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The shift from the old Parliament House — now called Samvidhan Sadan — to the new Parliament building took place on, amid a call by the PM to start a new chapter without the bitterness of partisanship.
Mallikarjun Kharge, Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha, said Constitutional values should be protected.
States
Three Hoysala temples declared World Heritage Sites (Page no. 4)
(GS Paper 1, Culture)
The Hoysala temples at Belur, Halebid, and Somanathapur in Karnataka were declared UNESCO World Heritage Sites on Monday in a move that will bring global recognition with prospects of increase in international tourism to these places.
The Chennakeshava temple at Belur and the Hoysaleshwara temple at Halebid — both in Hassan district — have been on the UNESCO’s tentative list since 2014.
The Keshava temple at Somanathapur in Mysuru district was appended to the other two monuments under the tentative list and all three were officially nominated by the Centre as India’s entry for 2022-23 in February 2022.
The Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) said the coming together of creative genius, architectural eclecticism, and symbolism into this outstanding sacred architecture makes these Hoysalas temples a true work of art and their inscription is an honour for India and the entire world heritage community.
Editorial
The ‘mantras’ that powered success at the G-20 summit (Page no. 6)
(GS Paper 2, International Organisation)
Reports of the death of multilateralism are greatly exaggerated, it would seem, from the outcomes of the G-20 summit in India, especially the New Delhi Leaders’ Declaration (NDLD).
Throughout India’s G-20 presidency, no ministerial meeting had been able to issue a joint statement and the ‘Sherpas’ most closely involved with negotiations said they often thought that they could not bring all the G-20 members on board in the context of the language of the document, especially on the subject of Ukraine.
While the Sherpa team methodically whittled away at the language, ensuring a document that was acceptable to all, the government’s bilateral forays succeeded in giving nearly all G-20 members a stake in the success of India’s presidency.
In the past year, Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited Japan, Australia, the United States, the United Arab Emirates, France, South Africa and Indonesia, and hosted leaders of Germany, Italy, Australia and Japan, all members of the G-20 with considerable influence on the process.
Regardless of their reasoning, the absence of Russian and Chinese Presidents at the G-20 summit ensured a less fractious gathering, and helped more than hindered.
To look at it more broadly, it is India’s policy ‘mantras’ of multilateralism, multipolarity and the “middle way” that won the day at Bharat Mandapam, the venue of the G-20 summit in Delhi.
Serious allegations (Page no. 6)
(GS Paper 2, International Relation)
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s startling allegation, tying the killing of Canadian Khalistani leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar in June, to “agents of the Government of India”, marks a new low in their unravelling ties.
Mr. Trudeau’s accusation — he said evidence had been shared with India and also raised in a bilateral meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi last weekend — has set off a chain of events.
After Canada expelled a senior Indian diplomat, India summoned the Canadian High Commissioner and expelled Canada’s Station chief for intelligence.
The United States and Australia, partners with Canada in the “Five Eyes” intelligence sharing agreement, have expressed “deep concerns” over the issue.
The External Affairs Ministry has also accused Canadian diplomats of “anti-India” activities, indicating that more diplomats may be under scrutiny, while the Canadian government has spoken about the violation of the international rule of law, and of Canadian “sovereignty”, which could invoke other areas of confrontation.
Given the support Mr. Trudeau received from his political rivals in Parliament, remarks critical of India by leaders such as Pierre Poilievre and Jagmeet Singh, it is also likely that the chill will outlast this government, if voted out in elections due in 2025.
Unlike with Pakistan, where such allegations, name-calling and public confrontation have become routine, it is worth remembering that Canada is a part of the western NATO alliance, and home to Indians and Indian-origin Canadians, and the impact of the rupture will be felt wider.
Opinion
Facilitating degrees within a degree (Page no. 7)
(GS Paper 2, Education)
Even though the movement to specify frameworks for higher education qualifications had gained momentum across the world in the late 1990s, India remained without a National Higher Education Qualifications Framework (NHEQF) until recently.
The idea was deliberated at the 60th meeting of the Central Advisory Board of Education in 2012, which assigned the responsibility to the University Grants Commission (UGC). The issue has been hanging fire since.
That it has now come up with a NHEQF is welcome, but the UGC must remove all the confusion about higher education qualifications, which arise because of the multiplicity of guidelines, frameworks and documents in the country.
Globally, higher education qualification frameworks include details of the definition and requirements of credits. The UGC has chosen to prescribe two separate frameworks — the NHEQF and the National Credit Framework.
Higher educational institutions are separately required to implement the Academic Bank of Credits as a mandated modality for recognising, accepting, and transferring credits across courses and institutions.
Additionally, there are many other regulations that impinge on higher education qualifications. All of these could have been integrated into the NHEQF. This defeats the purpose of prescribing a qualification framework.
After all, a qualification framework must minimise ambiguities in comprehending qualifications in a cross-cultural context.
NASA shifts UFO debate from sensationalism to science (Page no. 7)
(GS Paper 3, Science and Technology)
Unidentified flying objects, or UFOs in common parlance, were in the news again a few days ago for two contrasting reasons.
Last week, lawmakers in the Mexican Congress heard testimony from individuals suggesting the possibility of the existence of extraterrestrials.
These individuals hailed from Mexico, the U.S., Japan, and Brazil. Journalist José Jaime Maussan presented two boxes that encased what he claimed were mummies found in Peru, of beings that he and others considered “non-human beings that are not part of our terrestrial evolution.”
Similar findings in the past and in the area turned out to be the remains of mummified children. Scientists have called Mr. Maussan’s claim fraudulent and said that the mummies may have been looted from grave sites.
Text & Context
Simultaneous polls: do States have a say? (Page no. 8)
(GS Paper 2, Governance)
The Union government on September 2 set up a committee under the leadership of the former President of India Ram Nath Kovind to look into the feasibility of simultaneous polls to State Assemblies and the Lok Sabha.
The eight-member High-Level Committee is set to examine the ‘one nation, one election’ idea and make recommendations for holding simultaneous elections in the country.
The Law Ministry has outlined seven terms of reference for the panel — one of them is to examine and recommend if the constitutional amendments required to facilitate simultaneous elections would require ratification by the States.
The Constitution was envisioned as a living document capable of morphing with the needs of the times. Article 368 governs the process of amending the Constitution. Constitutional amendments can take place through three different procedures.
The first is through a simple majority of those present and voting in each House of Parliament. That is, some provisions in the Constitution can be amended in the same way ordinary legislations are passed; it does not require a specific quorum.
Such provisions are excluded from the purview of Article 368, thereby creating a separate category. Some examples include amendments contemplated in Article 4 (changes related to the organisation of States), Article 169 (abolition or creation of Legislative Councils in States), and para 21(2)13 of Schedule VI (provisions for the administration of Tribal Areas in the States of Assam, Meghalaya, Tripura and Mizoram), among others.
News
Symbolism of gender justice ushers in new era of Parliament (Page no. 10)
(GS Paper 2, Social Justice)
The new Parliament appears to be high on the symbolism of gender justice. Apart from the women’s reservation Bill becoming the first one to be tabled after the relocation, the building sports art that celebrates the work of women from the grassroots.
A signature wall called the Jan Janani Janmabhoomi, which adorns the Central Foyer of Parliament, was assembled by 75 women artisans from across the country.
They adorned the wall made of banana pulp with representative crafts from 28 States and eight Union Territories.
Similarly, certain themes in the Shilp Deergha (crafts gallery) also celebrate womanhood and their everyday contributions to society.
The Jan Janani Janmabhoomi wall was made at a workshop set up in the ‘Nari Shishu Kalyan Parishad’ located at Stadium Road, Madhubani in Bihar.
According to Sharad Kumar of Lalit Kala Akademi, who was one of the anchors of the Janmabhoomi project, the use of banana fibre pulp to create a papier mache wall was unique and attempted for the first time. “Banana pulp has a special adhesive quality which can hold the piece together.”
Science awards up for a revamp (Page no. 12)
(GS Paper 3, Science and Technology)
Nearly a year after deciding to cut the number of prizes annually awarded by its Ministries, the Union government is set to institute the Rashtriya Vigyan Puraskar — 56 prizes to felicitate scientists, technologists and innovators.
Akin to the prestigious Padma awards, these awards will not include any cash component; instead, they will likely bestow a certificate and a medallion on the awardee.
According to the proposal seen by The Hindu, which is yet to be made public, the RVP will comprise three Vigyan Ratna, 25 Vigyan Shri, 25 Vigyan Yuva-Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar and three Vigyan Team awards.
These prizes will be awarded annually for physics, chemistry, biological sciences, mathematics and computer science, earth science, medicine, engineering science, agricultural science, environmental science, technology and innovation, atomic energy, space science and technology, and a 13th category, simply called “others”.
It may be ensured that each domain may be represented. Adequate representation of women may also be ensured,” said the proposal forwarded by the Department of Science and Technology (DST) to the Union Home Ministry.
The 56 proposed awards are a stark reduction from the almost 300 science prizes that used to be given by Union Ministries.
In their previous avatar, the prizes also had a significant cash component. The Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar (SSB) awards, given by the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) since 1958, now includes ₹5 lakh per winner, as well as a salary perk.
WHO releases report on global impact of high BP (Page no. 12)
(GS Paper 2, International Organisation)
Approximately four of every five people with hypertension are not adequately treated, but if countries can scale up coverage, 76 million deaths could be averted between 2023 and 2050, the World Health Organization (WHO) said in its first-ever report on the global impact of high blood pressure.
Hypertension is the most important risk factor for death and disability in India, according to a paper in The Lancet, regional health (Southeast Asia), published late last year.
It adds that less than one-fourth of hypertensive patients in India had their blood pressure under control during 2016-2020. Though this rate has improved from the previous years’ figures, substantial differences exist across regions.
The Lancet paper says the 2019-20 National Family Health Survey (NFHS-5) reported a hypertension prevalence of 24% in men and 21% among women, an increase from 19% and 17%, respectively, from the previous round (2015-16).
The India Hypertension Control Initiative, a large-scale hypertension intervention under the National Health Mission, has been recognised for its positive work done within the primary healthcare system.
The WHO report states that hypertension affects one in three adults worldwide. This common, deadly condition leads to stroke, heart attack, heart failure, kidney damage and many other health problems.
The number of people living with hypertension (blood pressure of 140/90 mmHg or higher or taking medication for hypertension) doubled between 1990 and 2019, from 650 million to 1.3 billion.
Nearly half the people with hypertension globally are currently unaware of their condition. More than three-quarters of adults with hypertension live in low- and middle-income countries.
Business
FM stresses urgent need for reliable crop yield estimates (Page no. 13)
(GS Paper 3, Economy)
Finance and Corporate Affairs Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Tuesday made a strong pitch for generating real-time assessments of likely yields for all essential crops, starting with pulses and oilseeds that India often needs to import, stressing that the “country suffers for want of” such reliable farm output estimates.
Ms. Sitharaman noted in the context of a new automated real-time yield estimation system called Yes-Tech put in place from this kharif season for the wheat and rice crop.
The system, created with assistance from ISRO and ICAR, must be ramped up to cover other crops as soon as possible, particularly pulses and oilseeds.
That would help the economy much better so that we can plan our imports if we still need, ensure that the farmer doesn’t suffer because of our policy to import or export.
I want it to help in policymaking, to know how much will we have to give for the farmer’s toil in terms of minimum support price or in terms of procurement or how much quantity we need for buffer.
World
Azerbaijan launches operation in Karabakh, vows to fight ‘until the end’ (Page no. 14)
(GS Paper 2, International Relation)
Azerbaijan on Tuesday launched a military operation against the breakaway Nagorno-Karabakh region, warning it would “continue until the end” in the territory, over which it has fought two wars with neighbouring Armenia.
The latest flare-up in violence came as Russia, the traditional power broker in the region, was bogged down in a conflict in Ukraine.
Fears of a fresh war in the volatile Caucasus region have been growing recently, with Armenia accusing Azerbaijan of a troop build-up around the disputed Armenian-majority territory.
Separatists said Azerbaijan on Tuesday pounded the mountainous territory with artillery, combat aircraft and attack drones, and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan called it a “ground offensive”.
Azerbaijan’s Defence Ministry said that “localised anti-terrorist measures have been launched in the region” using “high precision weapons”.
The ministry later said it had taken control of more than 60 military positions held by Armenian backed forces.
Armenian separatists said on social media that “fighting continues along the entire line of contact” and that Azerbaijani forces were “trying to advance” into the territory.
Armenian separatists said 25 people, including at least five civilians, were killed and 80 were wounded by the fighting.
France and Germany back EU enlargement proposal (Page no. 14)
(GS Paper 2, International Relation)
France and Germany, the two largest economies in the European Union, pushed new proposals for the enlargement of the 27-member bloc.
The policy paper, put together by a group of 12 experts commissioned by the Europe Ministers of France and Germany but not representing the countries’ official views, was presented along the fringes of a European ministerial meeting.
The paper, commissioned in January this year, is in response to growing calls for expanding the EU, partly in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Along with the group’s enlargement, the paper looks at strengthening the rule of law and increasing the EU’s capacity to act, proposing four different tiers of participation in the union.
While Ukraine, the Western Balkans and Moldova are frontrunners for membership, a total of 10 countries are in the process of integrating EU law into their own laws, according to an EU website. It therefore recommended a flexible approach to EU enlargement as well as reform.
The report also looks at how the EU can function more effectively with 30 plus members. Its proposals include capping the number of EU legislators, changing the voting mechanism by expanding majority voting (as opposed to unanimity) and enhancing the bloc’s budget.
In the absence of unanimous support to change the EU Treaty (which is needed for enlargement), the paper suggests a supplementary treaty among a willing subset of members, which would permit for differentiation across the EU.