Important topics and their relevance in UPSC CSE exam for January 24, 2024. If you missed the January 23, 2024 UPSC CSE exam key from the Indian Express, read it here

FRONT PAGE Bharat Ratna for ex-Bihar CM, ‘Jan Nayak’ Karpoori Thakur

Syllabus:

Preliminary Examination: Current events of national and international importance

Mains Examination: General Studies I: Post-independence consolidation and reorganization within the country.

Key Points to Ponder:

• What’s the ongoing story- President Droupadi Murmu has conferred the Bharat Ratna posthumously to two-time Bihar chief minister and socialist icon Karpoori Thakur, the Rashtrapati Bhavan announced on Tuesday.

• Personality in News-Karpoori Thakur

• Why Karpoori Thakur is also known as ‘Jannayak’, or the leader of the people?

• For Your Information- Karpoori Thakur was born in village Pitaunjhia (now known as Karpoori Gram), in the Samastipur district of Bihar. He participated in the freedom struggle and was also jailed for it. In independent India, he was voted in as an MLA in 1952. He remained an MLA till his death in 1988, except when he became an MP in 1977 and when he lost an Assembly election in 1984, amid the sympathy wave for Congress after Indira Gandhi’s assassination.

Thakur was education minister of Bihar from March 5 1967 to January 28, 1968. He became the state’s chief minister in December 1970 with the Samyukta Socialist Party, but his government fell after six months. He came to the post again in June 1977, but could not finish a full term, losing power in about two years. This happened due to a reservation policy he implemented, on which we’ll elaborate later. As a new crop of social justice leaders became more powerful in Bihar, Thakur slowly lost the pre-eminence he had enjoyed. While his policy decisions were polarising, he was respected personally for his clean image and his refusal to enrich himself on government funds.

A popular anecdote about him is that when he first became an MLA in 1952, he was selected for an official delegation to Austria. He did not own a coat, and had to borrow a torn one from a friend. When Josip Tito, the president of Yugoslavia, noticed the torn coat, he gifted Thakur a new one. When Thakur died in 1988, after three decades in public life, his home was little more than a hut.

Thakur is known for many of his decisions — removing English as compulsory subject for the matriculation examinations; prohibition of alcohol; preferential treatment for unemployed engineers in government contracts, through which around 8,000 of them got jobs (this was when unemployed engineers were staging regular protests for jobs; one such protester was Nitish Kumar); and a layered reservation system. It was this last decision that went on to have the loudest impact for Bihar as well as the country.

In June 1970, the Bihar government appointed the Mungeri Lal Commission, which in its report of February 1976 named 128 “backward” communities, 94 of which were identified as “most backward”. The Janata Party government of Thakur implemented the recommendations of the Commission. The ‘Karpoori Thakur Formula’ provided 26% reservation, of which OBCs got a 12% share, the economically backward classes among the OBCs got 8%, women got 3%, and the poor from the “upper castes” got 3%. This was much before the central government came up with the EWS quota, and demands of layered reservation gained momentum amid caste census demands.

In the short term, however, The ‘Karpoori Thakur Formula’ cost him dearly. His government fell, and he witnessed major opposition from upper castes. Jayant Jigyasu, national spokesperson of the RJD, told The Indian Express, “After the landmark reservation policy was passed, Thakur had to face derogatory and even abusive slogans from the upper castes, directly targeting his caste. One such went ‘Karpoori kar poora, chhod gaddi, dhar ustura (Finish your work, Karpuri. Step off the chair, go hold a razor)’, a reference to his caste’s traditional occupation of a barber. A point to be noted is that this venom came his way even though he faced no charges of personal corruption or ‘lawlessness’ during his tenure.”

Politically too, his decision of bringing in the reservation policy has been seen as hasty. Jagpal Singh, former professor at IGNOU, in a 2013 paper contrasted Thakur’s way of working with Devaraj Urs of Karnataka: “Unlike Karpoori Thakur, Urs introduced the reservation policy during the last two years of his seven years of rule, after having consolidated his position for most of his rule. About the lack of proper preparation on the part of Karpoori Thakur, Urs remarked, “Karpoori Thakur climbed into the ring before he learned how to box”,” Singh wrote. However, Thakur did keep his promise to his core voters, irrespective of the consequences.

• Relevance of Karpoori Thakur today?

• Bharat Ratna -Historical Background

• Bharat Ratna and Padma Awards-Know the Difference

• Is Bharat Ratna given every year?

Other Important Articles Covering the same topic:

????Bharat Ratna for socialist icon who gave Bihar its quota model

THE CITY

Medical expert nod is key to courts deciding late-term abortions

Syllabus:

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

Mains Examination: 

• General Studies II: Structure, organization and functioning of the Executive and the Judiciary-Ministries and Departments of the Government; pressure groups and formal/informal associations and their role in the Polity.

• General Studies IV: Ethical concerns and dilemmas in government and private institutions

Key Points to Ponder:

• What’s the ongoing story-Medical experts seeking a specific judicial directive to stop foetal heartbeat for termination of pregnancy: this is the question before courts to decide pleas of women seeking late-term abortions.

• In the last three months, when faced with this query, the courts, in two separate cases, declined to allow termination of pregnancy-Know the case

• Abortion rights of a woman vs rights of the unborn child-What law in India says?

• What are the rights of the unborn child?

• Does a foetus have rights in India?

• “The opinion of doctors is crucial since the Medical Termination of Pregnancy (MTP) Act allows the termination of pregnancy only on advice of doctors”-Discuss Medical Termination of Pregnancy (MTP) Act

• A woman faces a true “moral dilemma” or “moral conflict” when it comes to pregnancy termination-Discuss Rights vs Ethics in this scenario

• Discuss Pro-life versus pro-choice dilemma.

• The Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act, 1971 and The new Medical Termination of Pregnancy (Amendment) Act 2021-Compare and Contrast

• Medical Termination of Pregnancy (Amendment) Act 2021-Know the key provisions

• Significance and importance of Medical Termination of Pregnancy (Amendment) Act 2021?

• Issues and Challenges associated with Medical Termination of Pregnancy (Amendment) Act 2021?

Other Important Articles Covering the same topic:

????UPSC ethics simplified: abortion rights vs ethics

????What is India’s law on abortion, and why has a pregnant unmarried petitioner gone to Supreme Court in appeal?

THE IDEAS PAGE

The most powerful safeguard

Syllabus:

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

Mains 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-Bangladesh, and others in the Commonwealth have imported this Indian judicial invention. It brought out the worst in confrontational politics, governance, intra-judicial divisiveness but also the best in advocacy, idealism and independence amidst great pressure

• “The best way to institutionalise tyranny and constitutionalise dictatorship would be to amend the Constitution at the will of the majority”-Do you agree?

• “Even a constitutional amendment, validly passed by Parliament’s special majority, can be declared unconstitutional, if it violates the Basic Structure (BS) of the Constitution”-Know in detail

• “The Basic Structure Doctrine has a very debatable jurisprudential basis”-Why this particular sentence is in news?

• First of all, what is Doctrine of the ‘basic structure’?

• How has the doctrine of basic structure evolved?

• What are the basic features of the doctrine of basic structure?

• What power is granted by Article 368 of the Indian Constitution?

• Shankari Prasad case (1951), Golak Nath case (1967), Kesavananda Bharati case (1973), Indira Nehru Gandhi case (1975), Minerva Mills case (1980), Waman Rao case (1981) and the evolution of basic Structure of the Constitution-connect the dots

• For Your Information-The Basic Structure Doctrine emerged from the Kesavananda Bharati judgment of the Supreme Court, delivered by a majority of 7:6 on April 24, 1973. It held that Parliament could not alter the basic structure of the Constitution by an amendment. There is no exclusive and definitive list of what the basic features are, for the judiciary decides this on a case-by-case basis.

In consequence, as cases accumulate, the list of areas off-limits to the executive gets longer. This creates a peculiar political environment where frenzied elections generate tall mandates that are undeliverable. The executive remains hamstrung, constrained not just by limited material resources but bound by limited and uncertain legal room to manoeuvre. The consequence of this gap between parliamentary competence and executive impotence knocks the wind out of the power and capacity of electoral democracy.

The political culture it breeds is known as “cheap talk” in game theory, seen in such emphatic gestures as grandstanding and heady rhetoric followed by inaction, empty rhetoric and costless, non-binding, unverifiable communication between politicians and the electorate. The Basic Structure Doctrine puts “procedure established by law” below “due process” in the functioning of the legislative process.

Its political profiling as “sacrosanct” puts it beyond the ken of politics. In 1951, right at the outset of post-colonial India’s journey into uncharted territory, no less a democrat than Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru had taken the bold step to initiate the process to restrict the freedom of speech and expression and got Parliament to pass the First Amendment.

In retrospect, one is grateful for his boldness and sagacity in undertaking the necessary changes in the core principles of the Constitution for the validation of zamindari abolition laws and provisions that stipulated that the right to equality does not bar the enactment of laws that provide special considerations for underprivileged sections of society. Article 368 of the Constitution clearly stipulates that “Parliament may in exercise of its constituent power amend by way of addition, variation or repeal any provision of this Constitution in accordance with the procedure laid down in this article.”

• Can Parliament change the basic structure doctrine of the Indian Constitution?

• Why is the doctrine criticised?

Other Important Articles Covering the same topic:

????Let’s debate Basic Structure

Previous year UPSC Prelims Question Covering similar theme: ???? Consider the following statements: (UPSC GS1, 2020) 1. The Constitution of India defines its ‘basic structure’ in terms of federalism, secularism, fundamental rights and democracy. 2. The Constitution of India provides for ‘judicial review’ to safeguard the citizens’ liberties and to preserve the ideals on which the Constitution is based. Which of the statements given above is/are correct? (a) 1 only (b) 2 only (c) Both 1 and 2 (d) Neither 1 nor 2 Previous year UPSC Mains Question Covering similar theme: ???? “Parliament’s power to amend the constitution is limited power and it cannot be enlarged into absolute power”. In light of this statement, explain whether parliament under article 368 of the constitution can destroy the basic structure of the constitution by expanding its amending power? (UPSC GS2, 2019)

ECONOMY

Centre’s sovereign AI push: Compute mission may get over `10,000 crore

Syllabus:

Preliminary Examination: Current events of national and international importance.

Mains Examination: General Studies III: Awareness in the fields of IT, Space, Computers, robotics, nano-technology, bio-technology and issues relating to intellectual property rights.

Key Points to Ponder:

• What’s the ongoing story- The Centre’s ambitious artificial intelligence (AI) Mission may soon head for Cabinet approval and could have an outlay of more than Rs 10,000 crore, Union Minister of State for Electronics and IT Rajeev Chandrasekhar told reporters Tuesday.

• What is sovereign AI?

• How will India regulate AI?

• What are the key highlights of GOI’s ambitious artificial intelligence (AI) Mission?

• For Your Information-As part of the programme, the government wants to develop its own ‘sovereign AI’, build computational capacity in the country, and offer compute-as-a-service to India’s startups. The Indian Express had earlier reported the capacity building will be done both within the government and through a public-private partnership model, highlighting New Delhi’s intention to reap dividends of the impending AI boom which it envisions will be a crucial economic driver.

Last month, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced the AI Mission and said its aim was to establish the computing powers of AI within the country. This, he said, will provide better services to startups and entrepreneurs and also promote AI applications in the sectors of agriculture, healthcare and education.

In total, the country is looking to build a compute capacity of anywhere between 10,000 GPUs (graphic processing units) and 30,000 GPUs under the PPP model, and an additional 1,000-2,000 GPUs through the PSU Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (C-DAC), Chandrasekhar had earlier told this paper.

For context, according to a 2020 blog by Microsoft, the company had developed a supercomputer for OpenAI – the firm behind ChatGPT – which consisted of 10,000 GPUs among other things. The government is exploring various incentive structures for private companies to set up computing centres in the country – ranging from a capital expenditure subsidy model which has been employed under the semiconductor scheme, a model where companies can be incentivised depending on their operational expenses, to offering them a “usage” fee, Chandrasekhar had said.

Computing capacity, or compute, is among the most important elements of building a large AI system apart from algorithmic innovation and datasets. It is also one of the most difficult elements to procure for smaller businesses looking to train and build such AI systems. The government’s idea is to create a digital public infrastructure (DPI) out of the GPU assembly it sets up so that startups can utilise its computational capacity for a fraction of the cost, without needing to invest in GPUs which are often the biggest cost centre of such operations.

Apart from building computing capacities, the government is also working on building datasets and making them available to Indian startups.In May 2022, the Information Technology (IT) Ministry released a draft of the National Data Governance Framework Policy under which it proposed the creation of an India Datasets platform, which will consist of non-personal and anonymised datasets from Central government entities that have collected data from Indian citizens or those in India. The idea is that the non-personal data housed within this programme would be accessible to startups and Indian researchers, the draft proposal said.

• Why AI regulation is needed?

• If Regulated then what should be the limit?

• If regulated, then what are the risks associated with regulating AI?

• What has been India’s Response to demands for AI Regulation?

Other Important Articles Covering the same topic:

????India is building its own ‘sovereign AI’. What does it mean?

Direct tax-GDP ratio rose to 15-year high in FY23, tax buoyancy dipped

Syllabus:

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

Main Examination: General Studies III: Indian Economy and issues relating to planning, mobilization, of resources, growth, development and employment.

Key Points to Ponder:

• What’s the ongoing story-Direct tax-to-GDP ratio, which reflects the share of taxes in the overall output generated in the country, rose to a 15-year high of 6.11 per cent in the financial year 2022-23.

• What is tax-GDP ratio?

• Direct tax-to-GDP ratio reflects what?

• “Direct tax-to-GDP ratio, which reflects the share of taxes in the overall output generated in the country, rose to a 15-year high”-Why this is significant?

• For Your Information-Direct tax-to-GDP ratio, which reflects the share of taxes in the overall output generated in the country, rose to a 15-year high of 6.11 per cent in the financial year 2022-23, time-series data released by the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) under the Ministry of Finance showed Tuesday. This was accompanied by an increase in the income tax return filers in India to 7.4 crore in FY23, up 6.3 per cent from FY22, even as the tax buoyancy — the growth rate of taxes in relation to the economy’s nominal growth rate — declined to 1.18 in 2022-23 from 2.52 in 2021-22 and 1.29 in the pre-Covid year of 2018-19.

The cost of tax collection — indicating the expenditure on tax collection as a proportion of the total tax collections — inched lower to 0.51 per cent in FY23, the lowest level since 2000-01, but it increased in absolute terms to Rs 8,452 crore, the highest level since 2000-01, the year for which data is last available, the CBDT data showed.

Tax buoyancy had stood at (-)1.21 in 2019-20 and it was not computed for the financial year 2020-21 as both the nominal GDP and tax collections contracted from the previous year. Tax buoyancy had improved to 2.52 in 2021-22 due to a low base effect. Now, tax buoyancy inched lower to 1.18 in 2022-23 even as the growth rate for taxes was recorded at 17.79 per cent in 2022-23, higher than 15.11 per cent nominal GDP growth.

A tax buoyancy greater than 1 reflects a faster growth in taxes as against the country’s national income. Net direct tax collections, which reflect collections after refunds, “increased by 160.52 per cent to Rs 16.63 lakh crore in FY 2022-23 from Rs 6.39 lakh crore in FY 2013-14”, CBDT said in a statement. Gross direct tax collections stood at Rs 19.7 lakh crore in FY 2022-23, a rise of 173.3 per cent from Rs 7.21 lakh crore in FY 2013-14, it said. On a year-on-year basis, net direct tax collections increased by 17.8 per cent, while gross direct tax collections rose by 20.5 per cent.

• Understand these terms-Tax Buoyancy, Non-tax revenue, Capital expenditure

• What is the Tax buoyancy?

• What is Tax Elasticity?

• Tax buoyancy and Tax Elasticity-Know the difference

• What is the net direct tax?

• What is Direct Tax?

• What are the types of taxes in India?

• What is the difference between direct and indirect taxes?

• Examples of direct and indirect taxes?

• How does a direct tax work?

• What is net direct tax collection in India?

• Why Direct tax is important?

• What are the Government initiatives to improve direct taxes and indirect taxes?

• How is the tax structure in India?

• Goods and Services Tax is one of the biggest direct or indirect tax reforms?

• Can you brainstorm major tax reforms?

• What is direct tax reforms in India?

Other Important Articles Covering the same topic:

????The tax base is growing – government shouldn’t waste the opportunity

????India’s tax-GDP ratio may be too high

EXPLAINED

Why Canada has put curbs on foreign students, how Indians are hit

Syllabus:

Preliminary Examination: Current events of national and international importance.

Mains 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-Canada’s federal government has said it is capping the number of international student visas for a period of two years beginning with the coming academic session. Fewer visas will mean fewer Indian students will be able to travel to Canada for a college degree.

• By how much is Canada cutting the number of international student visas?

• Why has Canada taken these steps to curb the influx of international students?

• Who specifically will be impacted by the decisions?

• Will there be implications for Indians?

• How did India’s relationship with Canada fare historically?

• India-Canada bilateral relations-know in detail

• How have India-Canada relations deteriorated in recent months?

• Why recent allegations by Canada are troubling and unprecedented?

• “Anti-India activities” and “politically-condoned hate crimes” are some of the harsh terms that India has used to describe situation in Canada—What has caused India to take such a decisive step?

• Canada hosts one of the largest Indian diasporas in the world-Can you tell little more on this?

• For Your Information- Canada hosts one of the largest Indian diasporas in the world, numbering 16 lakh people of Indian origin, accounting for more than 3 percent of the total Canadian population and 700,000 NRIs. India became the top source of foreign students studying in Canada — 2.3 lakh, according to 2022 data. India’s total trade with Canada (goods and services) in 2021-22 was US $11.68 billion, much below potential, but when it comes to India’s import of pulses, almost 30% of the total import comes from Canada.

Canadian pension funds have cumulatively invested around US $55 billion in India. Cumulative FDI from Canada since 2000 is about US$4.07 billion. All these have continued despite speed bumps like the recent pause in trade talks — and despite challenges over the Khalistan issue.

As per the 2021 Canadian census, Sikhs account for 2.1 per cent of Canada’s population, and are the country’s fastest growing religious group. After India, Canada is home to the largest population of Sikhs in the world. Today, Sikhs lawmakers and officials serve at all levels of Canada’s government, and their burgeoning population is one of the most important political constituencies in the country. In 2017, Jagmeet Singh, 39, became the first Sikh leader of a major Canadian political party when he took the reins of the left-leaning New Democratic Party (NDP).

• What do you understand by the word “diaspora”?

• Sikh Diaspora in Canada and India-Know in detail

• India became the top source of foreign students studying in Canada-Know more in this regard

Other Important Articles Covering the same topic:

????Canada needs to see India – not just the diaspora

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