Syllabus: General Studies Paper 2

The Election Commission of India (ECI) has decided to initiate graded action against more than 2,100 Registered Unrecognized Political Parties (RUPPs) for noncompliance of statutory requirements under the Representation of the People (RP) Act.

Election Commission of India (ECI):

• The Election Commission of India is an autonomous constitutional authority responsible for administering Union and State election processes in India.
• It administers elections to the Lok Sabha, Rajya Sabha, and State Legislative Assemblies in India, and the offices of the President and Vice President in the country.
• Part XV of the Indian constitution deals with elections, and establishes a commission for these matters.
• Article 324 to 329 of the constitution deals with powers, function, tenure, eligibility, etc of the commission and the members.
• It consists of one Chief Election Commissioner and two Election Commissioners appointed by the President.
• They have a fixed tenure of six years, or up to the age of 65 years, whichever is earlier.
• They enjoy the same status and receive salary and perks as available to Judges of the Supreme Court of India.
• The Chief Election Commissioner can be removed from office only through a process of removal similar to that of a Supreme Court judge by Parliament.
• It grants recognition to political parties & allot election symbols to them along with settling disputes related to it.
• The Commission also has advisory jurisdiction in the matter of post-election disqualification of sitting members of Parliament and State Legislatures.
• It issues the Model Code of Conduct in election for political parties and candidates so that no one indulges in unfair practice or there is no arbitrary abuse of powers by those in power.
• It sets limits of campaign expenditure per candidate to all the political parties, and also monitors the same.

Registered Unrecognized Political Parties:

• Either newly registered parties or those which have not secured enough percentage of votes in the assembly or general elections to become a state party, or those which have never contested elections since being registered are considered unrecognized parties.
• They do not enjoy all the benefits extended to the recognised parties.

Recognised Political Party:

• A recognised political party shall either be a National party or a State party if it meets certain laid down conditions.
• To become a recognised political party: 

State Party – The registered party has to satisfy any of the 5 conditions:

1. Secure at least 6% of the valid vote & win at least 2 seats in an Assembly General Election
2. Secure at least 6% of the valid vote & win at least 1 seats in a Lok Sabha General Election
3. Win at least 3% of the seats or at least 3 seats, whichever is more, in an Assembly General Election
4. Win at least 1 out of every 25 seats from a state in a Lok Sabha General Election
5. Secure at least 8% of the total valid vote in an Assembly or a Lok Sabha General Election

• National Party – The registered party has to satisfy any of the 3 conditions.

1. Secure at least 6% of the valid vote in an Assembly or a Lok Sabha General Election in any four or more states and won at least 4 seats in a Lok Sabha General Election from any State or States
2. Win at least 2% of the total Lok Sabha seats in a Lok Sabha General Election and these seats have to be won from at least 3 states
3. The party is recognized as a State Party in at least four states

• The recognition granted by the Commission to the parties determines their right to certain privileges like allocation of the party symbols, provision of time for political broadcasts on the state-owned television and radio stations and access to electoral rolls.

Syllabus: General Studies Paper 2

The Ministry of Education released its National Achievement Survey (NAS) 2021 report

• The objective of NAS 2021 is to evaluate children’s progress and learning competencies as an indicator of the efficiency of the education system, so as to take appropriate steps for remedial actions at different levels
• The survey assesses the health of the school education system in the country through a survey of children’s learning competencies at Classes 3, 5, 8 and 10.
• The survey is conducted every three years, and the last one was held in 2017.
• Nearly 34 lakh students of 1.18 lakh schools in 720 districts from government, government-aided and private-unaided schools participated in the exercise.
• The survey was conducted via an OMR (optical mark recognition)-based achievement test comprising multiple-choice questions along with questionnaires in 22 different languages.
• This nationwide survey was administered by the Central Board of Secondary Education in one single day at the same time.

Key Findings

• A DEEP learning crisis has set in during the Covid pandemic; there is fall of up to nine percentage points between 2017 and 2021 in the performance of students in subjects ranging from maths to social sciences
• The dip has happened across subjects, and grades.
• It is also found that as many as 24 per cent of the students surveyed did not have access to digital devices at home, 38 per cent said they faced difficulty carrying out learning activities at home during the pandemic, while 80 per cent said they learn better at school with the help of peers.
• It found that out of a score of 500, students across various classes performed better in languages but lagged behind in subjects like mathematics and science.
• It also shows that across various subjects and classes, SC, ST and OBC students performed worse than general category students.
• For instance, while general category students in Class 8 scored an average of 260 marks in mathematics, SC students scored 249 marks, ST scored 244 marks and OBCs scored 253 marks

Syllabus: General Studies Paper 1

International Labour Organisation (ILO) released a document “Inclusion of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex and queer (LGBTIQ+) persons in the world of work”

Recommendations

• Report recommended member countries, employers’ organisations and representatives of workers to launch social protection programmes to remove barriers that LGBTIQ+ persons face in society
• The ILO document said discrimination has an economic cost not just to LGBTIQ+ persons and their families but also to enterprises and national economies.
• The ILO added that around the world, LGBTIQ+ persons face harassment, violence and discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression and sex characteristics.
• It said a national policy and labour law review will allow governments to assess their country’s work policy environment for LGBTIQ+ persons – This will allow the identification of concrete steps for improving the legal and policy environment, ending discrimination and exclusions, and complying with international instruments
• The ILO said consultation with LGBTIQ+ communities and social dialogue with employers’ and workers’ organisations are key – This will allow the identification of barriers faced by LGBTIQ+ persons when entering the labour market and accessing government schemes
• Studies have shown that diversity in the workplace, including LGBTIQ+ persons, is better for business.
• It signals a creative environment that creates the right conditions for economic growth

Challenges Faced by LGBTIQ+ Community

• Family: The problem of sexual orientation and gender identity leads to fighting and family disruption.
• Lack of communication and misunderstanding between parents and their LGBTQ children increases family conflict.
• Discrimination at Work Place: LGBTQ suffers from the socio-economic inequalities in large part due to discrimination in the workplace.
• Health Issues: Criminalisation of homosexuality leads to discrimination and results in LGBTQ people getting poor or inadequate access to services within the health system.
• Drug Abuse: They gradually develop low self-esteem and low self-confidence and become isolated from friends and family.
• These people mostly get addicted to drugs and alcohol

Status of LGBTIQ+ Rights in India

• National Legal Services Authority Vs. Union of India (2014): The SC observed that “recognition of transgenders as a third gender is not a social or medical issue, but a human rights issue”.
• Navtej Singh Johar vs. Union Of India (2018): The SC decriminalised homosexuality by striking off parts of Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) which were held violative of Fundamental Rights of LGBTQ Community.
• The SC held that Article 14 of the Constitution guarantees equality before law and this applies to all classes of citizens therby restoring ‘inclusiveness’ of LGBTQ Community.
• Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Act, 2019:
• The Parliament has enacted the Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Act, 2019, to prohibit discrimination against Transgender persons
• Same Sex Marraiges: In Shafin Jahan v. Asokan K.M. and others (2018) case, the SC observed that choice of a partner is a person’s fundamental right and it can be a same-sex partner.
• However, in February, 2021, the Central Government opposed same-sex marriage in Delhi High Court stating that a marriage in India can be recognised only if it is between a “biological man” and a “biological woman” capable of producing children.

Way Forward

It is time to recognize the rights of LGBTIQ+ community through anti-discrimination law that empowers them to build productive lives and relationships irrespective of gender identity or sexual orientation and place the onus to change on state and society and not the individual.

Syllabus: General Studies Paper 2

A leak of thousands of photos and official documents from China’s Xinjiang has shed new light on the violent methods used to enforce mass internment in the region

• The files were published as UN human rights chief Michelle Bachelet begins a long-awaited and controversial trip to Xinjiang.
• Documents support the claim that Chinese authorities have detained more than one million Uighurs and other mostly Muslim minorities in a network of detention centres and prisons in the region, which Beijing has defended as training centers
• After initially denying their existence, Beijing has claimed the facilities are vocational training schools, attended voluntarily and aimed at stamping out religious extremism.
• China’s Foreign Ministry dismissed the leaked documents as “cobbled-together material” by “anti-China forces smearing Xinjiang”

Uighur Muslims:

• The Uighurs are a predominantly Muslim minority Turkic ethnic group, whose origins can be traced to Central and East Asia.
• The Uighurs speaks their own language, similar to Turkish, and sees themselves as culturally and ethnically close to Central Asian nations.
• The Uighurs are considered to be one of the 55 officially recognized ethnic minority communities in China.
• However, China recognises the community only as a regional minority and rejects that they are an indigenous group.
• Currently, the largest population of the Uighur ethnic community lives in Xinjiang region of China.

Syllabus: General Studies Paper 2

• The fourth Quad summit was held in Japan
• There were divergences among the leaders of Australia, India, Japan and US on the war in Europe(Ukraine crisis) but unanimity in their response to China’s belligerence as they strongly opposed “any coercive, provocative or unilateral actions that seek to change the status quo” in the Indo-Pacific.
• While Washington and Tokyo were vocal in their criticism of Moscow in their public statements — India and Australia did not do so in their opening statements at the summit.
• Apart from the Ukraine crisis, the leaders also took note of the post-coup crackdown in Myanmar called for the release of “all political detainees, including foreigners” and called for “swift restoration of democracy”.
• The summit condemned “unequivocally terrorism and violent extremism in all its forms and manifestations” and condemned the 26/11 Mumbai and 2016 Pathankot attacks.

 The event witnessed the launch of several initiatives

• Indo-Pacific Partnership for Maritime Domain Awareness (IPMDA)
• The leaders of the Quad countries announced the formation of the Indo-Pacific Partnership for Maritime Domain Awareness (IPMDA) which will build a “faster, wider, and more accurate maritime picture of near-real-time activities in partners’ waters.”
• The IPMDA is said to be a satellite-based maritime security system aiming for a “fundamental requirement for peace, stability, and prosperity” in the Indo-Pacific region.
• The initiative will integrate three critical regions of the Pacific Islands – Southeast Asia, and the Indian Ocean region – and allow tracking of “dark shipping” and other “tactical activities”.
• “Dark ships” are vessels with their Automatic Identification System (AIS) – a transponder system – switched off so as not to be detectable.
• The new maritime initiative will enable these countries to monitor illegal fishing even when the boats have turned off the transponders which are typically used to track vessels.
• The maritime system will also improve the partners’ ability to respond to climate and humanitarian events and protect their fisheries – a vital need for many Indo-Pacific economies.
• Quad Climate Change Adaptation and Mitigation Package (Q-CHAMP)
• The members also launched the “Quad Climate Change Adaptation and Mitigation Package (Q-CHAMP) with “mitigation” and “adaptation” as its two pillars.
• The initiative will help green shipping and foster the idea of a “shared green corridor”
• Quad Partnership on Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief (HADR)
• As part of the plan to increase the humanitarian footprint in the region, the leaders announced the establishment of the Quad Partnership on Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief (HADR) in the Indo-Pacific region.
• The grouping also decided to enhance sharing of data as part of the “Quad Satellite Data Portal” that will enhance cooperation among the satellites of the member countries.
• The Tokyo summit witnessed the launch of the Quad Fellowship which will intensify people-to-people contact and foster academic exchanges. Under the scheme, 100 students from the member countries will travel to the US each year to pursue graduate studies in STEM fields.

Syllabus: General Studies Paper 3

Money Spider, ant-mimicking spider discovered at Wayanad Wildlife Sanctuary

Money Spider

• Money spiders, commonly found in European meadows, have been reported for the first time in the country from the Muthanga range of the Wayanad Wildlife Sanctuary
• The species is called so as it is “believed to bring luck” to the person who comes in contact with it.
• The spider belongs to the family of dwarf spiders (Linyphiidae) under the genus Prosoponoides.
• It has been given the name Prosoponoides biflectogynus.
• Only six species of spiders belonging to this genus have been identified from across the world so far.
• It is the first report of this genus from India and hence no extensive studies have been conducted on this species of spiders in the country
• The male and the female money spiders are typically 3 mm and 4 mm long respectively.
• Both sexes are dark brown and have irregular silver patches and black spots on elliptical abdomen.
• There are numerous fine black spines on their olive green legs.
• Eight dark eyes are arranged in two rows
• Females build triangular webs in between dry tree twigs and feed on small insects, while males prefer to hide beneath dry leaves.
• Two or more male spiders can be found in the web of a single female.

Ant-mimicking spiders

• Research team also discovered ant-mimicking spiders, belonging to the group of jumping spiders, from the Mananthavady range.
• They belong to the family of Salticidae.
• The ant-mimicking spider has been named Toxeus alboclavus
• They perfectly mimic ants by lifting their front pair of legs while walking as a mechanism to escape from potential predators.
• Only three species of this genus have been reported from India, and this is the first species reported from the Western Ghats
• The male and the female spiders of this species grow up to 4 mm and 6 mm long respectively.
• A pair of white stripes on the dark brown abdomen of females makes them distinct from other spiders of this group.
• The male of the species are characterized by a brown cephalic region and black thorax with white hairs.
• The forward-projecting fangs have a characteristic shape of an antler.
• Long spines are present on the base of each leg.

Wayanad Wildlife Sanctuary (WWS)

• Located in Kerala, WWS is an integral part of the Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve. It was established in 1973.
• Spread over 344.44 sq km, Wayanad Wildlife Sanctuary is contiguous to the tiger reserves of Nagerhole and Bandipur of Karnataka and Mudumalai of Tamil Nadu.
• Kabini river (a tributary of Cauvery river) flows through the sanctuary.
• The forest types include South Indian Moist Deciduous forests, West coast semi-evergreen forests and plantations of teak, eucalyptus and Grewelia.
• Elephant, Gaur, Tiger, Panther,Sambar, Spotted deer, Barking deer, Wild boar, Sloth bear, Nilgiri langur, Bonnet macaque, Common langur, Wild dog, common otter, Malabar giant squirrel etc are the major mammals.
• Other wildlife parks within the Reserve (Nilgiri Biosphere) are: Mudumalai Wildlife Sanctuary, Bandipur National Park, Nagarhole National Park, Mukurthi National Park and Silent Valley.

Syllabus: General Studies Paper 1

• The Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) on May 17 said that a sculpture of a lion, which possibly dates back to the Ganga dynasty, was found during excavation for the controversial heritage corridor project around the 12thcentury Jagannath Temple in Puri,Odisha.
• This is the third such lion sculpture found during the excavation work.

Jagannath temple

• It was constructed in the 12th century by King Anatavarman Chodaganga Deva of the Eastern Ganga Dynasty.
• Jagannath Puri temple is called ‘Yamanika Tirtha’ where, according to the Hindu beliefs, the power of ‘Yama’, the god of death has been nullified in Puri due to the presence of Lord Jagannath.
• It was called the “White Pagoda” and is a part of Char Dham pilgrimages (Badrinath, Dwaraka, Puri, Rameswaram).
• There are four gates to the temple

1. Eastern ‘Singhadwara’(main gate with two crouching lions)
2. Southern ‘Ashwadwara
3. Western ‘Vyaghra Dwara
4. Northern ‘Hastidwara’.

• There is a carving of each form at each gate.
• In front of the entrance stands the Aruna stambha or sun pillar, which was originally at the Sun Temple in Konark.

Jagannath temple Heritage Corridor Project:

• The project includes redeveloping major portions of the holy town and in the vicinity of the Jagannath temple for visitors and tourists.
• The project will include:
• Shree Jagannath Temple Administration (SJTA) building redevelopment
• a 600-capacity Srimandir reception center
• Jagannath cultural center
• Badadanda heritage streetscape
• beachfront development
• Puri lake
• Musa river revival plan, etc.

Syllabus: General Studies Paper 3

World of work – the ninth edition of the International Labour Organisation (ILO) Monitor was published

Key findings

• The report says that after significant gains during the last quarter of 2021, the number of hours worked globally dropped in the first quarter of 2022, to 3.8% below the employment situation before the pandemic.
• About 11.2 crore jobs might have lost between this period, according to the report.
• The report added that a “great and growing divergence between richer and poorer economies” continues to characterise the recovery.
• While high-income countries experienced a recovery in hours worked, low- and lower-middle-income economies suffered setbacks in the first quarter of the year with a 3.6 and 5.7 per cent gap respectively when compared to the pre-crisis benchmark
• The fresh lockdowns in China, the conflict between Ukraine and Russia, and the global rise in the prices of food and fuel are cited as the main reasons for the findings.
• The ILO urged its member countries to take a humane approach to address the situation.

Findings related to India

• The report said both India and lower-middle-income experienced a deterioration of the gender gap in work hours in the second quarter of 2020
• It report said that for every 100 women at work prior to the pandemic, 12.3 women would have lost their job as an average through the entire period considered by the report.
• In contrast, for every 100 men, the equivalent figure would have been 7.5.
• Hence, the pandemic seems to have exacerbated the already substantial gender imbalances in employment participation in the country.

Syllabus: General Studies Paper 2

President of India has appointed Vinai Kumar Saxena as Delhi’s new Lieutenant Governor

The Lieutenant Governor and the NCT Delhi:

Constitutional Provisions:

• Under Article 239 of the Constitution of India, the administration of UT’s is handled by an administrator appointed by the President of India.
• However, the Constitution (Sixty-ninth Amendment) Act, 1991 introduced Article 239AA which created an elected Legislative Assembly and a Council of Ministers including a Chief Minister for NCT Delhi.
• This Assembly has the power to make laws for NCT Delhi with respect to any of the matters under the State or Concurrent Lists (except public order, police and land matters).
• The Lieutenant Governor (LG) of Delhi was designated the Administrator of the NCT Delhi. 

Power of Lieutenant Governor

• He/She acts on the aid and advice of the Council of Ministers, except when he/she is compelled to act in his/her discretion.
• If the LG and the Ministers disagree on any issue, the LG shall refer it to the President for decision and act accordingly.
• When such a decision is pending with the President, it shall be competent for the LG to take prompt action in any scenario where the matter (in his opinion) is urgent.
• Under Article 239AB, the President may, on receipt of a report from the LG or otherwise, suspend the operation of any provision of Article 239AA by order when a situation arises in which the administration of the NCT cannot be carried out in accordance with the provisions of Article 239AA.

Syllabus: General Studies Paper 2

India and 12 countries led by the US launched the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework (IPEF) 

• The framework aims to strengthen economic partnership among participating countries to enhance resilience, sustainability, inclusiveness, economic growth, fairness, and competitiveness in the Indo-Pacific region.
• Indian Prime Minister said “The Indo-Pacific Economic Framework is a declaration of our collective will to make the region an engine of global economic growth.”
• Leaders and officials joined in virtually from Australia, Brunei, Indonesia, Republic of Korea, Malaysia, New Zealand, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam.
• A joint statement said that the countries share a commitment to a free, open, fair, inclusive, interconnected, resilient, secure, and prosperous Indo-Pacific region that has the potential to achieve sustainable and inclusive economic growth.
• The joint statement said that they are launching collective discussions toward future negotiations, and identified four pillars under the IPEF.
• Trade: To build high-standard, inclusive, free, and fair trade commitments and develop new and creative approaches in trade and technology policy that advance a broad set of objectives that fuels economic activity and investment, promotes sustainable and inclusive economic growth, and benefits workers and consumers
• Supply Chains: Committed to improving transparency, diversity, security, and sustainability in supply chains to make them more resilient and well-integrated.
• Clean Energy, Decarbonization, and Infrastructure: In line with Paris Agreement goals and efforts to support the livelihood of peoples and workers, the framework plan to accelerate the development and deployment of clean energy technologies to decarbonize economies and build resilience to climate impacts.
• Tax and Anti-Corruption: Committed to promoting fair competition by enacting and enforcing effective and robust tax, anti-money laundering, and anti-bribery regimes in line with existing multilateral obligations, standards, and agreements to curb tax evasion and corruption in the Indo-Pacific region.

Indo Pacific

• The Indo-Pacific is a geopolitical construct that has emerged as a substitute to the long-prevalent “Asia-Pacific”, which represented the eastwards shift of global developments from Euro-Atlantic dimension
• It is an integrated theatre that combines the Indian Ocean and the Pacific Ocean, and the land masses that surround them.
• One of the reasons behind the popularity of this term is an understanding that the Indian Ocean and the Pacific are a linked strategic theater.
• Also, the centre of gravity has shifted to Asia. The reason being maritime routes, the Indian Ocean and the Pacific provide the sea lanes.

The term ‘Indo-Pacific’ is interpreted differently by different stakeholders.

• India considers the region as an inclusive, open, integrated and balanced space. India continuously emphasizes on strategic inter-connections, common challenges and opportunities between the Indian Ocean and the Pacific.
• The S. considers it to be a free and open Indo-Pacific, highlighting the importance of rules or norms of conduct in the region, thus trying to contain the role of China in the region.
• The ASEAN countries look at Indo-Pacific as a consociational model, thus bringing in China not only for the sake of giving it some stakeholdership but looking for ways to cooperate with it in the region.

Factors driving the global shift towards the Indo-pacific

• Important Sea Lines of Communication – presence of key choke points, from the Mozambique Channel and Bab-el-Mandeb in the west to Lombok Strait in the east
• Flourishing Trade and Economy – The Indo-Pacific Region shares 44% of the world surface area; includes 65% of the world population; accounts for 62% of the world GDP
• Natural resources: The expanse of Indian and Pacific Ocean combined has vast reserves of marine resources including- Offshore Hydrocarbons, Methane hydrates, Sea Bed minerals, Rare earth metals, fisheries etc
• China factor – China’s aggressive foreign policy, rapid economic expansion, military modernization and power projection has raised several red flags among regional and extra-regional countries
• Increasing Militarization of Indian Ocean Region (IOR) – China has established commercial ports across the Indo Pacific, such as Gwadar port (Pakistan), port in Hambantota (Sri Lanka) etc., in addition to its overseas naval base in Djibouti.

India’s interest in the region

• Peace and security in the Indian Ocean: Nearly 50% of India’s trade is centered in the Indo-Pacific Region and the Indian Ocean carries 90% of India’s trade and its energy sources. India wants to assure freedom of navigation, secure choke points, resolve conflicts peacefully and address non-traditional security threats in the Indian Ocean Region (IOR).
• Geo-political aspirations: To expand its own presence in the region
• Countering China: Ensuring that China does not gain a significant strategic foothold in the region
• Enhancing Trade and Investment Cooperation: by encouraging greater flow of goods, services, investment and technology between India and other countries in the region.
• Promoting sustainable development in the region, combating marine pollution, Regulating illegal fishing etc

Challenges faced by India in the region

• Limited Naval Capacity and Lack of military bases
• Poor infrastructure connectivity
• Countering China – China has established commercial ports across the Indo Pacific, such as Gwadar port (Pakistan), port in Hambantota (Sri Lanka) etc – India lacks resources for such major projects

Way forward

• It is important to establish connectivity in the region based on respect for sovereignty and territorial integrity, consultation, good governance, transparency, viability and sustainability.
• The countries in the region should have equal access as a right under international law to the use of common spaces on sea and in the air that would require freedom of navigation, unimpeded commerce and peaceful settlement of disputes in accordance with international law.
• Strong naval capabilities, multilateral diplomacy, economic integration in the region is the need of the hour.