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The Lok Sabha on Wednesday passed the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation (Amendment) Bill, 2023, and the Jammu and Kashmir Reservation (Amendment) Bill, 2023, the former seeking to reserve seats for “Kashmiri migrants, people displaced from Pakistan-occupied Kashmir [PoK] and Scheduled Tribes” in the yet-to-be constituted 114-seat J&K Assembly.
Responding to statements made by Opposition members that abrogation of Article 370 of the Constitution in J&K could not put an end to terrorism, Union Home Minister Amit Shah said that he had never made such a claim.
He said a “zero-terror” plan, formulated three years ago, will be “100% implemented” by 2026 in J&K.
He said the reservation of seats for Kashmiri migrants, who were displaced from their own homes in the 1990s, will ensure that the voice of the community is heard “loud and clear in the J&K Assembly” and if any such crisis arises in future, they are able to stop it.
Editorial
MP Index reduction under the NDA is flawed (Page no. 8)
(GS Paper 2, Health)
Samuel Johnson, a profound literary critic and essayist, wrote, “Poverty is a great enemy to human happiness; it certainly destroys liberty, and it makes some virtues impracticable, and others extremely difficult.”
In sharp contrast, conventional measures of poverty in terms of income are limited and narrowly focused on scarcity of resources to eke out a bare subsistence. But there is much more to poverty than a bare subsistence, as emphasised by Johnson and others.
Nobel Laurate Amartya Sen pioneered a rich, innovative and broader perspective on well-being, focusing on capabilities and functionings.
While capabilities are abilities to do this or that in a free and fair environment, functionings reflect achievements. An ability to live a healthy life, for example, is not necessarily related to affluence as it could result in obesity and vulnerability to non-communicable diseases.
Achievements such as being healthy, on the other hand, require a nourishing diet and physical exercise. Professor Sen has, however, resisted aggregation of concepts such as capabilities into an overall measure of well-being as he believes that each capability is important in itself.
Text & Context
Navigating the U.S.-China relationship (Page no. 10)
(GS Paper 2, International Relation)
The U.S. President Joe Biden and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping held a summit, their second, in San Francisco on November 15, on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation conference.
Their aim was to resurrect a bilateral relationship that is now at its lowest point since Washington and Beijing established diplomatic ties in 1979.
The most consequential outcome was the decision to restore military-to-military communications between the two nuclear weapons states, critical to prevent potentially catastrophic miscalculations.
The respective defence forces will now resume regular exchange of information under the Military Maritime Consultative Agreement that started in 1998.
These channels were closed after Nancy Pelosi’s (then Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives) controversial visit to Taiwan in August 2022, the first visit by a Speaker in 25 years.
A self-ruled island state, Taiwan’s status remains a bone of contention between the world’s biggest superpowers, with China pursuing the goal of its reunification into the mainland.
Under the “one-China” policy, Washington accepts Beijing as the only legitimate government of China and acknowledges, but does not endorse, Taiwan as part of that country, and provides concrete security guarantees under the Taiwan Relations Act. President Biden has on several occasions pledged that the U.S. would intervene if China attacked Taiwan.
The role of special inquiry committees of Parliament (Page no. 10)
(GS Paper 2, Polity and Constitution)
The ethics committee of the Lok Sabha is believed to have recommended the expulsion of Trinamool Congress Member of Parliament (MP) Mahua Moitra from the Lok Sabha for her “unethical conduct” and “breach of privileges”.
This follows the ethics committee examining the complaints which accused her of asking questions to target a business house at the behest of a businessman in exchange for cash. She was also accused of sharing her log-in credentials with the businessman.
The ethics committee was constituted in 2000, to oversee the moral and ethical conduct of members and examine cases of ‘unethical conduct’ referred to it.
The Committee examines complaints filed against members of the House by other members; outsiders through a member; or referred by the Speaker.
The Committee makes a prima facie inquiry before deciding to examine a complaint and presents its report to the Speaker, who places it before the House for consideration. It must be noted that the term ‘unethical’ is not defined.
It is left to the Committee to decide whether any act is unethical or not. In 2007, an MP accompanying his close female companion, impersonating her as his wife was considered ‘unethical’ by the Committee. It recommended suspension of the MP from 30 sittings of the House.
News
India reminds Myanmar to return to ‘federal democracy’ (Page no. 14)
(GS Paper 2, International Relation)
As conflict intensifies between armed resistance groups and the Myanmar military in the Chin, Shan and Sagaing provinces, India reminded Myanmar to return to the path of federal democracy.
The message was delivered by Foreign Secretary Vinay Mohan Kwatra, who held a Foreign Office consultation with a Myanmarese delegation led by Deputy Foreign Minister of Myanmar U Lwin Oo.
Both sides held discussions on a wide range of issues covering the situation along the border, security, trade, commerce, connectivity, status of bilateral development projects in Myanmar and concerns related to transnational crimes.
The Indian side reiterated its support to Myanmar for a transition towards a federal democracy,” said a press note from the Ministry of External Affairs.
Myanmar’s military has been battling armed insurgents who have forced it out of several townships over the past few weeks.
Following intense fighting, thousands of Myanmarese nationals including former military personnel recently sought refuge in India.
AICTE to regulate BBA and BCA programmes with curriculum vetted by experts (Page no. 14)
(GS Paper 2, Education)
Undergraduate (UG) courses such as Bachelor of Business Administration (BBA) and Bachelor of Computer Application (BCA) will be regulated by the All India Council for Technical Education from 2024-25.
The AICTE released its new approval process handbook on Wednesday, which will remain valid for three years from 2024-25 to 2026-27.
The provision for extension of approval up to three years for well-performing institutions, reduction in compliances related to the requirement of land documents and no-objection certificate from affiliating universities and States, and introducing off-campus provision for well-performing existing institutions within the jurisdiction of affiliating universities are a few other changes the council is bringing about in the next year.
T.G. Sitharam, AICTE Chairman, said that while it regulates postgraduate (PG) programmes leading to Master’s in Business Administration (MBA) and Master’s in Computer Applications (MCA) degrees, it will now also include BBA and BCA under its regulatory umbrella.
Garba dance of Gujarat makes it to UNESCO list (Page no. 14)
(GS Paper 1, Culture)
Gujarat’s traditional dance form ‘Garba’ was on Wednesday included in the list of Intangible Cultural Heritage by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).
The popular dance form is the 15th cultural item from India to make it to the UNESCO list. Kolkata’s Durga Puja was the last one added two years ago.
The inclusion has been made under the provisions of the 2003 Convention for the Safeguarding of Intangible Cultural Heritage. The international cultural body described the ‘Garba’ as a ritualistic and devotional dance performed India.
World
Science clear on the need to ‘phase out’ fossil fuel, says U.S. climate envoy John Kerry (Page no. 15)
(GS Paper 3, Environment)
“The science was clear on the need to phase out some fossil fuel,” the U.S. lead climate negotiator, John Kerry, said at a press conference.
“Else we are not going to be able to make the goal of being net zero by 2050 or have a shot at keeping temperatures below 1.5 degrees Celsius.”
On Tuesday, a draft text of the Global Stock Take (GST), said to be the most important and contentious element of the climate talks ongoing here, for the first time mentioned that countries ought to be undertaking a “just and orderly phase out of fossil fuels”.
While this could mean all of the major fossil fuels — coal, oil and gas — that are responsible for human-led greenhouse gas emissions, Mr. Kerry said that there would be some “tough negotiations” in the week ahead. He said that the U.S. and China had reached agreements on reducing methane emissions and the position of both countries as the “number one and two economies” of the world was critical to achieving these goals.
Business
Govt. seeks parliament nod for extra spending for FY24 (Page no. 16)
(GS Paper 2, Governance)
The Union government sought parliament’s approval for spending an additional ₹1.29 lakh crore in the current fiscal year, mainly towards higher subsidies for farmers and a rural employment guarantee programme.
The government said the net additional spending for the current fiscal year ending March 31, would be ₹58,378 crore, while the rest would be accommodated by reshuffling expenses.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s administration said it would spend ₹13,351 crore for fertiliser subsidies, while it would spend another ₹14,524 crore for a rural jobs scheme.
Mr. Modi, who will be seeking a third consecutive term in national polls in about six months time, has been doling out welfare measures via food and fertiliser subsidies, cheaper cooking gas and other measures to pump up the rural economy that is showing signs of weakness.
Science
Who is responsible for farming’s impact on the environment? (Page no. 20)
(GS Paper 3, Environment)
The ever-increasing demand for agricultural products is leading to significant social and environmental consequences worldwide.
The expansion of international trade has created global supply chains, directly linking consumers to geographically-distant impacts, including carbon emissions, biodiversity loss, freshwater depletion, soil degradation and labour-rights issues – all of which have local, regional, and global relevance.
Due to its vast size and consumer market, India is a global anchor of the trade in agricultural products. It has also undergone remarkable social and economic development over the last several decades. This has led to an increasing demand as well as supply of these products.
Large land areas in India are used to service the international demand for grains, fruits, and vegetables, among other products, which puts pressure on national soil and water resources.
At the same time, India’s vast consumer market means that large amounts of land, even outside its borders, are used to satisfy domestic demand.