills, the Public Safety Bill and the Trade Dispute Bill.
• The aim, as their leaflet explained, was not to kill but to make the deaf hear, and to remind the foreign government of its callous exploitation.
• Both Bhagat Singh and B.K. Dutt surrendered thereafter and faced trial so they could further promote their cause. They were awarded life imprisonment for this incident.
• However, Bhagat Singh was re-arrested for the murder of J.P. Saunders and bomb manufacturing in the Lahore Conspiracy case. He was found guilty in this case and was hanged on 23rd March, 1931 in Lahore along with Sukhdev and Rajguru.
• Every year, 23rd March is observed as Martyrs’ Day as a tribute to freedom fighters Bhagat Singh, Sukhdev, and Rajguru.

Publications:

• Why I Am an Atheist: An Autobiographical Discourse
• The Jail Notebook and Other Writings.

GS- II

Context

• Ministry of Home Affairs under Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) raided premises of the Popular Front of India (PFI), arrested over a hundred of its leaders and banned the outfit for a period of five years.

About PFI:

• PFI is an Indian Muslim political organisation that engages in a radical and exclusivist style of Muslim minority politics. It was formed to counter Hindutva groups.
• It was founded in 2006 with the merger of the Karnataka Forum for Dignity (KFD) and the National Development Front (NDF) – a controversial organisation established in Kerala a few years after the Babri mosque was demolished in 1992.
• It describes itself “as a non-governmental social organisation whose stated objective is to work for the poor and disadvantaged people in the country and to oppose oppression and exploitation”
• At present, the PFI, which has a strong presence in Kerala and Karnataka, is active in more than 20 Indian states and says its cadre strength is in the “hundreds of thousands”.

Activities:

• It advocates for Muslim reservations.
• In 2012, the organisation conducted protests against alleged use of the UAPA law to detain innocent citizens.
• PFI has often been in violent clashes with Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) in parts of Kerala and Karnataka – Activists have been found with lethal weapons, bombs, gunpowder, swords by the authorities.
• The organisation has various wings – National Women’s Front (NWF) and the Campus Front of India (CFI) which have also been banned.
• The Social Democratic Party of India (SDPI), founded in 2009, is a registered political party and active in electoral politics — it has a few hundred representatives in local bodies, mostly in Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu. It is regarded as the political wing of PFI.
• Even though the PFI and SDPI have separate leaderships, their cadres overlap and they share a political vision.

Criticisms:

• It represents a militant strand of political Islam that draws money, material, cadre by exploiting the resentment and fear among a section of the Muslim minority amid the rise of majoritarian agendas. That is a political challenge
• The PFI first stepped into the limelight in 2010 after an attack on a college professor in Kerala accusing him of asking derogatory questions about the Prophet Muhammad.
• Karnataka’s government has accused the PFI of instigating protests against “hijab” ban.
• More recently, members from the group were also linked to the beheading of a Hindu man in the western state of Rajasthan in June 2022.
• The impression has also gained ground among sections of the community that many mainstream secular parties are more interested in patronising the minority as a vote bank than standing up for their Constitutional guarantees.

Popularity:

• PFI leaders get a lot of media attention for speeches which some consider to be provocative.
• The group claims to have a large supporter-base, but SDPI hasn’t won any parliamentary seats.
• Its influence it has is mainly limited to Kerala and some other southern states

Causes of the ban:

• Investigating agencies claim to have unearthed unaccounted funds and linkages of PFI with global terrorist groups such as Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS), the Students Islamic Movement of India (Simi) and the Jamat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB).
• The role of PFI cadres in unleashing violence, including killings, to further their agenda is well-documented.
• The PFI and SDPI, the electoral arm of the PFI, have exploited distrust and disillusionment to push their ideological footprint.
• As per MHA notification, the PFI and its associates or affiliates or fronts operate openly as socio-economic, educational and political organisation but they have been pursuing a secret agenda to radicalise a particular section of the society working towards undermining the concept of democracy and show sheer disrespect towards the constitutional authority and constitutional set up of the country.

Way forward:

• Shutting down PFI’s funding network and arresting their leaders may help to counter the security challenge posed by the outfit.
• It will require mainstream parties to confront the increasing relegation of Muslims in public life, and call out rights abuses by state agencies — for instance, the often opaque and extended incarceration of Muslim youth under laws like the UAPA.
• But a ban may only force cadres underground. It cannot be — it should not be — the whole response to the gauntlet thrown down, in a diverse democracy, by an outfit like the PFI. What follows the ban, how the state goes about due process while implementing it, will frame the challenges that lie ahead.

Scope of UAPA:

• Power to prohibit the use of funds of an unlawful association
• Power to notify places used for the purpose of an unlawful association
• Penalty for being a member of an unlawful association
• Terrorist activities including forfeiture of proceeds of terrorism
• Power to punish for raising funds for a terrorist act, organising terrorist camps, harbouring, conspiracy, threatening witness, etc.
• Denotification of terrorist organisations
• Impounding of passport and arms license
• Cognizance of offenses
• Procedure to arrest, seizure, etc.

Context

The Election Commission is likely to take up the issue of internal democracy within parties.

What is the Need for Internal Party Democracy?

• Representation: The absence of intra-party democracy has contributed to political parties becoming closed autocratic structures. This adversely impacts the constitutional rights of all citizens to equal political opportunity to participate in politics and contest elections.
• Less Factionalism: A leader with strong grassroot connections would not be sidelined. This will allow less factionalism and division of parties. E.g., Sharad Pawar formed Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), Mamata Banerjee formed All India Trinamool Congress after leaving Indian National Congress (INC).
• Transparency: A transparent party structure with transparent processes will allow proper ticket distribution and candidate selection. The selection would not be based on the whims of a few powerful leaders in the party but will represent the choice of the larger party.
• Accountability: A democratic party will be accountable to its party members, for they will lose elections in the next cycle for their shortcomings.
• Decentralising Power: Every political party has State and local body units, an election at each level will allow creation of power centres at different levels. This will allow decentralisation of power and the decision making will take place at the ground level.
• Criminalization of Politics: As there is no well-defined process for the distribution of tickets to candidates before elections, tickets are given to candidates on the vague concept of winnability. This has led to an additional problem of candidates with criminal backgrounds contesting elections.

What are the Reasons for Lack of Intra-Party Democracy?

• Dynasty Politics: The lack of intra-party democracy has also contributed to the growing nepotism in political parties. With senior party leaders fielding their kins in elections, the succession plans for “family” constituencies are being put in place.
• Centralised Structure of Political Parties: The centralised mode of functioning of the political parties and the stringent anti-defection law of 1985 deters party legislators from voting in the national and state legislatures according to their individual preferences.
• Lack of Law: Currently, there is no express provision for internal democratic regulation of political parties in India and the only governing law is provided by Section 29A of the Representation of the Peoples’ Act, 1951 which provides for registration of political parties with the ECI. However, ECI does not have any statutory power to enforce internal democracy in parties or to mandate elections.
• Personality cult: There is a tendency of hero worship in people and many times a leader takes over the party and builds his own coterie, ending all forms of intra-party democracy.
• Easy to Subvert Internal Elections: The ability of existing repositories of power to subvert internal institutional processes to consolidate power and maintain the status quo is unquestionable.

What about the Direction of the Election Commission on Internal Democracy?

Representation of the People Act, 1951:

• The ECI has periodically used guidelines issued for registration of parties under Section 29A of the Representation of the People Act, 1951 to remind parties to conduct elections and to ensure that their leadership is renewed, changed or re-elected every five years.
• The EC’s guidelines for parties applying for registration under the Act state that the applicant should submit a copy of the party constitution.

Power of De-registration of Political Parties:

• The commission has asked the Law Ministry for the power to deregister political parties in the past, but the proposal has not been implemented so far.

No Permanent President for a Party:

• The Election Commission of India (ECI) has also recently rejected the idea of a ‘permanent president’ for a party.
• The ECI says such a step is inherently anti-democratic.

Way Forward

• There is a need for a new interpretation and some bold moves from the ECI re-interpreting the existing laws, like:
• Political parties should hold organizational elections regularly.
• The parties are required to inform the ECI about changes in their office bearers and addresses.
• They are required to submit a document of expenditure incurred during elections and in the non-election period.
• It shall be the duty of the political party to take appropriate steps to ensure the holding of elections at all levels. The political party shall hold elections of national and State levels in the presence of the observers to be nominated by the ECI.
• The ECI shall be competent to inquire into allegations of non-compliance with any of the provisions requiring elections. ECI should have the penal power to deregister a party until free and fair elections in the party are conducted.

GS-III

Context

•  Malthus’ idea has often been cited by modern environmentalists and others who believe that rising human population puts unsustainable pressure on earth’s resources.

About Malthusian trap:

• The Malthusian trap is a theory of population that says as the human population grows there is unsustainable pressure on earth’s resources, which in turn acts as a check on the further rise in population.
• It is named after English economist Thomas Malthus who elaborated on the concept in his 1798 book An Essay on the Principle of Population, which also inspired Charles Darwin.
• While rise in food production in a country can lead to improved living standards for the general population, the benefit is likely to be temporary. This is because, Malthus argued, increasing availability of food would encourage people to have more kids since they could afford to feed them now, thus leading to a rise in the total population and a drop in per capita income levels.
• The Malthusian trap was at the core of the Simon-Ehrlich wager in 1980. While Ehrlich, like Malthus, argued that there are natural limits to economic growth; Simon argued that private property rights and the price mechanism in a market economy offered tremendous incentives for people to use scarce resources carefully and to come up with innovations and living standards could rise along with increasing population levels.

How it works:

• In the pre-modern age, whenever there was a rise in food production, it caused per capita income to rise for a while as long as population levels remained stable.
• However, the population of the country rose quite quickly which ensured that per capita income decreased and returned to its historical trend.
• Whenever food production dropped on the other hand, there was famine which caused the death of a large number of people. The drop in human population continued until the country’s per capita income rose to subsistence levels.
• Either way, resource constraints kept a check on human population.

Significance:

• Malthusian trap provided an inverse relationship between human population and living standards i.e.; with rising population, living standards lower.
• The theory allows us to understand concepts of poverty and sustained economic growth.
• It can help in planning preventive measures such as late marriage, contraceptives, self-control, and simple living to balance the population growth and food supply.

Criticisms:

• The industrial revolution of 18th and 19th centuries broke the historical relationship between human population and living standards and refuted Malthus.
• The rising use of man-made technology made sure that human beings could produce more output for each unit of the earth’s resource that they exploited. In other words, human productivity rose massively as a result of the rise of technology.
• Human population levels and living standards have risen in tandem ever since the industrial revolution.
• Some argue that as human population rises, the chances of breakthrough innovations happening rise manifold as there would be more human minds working on solving humanity’s problems.

Context

• TATA Power Renewable Microgrid Ltd (TPRMG), a wholly owned subsidiary of TATA Power, has joined hands with Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI) to provide 1,000 green energy ventures throughout the country.

• 10,000 mini/microgrids in rural areas
• Use of Bio-methane generators powering TATA Power microgrids to meet rural electricity demands in UP and Bihar.
• SIDBI will provide the enterprises with a Go Responsive Enterprise Incentive.
• TATA Power manages one of the biggest microgrid systems in the world and works on the solar off-grid plant with energy storage to supply power in the remote parts of the country.

About:

• Microgrids are energy distribution systems that include a generator and storage system that can be controlled either on-grid or off-grid.
• A microgrid is a very important infrastructure that helps in providing clean, affordable, and reliable electricity in rural/remote areas where the main grid has limited or no reach.
• One of the most important aspects of microgrids is operation and maintenance. Chhattisgarh Renewable Energy Development Agency (CREDA) has a dedicated cell for Operation and Maintenance.
• Every village of the mini-grid has one operator. One cluster technician for every 15-20 villages has been provided by CREDA. The maintenance of the battery is the most important component for energy storage.
• The collection efficiency of the plant should meet the minimum requirements of financial sustainability.
• Capacity-building measures need to be undertaken for the technicians, villagers, and other stakeholders involved in the operation of microgrids.
• TPRMG technology has a one-meter box that can provide supply to around six customers with remote monitoring and controlling features in it with load limiting, time of day and safety features available with it.

Significance of microgrids:

• Non-polluting energy producers can be transformative for rural India, which largely depends on diesel generators to meet its electricity needs.
• They contribute towards reducing emissions in the rural areas and help in the creation of village-level entrepreneurs.
• TPRMG would supply rural areas with reliable, quality, affordable, clean energy, such as solar, wind and biogas.
• SIDBI would help organise finance options for developing businesses in the rural areas through its PRAYAAS scheme.
• This will also help in the development of the associated ecosystem.
• Cost Economy: The cost of energy generation using mini-grids is relatively high in India and TPRMG tackles the issue with innovative technologies such as Group Smart Meter for customers (patented technology of TPRMG).
• Since most customers don’t use the electricity supply for their own consumption; the microgrid is used for farming the neighbouring land too. This helps their income and the benefit reaches other farmers as well.
• TATA Power microgrids have so far proved beneficial to shops, healthcare facilities, flour mills, bulk milk chillers, RO cold water systems, schools, colleges and banks, among many others paving the way for sustainable energy in rural areas.
• TPRMG gave a good opportunity for families involved in reverse migration due to COVID-19 pandemic to pursue rural entrepreneurship through microfinancing measures and paved the way to a sustainable economy for all.

About Bio-methane generators:

• Biogas is produced when organic matter is broken down in an anaerobic environment. Bio-methane generators use the waste from sugar mills to generate electricity.
• Benefits: reduction in energy costs, eco-friendly use of waste, lower installation costs, lower greenhouse gas emissions, lower amounts of waste going to landfills and production of natural fertiliser.
• Economy: Biofuel-based generators are cheaper than diesel generators. However, the they are more expensive compared to the solar microgrid. This is due to the maintenance cost of the plant as well as the sourcing of raw materials for the plant.
• The only disadvantage of solar-based generation is that it can be tapped only during the daytime, which necessitates the requirement of the storage system.

PRAYAAS scheme of SIDBI:

• It is an app-based, end to end digital lending platform.
• Aim: To facilitate loans and low-cost capital to aspiring entrepreneur from the bottom of the pyramid and livelihood entrepreneurs, thereby improving their viability.
• It is being implemented in partnership model in different geographies and segments such as it has onboarded BigBasket to offer loans.
• As on 31 March 2020, it has assisted 14000 micro borrowers with an aggregate sanction of Rs. 161 cr.
• Women and rural beneficiaries constitute 74% and 88% respectively of total beneficiaries

Food Security

Context

• Food security is key in an age of uncertainties. Growing climate-related risks, geopolitical tensions, and macroeconomic shocks make imports costlier than ever before—in both tangible and intangible terms.

• Due to the growing world population, it is estimated that global food production will need to increase by 60 percent to feed over 9.5 billion people by 2050.
• India’s agriculture sector’s GDP stands at US$ 262 billion, demonstrating a low dependence on imports. Achieving self-reliance and sustainability in agriculture has led to a critical policy switch.

Food security:

• Food security is defined as a concept that considers both physical and economic access to food while also taking into consideration people’s dietary demands and preferences.
• Food security is defined as “ensuring that all people have access to sufficient, safe, and nutritious food at all times in order to live a healthy and active life.”

Food security is built on four pillars:

• Availability
• Access
• Utilisation
• Stability

The primary problem in achieving the goal of self-sufficiency in emerging nations is food stability and availability.

Challenges with Food Security:

• Climate-oriented risks: Prolonged heat waves and an increased frequency of extreme weather events such as floods, droughts and cyclones are also resulting in increased quantum damage-related expenses.
• Wastages and Losses: 5-7 percent of India’s food grain production is wasted due to procedural inefficiencies; this number is higher for fresh produce with an estimate of losses amounting to about 11 percent.
• Inadequate storage facilities: Inadequate and improper storage facilities for grains, which are often stored outside under tarps that provide little protection from humidity and pests.
• Lack of Awareness: Lack of education and training on new techniques, technologies and agricultural products. Traditional farming methods are slightly more time consuming and delay the production of food grains, etc.
• Deteriorating Soil Health: A key element of food production is healthy soil because nearly 95% of global food production depends on soil.

Reforms to ensure food security:

• Water-conserving irrigation:
  • The practice of flood irrigation is largely prevalent even today and it has a reinforcing impact on the depleting levels of groundwater, which, in turn, aggravate drought conditions.
  • Moving to micro-irrigation will optimise costs on water and electricity inputs for farmers in the long term, freeing up financial resources for investment in post-harvest technologies.
• Storage infrastructure:
  •  Cold storage infrastructure and supply chains are an example of foundational interventions that can propel food processing industries, whilst simultaneously enhancing the diversification of crops with farmers being able to lengthen the shelf life of fresh produce.
• Expanding access to finance: 
  • Global finance pledges and the architecture of financial flows be changed to allow an increased flow of funds to the Global South.
  • At a domestic stage, medium to long-term debt financing facilities for investment in viable projects for post-harvest management infrastructure and community farming assets, like the new Agriculture Infrastructure Fund(AIF) must be developed to accelerate change in this direction.
• Crop diversification:
  •  Food availability is a necessary condition for food security. India is more or less self-sufficient in cereals but has deficit in pulses and oilseeds.
  • Due to changes in consumption patterns, demand for fruits, vegetables, dairy, meat, poultry, and fishery products has been increasing.
  • There is a need to increase crop diversification and improve allied activities to produce such crops and produces in which we are deficient.
• Tackling climate change: 
  • Food security in India can be achieved by paying higher attention to issues such as climate change, limiting global warming, including the promotion of climate-smart agricultural production systems and land use policies at a scale to help adapt and mitigate ill effects of climate change.

Food Security Programs in India:

• Mega Food Parks: 
  • This scheme, launched by the government in 2008, provides financial assistance up to 50 crores to set up modern infrastructure facilities for food processing called Mega Food Parks.
• PM Kisan SAMPADA Yojana:
  • It is a comprehensive package aiming to create modern infrastructure with efficient supply chain management from farm gate to retail outlet.
  • The scheme boosts the growth of the food processing sector in the country and helps in providing better returns to farmers as well.
• Agriculture Infrastructure Fund: 
  • It is a Central Sector Scheme approved by the Union Cabinet in 2020.
  • It aims to provide a medium – long term debt financing facility for investment in viable projects for post-harvest management Infrastructure and community farming assets.
  • The duration of the Scheme shall be from FY2020 to FY2032.
• Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchayee Yojana:
  •  PMKSY is a Centrally Sponsored Scheme (Core Scheme) launched in 2015. Its objectives are:
  • Convergence of investments in irrigation at the field level,
  • To expand the cultivable area under assured irrigation (Har Khet ko Pani),
  • To improve on-farm water use efficiency to reduce wastage of water,
  • To enhance the adoption of precision-irrigation and other water saving technologies.

Way Forward:

• So, we need a thorough upgradation of storage facilities (especially in rural areas) that can minimise losses in power, water and post-harvest losses, by expanding access to finance for climate resilient technology adoption.
• We need to smoothen access points for private sector innovations that can share the burden of improving agricultural resilience and complement public sector actions.
• It is time we acknowledge the role of modern solutions in overcoming food insecurity, enhancing access to nutrition and ensuring long-term food sector sustainability.