UPSC Daily Current Affairs- 23rd May 2023 | Current Affairs & Hindu Analysis: Daily, Weekly & Monthly PDF Download

GS-I

Why in News?

Indian Prime Minister along with his Papua New Guinea counterpart recently released the Tamil classic 'Thirukkural' in the Tok Pisin language.

About Thirukkural:

• Tirukkural (Tamil: “Sacred Couplets”) also called Kural, is a classic Tamil text written by Thiruvalluvar, believed to have lived sometime between the 2nd century BCE and the 5th century CE.
• It has had an immense influence on Tamil culture and life.
• It is a collection of 1,330 couplets (kurals) that offer timeless wisdom on various aspects of life, including ethics, governance, love, and spirituality.
• Structure and Themes:
  • Thirukkural is divided into three main sections or books: Aram (Virtue), Porul (Wealth), and Inbam (Love).
  • Each section covers a wide range of topics and imparts moral, ethical, and practical guidance to the readers.
  • The couplets are composed in a concise and poetic form, making them easily memorable and quotable.
  • Aram:
    • It discusses virtues such as righteousness, truth, gratitude, and compassion.
    • It emphasizes the importance of leading a righteous life and upholding moral values in all circumstances.
  • Porul:
    • It provides insights into worldly affairs, including governance, economy, and friendship.
    • It offers wisdom on topics like wealth management, administration, and the value of good company.
  • Inbam:
    • It delves into the complexities of human emotions, love, and family life.

Source: The Hindu

Why in News?

Recently, President Droupadi Murmu inaugurated the silver jubilee celebrations of Kudumbashree, the largest self-help group network in the country.

Kudumbashree Mission

• About: 
  • The Kudumbashree is the poverty eradication and women empowerment programme implemented by the State Poverty Eradication Mission (SPEM) of the Government of Kerala.
  • The name Kudumbashree in Malayalam language means ‘prosperity of the family’.
  • Kudumbashree was set up in 1997 following the recommendations of a three member Task Force appointed by the Kerala government.
  • In 2011, the Ministry of Rural Development (MoRD), Government of India recognised Kudumbashree as the State Rural Livelihoods Mission (SRLM) under the National Rural Livelihoods Mission (NRLM).
• Working:
  • Kudumbashree operates at the grassroots level, organizing women into neighbourhood groups (NHGs), which then form larger community-level and ward-level organizations.
  • It has a three-tier structure for its women community network, with Neighbourhood Groups (NHGs) at the lowest level, Area Development Societies (ADS) at the middle level, and Community Development Societies (CDS) at the local government level. 

Significance

• Kudumbashree has played the biggest role in bringing women in Kerala to the forefront. They help women from microfinancing to setting up micro-enterprises; from schools for differently-abled to male-dominated construction sector.
• Studies and surveys, like the Multidimensional Poverty Index by NITI Aayog, have emphasised Kudumbashree's achievement in reducing poverty.
• It has established “Janakeeya Hotels” across the state, offering affordable meals. Currently, it operates 125 restaurants providing meals for just Rs 20.
• The skills and capabilities of the Kudumbashree women were utilised in numerous ways to ensure the management of COVID-19 in the state.
• The mission has also led to women members venturing into organic farming, tourism, agri-business, poultry, food processing and several micro-enterprises. The state mission has an e-commerce platform for marketing of Kudumbashree products.
  • Example: Amrutham Nutrimix, a branded nutritional food mix produced and distributed by Kudumbashree for children at anganwadis, had bagged the Glenmark Nutrition Award for 2022 that was organised in partnership with the UN’s World Food Programme.

Challenges

• Struggle for power: The Kudumbashree units have become powerful in mobilizing people and in accessing funds.  The increasing financial strength and autonomy of Kudumbashree and its potential to become the political training ground for women have started giving concern to many local government leaders.
• Politicalization – the emergence of ‘Janashree’: It is alleged that they are compelled to carry out work for political parties and instructed to attend meetings and rallies of political parties which are in power of the concerned local government.
• Social exclusion: Due to constraints on money and time, women from some of the poorest households found it difficult to play leadership roles, and some were unable to join the groups at all.
• Delayed service: The deliberately delaying the release of funds to Kudumbashree by the local governments and even diversion or non-release of funds meant for the programme.
• Unsustainable micro enterprises:  About 80 percent SHG members who are running micro enterprises lack entrepreneurial skills. Above 60 percent enterprises are found to be unsustainable but continue to operate to avail the subsidy and other facilities from the government. 
• Micro credit: Lack of monitoring: There is no proper follow up or monitoring mechanism to ensure that the loan is used for the declared purpose.

Conclusion

• The process of community development involves the collective efforts by the community members to take actions and generate solutions to common problems. In this way, development can be attained only through the efficient functioning of the CBOs. In Kerala, the presence of the women’s community network of Kudumbashree contributes to the empowerment, livelihood management, and capability enhancement of the women associated with this CBO.

Source: Indian Express

GS-II

What is PARAKH Program?

Why in News?

The Ministry of Education has organized a workshop in New Delhi to discuss the unification of 60 school examination boards operating across different states and union territories.

• The key component of this plan is PARAKH, the National Assessment Centre established under the National Council of Educational Research and Training.

What is PARAKH?

• PARAKH stands for Performance Assessment, Review, and Analysis of Knowledge for Holistic Development.
• It is an organization created to bring school boards from various states and union territories onto a unified platform.
• It has been launched as part of the implementation of the National Education Policy (NEP)-2020.
• It acts as a constituent unit of the NCERT.
• It is tasked with holding periodic learning outcome tests like the National Achievement Survey (NAS) and State Achievement Surveys.
• It will work on three major assessment areas: large-scale assessments, school-based assessment, and examination reforms.

Key objectives of PARAKH

• Uniform Norms & Guidelines: Setting comprehensive norms, standards, and guidelines for student assessment and evaluation in all recognized school boards.
• Enhance Assessment Pattern: Encouraging school boards to adopt assessment patterns aligned with the skill requirements of the 21st century.
• Reduce Disparity in Evaluation: Establishing uniformity across state and central boards, which currently employ different evaluation standards, resulting in significant score disparities.
• Benchmark Assessment: Developing a benchmark assessment framework to move away from rote learning and align with the objectives of the NEP 2020.

Outcomes of the recent workshop

(1) Establishing Equivalence of Boards

• The Centre is planning for the equivalence of boards to facilitate seamless transitions for students across different boards or regions.
• The objective is to align curriculum standards, grading systems, and evaluation methodologies to enhance the credibility and recognition of certificates and grades obtained across boards.

(2) Moving away from Rote Examination Culture

• The workshop highlighted the need to reassess the prevailing rote examination culture in the education system.
• There is a growing realization that holistic assessments, considering various dimensions of a student’s abilities and potential, are equally important.

(3) Standardization and Fairness in Assessments

• The discussion emphasized the importance of well-designed and standardized question papers to ensure fairness and consistency across schools and boards.
• Striking a balance between formative and summative assessments was identified as a means to reduce the burden of high-stakes examinations while effectively measuring student progress.

Conclusion

• PARAKH’s significance lies in its potential to bring about transformative change, facilitating collaboration, and benchmarking assessments.
• It is an important step towards creating a standardized and equitable assessment system, providing students with a fair platform to demonstrate their abilities and skills.

Source: The Hindu

Why in News?

Recently, PM Modi paid his maiden visit to Papua New Guinea where he co-hosted the 3^rdFIPIC summit.

• His visit to Papua New Guinea highlights the growing strategic significance of the Pacific Island nations that has also received attention from China.
• In 2022, China signed a security agreement with the Solomon Islands.

• During this visit, PM Modi conferred with the:
  • highest honour of Fiji - the Companion of the Order of Fiji;
  • highest award of Papua New Guinea - the Grand Companion of the Order of Logohu (GCL).

Pacific Island Nations

• Islands of the Pacific Ocean are commonly named as Pacific Island Nations.
• As shown in the map, Pacific Island Nations consist of three major groups of islands named as Polynesia, Micronesia and Melanesia.
  • North of the Equator and east of the Philippines are the islands of Micronesia.
  • The great arc of islands located north and east of Australia and south of the Equator is called Melanesia.
  • In the eastern Pacific, largely enclosed within a huge triangle formed by the Hawaiian Islands to the north, New Zealand to the southwest, and Easter Island (Rapa Nui) far to the east, are the islands of Polynesia.

Challenges faced by Pacific Island Nations

• Geographical disadvantage
  • Scattered Islands –makes logistics a challenge.
  • Small Land Area – It affects the mass production.
  • Remoteness - The Pacific Islands are located far from major markets, creating problems in communication, human interaction and transportation costs.
• Climate change:
  • These nations are virtual global laboratories for the earliest impacts of climate change.
  • World Bank research has estimated the average annual cost to small island states from natural disasters is equivalent to almost two percent of GDP.
  • However, in the cases of Tonga and Samoa, these damages have reached between 20 and 30 percent of GDP.
• Socio-economic challenges:
  • Due to small economies and limited formal sector employment in the Pacific, it will be difficult to meet this growing demand for employment.
  • Years of mismanagement and poor policy have led to ecological and energy calamities across the region.
• Security and Governance related challenges:
  • Vast coastline along with the presence of large EEZ (exclusive economic zone) necessitates for capacity building in Coastal security and EEZ management.
  • Numerous maritime disputes on the periphery of Pacific, especially in South China Sea and East China Sea, threaten the maritime security of these nations.

Significance of Pacific Island Nations for India:

• Geopolitical
  • The Pacific Island Nations are strategically located in the Pacific Ocean, connecting Asia with the Americas.
• Geostrategic
  • The Pacific has for long been an area of geostrategic interest for countries such as the US, Japan, China, Russia etc.
  • India cannot afford to ignore this region if it wants to become a global leader.
  • India considers the region as part of its Indo-Pacific vision, which emphasizes a free, open, and inclusive order.
• Economic Cooperation:
  • India seeks to expand economic cooperation with Pacific Island Nations.
    • Indian economic footprint in this region is low. The total annual trade between the Indian and Pacific Island countries hovers around $300 million.
    • The largest country for bilateral trade in this regard is Papua New Guinea because of oil and gas.
  • These nations possess vast maritime resources, including fisheries, minerals, and energy reserves.
• Maritime Security:
  • Ensuring maritime security in the Indo-Pacific is a shared interest for India and Pacific Island Nations.

Initiatives taken by India so far

• Forum for India-Pacific Island Cooperation (FIPIC):
  • FIPIC was launched during PM Modi's visit to Fiji in November 2014.
  • It was established as a platform for dialogue and cooperation with 14 Pacific Island countries.
  • FIPIC includes 14 of the island countries – Cook Islands, Fiji, Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Micronesia, Nauru, Niue, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu, and Vanuatu.
  • So far, two meetings of FIPIC were held - in November 2014 in Fiji and August 2015 in Jaipur.
• Development Assistance
  • These include:
    • the setting up of a special USD one million fund for adapting to climate change and clean energy,
    • Pan Pacific Islands e-network to improve digital connectivity,
    • extending visa on arrival at Indian airports for all the 14 Pacific Island countries,
    • cooperation in space technology applications for improving the quality of life of the islands, and
    • training to diplomats from Pacific Island countries.
  • India has already trained many rural women from eight island countries as solar engineers.

News Summary: Key highlights of the PM Modi’s speech at the FIPIC III Summit

• Highlighted the importance of Pacific Island Countries (PICs)
  • He said that Small Island nations of the Pacific Ocean are in fact large ocean states and they are connected with India through Ocean.
• India as development partner of PICs
  • He highlighted some of the development works done by India in the region. These included:
    • Convention Center in Palau;
    • Waste management project in Nauru;
    • Seeds for cyclone-affected farmers in Fiji;
    • And solar light project in Kiribati.
  • The Sustainable Coastal and Ocean Research Institute (SCORI) has been established at the University of the South Pacific in Fiji with the help of India.
    • SCORI entails building up a network of marine biology research stations in various island nations in the Pacific Ocean to collaborate on research and capacity building with institutions in India.
• Increased space cooperation
  • PM Modi expressed his happiness that the launch of the website for space technology is taking place for national and human development.
  • Through this, respective PICs can download remote sensing data of their countries from the Indian satellite network.
  • It can then be utilised for the preparation of respective national development plans.

Source: The Hindu

Why in News?

The World Health Statistics 2023 was recently released by the World Health Organization (WHO).

About the World Health Statistics

• The report is an annual compilation of health and health-related indicators, which has been published by the WHO since 2005.
• The World Health Statistics reports present the most recent health statistics for the WHO Member States and each edition supersedes the previous one.

Report highlights

• COVID damage:
  • The COVID-19 pandemic may have caused over 20 million deaths, the World Health Organization (WHO) has said in its updated estimates in a new report. A total of 336.8 million life-years have been lost globally due to the pandemic.
    • Years of life lost (YLL) is a measure of premature mortality that takes into account both the frequency of deaths and the age at which it occurs. The YLL is the highest globally in ages 55-64 years old, with a total of over 90 million years of life lost.
  • Globally, 14.9 million excess deaths could be attributed to the COVID-19 pandemic by the end of 2021,
  • The official figures are around seven million deaths, but the true figure can be closer to 20 million, WHO said.
  • The pandemic also disproportionately affected the age group of 45 years and above.
• Stalled progress on key health indicators:
• The health progress on key health indicators has markedly stalled since 2015, compared with the trends seen in 2000-2015, the report found. 
  • The COVID-19 pandemic was also responsible for putting many health-related indicators further off-track.
• Non-attainment of SDGs:
  • The stagnation in health progress challenges the timely attainment of the United Nations-mandated sustainable development goals (SDG) targets by 2030.
    • UN’s Transforming our world: the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, also called 2030 Agenda, set 17 SDGs that aim to mobilise global efforts to end poverty, foster peace, safeguard the rights and dignity of all people and protect the planet. 
• Need of investments:
  • The report calls for a substantial increase in investments in health and health systems to get back on track towards the Sustainable Development Goals.

Achievements

• Population health has notably improved globally since 2000. 
  • Child mortality has halved, 
  • Maternal mortality has fallen by a third, 
  • The incidence of many infectious diseases — including human immunodeficiency virus, tuberculosis and malaria — has dropped.
• The risks from dying prematurely from NCDs and injuries have declined and global life expectancy at birth rose from 67 years in 2000 to 73 years in 2019. 

Challenges

• Non-communicable diseases (NCD):
  • After 2015, the rate of progress has worsened and the burden of NCDs has grown immensely. 
    • The world is also facing an ever-growing threat of non-communicable diseases (NCD) and climate change, the paper said.
  • Without faster progress, no regions will achieve the SDG target for NCD mortality by 2030 — and half still won’t by 2048, the global health body pointed out.
• Health burdon of NCDs:
  • The cause for the biggest health burden is still NCDs and their impact has worsened in the past two decades. 
    • For example, in 2000, 61 per cent of annual deaths were caused by non-communicable diseases. In 2019, they accounted for nearly 75 per cent of annual deaths. 
    • Similarly, in 2000, NCDs caused 47 per cent of global disability-adjusted life years (1.3 billion years); by 2019, NCDs caused 63 per cent (1.6 billion years).
  • If this trend continues, the proportion of lives lost to NCDs could reach 86 percent or 77 million deaths per year by the middle of this century. 
  • With preventive measures and early detection and treatment, many millions could be saved.
• Maternal & neonatal mortality ratio:
  • Between 2000 and 2015, the annual rate of reduction (ARR) of the global maternal mortality ratio was 2.7 per cent. 
    • But this plummeted to -0.04 per cent between 2016 and 2020. 
  • The ARR fell from 4 per cent during the first decade (2000–2009) to 2.7 per cent during the second decade (2010–2021). 
    • Meanwhile, the ARR of the neonatal mortality rate fell from 3.2 per cent (2000–2009) to 2.2 per cent (2010–2021). This slowdown has been particularly pronounced since 2015.
• Far-reaching targets:
  • Some indicators are far from reaching the midpoint of the required trajectories to reach their respective SDG targets, the WHO pointed out. 

Source: Down To Earth

GS-III

Why in News?

Researchers have recently studied the role of hydrocortisone in the management of adult patients with septic shock.

About Septic shock:

• It is a serious medical condition that can occur when an infection in your body causes extremely low blood pressure and organ failure due to sepsis.
• Septic shock is life-threatening and requires immediate medical treatment.
• It’s the most severe stage of sepsis.
• It occurs most often in the very old and the very young. It may also occur in people with weakened immune systems.
• It is typically diagnosed when the signs of severe sepsis are present, along with low blood pressure and signs of organ dysfunction.
• Risk factors for septic shock include:
  • Diabetes;
  • Diseases of the genitourinary system, biliary system, or intestinal system;
  • Diseases that weaken the immune system, such as AIDS;
  • Leukemia;
  • Heart failure;
  • Kidney failure;
  • Abnormal blood clotting;

What’s the difference between Septic shock and Sepsis?

• Sepsis occurs when your body has an extreme reaction to an infection.
• This reaction causes drastic changes in the body and can be very dangerous and potentially life threatening.
• Doctors have identified three stages of sepsis:
  • Sepsis. An infection reaches the bloodstream and causes inflammation in the body.
  • Severe sepsis. The infection is severe enough to affect organ function.
  • Septic shock. There’s a significant drop in blood pressure that can lead to respiratory or heart failure, stroke, dysfunction of other organs, and possibly death.
• Sepsis is most often caused by bacterial infections, but almost any infection can cause sepsis if left untreated.
• The transition from the onset of sepsis to severe sepsis and septic shock can happen quickly, and once the condition has transitioned, the mortality rate increases.

Source: The Print

Why in News?

Assam CM has stated that the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) is likely to be completely lifted from the state by the end of the year due to a significant improvement in the law and order situation.

What is Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act, 1958?

• Armed Forces Special Powers Act, to put it simply, gives armed forces the power to maintain public order in “disturbed areas.”
• AFSPA gives armed forces the authority use force or even open fire after giving due warning if they feel a person is in contravention of the law.
• The Act further provides that if “reasonable suspicion exists”, the armed forces can also arrest a person without a warrant; enter or search premises without a warrant; and ban the possession of firearms.

A Backgrounder

• The AFSPA, 1958 came into force in the context of insurgency in the North-eastern States decades ago.
• It provides “special power” to the Armed Forces applies to the Army, the Air Force and the Central Paramilitary forces etc.
• It has been long contested debate whether the “special powers” granted under AFSPA gives total immunity to the armed forces for any action taken by them.

What are the Special Powers?

• Power to use force: including opening fire, even to the extent of causing death if prohibitory orders banning assembly of five or more persons or carrying arms and weapons, etc are in force in the disturbed area;
• Power to destroy structures: used as hide-outs, training camps, or as a place from which attacks are or likely to be launched, etc;
• Power to arrest: without warrant and to use force for the purpose;
• Power to enter and search premises: without a warrant to make arrest or recovery of hostages, arms and ammunition and stolen property etc.

Who can declare/notify such areas?

• The Central Government or the Governor of the State or administrator of the Union Territory can declare the whole or part of the State or Union Territory as a disturbed area.

Issues with AFSPA

• Power to kill: Section 4 of the Act granted officers the authority to “take any action” even to the extent to cause the death.
• Misconduct by Armed Forces: The issue of violation of human rights by actions of armed forces came under the consideration of the Committee on Amendments to Criminal Law (popularly known as Justice Verma Committee) set up in 2012. It observed that- in conflict zones, legal protection for women was neglected.
• Autocracy: The reality is that there is no evidence of any action being taken against any officer of the armed forces or paramilitary forces for their excesses.

Recommendations to repeal AFSPA

• Justice B.P. Jeevan Reddy Commission: The 2004 Committee headed by Justice B.P. Jeevan Reddy, the content of which has never officially been revealed by the Government, recommended that AFSPA be repealed.
• ARC II: The Administrative Reforms Commission in its 5th Report on ‘Public Order’ had also recommended that AFSPA be repealed.

Voices for repeal

• Human rights violations: The repeal of AFSPA is necessary not just for restoring constitutional sanity, but also as a way of acknowledging the dark history of our conduct in Nagaland.
• Need for ensuring individual dignity: The political incorporation of Nagaland (and all other areas where this law applies) will be set back if the guarantees of the individual dignity of the Indian Constitution are not extended.
• Not state of exception: We often describe AFSPA in terms of a “state of exception”. But this theoretical term is misleading. How can a law that has been in virtually continuous existence since 1958 be described as an “exception”.
• Lack of human empathy: At the heart of AFSPA is a profound mutilation of human empathy.

Conclusion

• To bring in lasting peace in the North East, the government needs to avoid the trap of watered-down peace accords.
• While the move to withdraw AFSPA is welcome, it needs to be gradually erased.
• For that, changes in the ground situation would be crucial. Mere smoke signals or drum-beating can never do the job.

Source: The Hindu