UPSC Daily Current Affairs- 6th December 2022 | Current Affairs & Hindu Analysis: Daily, Weekly & Monthly PDF Download

GS-I

Context

Prime Minister of India pays tributes to Rajendra Prasad on his birth anniversary on 3rd December 2022. 

About Dr. Rajendra Prasad:

Personal Life:

• Birth: He was born on 3rd December 1884 in the Siwan district of Bihar.
• Education: He joined the famed Calcutta Presidency College in 1902. After completing his Master’s degree in Economics from the University of Calcutta in 1907, he went on to study law at the Calcutta Law College and practised at the Calcutta High Court.
• He completed his Doctorate in Law from Allahabad University in 1937.
• In the early 1920s, he became the editor of a Hindi weekly Desh and an English biweekly, Searchlight.

Indian National Movement:

• Prasad attended the 1906 Calcutta session of Indian National Congress.
• He joined the party in 1911 and later elected to the All India Congress Committee after which he met Mahatma Gandhi.
• He was highly impressed by Mahatma Gandhi and he supported Gandhi during the Satyagraha Movement against Indigo Planters in Champaran, Bihar.
• He later quit his lucrative career as a lawyer in 1920 and jumped into Freedom Struggle Movement and participated in the Non-Cooperation Movement.
• He led the Non-Cooperation Movement in Bihar holding meetings, touring state and making speeches. He urged people to boycott government schools, colleges, jobs.
• He started the National College in Patna in 1921 to promote Swadeshi asking people to boycott foreign goods.
• He set up the Quetta Central Relief Committee in Sindh and Punjab under his own presidency after 1935 Quetta Earthquake.
• Prasad was elected as the President of the Bombay Session of the Indian National Congress in October 1934.
• He was also elected as the President for second time in 1939 after Subhash Chandra Bose resigned from his post and third time President of INC in 1947 when J.B.Kripalani resigned from his post.
• Prasad was arrested several times during the national struggle and imprisoned by British authorities during the Salt Satyagraha of 1931 and the Quit India Movement of 1942.

Contribution to Constitution Making:

• In 1946, Rajendra Prasad joined the Interim Government of India as the Minister of Food and Agriculture.
• As a firm believer in the maximization of agricultural production, he crafted the slogan “Grow More Food.”
• He was elected as a member of the Constituent Assembly from the Bihar Province where he served as the president of the Constituent Assembly from 1946 to 1950.
• On 24th January 1950, at the last session of the Constituent Assembly, Prasad was elected as the President of India and has the distinction of being the only President to have been re-elected for a second term.
• Committees of Constituent Assembly under the chairmanship of Dr. Prasad includes:
  • Ad hoc Committee on the National flag
  • Committee on the Rules of Procedure
  • Finance and Staff Committee
  • Steering Committee

Literary Works:

• Satyagraha at Champaran (1922)
• India Divided (1946)
• Atmakatha (1946) his autobiography written during his 3 year prison term in Bankipur Jail
• Mahatma Gandhi and Bihar, Some Reminiscences (1949)
• Bapu Ke Kadmon Mein (1954)
• Since Independence (1960)

Source:  The Hindu

Context

Recently, President Droupadi Murmu offered prayers at Sri Venkateswara temple atop Tirumala, Andhra Pradesh.

Context

Bharat Ratna Dr BR Ambedkar’s 67th Mahaparinirvan Diwas or death anniversary was celebrated.

About BR Ambedkar:

• Dr Ambedkar was a jurist, economist, politician and a social reformer who campaigned against social discrimination of downtrodden, women and labourers.
• He was born in 1891 in Mhow Army Cantonment, Madhya Pradesh
• Known as The Father of the Indian Constitution
• He was conferred the Bharat Ratna posthumously in 1990.

Education:

• He completed his matriculation in from Elphinstone High School.
• He completed his Post Graduation in Economics.
• He completed another doctorate from the London School of Economics – thesis “The problem of the rupee: Its origin and its solution”.
• He completed his Ph.D. degree in Economics from the University of Columbia.

Contributions:

• In 1919, in his testimony before the Southborough Committee in preparation of the Government of India Act Ambedkar opined that there should be a separate electoral system for the Untouchables and other marginalized communities.
• In 1920, Ambedkar launched a newspaper called “Mooknayaka” (leader of the silent) with the assistance of Shahaji II, the Maharaja of Kolhapur
• In 1923, he set up the Bahishkrit Hitkarini Sabha (Outcastes Welfare Association)
• Ambedkar launched full-fledged movements for Dalit rights by 1927 and demanded public drinking water sources open to all and right for all castes to enter temples.
• In 1932, Ambedkar signed the Poona Pact.
• He participated in all three round table conferences in London and demanded separate electorate for untouchables.
• In 1936, Founded the Independent Labor Party and his party contested the 1937 elections to the Central Legislative Assembly.
• In 1942, founded Scheduled Castes Federation.
• In 1947 Dr. Ambedkar was appointed as the chairman of the constitution drafting committee.
• In 1950, founded the Bharatiya Bauddha Mahasabha.
• In 1956 Ambedkar organized a public ceremony to convert around five lakh of his supporters to Buddhism.
• By December 2nd, 1956 he completed his final manuscript, “The Buddha or Karl Marx”
• On 6 December 1956, he died at his home in Delhi.

Books and periodicals:

• Bahishkrit Bharat(1927)
• Samatha(1929)
• Janata(1930)
• Mook Nayak (weekly)
• Annihilation of caste
• Philosophy of Hinduism
• Riddles in Hinduism
• What Congress and Gandhi have done to the Untouchables
• Who were the Shudras?
• The problem of rupee: its origin or solution (thesis)
• States and Minorities: What are Their Rights and how to Secure Them in the Constitution of Free India
• The Buddha and His Dhamma
• Buddha Or Karl Marx
• Ancient Indian Commerce: Commercial Relations of India in the Middle East (thesis)
• The Partition of India
• Federation Versus Freedom
• Thoughts on Pakistan
• Ranade, Gandhi and Jinnah
• Castes in India: Their Mechanism, Genesis and Development

Source: newsonair 

GS-II

Context

Beginning the first formal meeting of the Sherpa track in Udaipur, India identified rapid-inclusive-resilient growth on SDGs (mainly health and education), as key priorities for the G20 Summit, emphasising the importance of the Global South.

Background:

• The Group of Twenty (G20) is an intergovernmental forum comprising 19 countries and the European Union.
  • The G20 members represent around 85% of the global GDP, over 75% of the global trade, and about 2/3rd of the world population.
  • The G20 consists of 2 parallel tracks - the Finance track, led by Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors and the Sherpa track.
• A sherpa is the personal representative of a head of state or head of government who prepares an international summit, such as the annual G20 summits.
  • Basically, Sherpa track clears the way for a head of state at a major summit.
• The presidency steers the G20 agenda for one year till the final summit.
  • During its term, India will hold over 200 meetings in 50 cities, comprising ministers, government officials and civil society members, leading up to the final summit in New Delhi in Sept 2023.

The Sherpa track:

• The 4-day gathering of the Sherpa track to G20 Summit started its 1st formal meeting with dignitaries from 40 countries.
  • The G20 talks come at a time when the global economy is experiencing multiple challenges, including rising global debt, high inflation, a slowing growth rate, all of which will be tackled under the Sherpa track.
• The Sherpa track will set the agenda for the G20 leaders (in Sept 2023) and will engage on topics from 13 working groups ranging from energy, trade and investment, agriculture, digital economy, environment, anti-corruption, etc.
• Two new groups - Disaster, Risk and Resilience Group and Startup20 Engagement Group, were brought to the forefront by India under its presidency.
• According to the Ministry of External Affairs, the first day discussions were held on Technological Transformation, Green Development, Lifestyle for Environment (LIFE), Global & Regional Economy: Prospects & Challenges, etc.

The agenda and the key priorities for the G20 Summit:

• India’s Sherpa (Amitabh Kant) invoked India’s G20 presidency theme of ‘Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam’/ ‘One Earth One Family One Future’ - to evolve the strategies for -
  • Green development,
  • Fostering climate finance,
  • Technological transformation and digital public infrastructure,
  • Readying multilateral institutions for the 21st century,
  • 3 Fs - food, fuel and fertilisers,
  • The broader theme of women-led development.
• On trade and investment, the discussions will focus on resilient global value chains, integrating small and medium industries and global trade and trade for growth and prosperity.
• On development, data for development, accelerating progress on sustainable development goals (SDGs), LIFE will be discussed.
• On employment, the working group will talk about addressing the global skills gap, sustainable financing for social security, gig and platform economy and social security.
• The group on agriculture will talk about enhancing food scrutiny and nutrition, sustainable agriculture with a climate-smart approach.
• On the health side, discussions will revolve around prevention, preparedness and response for health emergencies, digital health for universal access, strengthening cooperation for vaccines, therapeutics and diagnostics.
• On education, foundational literacy and numeracy, strengthening research and innovation, tech-enabled learning and the future of work will be the critical issues.
• On energy, the discussions will focus on low-cost finance for energy transition, fuel for the future - bio-energy cooperation, green hydrogen, that will decarbonise the economy with universal access to clean energy.

How will India achieve this?

• Through a win-win collaboration between developing countries, Global South and advanced economies, that will work together through hope, harmony and healing.
• By Source:advocating the oneness of all - priorities that will reflect not just the aspirations of the G20 partners but also the Global South whose voice is often unheard.

Source: The Hindu

Context

While EU countries welcome the new commitment to energy transition, they fear the $430 billion Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) will unfairly disadvantage their companies relative to rivals in the United States.

Context

On November 18, 2022, Hyderabad-based Skyroot Aerospace scripted history by becoming the first private Indian organisation to launch a rocket from Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO)’s launchpad in Sriharikota.

Vikram S rocket: 

• It is a part of Mission Prarambh, which means the beginning.
• It is a sub-orbital rocket, which reached outer space and then splashed into the sea.
• Has payload capacity of up to 300 kilograms.
• Vikram-S used solid fuel-ammonium perchlorate, which is not completely green fuel.
• With Vikram-2, it is planned to use liquefied natural gas (LNG), which is greener compared with traditional kerosene fuel.

Mechanisms of Vikram S:

• There are four spin thrusters, which will generate the rocket’s spin and stability so that it doesn’t deviate from the trajectory.
• Max-Q is the maximum stress on the rocket and is experienced during the lift-off.
• At around 23 seconds, the rocket achieves five times the speed of sound or Mach 5.
• ‘Apogee’ is the maximum point after which it descends, falls back and splashes down into the sea.
• It takes around two and a half minutes to reach the Apogee and another two and a half minutes to splash down.

Technologies used:

• carbon composites: porous structure made of carbon and carbon fibre and four times lighter and has higher strength than steel.
• The lighter the rocket, the more payload we can use.
• 3D printing: reduces the cycle time by 90 per cent compared with traditional methods and allows to build complex shapes.
• Cycle time is the time required to manufacture a component.
• Cost-effectiveness
• Efficient technology
• Utilising existing govt infrastructure
• Operating out of India

About Skyroot Aerospace:

• It is an Indian private aerospace manufacturer and commercial launch service provider headquartered in Hyderabad.
• Mandates: cutting-edge innovation and cost-effectiveness
• Next launch will be Vikram-1, an orbital vehicle that puts satellites into orbit.
• Vikram-2 will have a higher capacity than Vikram-1.
• Skyroot Aerospace focuses on reusability of rockets.

Source: DTE

Context

From next year businesses may just need to fill in their PAN (Permanent Account Number) details on the “national single window system” (NSWS) portal to get approvals for new projects, buying land, licence renewals and subsequently to file all returns.

• The National Single Window System (NSWS) is a digital platform to guide a person in identifying and applying for approvals according to his/her business requirements.
• The aim of the NSWS is to serve as a digital platform that acts as a guide for investors to identify and to apply for approvals as per their business requirements.
• Objectives –
  • To establish a single-window mechanism by integrating the services provided by various Central Ministries, Departments, and State Governments;
  • To provide a one-stop-shop for procuring pre-establishment and pre-operation approvals and permits required to establish a business in India;
  • To provide efficient, convenient, transparent, and integrated electronic service to investors, industries, and businesses;
  • To provide a uniform and seamless experience to the business user.
• Working –
  • The NSWS brings together several State Governments, Central Ministries, and Departments onto one platform.
  • It provides a one-stop solution to investors to apply for approvals and registrations required during the pre-establishment and pre-operation stages of setting up a business in India.
  • Filling the PAN (Permanent Account Details) number will auto populate the required forms and only current figures will need to be entered.
• Implemented by –
  • Invest India, under the guidance of the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT), manages the NSWS.
• From next year businesses may just need to fill in their PAN details on the “national single window system” (NSWS) portal to get approvals for new projects, buying land, licence renewals and subsequently to file all returns.

• A large number of Central government departments and state/union territories have onboarded the NSWS.
  • As of now, 27 central departments and 19 state/UTs have onboarded NSWS.
• This will be a major boost for ease of doing business.
• Certain policies like vehicle scrapple, ethanol and leather development are being completely implemented through this system.
• Going forward, government is looking at having approvals for inspections, country of origin, export promotion council and PLI applications on the platform.
• This is expected to expedite clearances and auto escalate any deficiencies, if any, in the applications.
• The portal will eventually start sending reminders also for pending compliances.

Source: Indian Express