Syllabus: General Studies Paper 3

The 26th edition of the quadrilateral maritime drill, Exercise Malabar among the navies of the Quad countries India, the United States, Japan and Australia culminated in the seas off the coast of Japan.

• The exercise aimed at cooperation in the strategically significant Indo-Pacific region was hosted by the Japan Maritime Self Defence Force (JMSDF) this time.

Malabar Exercise and how it has evolved

• It is a multilateral war-gaming naval exercise that started in 1992 as a bilateral exercise between India and the USA.
• After successful editions in 1995 & 1996, there was a break until 2002 in the aftermath of India’s nuclear tests.
• It has been conducted every year after 2002
• Japan and Australia first participated in 2007, and since 2014, India, the US and Japan have participated in the exercise every year.
• Japan joined in 2015 as a permanent member, and Malabar became a trilateral exercise.
• In 2020, for the first time in over a decade, Australia joined the exercise and all QUAD navies were seen together in action.
• The 26th edition is quadrilateral maritime drill among the navies of the Quad countries — India, the United States, Japan and Australia.
• The exercise aimed at cooperation in the strategically significant Indo-Pacific region, through improved interoperability with the partner navies.

In the 26th edition

• The Indian Navy was represented by Eastern Fleet, led by its Flag Officer Commanding, Rear Admiral Sanjay Bhalla.
• The Indian contingent was represented by stealth multirole frigate INS Shivalik and anti-submarine corvette INS Kamorta.
• ‘War at Sea’ exercise
• Exchange of ‘Sea Riders’

Syllabus: General Studies Paper 2

National Commission for Women launched the latest version of ‘Digital Shakti’ programme, which was essentially dedicated to teach women to be safe online.

• The latest 4.0 version of its ‘Digital Shakti’ programme, which was essentially dedicated to teach women to be safe online.
• Seeking to empower women digitally, the National Commission for Women (NCW) is expanding the ambit of its cyber-security programme to enable females on using the digital space to enhance their career prospects, and use technology to their advantage.

About Digital Shakti’ programme

• It is a cyber-safety programme, launched by NCW in 2018 essentially to train women fight cyber-crime and to help females use digital space.
• CyberPeace Foundation is partnering with the NCW and Meta to implement the programme.
• The 4.0 version aims at accelerating the digital participation of women
• To train one million women from schools, colleges and universities apart from housewives to use the digital knowledge responsibly and support them if they have any business ideas for example for start-up
• To upskill and empower women digitally
• Through this project, over 3 lakh women across India have been made aware of the cyber safety tips and tricks, the reporting and redressal mechanisms, data privacy and the usage of technology, for their benefits.

Syllabus: General Studies Paper 2

While hearing a PIL on religious conversion, the Supreme Court said that “forced” religious conversions are “very dangerous” and may “ultimately affect the security of the nation as well as the freedom of religion and conscience of the citizens”.

The Supreme Court views on the Issue

• The bench urged the government to “make their stand clear and file counter on what steps can be taken by Union and/or others to curb such forced conversion, maybe by force, allurement or fraudulent means”.
• The court singles out the issue for its attention, asks what action the government proposes to take, it implies both that “forced” religious conversions are a significant problem and that existing laws are insufficient to deal with it.
• Article 25 of the Constitution says “all persons are equally entitled to freedom of conscience and the right freely to profess, practise and propagate religion”. 
• But at least 10 states have legislated anti-conversion laws, beginning in the 1960s. 
• The claim is that legal safeguards, including IPC provisions, have failed to stop religious conversions through “coercion”, “intimidation”, “allurement”, “threats”. 
• Mass conversions in independent India, though rare, have been acts of protest against social discrimination. 
• The conversion of BR Ambedkar and over three lakh followers, mostly Dalits, to Buddhism in 1956 as well as the 1982 Meenakshipuram conversions, when 180 Dalit families in a Tamil Nadu village embraced Islam, were acts of political revolt.
• The current context of the conversion debate appears to be missionary activity in tribal areas and inter-religious marriages, labelled as “love jihad”.

Anti Conversion Laws

• Princely states headed by Hindu royal families were the first to introduce laws restricting religious conversions during the British colonial era, especially during the latter half of the 1930s and 1940s.
• Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and Himachal Pradesh passed anti-conversion laws that outlaw religious conversion solely for the purpose of marriage.
• Uttar Pradesh Prohibition of Unlawful Conversion of Religious Ordinance, 2020 also requires a 60-days-notice. However, it also requires the Magistrate to conduct police inquiry to ascertain the real intention behind the conversion
• Under the Madhya Pradesh law, the burden of proving that the conversion was done in a legitimate fashion lies with the person converted.
• Under the law, any marriage where a husband or wife has converted (even consensually) will be declared null and void unless prior notice is given to the state government.
• Recent Karnataka law says any person intending to convert to another religion after the law comes into force will have to notify the district magistrate two months in advance.

Judicial pronouncements on such laws:

• In 2020 the Allahabad High Court cancelled a case against a Muslim man (Salamat Ansari), filed by the parents of his wife (Priyanka Kharwar (now Alia)) who converted to Islam before marrying him.
• The verdict comes as a reminder of the Constitution’s cherished values in the backdrop of some state governments bringing in legislations against what they call as “Love Jihad”.
• Right to privacy: It held that an individual’s ability to control vital aspects of her life inheres in her right to privacy. Puttaswamy judgement, has recognised that every individual possesses a guaranteed freedom of thought.
• The Uttarakhand HC, in November 2017, held that conversions for the sake of marriage “a sham” and urged the government to enact the law against such conversions. This became the basis for the Uttarakhand Freedom of Religion Act, 2018.
• Sarala Mudgal case: The court had held that the religious conversion into Islam by a person from non-Islamic faith is not valid if the conversion is done for the purpose of polygamy.

Conversion in India is legal but not the conversion made using force/allurement/inducement to convert people. Various Court judgments have made conversion laws a legal one but not the laws which have whimsical/fanciful/arbitrary laws by State. So, there is a clear limit for the State to intervene in the religious conversion, this can be further demarcated by small but significant steps such as model law, enhancing awareness, etc. 

Syllabus: General Studies Paper 3

India has put forward a proposal to better protect a species of freshwater reptile called the red-crowned roofed turtle (Batagur kachuga) under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES). 

The turtle, native to India and Bangladesh, is at a high risk of extinction.

• In the CITES COP19 agenda, countries have proposals to amend the appendices for wild animals, which include transferring hippopotamus, straw-headed bulbul, red-crowned roofed turtle and African elephant to Appendix I. 
• It also proposes to include requiem and hammerhead sharks in Appendix II. 

The Red Crowned Roofed Turtle

• Red Crowned Roofed Turtle is a species of freshwater turtle endemic to South Asia.
• The last known stronghold for this river turtle is on the Chambal River in central India, however, small isolated populations may still exist in the Ganges and Brahmaputra river basins. 
• IUCN Status: Critically Endangered
• Indian Wildlife (Protection) Act of 1972: Schedule I

Threats

• The list cites threats like habitat loss due to pollution and hydrological projects specific in the Gangal lowlands of northern India and Bangladesh. 
• Overharvesting the animal for illegal consumption and illegal international trade are other reasons for its extinction threat. 
• Over 11,000 tortoises and freshwater turtles have been seized in India from 2009-2019, found a study by TRAFFIC, a global NGO working on trade in wild animals and plants and their conservation.
• The poached animals were illegally traded year after year and identification were absent in 51.5 per cent of the cases.

About CITES

• It is an international agreement between governments.
• CITES regulates international trade in specimens of species of wild fauna and flora based on a system of permits and certificates issued under certain conditions.
• It covers export, re-export, import and landing from the high seas of live and dead
• animals and plants and their parts and derivatives.
• CITES has now 183 Parties. Not all members of the United Nations are Parties to the Convention.
• The CITES Secretariat is hosted by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP).
• It was drafted as a result of a resolution adopted in 1963 at a meeting of members of IUCN (The World Conservation Union).
• The text of the Convention was finally agreed at a meeting of representatives of 80 countries in Washington, D.C, on 3 March 1973, and on 1 July 1975 CITES entered in force.
• It is legally binding on the Parties – in other words they have to implement the Convention.
• It does not take the place of national laws. Rather it provides a framework to be adopted by parties in its own domestic legislation to ensure that CITES is implemented at the national level.

Syllabus: General Studies Paper 3

The World Bank Group has announced a Global Shield Financing Facility to help developing countries access more financing for recovery from natural disasters and climate shocks.

About Global Shield Financing Facility Initiative

• The Global Shield Against Climate Risks initiative was launched at the 27th Conference of Parties (COP27) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt.
• This facility will support the Global Shield Against Climate Risks, a joint initiative launched today at COP27 by the G7 and V20 to better protect poor and vulnerable people from disasters by pre-arranging more financing before disasters strike.
• The Global Shield Financing Facility will channel grants to developing countries through World Bank projects or through projects prepared by other participating partners, including UN agencies and multilateral development banks. 
• It will also work closely with key stakeholders, such as civil society organizations, risk pools, private sector and humanitarian partners.
• Pakistan, Bangladesh, Costa Rica, Fiji, Senegal, Philippines and Ghana will be the first to receive assistance under this initiative.
• The initial contributions for this initiative are provided Germany, Denmark, Ireland and Canada.

About V20 Countries

• Vulnerable Twenty (V20) Group of Ministers of Finance of the Climate Vulnerable Forum is a dedicated cooperation initiative of economies systemically vulnerable to climate change.
• It was established on 08 October 2015 at Lima, Peru.
• It’s primary objective is to promote the mobilisation of climate finance.
• Survive Thrive #1.5C aims to promote actions to keep warming below 1.5°C and urges people to get involved and keep updated on limiting global warming to 1.5°C.
• The call to create the V20 originated from the Climate Vulnerable Forum’s Costa Rica Action Plan (2013-2015) in a major effort to strengthen economic and financial responses to climate change.
• It foresaw a high-level policy dialogue pertaining to action on climate change and the promotion of climate resilient and low emission development with full competence for addressing economic and financial issues beyond the remit of any one organization.
• The V20 is a bloc consists of countries most threatened by climate change including’s members are Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Barbados, Bhutan, Costa Rica, East Timor, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Kiribati, Madagascar, the Maldives, Nepal, the Philippines, Rwanda, Saint Lucia, Tanzania, Tuvalu, Vanuatu and Vietnam.

Syllabus: General Studies Paper 1

On the occasion of the birth anniversary of tribal leader Birsa Munda, the Centre marked the second Janjatiya Gaurav Divas on November 15 to celebrate the contributions of tribal communities to Indian culture.

• President Droupadi Murmu, who was appointed India’s first tribal woman president this year, visited Ulihatu village in the Khunti district of Jharkhand – the birthplace of ‘Bhagwan’ Birsa Munda – and paid floral tributes.
• The government has also paid tributes to other pre-independence era tribal leaders recently, with the statue of Alluri Sitharama Raju inaugurated by the Prime Minister this year and new ‘tribal museums’ announced.

Munda Tribe

• The Munda tribe inhabited the Chota Nagpur region of today’s Jharkhand. 
• This was done in part by allying with local zamindars, who helped force the tribals into bonded labour.
• A feudal zamindari system was introduced, destroying the tribal “Khuntkatti” agrarian and land ownership system that was more community-based. 
• The Raj brought in outsiders — moneylenders and contractors, as well as feudal landlords — to aid them.
• With the impact of British rule and activities of Christian missionaries, many tribals became critical of the British and missionaries’ presence.

Birsa Munda

• Birsa Munda was born in 1875, the British were attempting to establish control over and exploit forest lands, disrupting the tribal way of life. 
• He belonged to the Munda tribe in the Chota Nagpur Plateau area. He converted to Christianity in order to join the German Mission school. However, he later decided to renounce Christianity and drop out of the School.
• Birsait Faith: He created a new religion called Birsait, which worshipped only one god. Given his growing influence in the tribal community, Birsait soon became the popular religion among the Mundas and Oraons. He was also given the nickname ‘Dharti Abba’ or Father of the Earth.
• Influence on Birsa Munda: During the 1880s, Birsa closely witnessed the Sardari Larai movement in the region, which demanded the restoration of tribal rights through non-violent methods like sending petitions to the Raj. However, the oppressive colonial regime paid no heed to these demands. 

Munda Rebellion

• It was led by Birsa Munda. It was a revolt against the colonial masters and exploitative dikus(outsiders) and was aimed at establishing Munda Raj or Munda rule in this region. 
• The revolt later came to be known as The Ulgulan or “the Great Tumult”.
• Reason for Munda Revolt: In 1874, the British replaced the Khuntkari system of Munda tribals with the zamindari system. 
• The introduction of the zamindari system created the classes of zamindars (landlords) and ryots (tenants). 
• It also intensified the forced labour (veth bigari) in the forested tribal areas and made tribals depend on money lenders for money.
• Impact of the Munda Revolt: The movement compelled the British to take cognisance of the plight and exploitation of tribals and bring in the Chhota Nagpur Tenancy Act of 1908 for their protection. This Act restricted the transfer of tribal land to non-tribals giving Adivasis a huge relief and became a landmark legislation for the protection of tribal rights. 

Syllabus: General Studies Paper 3

Recently the third edition of the ‘pan-India’ coastal defence Exercise ‘Sea Vigil-22’ is conducted by the Indian Navy.

• To enhance India’s maritime security the two-day long multi-exercise covered the 7,516 km-long coastline of the country.
• Along with covering India’s coastline, the exercise also took place in the exclusive economic zone. 
• With the collaborative participation of the Indian Navy, Coast Guard, Customs department, and other maritime agencies, Sea Vigil helped in validating the maritime security mechanism.

Operation Sea Vigil

• Exercise Sea Vigil is a Coastal Defence Exercise conceptualized in 2018 to validate various measures that have been instituted towards enhancing maritime security since ‘26/11’. 
• The exercise will be undertaken along the entire 7516 km coastline and Exclusive Economic Zone of India.
• All the Coastal States and Union territories along with other maritime stakeholders.
• Its objective is to provide a realistic assessment of India’s strengths and weaknesses and thus will help in further strengthening Maritime and National Security.
• Indian Navy in coordination with the Coast Guard and other ministries entrusted with the task of maritime activities.
• Sea Vigil and TROPEX together will cover the entire spectrum Maritime Security challenges.
• Theatre Level Readiness Operational Exercise (TROPEX) is an inter-service military exercise conducted every two years.

Syllabus: General Studies Paper 3

The latest Climate Change Performance Index by Germanwatch, an independent development organisation, has put India eighth amongst a group of 59 countries and the European Union in terms of climate action, ahead of most developed countries.

• The UK has been ranked 11, Germany 16, while China and the United States are placed at 51st and 52nd ranks respectively. 
• Denmark and Sweden have been assessed to be the top performers this year as well.

Climate Change Performance Index:

• Climate Change Performance Index(CCPI) is an independent monitoring tool for tracking the climate protection performance of 60 countries and the EU, covering 92% of the Global Greenhouse Gas Emissions
• Aim: To enhance transparency in international climate politics and enable comparison of climate protection efforts and progress made by individual countries.

Categories: 

CCPI assesses each country’s performance in four categories: 

• GHG Emissions (40% of the overall ranking), 
• Renewable Energy (20%), 
• Energy Use (20%) and 
• Climate Policy (20%).

India’s Performance

• India earns a high rating in the GHG Emissions and Energy Use categories, with a medium for Climate Policy and Renewable Energy.

• The country is on track to meet its 2030 emissions targets (compatible with a well-below 2 degree Celsius scenario). 

• However, the renewable energy pathway is not on track for the 2030 target

• India earns a high rating in the GHG Emissions and Energy Use categories, with a medium for Climate Policy and Renewable Energy.
• The country is on track to meet its 2030 emissions targets (compatible with a well-below 2-degree Celsius scenario). However, the renewable energy pathway is not on track for the 2030 target.
• India’s upgraded NDC (nationally determined contributions)
• Net zero target for 2070.
• At least 50 per cent of its electricity generation in 2030 from renewable energy sources (up from 40 per cent earlier)
• Cuts in emissions intensity, 45 per cent from 2005 levels by 2030, instead of the 33-35 per cent which was the earlier target.
• India’s climate actions were still not consistent with the 1.5-degree Celsius goal since India has plans to increase its oil and gas production by over 5 per cent by 2030.

Syllabus: General Studies Paper 2

Corporates, industrial bodies and chambers of commerce are pitching in to play a crucial role in the Tamil Nadu government’s ‘Naan Mudhalvan’ scheme aimed at equipping college students with industry-relevant skills.

About the scheme

• It is an initiative of Tamil Nadu State government.
• Naan Mudhalvan platform aims to provide dynamic information for college students on courses and relevant information about industry specific skill offerings.
• This will enable the students of Tamilnadu to get training in their chosen field of interest that will help them in achieving their career goals.
• The objective of this scheme is to identify potential training providers, to impart various skill trainings based on current industry gaps.
• Through this flagship program the students will be able to get trained and ensure they get jobs according to their skill sets.

About the Platform:

• Naan Mudhalvan platform aims to provide dynamic information for college students on courses and relevant information about industry specific skill offerings.
• This will enable the students of Tamilnadu to get training in their chosen field of interest that will help them in achieving their career goals.
• The objective of this scheme is to identify potential training providers, to impart various skill trainings based on current industry gaps.
• Through this flagship program the students will be able to get trained and ensure they get jobs according to their skill sets.
• Naan Mudhalvan showcases 2000+ institutes and consequent 300+ career pathways.

Syllabus: General Studies Paper 2

The Jharkhand Assembly on Friday (November 11) cleared two Bills, one increasing reservation in vacant government posts and services in the state to 77 per cent, and the second to use land records with 1932 as the cut-off year to determine domicile status the definition of ‘local residents’.

What is the Ninth Schedule?

• The Ninth Schedule contains a list of central and state laws which cannot be challenged in courts. 
• Currently, 284 such laws are shielded from judicial review. Most of the laws protected under the Schedule concern agriculture/land issues.
• The Schedule became a part of the Constitution in 1951, when the document was amended for the first time. 
• It was created by the new Article 31B, which along with 31A was brought in by the government to protect laws related to agrarian reform and for abolishing the Zamindari system. 
• While A. 31A extends protection to ‘classes’ of laws, A. 31B shields specific laws or enactments.
• Article 31B reads: “Without prejudice to the generality of the provisions contained in article 31A, none of the Acts and Regulations specified in the Ninth Schedule nor any of the provisions thereof shall be deemed to be void, or ever to have become void, on the ground that such Act, Regulation or provision is inconsistent with, or takes away or abridges any of the rights conferred by, any provisions of this Part, and notwithstanding any judgment, decree or order of any court or Tribunal to the contrary, each of the said Acts and Regulations shall, subject to the power of any competent Legislature to repeal or amend it, continue in force.”
• The First Amendment added 13 laws to the Schedule. Subsequent amendments in 1955, 1964, 1971, 1974, 1975, 1976, 1984, 1990, 1994, and 1999 have taken the number of protected laws to 284.

Kesavananda Bharati case and Basic structure

• The court clarified that the laws cannot escape the “basic structure” test if inserted into the Ninth Schedule after 1973, as it was in 1973 that the basic structure test was evolved in the Kesavananda Bharati case as the ultimate test to examine the constitutional validity of laws.

Indra Sawhney case:

• In the Indra Sawhney vs Union of India, popularly known as the Mandal Commission case, the Supreme Court ordered that total reservation should not exceed 50 percent.
• Critics believe that the 50 percent ceiling is a constitutional requirement without which the structure of equality of opportunity would collapse.
• Supreme Court’s recent judgment regarding flexibility on the 50% cap on the reservation:
• The bill was cleared in the backdrop of a Supreme Court Constitution Bench’s majority ruling in the Economically Weaker Section (EWS) case that the 50% cap on the reservation was not sacrosanct.

Outcome of this judgment:

• This ruling of SC has paved the way to give new life to the argument of several other States fighting to increase reservations for Socially and Economically Backward Classes (SEBC) beyond the 50% mark.
• Now, after the Jharkhand Assembly’s move and the EWS judgment on this aspect, other States like Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Karnataka are likely to get a fresh impetus to argue for extending reservations for Backward Classes beyond the 50% limit.

Ninth schedule and provision of 103rd CAA 2019:

• Before the EWS judgment once again affirming that the Indra Sawhney decision does not specifically bar a breach of the 50% limit, State governments considered that the only way to raise reservations was through a Constitutional amendment that included their legislations in the Ninth Schedule.

Jharkhand Reservation of Vacancies in Posts and Services (Amendment) Bill, 2022

• The Jharkhand Assembly passed a Bill to raise the total reservation for Scheduled Castes (SC), Scheduled Tribes (ST) and Other Backward Classes (OBC) in State government posts to up to 77%.

Amending Ninth schedule:

• In the Bill passed by the Jharkhand Assembly, the recommendation is to amend the Ninth Schedule of the Constitution accordingly.
• The 77 percent reservation breaches the 50 percent ceiling set by the Supreme Court in the landmark 1992 Indra Sawhney v Union of India verdict.
• However, placing legislation in the Ninth Schedule shields it from judicial scrutiny.

About breach of 50% ceiling:

• Without directly referring to the Indra Sawhney judgment of 1993, the Bill passed in Jharkhand Assembly noted that the 50% ceiling set out in the judgment never explicitly prohibited the breaching of the limit.

Are laws in the Ninth Schedule completely exempt from judicial scrutiny?

• While the Ninth Schedule provides the law with a “safe harbour” from judicial review, the protection is not blanket.
• When the Tamil Nadu law was challenged in 2007 (I R Coelho v State of Tamil Nadu), the Supreme Court ruled in a unanimous nine-judge verdict that while laws placed under Ninth Schedule cannot be challenged on the grounds of violation of fundamental rights, they can be challenged on the ground of violating the basic structure of the Constitution.
• The court clarified that the laws cannot escape the “basic structure” test if inserted into the Ninth Schedule after 1973, as it was in 1973 that the basic structure test was evolved in the Kesavananda Bharati case as the ultimate test to examine the constitutional validity of laws.
• The IR Coelho verdict said, “A law that abrogates or abridges rights guaranteed by Part III of the Constitution may violate the basic structure doctrine or it may not. If former is the consequence of law, whether by amendment of any Article of Part III or by an insertion in the Ninth Schedule, such law will have to be invalidated in exercise of judicial review power of the Court.”