National Current Affairs – UPSC/IAS Exams- 4th July 2019

Minimum Support Price

Topic: Economy

In News: The Centre has hiked the minimum support price (MSP) for paddy by less than 4%. The decision was taken by the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs.

More on the Topic: 

• MSP is the minimum price set by the Government at which farmers can expect to sell their produce for the season. When market prices fall below the announced MSPs, procurement agencies step in to procure the crop and ‘support’ the prices.
• The Cabinet Committee of Economic Affairs announces MSP for various crops at the beginning of each sowing season based on the recommendations of the Commission for Agricultural Costs and Prices (CACP).
• The CACP takes into account demand and supply, the cost of production and price trends in the market among other things when fixing MSPs.

Significance if MSP:

• Price volatility makes life difficult for farmers. Though prices of agri commodities may soar while in short supply, during years of bumper production, prices of the very same commodities plummet.
• MSPs ensure that farmers get a minimum price for their produce in adverse markets. MSPs have also been used as a tool by the Government to incentivise farmers to grow crops that are in short supply.

Concerns:

• All farmers do not have access to the government’s minimum support price. Further, even in case of paddy, the procurement operations vary across different parts of the country. They are very good in some parts and almost non-existent in others.
• The MSP mechanism has led to the overproduction of paddy and wheat. Let’s look at the central pool of rice and wheat that the Food Corporation of India is expected to maintain.
• Given the fact that the procurement of paddy and wheat is better in comparison to other crops for which an MSP is announced, it encourages farmers to grow paddy and wheat, instead of other crops.
• The one-solution that has been proposed to lessen the agriculture distress in India, is the government procuring more and more of the crops that are being produced. But this is really no solution simply because the government does not have the bandwidth to first create a system and then manage the procurement of the nearly 20 crops for which MSPs are announced but not much procurement happens. Also, as we have seen assured procurement leads to all kinds of other problems.

Source: The Hindu

UNESCO’s Children with disabilities and education report

Topic: Social Justice

In News: According to a report by UNESCO and the Tata Institute of Social Sciences More than one in four children with disabilities between ages 5 and 19 in India have never attended any educational institution, while three-fourths of five-year-olds with disabilities are not in school.

More on the Topic:

• Citing 2011 census data, the report showed that there are more than 78 lakh children with disabilities in the country between 5-19 years. Only 61% of them were attending an educational institution. About 12% had dropped out, while 27% had never been to school at all.
• The number of children [with disabilities] enrolled in school drops significantly with each successive level of schooling. There are fewer girls with disabilities in school than boys.
• Differences remain among various types of disabilities. Only 20% of children with visual and hearing impairments had never been in school. However, among children with multiple disabilities or mental illness, that figure rose to more than 50%.
• Experts say the situation is worse than what the statistics show as the government data on enrolment includes home-based education, which often exists only on paper for children with disabilities.
• The Right to Education Act mandates enrolment, but not the provision of resources needed for the actual education of a child with disabilities.

Way Forward:

• The report by UNESCO and the Tata Institute of Social Sciences recommends structural, funding and attitudinal changes to ensure that no child is left out of the right to education.

Source : The Hindu

Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDS) In India

Topic: Health

In News: Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) released the report entitled “India: Health of the Nation’s States”, Contribution of Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs)

According to the report total death in the Country due to NCDs was 61.8% in 2016, as compared to 37.9% in 1990.

More on the topic:

• Noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) are a group of diseases that affect individuals over an extended period of time causing socio-economic burden to the nation.

There are primarily 5 types of Noncommunicable diseases –

• Cancer,
• Chronic respiratory disease,
• Stroke
• Cardiovascular diseases
• Diabetes, which are responsible for a majority of morbidity and mortality in the country.
• Mental health and injuries also have a considerable burden.
• NCDs cause 61% of deaths in India states WHO report.Cardiovascular diseases is at the top, in 2016 a staggering 28.1% of all deaths in India were caused by heart conditions.
• Also India has the highest number of diabetes cases in the world, with 72 million reported in 2017.Punjab, Tamil Nadu and Kerala, all wealthy states, were found to have some of the highest rates of heart disease in the country.

Government’s Initiatives:

• National Programme for Prevention and Control of Cancer, Diabetes, Cardiovascular Diseases and Stroke (NPCDCS) under the National Health Mission (NHM) is an effort by Central Government which supplements State Governments effort.
• The objectives of the programme include health promotion activities and opportunistic screening for common NCDs including cancer.
• Affordable Medicines and Reliable Implants for Treatment (AMRIT) Deendayal outlets have been opened at 159 Institutions/Hospitals.
• It’s objective is to make available Cancer and Cardiovascular Diseases drugs and implants at discounted prices to the patients.
• Jan Aushadhi stores are set up by Department of Pharmaceuticals to provide generic medicines at affordable prices.

Source : The Hindu

Feasibility of Cyber attack as a retaliatory Measure

Topic: Internal Security

In News: In pursuance of this bloodless war, the U.S. cybercommand conducted online attacks against Iran. It is speculated that the strikes targeted Iran’s military command and systems such as those that control Iran’s missile and rocket launchers. In this context, a general question that arises is: Can India conduct such retaliatory attacks?

More on the Topic:

• After every terror attack, India has few kinetic options to retaliate. Primarily, they comprise air strikes, ground-based surgical strikes, stand-off strikes from inside the border and covert operations. Additionally, there is the option to impose diplomatic pressure on Pakistan.
• Following India’s response against Pakistan, especially on the past two occasions, a few implicit criteria relating to the handling of the aftermath of an operation can be deduced.
• It is pertinent to note that these criteria are not in the context of the operational requirements of the Indian armed forces. The criteria are: pre-emption, non-military nature, and deterrence.
• First, the fulfilment of the criterion of pre-emption would allow India to argue and justify the operation on international forums.
• It feasibly falls under the exception of Article 2(4) of the UN Charter through the passage of self-defence. Second, in such instances, the operational aim has never been to target the Pakistani people or even the Pakistani military.
• Accordingly, it is imperative for any operation to be able to claim that it is non-military in nature.
• Third, the operation should be of such an impact that it creates deterrence, that is, it fulfils the purpose of imposing substantial damage on the enemy, which invariably leads to deterrence.

Concerns-Why it is not a feasible measure at present?

• If India conducts a cyberstrike against Pakistan’s military command or systems, it will be termed as one against Pakistan and not the terrorists. The non-military nature and pre-emption of the operation will be viewed through the perspective of attacking Pakistani military and Pakistan in essence, rendering them as futile, for example in terms of diplomatic parleys.
• Further, a cyberstrike against Pakistan will call for counter-cyberstrikes. Instead of the intended deterrence, it will likely lead to an escalation. In such a situation, all or at least most of the criteria will not be met. Hence, a cyberattack is not a feasible retaliatory option for India at present.
• It is, however, noteworthy that the dependency of terrorist groups on computers, networks and the Internet has increased. Various, if not all, terrorist groups use the Internet for propaganda. This can certainly be curtailed by any necessary cyber operation. Most importantly, such an operation should not be a ‘retaliatory operation’ but a ‘regular operation’.
• A cyberattack can certainly be an option when the situation changes, and India decides to act against providers of safe haven to terrorists.
• In such instances, the Pakistani establishment might be targeted beyond diplomatic pressures.
• The ability of the Indian armed forces to conduct such cyberstrikes is not completely known, and rightly so, given that disclosure of such details would take away the element of surprise.

Model Mains Question: Comment on the changing dynamics of war strategies.

Source : The Hindu

The Baloch Liberation Army

Topic: International Affairs

In News: The U.S. on July 2 designated the Baloch Liberation Army (BLA) as a terror organisation. “The BLA is an armed separatist group that targets security forces and civilians, mainly in ethnic Baloch areas of Pakistan”.

More on the Topic:

• The BLA, the armed wing of the Baloch movement, has carried out several violent attacks in Pakistan. It has about 6,000 cadre spread across the Balochistan Province and in the bordering areas of Afghanistan.
• BLA rebels claim that Pakistan has been exploiting the resources of the Province without giving the due share to the locals and the indigenous Baloch tribes.
• BLA rebels have claimed that they are aiming for both freedom from Pakistan and internal reform of the Baloch society. They are opposed to the traditional sardar or Kawailey system at home.

What are India’s ties with Baloch rebels?

• It is established that BLA commanders, in the past, had sought medical treatment in India’s hospitals, often under disguise or with fake identity.
• Pakistan has blamed India for supporting the Baloch rebels. It is known that the Baloch sardars like the late Akbar Bugti and Ghaus Bukhsh Bizenjo maintained warm personal ties with various Indian political figures. However, visits by militants are often under assumed identities unlike those by prominent well known leaders.

Source : The Hindu

Supreme Court judgments in vernacular language

Topic: Polity and Governance

In News: In a novel measure, the Supreme Court will translate its judgments into all vernacular languages for the benefit of the public and litigants across the length and breadth of the country.

More on the Topic:

• The software application is intended to be launched by mid-July.
• The app, similar to Google’s text translation, is likely to be launched in a single phase and cover “all vernacular languages.” The court was taking the help of the High Courts in making the move a success.
• The move is the brainchild of Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi.
• The project included not only translating the apex court judgments into Hindi and other vernacular languages but also to provide summaries of the apex court’s verdicts.
• This was to benefit litigants, who after fighting their cases for years, were left unable to read the judgments in their own cases for the sole reason that they did not know English.

Model Mains Question: Discuss the differences between Judicial activism and Judicial overreach.

Source : The Hindu

Classical status for Marathi Language

Topic: Culture

In News: A proposal for granting classical language status to Marathi is under active consideration.

More on the Topic:

• Marathi is an Indo-Aryan language of western and central India.
• It is the official language of Maharashtra and co-official language in Goa.
• Marathi gained prominence with the rise of the Maratha Empire beginning with the reign of Chhatrapati Shivaji (1674–1680).

Criteria for Classical language status,

• High antiquity of its early texts/recorded history over a period of 1500-2000 years.
• A body of ancient literature/texts, which is considered a valuable heritage by generations of speakers.
• The literary tradition is original and not borrowed from another speech community.
• The classical language and literature being distinct from modern, there may also be a discontinuity between the classical language and its later forms or its offshoots.

Source : The Hindu