National Current Affairs – UPSC/IAS Exams- 15th June 2019

Women’s Reservation Bill

Topic: Polity and Governance

In News: A people’s collective called Shakti is using memes to unleash the combined might of actor to appeal to Law minister Mr. Prasad to fulfil the promise made by the BJP in its manifesto, which said that the party was committed to “33% reservation in Parliament and State Assemblies through a constitutional amendment”.

More on the Topic:. 

• The women reservation bill has faced a wide criticism since its inception back in 90s. However many of the irregularities were removed in 108th Bill, still it didn’t reap any results.
• The four major contentions against the proposed amendment presented are – that it is against the interests of the backward classes (OBCs), Dalits and Muslims. PRASENJIT BOSE (2010) explains how such arguments are unfounded. Gender discrimination and oppression cut across caste, community and class identities.
• To suggest that the principle of positive discrimination in favour of women is acceptable for everybody else but not for one’s own caste or community is neither logically tenable nor ethically sustainable.
• However the stand of Muslims holds the valid ground for their representation in Legislature is necessary to preserve the secular character of this nation (See Sachar Commission recommendations). Bose suggests that this cannot be the sole ground for its rejection. The women cut across religion and there are going to be some Muslim women coming to Parliament (if not in substantial number).
• However some representation is always better than no representation.
• Other such arguments may also be raised, and are raised that women reservation are going to influence the male candidates commitment toward his constituency because there is always a threat of it being reserved in the next rotation thus denying him to contest from there losing his vote base.
• However one such alternative to resolve this fault was a “dual member constituency” which can resolve the deadlock on women’s reservation.
• There are other procedural oppositions raised against the reservation Bill (like ideal rotational policy, ensuring representation of women from backward classes), but they can only be resolved once the bill comes before the Parliament and the concerned committees to devise a common path. The opposition against the bill is much more than just procedure lacunae.

Way Forward:

• Countries like Rwanda is having 30% reservation policy which makes it total women representation stand at roughly 64% highest among all.
• Our neighbours Nepal and Afghanistan have 29% and 28% reservation policy So women reservation seems to be a tried and tested tool to increase women participation in legislative bodies.
• Women who hold up half the sky are short shrifted in a male-dominated world. We need to give them their proper share of this sky. We hope that the new bill will achieve this objective.

Source: The Hindu

Spitzer Space Telescope

Topic: Science and Technology

In News: Spitzer space telescope of NASA will be retired on January 30, 2020.

More on the Topic:

• By 2020, Spitzer space telescope will have operated for more than 11 years beyond its prime mission.
• It was launched in January 1983 as Infrared Astronomical Satellite, jointly developed by the United States, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom, to conduct the first infrared survey of the sky.
• Spitzer is a small but transformational observatory. It captures infrared light, which is often emitted by ‘warm’ objects that are not quite hot enough to radiate visible light.
• Spitzer lifted the veil on hidden objects in nearly every corner of the universe, from a new ring around Saturn to observations of some of the most distant galaxies known.
• In 2017, the telescope revealed the presence of seven rocky planets around the TRAPPIST-1 star.
• In some cases, Spitzer’s observations were combined with observations by other missions, including NASA’s Kepler and Hubble space telescopes.
• Spitzer’s highly sensitive instruments allow scientists to peer into cosmic regions that are hidden from optical telescopes, including dusty stellar nurseries, the centers of galaxies, and newly forming planetary systems.
• Spitzer’s infrared eyes also allows astronomers see cooler objects in space, like failed stars (brown dwarfs), extrasolar planets, giant molecular clouds, and organic molecules that may hold the secret to life on other planets.

Source: The Hindu

The World Investment Report 2019

Topic: Economy

In News: According to the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) World Investment Report 2019, India received foreign direct investments worth USD 42 billion in 2018. India attracted over 77% of the total foreign direct investments that came to the South Asian region.

More on the topic:

• The global FDI slipped by 13% in 2018, to US$1.3 trillion from $1.5 trillion in 2017, the third consecutive annual decline.
• In South Asia, overall, FDI inflows increased by 3.5% to $54 billion. The prospects for FDI inflows into South Asia are largely determined by expectations of growing investment into India.
• Investment in India rose by 6% to USD 42 billion with strong inflows in manufacturing, communication, financial services and cross-border merger and acquisition activities. However, India’s rank as a source country for FDI fell one notch to the 10th position as it was overtaken by Spain.
• Among others in the South Asian region, FDI flows to Bangladesh and Sri Lanka rose to a record level, to USD 3.6 billion and USD 1.6 billion, respectively, while Pakistan witnessed a 27% decline in investment to USD 2.4 billion.
• Of the 5,400 special economic zones (SEZs) in the world, more than 4,000 are in developing countries in Asia. In the developing countries in Asia, China topped the list at 2,543 such zones, followed by Philippines (528), India (373) Turkey (102), Thailand (74) among others.
• India has recently liberalised its rules on inward investment (an investment that comes into a country from investors who live in other countries) in several industries, including single-brand retail trading, airlines and power exchanges.

About UNCTAD:

• UNCTAD is a permanent intergovernmental body established by the United Nations General Assembly in 1964. Its headquarters are located in Geneva, Switzerland.
• It is part of the UN Secretariat.
• It supports developing countries to access the benefits of a globalized economy more fairly and effectively.

Source: The Hindu

32,000-year-old wolf

Topic: Environment and Ecology

In News: A first intact head of a gigantic adult wolf which died about 32,000 years ago and was preserved in permafrost has been found in the Russian Arctic.

More on the Topic:

• Covered with thick fur, the head was found by a local on the banks of the Tirekhtyakh River in Russia’s remote Arctic region of Yakutia.
• Research shows the animal died in the Pleistocene epoch, when the most recent Ice Age occurred.
• The wolf is believed to have been between two and four years old when it died.
• The Pleistocene epoch was the time when megafauna such as woolly mammoths roamed the Earth.

Source: The Hindu

GM brinjal

Topic: Environment and Ecology

In News: Last month, genetically modified brinjal was found in a farm in Haryana. While the government insists that this is a one-off case, activists wonder how widespread the problem could be.

More on the Topic:

• India banned Bt brinjal in 2010. The debate around BT brinjal started in 2000 when Mahyco (Maharashtra Hybrid Seeds Co) came up with a GM brinjal. Seeds were exported to Bangladesh and Philippines in 2006, as the civil society resisted field trials in India.
• In 2013, the cultivation of GM brinjal was taken up by the Bangladesh government with initially successful results. A few years down the line, however, the crops lost their resistance to pests.
• A GM or transgenic crop is a plant that has a novel combination of genetic material obtained through the use of modern biotechnology.
• For example, a GM crop can contain a gene(s) that has been artificially inserted instead of the plant acquiring it through pollination.
• The resulting plant is said to be “genetically modified” although in reality all crops have been “genetically modified” from their original wild state by domestication, selection, and controlled breeding over long periods of time.

Concerns Over GM- Crops:

• Its impact on human health and environment is not yet  understood properly. The scientific community itself seems uncertain about this.
• One of the concerns raised strongly by those opposing GM crops in India is that many important crops like rice, brinjal, and mustard, among others, originated here, and introducing genetically modified versions of these crops could be a major threat to the vast number of domestic and wild varieties of these crops.
• There is also a potential for pests to evolve resistance to the toxins produced by GM crops and the risk of these toxins affecting nontarget organisms. There is also the danger of unintentionally introducing allergens and other anti-nutrition factors in foods.

Model Mains question: Examine the pros and cons associated with Genetically modified crops.

Source: The Hindu

Kimberley Process

Topic: Organizations in News

In News: The Intersession meeting of Kimberley Process (KP) is being hosted by India  in Mumbai.

More on the Topic:

• The Kimberley Process is a joint initiative involving Government, international diamond industry and civil society to stem the flow of Conflict Diamonds.
• Conflict Diamonds means rough diamonds used by rebel movements or their allies to finance conflict aimed at undermining legitimate governments. It is also described in United Nations Security Council (UNSC) Resolutions.
• In 1998, certain rebel movements in Africa (Sierra Leone, Angola, Democratic Republic of Congo, Liberia) were selling, among other things, illegally obtained diamonds – known as Conflict Diamonds – to fund their wars against legitimate governments.
• With a view to find ways to stop trade in Conflict Diamonds, world’s diamond industry, United Nations, Governments and leading NGOs came together and in November 2002 at Interlaken, Switzerland, where the final draft of the Kimberley Process measures was ratified by more than fifty countries.
• The KPCS came into effect from 1st January, 2003 and evolved into an effective mechanism for stopping the trade in Conflict Diamonds.
• India is one of the founder members of Kimberley Process Certification Scheme and is the Chair of Kimberley Process for the year 2019 with Russian Federation as Vice Chair. India had earlier chaired KPCS in the year 2008.
• At present, KPCS has 55 members representing 82 countries including EU with 28 members. The Kimberley Process is chaired, on a rotating basis, by participating countries. KP Vice-Chair is generally elected by KP Plenary each year, who becomes the Chair in the next year.
• Since 2003, India has been actively participating in the KPCS process and is a member of all Working Groups of KP (except for Working Group on Artisanal and Alluvial Production, WGAAP).
• Department of Commerce is the nodal Department and Gem & Jewellery Export Promotion Council (GJEPC) is designated as the KPCS Importing and Exporting Authority in India. GJEPC is responsible for issuing KP Certificates and is also the custodian of KP Certificates received in the country.

Source: PIB

‘Operation VIJAY’

Topic: National Security

In News: The year 2019, marks the 20th anniversary of victory in ‘Operation VIJAY’ popularly known as the ‘Kargil War’. The Kargil War is a saga of strong political, military and diplomatic actions. The Nation shall be celebrating the 20th anniversary of victory this year in Kargil War with pride, honour and inspiration.

More on the Topic:

• The Kargil War will always be remembered for its strategic and tactical surprises, the self-imposed national strategy of restraint in keeping the war limited to Kargil – Siachen Sectors and swiftly executed tri-services military strategy and plans.
• The Kargil War will also be remembered for the determination and daring junior leadership and the raw courage of our jawans at tactical level.
• This year, 20th anniversary of victory in ‘Operation VIJAY’ is being celebrated with the theme ‘Remember, Rejoice and Renew’. We ‘remember’ our martyrs, by revisiting the sacrifices and instilling pride and respect among us, we ‘rejoice’ by celebrating the victory in Kargil and we ‘renew’ our resolve to safeguard the honour of the Tricolour.
• The objective of these celebrations is to evoke feeling of nationalism and patriotism through nationwide campaigns especially amongst youth and to pay homage to the valiant soldiers.
• The events are planned to highlight the stories of valour by our brave soldiers and rekindle the pride among the youth of the country, inspiring those who were too young and those who were not yet born, to form part of the Nation’s resolve.

Source: PIB