Important topics and their relevance in UPSC CSE exam for March 13, 2024. If you missed the March 12, 2024 UPSC CSE exam key from the Indian Express, read it here

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GI tag for Assam’s Majuli masks: history of the art form

Syllabus:

Preliminary Examination: Current events of national and international importance.

Main Examination: General Studies I: Indian culture will cover the salient aspects of Art Forms, literature and Architecture from ancient to modern times.

Key Points to Ponder:

• What’s the ongoing story-Adding to their growing national and international recognition, the traditional Majuli masks in Assam were given a Geographical Indication (GI) tag by the Centre on Monday (March 4). Majuli manuscript painting also got the GI label.

• What is Majuli famous for?

• Map work-Majuli

• Majuli and neo Vaishnavism-Connect the dot

• Who is the founder of neo Vaishnavism of Assam?

• “Majuli is purely a region of fluvial geomorphology”-Comment

• What are Majuli masks?

• Why is the art practised in monasteries?

• Do You Know-The handmade masks are traditionally used to depict characters in bhaonas, or theatrical performances with devotional messages under the neo-Vaishnavite tradition, introduced by the 15th-16th century reformer saint Srimanta Sankardeva. The masks can depict gods, goddesses, demons, animals and birds — Ravana, Garuda, Narasimha, Hanuman, Varaha Surpanakha all feature among the masks.

They can range in size from those covering just the face (mukh mukha), which take around five days to make, to those covering the whole head and body of the performer (cho mukha), which can take up to one-and-a-half months to make. According to the application made for the patent, the masks are made of bamboo, clay, dung, cloth, cotton, wood and other materials available in the riverine surroundings of their makers.

Sattras are monastic institutions established by Srimanta Sankardev and his disciples as centres of religious, social and cultural reform. Today, they are also centres of traditional performing arts such as borgeet (songs), xattriya (dance) and bhaona (theatre), which are an integral part of the Sankardev tradition.

Majuli has 22 sattras, and the patent application states that the mask-making tradition is by and large concentrated in four of them — Samaguri Sattra, Natun Samaguri Sattra, Bihimpur Sattra and Alengi Narasimha Sattra. Hemchandra Goswami is the sattradhikar or the administrative head of the Samaguri Sattra, and a well-known practitioner of the traditional mask-making art. According to him, masks had historically been made in all sattras, but the practice gradually died out in most over time.

“The arts of dance, song and musical instruments are closely tied to the sattras and the one who began this was Assam’s guru Srimanta Sankardev. In the 16th century, he established this art of masks through a play called Chinha Jatra. The word means explaining through images. At that time, to attract ordinary people to Krishna bhakti, he had presented the play in his birthplace Batadrava. There, he presented two masks, which were worn to express what a person’s face could not. One was the four-headed Brahma and the other was Garuda,” Goswami said. He said that the Samaguri Sattra had been practising mask-making since its establishment in 1663.

• How has the Majuli mask transformed over the years?

• “The Majuli Mask is a symbol for sociocultural elements”-Discuss

• What is Majuli manuscript painting, which also received the GI tag?

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Fighting warming: when gases are contraband

Syllabus:

Preliminary Examination: General issues on Environmental ecology, Bio-diversity and Climate Change – that do not require subject specialization.

Main Examination: General Studies III: Conservation, environmental pollution and degradation, environmental impact assessment.

Key Points to Ponder:

• What’s the ongoing story-A California man is facing criminal charges in a San Diego court for smuggling, not illegal drugs or weapons, but greenhouse gases (GHGs). These gases, some of which are used in cooling appliances such as air conditioners and refrigerators, trap heat in the atmosphere and add to global warming.

• ‘Illegally importing greenhouse gases’-How is it possible?

• What is the man accused of doing?

• What were these banned refrigerants?

• Do You Know-The refrigerants in question are hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) and a form of hydrochlorofluorocarbons (HCFCs), known as HCFC 22. HFCs and HCFCs became mainstream after emerging as an alternative to chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) in the 1990s.

For long, CFCs were the go-to refrigerants for ACs and fridges. Research published in 1985, however, confirmed that increased levels of CFCs in the atmosphere were responsible for abnormally low ozone concentrations above Antarctica, resulting in the so-called ozone hole.

Refrigerants are released into the atmosphere by damaged appliances or car ACs. Ninety per cent of refrigerant emissions are estimated to occur when equipments reache their end of life and are improperly disposed of.

• What action have countries taken to address the impact of these refrigerants?

• Montreal Protocol-Know in detail

• What does US law say about HCFCs and HFCs?

• What happens to Hart now?

• Do You Know-In 1987, almost 200 countries signed the Montreal Protocol, agreeing to freeze the production and consumption of ozone-depleting substances, including CFCs, at then current rates. Under the Montreal Protocol, countries were to phase out CFCs by 1996, and HCFCs by 2030. HCFCs were used only as an “interim” solution to CFCs because they were less harmful to the ozone layer.

As a result, HFCs which, unlike CFCs and HCFCs, have zero ozone-depleting potential (ODP), gradually became the most prominent refrigerant. But scientists soon realised that like CFCs and HCFCs, HFCs too are powerful greenhouse gases. “Even in relatively small amounts they (HFCs) contribute significantly to near-term warming as greenhouse gases which are hundreds to thousands of times more potent than carbon dioxide (CO2) per unit of mass,” according to a report by Climate and Clean Air Coalition (CCAC), an international body working to reduce powerful but short-lived climate pollutants (SLCPs) including methane, black carbon, HFCs, and tropospheric ozone.

In 2016, more than 150 countries signed the Kigali Amendment to the Montreal Protocol, agreeing to reduce consumption of HFCs by 80% by 2047. If successful, the amendment could avoid more than 0.4 degree Celsius of global warming by 2100. The Montreal Protocol was implemented in the US in 1990 by an addition to the Clean Air Act, a federal law that regulates air emissions from stationary and mobile sources. “That addition identified HCFC 22 (which Hart smuggled into the US) as a regulated ozone depleting substance”, the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) said in a statement.

Since 2020, the US has banned the import of HCFC 22 for any purpose other than in a process which results in its transformation or destruction. The American Innovation and Manufacturing (AIM) Act, passed by Congress in December 2020, authorised the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to phase down the production and consumption of numerous forms of HFCs. Starting January 1, 2022, regulated HFCs cannot be imported into the US in bulk without the EPA’s permission. “No person may sell or distribute, or offer for sale or distribution, any regulated HFC that was imported illegally,” the ICE statement said. The 13-count criminal indictment against Hart includes charges of conspiracy, illegally importing regulated goods, and selling illegally imported goods, according to a statement by the US Attorney’s Office.

“The individual counts carry penalties as high as 20 years in prison and $250,000 in fines, as well as criminal forfeiture,” the Reuters report said. The next hearing is on March 25.

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In Sabarmati Ashram redevelopment plan, stress on Gandhian ethos

Syllabus:

Preliminary Examination: History of India and Indian National Movement.

Main Examination: General Studies I: The Freedom Struggle — its various stages and important contributors/contributions from different parts of the country.

Key Points to Ponder:

• What’s the ongoing story-On March 12, marking the 94th anniversary of the Dandi March that began from the Sabarmati Ashram, Prime Minister Narendra Modi performed the ‘Ashram Bhoomi Vandana’, a symbolic laying of the foundation stone, and unveiled the masterplan of the Rs 1,200 crore Gandhi Ashram Memorial and Precinct Development Project. The Prime Minister also inaugurated the redeveloped Kocharab ashram from Ahmedabad.

• What’s in the proposed masterplan for the Sabarmati Ashram?

• For Your Information-Prepared by Ahmedabad-based HCP Design, Planning and Management Pvt Ltd (HCPDPM) led by Bimal Patel, the masterplan proposes to restore, conserve, and rebuild about half of the 63 structures that existed in the original ashram that was spread over 120 acres of land on the banks of the Sabarmati River on the outskirts of Ahmedabad. In all, 36 buildings will be restored.

The place that is popularly known as Sabarmati Ashram currently, and is open to the public, covers only 5 acres of this original space. It is managed by the Sabarmati Ashram Preservation and Memorial Trust (SAPMT).

The new memorial will be spread over 55 acres, and the entire precincts will sprawl over 322 acres. An official said that if an hour is needed for a quick tour of the current Gandhi Ashram, it will take at least 6-7 hours for a visitor to tour the entire expanded premises when the project is completed.

According to the masterplan, 20 buildings will be conserved — this list includes Hriday Kunj, the residence of Mahatma Gandhi and Kasturba; the Gandhi Memorial Museum designed by the late Charles Correa which opened in 1963; Nandini Niwas, which served as the guest house; Manav Sadhna, run by Jayesh Patel, son of its Gandhian founder Ishwarbhai Patel, and the son-in-law of Uttar Pradesh Governor Anandi Patel; Vinoba-Mira Kutir, where Vinoba Bhave stayed; the Jay Jagat Amphitheatre; and the Junu Rasodu (Old Kitchen).

• What is the historical importance of the Gandhi Ashram at Sabarmati?

• What will be added to the existing ashram as part of the redevelopment project?

• How will the existing buildings be used once the redevelopment is done?

• And what will be new in the redeveloped Ashram?

• What will the declared efforts to retain the ethos, and the simplicity of the Ashram entail?

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????Sabarmati Ashram: A century witnessed

THE EDITORIAL PAGE

Welcome all

Syllabus:

Preliminary Examination: Indian Polity and Governance-Constitution, Political System, Panchayati Raj, Public Policy, Rights Issues, etc.

Main Examination: General Studies II: Indian Constitution—historical underpinnings, evolution, features, amendments, significant provisions and basic structure.

Key Points to Ponder:

• What’s the ongoing story-Indira Jaising writes: While the policy of protecting persecuted persons is more than welcome, the solution is to grant them all refugee status regardless of which religion they belong to.

• “The Citizenship (Amendment) Rules, 2024, have given rise to celebrations on the one hand and calls for a stay of the implementation of the CAA 2019, pending the Supreme Court’s decision, on the other”-Comment

• “Citizenship, is the right to have rights”-Elaborate

• Why author thinks that the CAA 2019 is discriminatory in nature?

• The Constitution confers citizenship by way of what?

• “The Act violates Article 14 in that it denies equality before the law and equal protection of laws”-Discuss

• Article 14 applies not just to citizens but to all persons-true or false?

• For Your Information-The CAA 2019 enables the grant of citizenship to Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, Jain, Parsi and Christian “illegal immigrants” from Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh who entered India on or before December 31, 2014. The Act excludes Muslims from its purview and thus discriminates against them based on their religion alone. It has been alleged in the public domain by the government that the Act is based on giving fast-track citizenship to persecuted persons, but there is no mention of persecution in the statute or Rules, nor is any proof of persecution called for by the Rules prior to conferment of citizenship.

The Constitution confers citizenship by way of birth, descent and migration, regardless of religion. The provisions are codified in Articles 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 and 10. These Articles reflect the secular nature — a basic feature — of the Constitution. The Citizenship Act (1955) was enacted by Parliament to regulate the grant and termination of citizenship. The 1955 Act also does not make religion a criterion for the grant of citizenship. With the amendment and Rules, citizenship will be granted by naturalisation based on religion alone.

The Rules which have been notified list out a total of nine documents which can be submitted with the application to prove that the applicant is a national of Afghanistan, Bangladesh or Pakistan. There is no need to prove persecution, it is presumed! Entry 5 in Schedule IA says, “identity document of any kind issued by the Government of Afghanistan or Bangladesh or Pakistan or any other government authorities or government agencies in these countries would also suffice to prove nationality.”

Schedule IB lists a total of 20 documents to prove that the applicant has entered India on or before December 31, 2014. Any one of these will suffice to prove the claim. These include a copy of the visa and immigration stamp on arrival in India; registration certificate or residential permit issued by the Foreigners Regional Registration Officer (FRRO) or Foreigners Registration Officer (FRO) in India; slip issued by the Census enumerators in India; government-issued licence or certificate or permit in India (including driving licence, Aadhaar card, etc.); ration card of the applicant issued in India; any letter issued by the government or court to the applicant with official stamp; birth certificate of the applicant issued in India; marriage certificate, etc. One wonders whether the same liberal approach to proof of residence would be used for persons claiming to be Indian citizens when the National Register of Citizens (NRC) is prepared.

The CAA denies equal benefit of fast-track citizenship by registration or naturalisation to similarly placed Muslims. It also leaves out of consideration persons of nations other than those mentioned in the Act. The ostensible object of the CAA — to give benefits of citizenship to persecuted minorities in these three countries — seems like nothing more than a cover to favour Hindus since it is a known fact that in those very countries, Muslims belonging to different sects too are persecuted. There can be no presumption that the majority community will not persecute members of its own who dissent from the mainstream of politics. It is well known that the Ahmadiyya Muslims in Pakistan are one the most persecuted minorities. Others have pointed out that the CAA 2019 does not extend the benefit of fast-track citizenship to persecuted minorities in neighbouring countries such as Myanmar and Sri Lanka, where the Rohingya and Tamils are persecuted minorities, respectively.

Protesters in Assam point out the internal contradictions in the law. For example, Section 6A of the Citizenship Act, 1955, grants citizenship to those who have migrated to Assam prior to March 24, 1971. With CAA, even those who came after 1971 but before December 2014 will be granted citizenship. It’s hugely ironic that as recently as January this year, the central government defended Section 6A in the Supreme Court while some local groups stoutly opposed it. Perhaps this was done in the mistaken belief that if the 1971 cut-off date is upheld, so will the 2014 date. But the cut-off of 1971 did not discriminate based on religion whereas the 2014 date does so.

While the policy of protecting persecuted persons is more than welcome, the solution is to grant them all refugee status, regardless of which religion they belong to. India must sign the Geneva Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees 1961 to demonstrate its commitment to the persecuted and stop persecuting its own minorities.

• ‘The CAA is seen as a project to establish a Hindu nation’-how far you agree with the same?

• What is Difference between migrants and refugees?

• What exactly is a refugee, an asylum-Seeker and a migrant?

• Who is an illegal immigrant in India? How is an illegal immigrant different from a refugee?

• How many Rohingya are currently in India? In which parts of the country are they concentrated?

• Know about United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR)

• What is Global Refugee Forum (GRF)?

• What is India’s Refugee Policy?

• 1951 Refugee Convention and its 1967 Protocol and India-Know in detail

• What do you understand by expression ‘right of non-refoulement’?

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????The CAA Rules, unpacked

EXPRESS NETWORK

Consider ‘one-time package’ for Kerala, SC suggests Centre

Syllabus:

Preliminary Examination: Economic and Social Development–Sustainable Development, Poverty, Inclusion, Demographics, Social Sector Initiatives, etc.

Main Examination: General Studies II: Functions and responsibilities of the Union and the States, issues and challenges pertaining to the federal structure, devolution of powers and finances up to local levels and challenges therein.

Key Points to Ponder:

• What’s the ongoing story-The Supreme Court Tuesday asked the Centre to consider allowing the Kerala government a “one-time package” in the present financial year to help it tide over funds shortage while the central government could simultaneously impose more stringent conditions for the next financial year.

• Why is Kerala government in debt?

• What is the fiscal stress in Kerala?

• What is the cause of fiscal crisis in Kerala?

• Why Centre limited the Kerela’s borrowing limit?

• What are the rules and statutes that govern borrowing and lending between states and the Centre?

• Fiscal autonomy and fiscal responsibility of States in India-what you know about the same?

• What is Kerala’s contention?

• Do You Know-Article 293 of the Constitution grants fiscal autonomy to states and mandates them to borrow only from within the territory of India on guarantee from the Consolidated Fund of the State. For the states, the extent of borrowing is defined in the fiscal responsibility Acts of each state.

All transactions between the Centre and the state governments are carried out under the Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management Act, 2003, which was enforced “to provide for the responsibility of the Central Government to ensure intergenerational equity in fiscal management and long-term macro-economic stability … greater transparency in fiscal operations of the Central Government and conducting fiscal policy in a medium-term framework and for matters connected therewith or incidental thereto”.

The Kerala government, in its Supreme Court petition, contends that the Centre is infringing upon its fiscal autonomy by amending the Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management Act (FRBM), 2003, to curtail its borrowing limit. The Centre last amended the Act in 2022 to “reduce the fiscal deficit to below 4.5% of GDP by 2025-26”.

The state also contends that the Centre’s move, first in May this year and then again in August, has cut its borrowing limit from Rs 32,422 crore to Rs 15,390 crore, and Rs 26,000 crore is immediately required to avert the impending financial crisis. “The Defendant (Centre) through the Impugned Amendments has encroached into the legislative domain of the Plaintiff (Kerala) State as ‘Public Debt of the State’ is an item exclusively in the State List in the Seventh Schedule under Article 246 of the Constitution.

The Impugned Amendments, which are ultra vires the Constitution would potentially be used to thwart the powers of the Plaintiff State. The Plaintiff State has a reasonable fear that the Defendant will use the Impugned Amendments to legitimise and legalise the executive actions of the Defendant in issuing the Impugned Orders, which are ultra vires the Constitution… If the damage is not prevented, the Plaintiff (Kerala) State, with its meagre resources, will not be able to recover from this for decades,” the plea states.

• What is the net borrowing limit for Kerala?

• What were the recommendations of the 15th Finance Commission?

• How bad is Kerala’s situation?

• Is Kerala alone?

• Do You Know-On December 5, John Brittas, the CPI(M) Rajya Sabha MP belonging to Kerala, asked Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman about “the quantum and details of net borrowing limit fixed for Kerala for Financial Year 2023-24”. In reply, the minister clarified that “Based on the recommendation of the 15th Finance Commission, the normal Net Borrowing Ceiling (NBC) of the States including Kerala have been fixed at 3 per cent of the Gross State Domestic Product for the financial year 2023-24. Accordingly, the normal NBC of the State of Kerala has been arrived at Rs 32,442 crore for the Financial Year (FY) 2023-24”.

Historically, the FRBM Act 2003 required states to limit their fiscal deficit to 3% of the GSDP. However, the Covid pandemic and the ensuing lockdowns required both state and Central governments to stretch their borrowings in order to meet the gap between falling revenues and rising expenditures.

“Responding to the demands by the states for an increase in the borrowing limit from 3 per cent in 2020-21 in view of the unusual fiscal pressures, the Government of India stepped up the borrowing limits of states from 3 per cent to 5 per cent for the year,” states the 15th Finance Commission main report, that makes recommendations for 2021-2026.

For the remainder of the period, it laid down the following recommendations for the normal net borrowing limit of states: 2021-22 > 4% of GSDP 2022-23 > 3.5% of GSDP 2023-24 to 2025-26 > 3% of GSDP

The 15th Finance Commission designated Kerala to be a “highly debt stressed” state. Data revealed that Kerala had largely failed to limit its fiscal deficit to 3% of GSDP for almost all of the past decade. “The state has been breaching its FRBM targets with unhealthy levels of Revenue Deficit-Fiscal Deficit ratio (65% in 2018-19). This implicitly explains why the state has resorted to borrowing to finance its Revenue Deficit,” noted the commission.

A high RD-FD ratio implies that the state government is borrowing not to invest in productive schemes but to meet its day to day expenses such as salaries and pensions. The commission noted that Kerala had the second highest levels of salaries (as a percentage of total revenue expenditure), and worse, the trend growth of salaries was the highest — suggesting that this burden was continuing to rise. Not surprisingly, the capital expenditure has suffered and is “very low compared to its class both as a percentage of total expenditure as well as GSDP”. Kerala’s fiscal situation has not improved in the wake of the Covid pandemic with the fiscal deficit continuing to stay outside the mandated limits.

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EXPRESS NETWORK

Why Bhojshala row has returned to roil Madhya Pradesh politics again

Syllabus:

Preliminary Examination: Current events of national and international importance.

Key Points to Ponder:

• What’s the ongoing story-The Madhya Pradesh High Court has ordered the Archeological Survey of India (ASI) to conduct a survey of the Bhojshala temple-cum-Kamal Maula mosque complex in Dhar district, observing that its nature and character need to be “demystified and freed from the shackles of confusion”.

• Bhojshala Temple-Kamal Maula Mosque complex-what is the controversy?

• What Does Court Mandate Says?

• Bhojshala Temple-Kamal Maula Mosque complex-Origin of dispute at the site

• How did Bhojshala gain traction?

• How did the row flare up?

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