Important topics and their relevance in UPSC CSE exam for January 17, 2024. If you missed the January 16, 2024 UPSC CSE exam key from the Indian Express, read it here

THE WORLD

Iran hits targets in Iraq, Syria as fears of widening conflict grow amid Gaza

Syllabus:

Preliminary Examination: Current events of national and international importance.

Mains Examination: General Studies II: Effect of policies and politics of developed and developing countries on India’s interests, Indian diaspora.

Key Points to Ponder:

• What’s the ongoing story- Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said they attacked the “spy headquarters” of Israel in Iraq’s semi-autonomous Kurdistan region, state media reported late on Monday, while the elite force said they also struck in Syria against the Islamic State.

• Why Iran attacked Iraq’s semi-autonomous Kurdistan region?

• Map Work-Kurdistan region

• What Iraq said?

• How Israel responded?

• How this will affect ongoing crisis in the Middle eastern region?

• How did Iran get involved?

• Hamas, Hezbollah and the Houthis: What is Iran’s Involvement in the Israel-Hamas War?

• Do You Know-The Houthis’ declaration further draws Iran into the conflict. Tehran has long sponsored both the Houthis and Hamas, as well as the Lebanese Shiite militia group Hezbollah, which continues to trade deadly cross-border fire with the Israelis. Iran has long denied arming the Houthis even as it has been transferring rifles, rocket-propelled grenades, missiles and other weaponry to the Yemeni militia using sea routes.

Independent experts, Western nations and United Nations experts have traced components seized aboard other detained vessels back to Iran. The reason for that likely is a UN arms embargo that has prohibited weapons transfers to the Houthis since 2014. There also has been at least one attack that the Houthis claimed where suspicion later fell fully on Iran.

In 2019, cruise missiles and drones successfully penetrated Saudi Arabia and struck the heart of its oil industry in Abqaiq. That attack temporarily halved the kingdom’s production and spiked global energy prices by the biggest percentage since the 1991 Gulf War. While the Houthis claimed the Abqaiq attack, the US, Saudi Arabia and analysts blamed Iran. UN experts similarly said it was “unlikely” the Houthis carried out the assault, though Tehran denied being involved. Iran’s mission to the UN did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the Houthi attacks.

Other Important Articles Covering the same topic:

????An Expert Explains: Iran’s role in the Israel-Hamas crisis

FRONT PAGE

Defence upgrade roadmap: Apex body led by PM, MoD sci-tech unit

Syllabus:

Preliminary Examination: Current events of national and international importance.

Mains Examination: General Studies III: Security challenges and their management in border areas – linkages of organized crime with terrorism.

Key Points to Ponder:

• What’s the ongoing story-A top body chaired by the Prime Minister, with the Defence Minister and the National Security Advisor as its Vice Presidents, should determine the country’s defence technology roadmap and decide on major projects and their execution, an expert committee spearheaded by the former principal scientific advisor, Prof K Vijay Raghavan, is learned to have told the government.

• What exactly expert committee spearheaded by the former principal scientific advisor, Prof K Vijay Raghavan recommended?

• What is Defence Technology Council?

• How Defence Technology Council will be different from Defence Acquisition Council?

• For Your Information-The nine-member Vijay Raghavan panel was set up by the government last year to review the functioning of the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) and is learned to have submitted its report this month. The government’s decision to review the functioning of DRDO comes against the backdrop of several of its projects suffering from huge delays.

Just last year, the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Defence, in its report presented on December 20, had expressed concerns that 23 of its 55 mission mode projects could not be completed in time. A year before, in December 2022, the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG), in its report tabled in Parliament, had flagged that 119 (or 67%) of the 178 projects scrutinised by it had failed to adhere to their initially proposed timelines. “The practice of seeking multiple extensions defeats the very purpose of projects taken under Mission Mode category,” the CAG report had stated, adding these extensions were primarily sought due to factors like persistent alterations in design specifications, delays in completing user trials, and in placing supply orders.

In its report, sources said, the VijayRaghavan committee has observed that the DRDO should focus on its original goal of research and development for defence and refrain from involving itself in productization, production cycles, and product management, tasks that are more suitable for the private sector. At present, DRDO remains engaged in all aspects, from research to development to production, in its projects.

“Furthermore, there are numerous technologies that DRDO doesn’t necessarily need to get into. For example, why should DRDO engage in drone development? There is a necessity to identify expertise within India and internationally for various technologies,” said a source. “Every defence solution to a problem doesn’t have to only come from DRDO.” This is precisely where the committee believes the Defence Technology Council headed by the Prime Minister would play a pivotal role in identifying the right players for specific defence technologies.

The panel has also suggested the creation of a separate department under the Defence Ministry — the Department of Defence Science, Technology, and Innovation. This department, proposed to be headed by a technocrat, will not only promote defence research and development in the academic and start-up ecosystem but also serve as the secretariat for the Defence Tech Council, chaired by the Prime Minister.

As the DTC secretariat, this department will draw scientists from DRDO and academia, building a repository of knowledge on production expertise and conducting background research for the DTC, hence aiding its decisions on technology production. Moreover, the department will operate labs for testing and certification, a function also performed by DRDO.

• Why Defence Acquisitions Council was created?

• Do You Know-The DAC is among the top bodies for clearing major capital acquisitions for defence. The Defence Acquisition Council, which is headed by the Defence Minister, is among the top bodies for clearing major capital acquisitions for defence. The Acceptance of Necessity is only the first step in the long defence procurement process. Grant of an AoN does not necessarily lead to a final order. The AoN is only the first step in the long defence procurement process; it does not necessarily lead to a final order.

Both the orders were already in the pipeline. While addressing the media in October, IAF Chief Air Chief Marshal V R Chaudhari had said the contract for the additional 97 Tejas Mk 1A jets is expected to be signed by the end of the year. The fighter jets will be an addition to the 83 jets ordered for the IAF in February 2021.

The IAF and the Army had raised a squadron each of the indigenous LCH, which was named Prachand. Of the 156 additional LCH to be procured, 90 are likely to be for the Army and 66 for the IAF. The DAC also cleared the proposal to upgrade part of its Su-30 MKI fighter jets indigenously from HAL. Additionally, to replace the Indian Field Gun, which has completed its service life, the DAC cleared procurement of indigenous Towed Gun System (TGS), which is set to become the mainstay of the Indian artillery.

Procurement of 155 mm nubless projectiles for use in 155 mm artillery guns of the Army to enhance their potency were also cleared by the DAC. Moreover, AoNs for procurement and integration of Automatic Target Tracker and Digital Basaltic Computer for T-90 tanks of the Army, Medium Range Anti-Ship Missiles for the Navy were granted by the DAC.

• What is Defence acquisition?

• Why Defence Procurement Procedure (DPP)?

• Defence Procurement Procedure (DPP)-know its key features

• How much India spends in defence as compared to other sectors?

• What is budget for defence imports?

• What Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) says about India’s defence and defence expenditure?

• When it comes to defence exports then why exports of defence products from India are limited to few countries like Vietnam?

• India can recalibrate not reduce the defence expenditure-do you agree?

Other Important Articles Covering the same topic:  

????Defense Acquisition Procedure

????Raghavan Committee’s Mission: Overhauling India’s Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO)

SC halts order for survey of Shahi Idgah site in Mathura

Syllabus:

Preliminary Examination: Current events of national and international importance and History of India

Mains Examination: General Studies II: Structure, organization and functioning of the Executive and the Judiciary

Key Points to Ponder:

• What’s the ongoing story- Six days ahead of the consecration of the Ram Temple in Ayodhya, marking the end of the long dispute over the site, the Supreme Court Tuesday stayed an Allahabad High Court order that had allowed a court-monitored survey of another contested structure: the Shahi Idgah Mosque adjoining the Krishna Janmabhoomi temple in Mathura.

• What is exactly Supreme Court said in Shahi Idgah mosque complex?

• What is the latest plea in Shahi Idgah mosque complex?

• What are the disputes about?

• What are the claims and counterclaims over Shahi Idgah mosque complex?

• Do You Know-The mosque was built by Aurangzeb in 1670 on the site of an earlier temple. The area was regarded as nazul land — non-agricultural state land owned by the Marathas, and then the British. Before the mosque was built, Raja Veer Singh Bundela of Orchha had also built a temple on the same premises in 1618.

In 1815, Raja Patni Mal of Benaras bought the 13.77 acres in an auction from the East India Company. The Raja’s descendants — Rai Kishan Das and Rai Anand Das — sold the land to Jugal Kishore Birla for Rs 13,400, and it was registered in the names of Pandit Madan Mohan Malaviya, Goswami Ganesh Dutt, and Bhiken Lalji Aattrey.

The Shri Krishna Janmabhoomi Trust was set up by Birla, and it acquired the ownership rights over the Katra Keshav Dev temple. In 1951, the 13.77 acres were placed in the trust, with the condition that the “trust property will never be sold or pledged.” In 1956, the Shri Krishna Janmasthan Sewa Sangh was set up to manage the affairs of the temple. In 1977, the word ‘Sangh’ in the registered society’s name was replaced with ‘Sansthan.’

In Ayodhya, the Babri Masjid stood atop what many Hindus believe is the birthplace of Lord Ram, an opinion that the Sangh Parivar began building into a sustained campaign starting the late 1980s, leading eventually to the mosque’s demolition in 1992. In November 2019, the Supreme Court held the destruction “illegal” but awarded the land title to the Hindu side. On January 22, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will lead the consecration ceremony for a temple at this site.

In Varanasi, the Gyanvapi Mosque stands cheek-a-jowl with the Kashi Vishwanath Temple. The Sangh wants the mosque brought down, saying it was built on the ruins of a temple. Meanwhile, the temple complex, which falls in the PM’s constituency, has seen a complete makeover. In the case of Mathura, the Hindu petitioners who have gone to court argue that the Shahi Idgah Mosque was built atop the birthplace of Lord Krishna, on the orders of Emperor Aurangzeb, in 1670. Today, it lies adjacent to the Krishna Janmasthan Temple.

• How did courts deal with the Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid dispute?

• Where does the Varanasi temple dispute stay?

• Where does the Mathura case stand?

Other Important Articles Covering the same topic:

????As SC stays order on survey of Mathura site, the parallels across the three temple disputes

Every fourth PM-Kisan beneficiary added in past 2 months is a woman

Syllabus:

Preliminary Examination: Economic and Social Development

Mains Examination: General Studies III: Inclusive growth and issues arising from it.

Key Points to Ponder:

• What’s the ongoing story- Every fourth beneficiary added under the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi (PM-Kisan) scheme over the past two months is a woman, according to the data available with the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare.

• Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi (PM-KISAN)-Know about the schemes

• What are the objective and components of PM-KISAN?

• Who is Eligible for PM-Kisan Scheme?

• When did the PM-Kisan scheme come into effect?

• Definition of Small and Marginal Farmers (SMFs)?

• ‘Every fourth beneficiary added under the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi (PM-Kisan) scheme over the past two months is a woman’-Why this is significant?

• Do You Know-As per the data, of the 40,50,375 beneficiaries added between November 15, 2023, and January 14, 2024, under PM-Kisan, 10,61,278 were women, 29,87,884 men and 1,213 others. Among states that added the maximum number of women beneficiaries under the scheme, Uttar Pradesh is at the top with 1.69 lakh additions, followed by Rajasthan (1.56 lakh), Manipur (1.05 lakh), Jharkhand (90,949) and Kerala (66,887).

In four states — Meghalaya, Manipur, Nagaland and Mizoram — women outnumbered men when it came to the number of new beneficiaries added under the scheme. In Meghalaya, women accounted for 68.96 per cent of the 24,557 new beneficiaries added during this period. The numbers stood at 56.57 per cent in Manipur, 54.97 per cent in Nagaland and 50.26 per cent in Mizoram. In the case of Arunachal Pradesh, women accounted for 48.77 per cent of the new beneficiaries. In fact, all North-East states except Assam (20.67 per cent women) and Tripura (22.67 per cent women) performed better than the all-India average (26.20 per cent women).

The proportion of women among the new scheme beneficiaries was higher than the overall figure during the launch of VBSY. On November 15, 2023, the overall figure of PM-Kisan beneficiaries stood at 8.12 crore, of which 6.27 crore or 77.33 per cent were men and 1.83 crore or 22.64 per cent were women. Uttar Pradesh (29.22 lakh) reported the highest number of women PM-Kisan beneficiaries, followed by Bihar (22.48 lakh), Maharashtra (15.62 lakh), Madhya Pradesh (14.84 lakh) and Rajasthan (14.75 lakh). Overall, the highest proportion of women beneficiaries was recorded in Meghalaya (70.33 per cent), followed by Nagaland (55.84 per cent), Arunachal Pradesh (52.63 per cent) and Manipur (51.85 per cent). The lowest proportion of women PM-Kisan beneficiaries was reported at just 0.26 per cent in Punjab. Of 4.59 lakh PM-Kisan beneficiaries in Punjab, only 1,279 were women. The proportion of women in the overall beneficiaries of the scheme is higher as compared to the percentage share of women operational holders in the country, which stood at 13.96 per cent in 2015-16.

As per the Agriculture Census, an operational holding is defined as “all land which is used wholly or partly for agricultural production and is operated as one technical unit by one person alone or with others without regard to the title, legal form, size or location”. According to the 2011 Census, of 11.87 crore cultivators, 30.3 per cent were women.

Under the PM-Kisan scheme, eligible farmer families receive Rs 6,000 per annum in three equated instalments through Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) every four months. The scheme was launched on February 24, 2019, just before the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. At the time of the first instalment in December-March 2018-19 (since the four-month cycle started from December 2018), the number of beneficiaries stood at 3.03 crore. It rose sharply in the following rounds, hitting a peak of 10.47 crore in April-July 2022.

The numbers dropped to 8.12 crore during August-November 2023, for which the instalment was released on November 15, 2023. This dip is the reason why the Centre has focused on saturation of beneficiaries under the scheme. The VBSY, which will run till January 26, aims to ensure that all intended beneficiaries are covered under various flagship schemes of the Central government.

• Viksit Bharat Sankalp Yatra-Know about the same

Other Important Articles Covering the same topic:

????PM Modi in Varanasi: What is Viksit Bharat Sankalp Yatra, and the Kashi Tamil Sangamam?

 ????What is PM Kisan Samman Nidhi Yojana?

THE EDITORIAL PAGE

Davos Man & Global South

Syllabus:

Preliminary Examination: Current events of national and international importance

Main Examination: General Studies II: Bilateral, regional and global groupings and agreements involving India and/or affecting India’s interests.

Key Points to Ponder:

• What’s the ongoing story-C Raja Mohan writes: For both China and India, the challenge is to adapt to the structural shifts in the global order while seeking greater influence in the Global South. Meanwhile, there are new possibilities for major countries in the Global South to exploit the renewed great power contest for elite or national benefit

• “Three summits this week — one in Davos, Switzerland and the other two (NAM and G77) in Kampala, Uganda — point to the shifting terrain of global politics in 2024”-How

• “Globalism in Davos and collectivism of the Global South in Kampala — are no longer credible or sustainable”-Discuss

• “The ‘Davos Man’, the moniker of the globalist elite that has shaped the world since the 1990s”-Comment

• Who initiated the World Economic Forum?

• What is the purpose of the World Economic Forum?

• Where is World Economic Forum held?

• What happens at WEF?

• Who funds the WEF and why is the WEF Meeting held at Davos?

• What else happens at WEF?

• World Economic Forum and India-connect the dot

• “India’s current political emphasis on the Global South is about reclaiming its traditional role in the NAM and G77”-Elaborate

• “For both China and India, the challenge is to adapt to the structural shifts in the global order while seeking greater influence in the Global South”-What is your opinion regarding the same?

Other Important Articles Covering the same topic:

????DAVOS SUMMIT

EXPLAINED

WHAT IS ‘PRIOR APPROVAL’, WHY IS IT NEEDED TO PROBE PUBLIC OFFICIALS

Syllabus:

Preliminary Examination: Current events of national and international importance.

Main Examination: General Studies II: Structure, organization and functioning of the Executive and the Judiciary

Key Points to Ponder:

• What’s the ongoing story-The Supreme Court on Tuesday delivered a split verdict in former Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu’s plea to quash an FIR in the alleged skill development scam case. Justices Aniruddha Bose and Bela M Trivedi disagreed on whether the AP CID was required to seek ‘previous approval’ from the state government before conducting an inquiry into the allegations against Naidu.

• What is ‘prior approval’?

• Why Prior approval is required?

• For Your Information-In 2003, the Delhi Special Police Establishment Act, 1946, which governs agencies like the CBI, was amended. Under Section 6A, it was required to seek approval from the central government before investigating alleged offences under the Prevention of Corruption Act (PCA), 1988, if the employee in question held a rank higher than joint secretary.

The Supreme Court struck down this requirement in 2014. Four years later, the PCA was amended and a similar provision was introduced as Section 17A. Under this section, if a public servant commits an offence under the Act while discharging their official duties, investigators must receive approval from the central/ state government, or a competent authority to open an inquiry or investigation.

• What are the challenges to this provision?

• What Supreme Court said about ‘Previous approval’?

Other Important Articles Covering the same topic:

????What is the AP skill development scam — and how did the case reach the Supreme Court?

Why Kashmir is without snow

Syllabus:

Preliminary Examination: Current events of national and international importance.

Main Examination: General Studies I: Important Geophysical phenomena such as earthquakes, Tsunami, Volcanic activity, cyclone etc., geographical features and their location-changes in critical geographical features (including water-bodies and ice-caps) and in flora and fauna and the effects of such changes

Key Points to Ponder:

• What’s the ongoing story-One of Kashmir’s main winter tourism attractions, Gulmarg, has been bereft of snow this season, leading to a plunge in the flow of tourists and severely hitting the business of ski resorts. Government data shows that 95,989 tourists, including 547 foreigners, had visited Gulmarg in January last year, and though the data for the first half of this month is not yet available, officials said the footfall seemed to be at least 60 per cent lower.

• Why the whole of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh have remained largely without rains or snow this winter?

• For Your Information-Winter precipitation in Jammu and Kashmir, as also Ladakh, is mainly in the form of snowfall. Normally, the region gets its first snowfall in the first half of December, and then through most of January. But it has been mostly dry this season. Jammu and Kashmir saw 80 per cent rainfall deficit in December, and 100 per cent (absolutely no rain) deficit in January so far, India Meteorological Department (IMD) data show. Ladakh has had no precipitation at all in December or January.

While snowfall in the region has been showing a declining trend in recent years, this season is remarkable. The overall decreasing trend of snowfall has been attributed to a decline in western disturbance events and gradual rise in temperatures, which invloves the role of climate change. The prevailing El Nino event in the eastern Pacific Ocean might be the additional factor to account for this year, scientists say.

• Winter precipitation in the Himalayan region is caused mainly by?

• Western Disturbances-Know in detail

• For Your Information-Winter precipitation in the Himalayan region is caused mainly by Western Disturbances. These are large eastward-moving rain-bearing wind systems that originate beyond Afghanistan and Iran, picking up moisture from as far as the Mediterranean Sea and even the Atlantic Ocean.

Western Disturbances are the primary source of rainfall over north and northwest India during the post-monsoon and winter months. Along with the south-west monsoon season that runs from June to September, and the north-east monsoon that brings rains to Tamil Nadu and some other regions, Western Disturbances are the third major contributors to India’s annual rainfall. During winters, about four to six western disturbance events happen every month on an average. This season there was one feeble western disturbance event in December that did not bring any rains, and another similar one in January.

“Western disturbances have been showing a declining trend in recent times. In some years we have seen just two or three events a month, when normally five or six are expected. Because of this, the overall precipitation during the winter months in the northern regions has also been declining,” A P Dimri, an atmospheric scientist who is currently the director of Mumbai-based Indian Institute of Geomagnetism, said.

• How El Nino is responsible?

Other Important Articles Covering the same topic:

????‘When the hero is missing, the movie flops’: Lack of snow hits Gulmarg businesses

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