InstaLinks :  help you think beyond the issue but relevant to the issue from UPSC prelims and Mains exam point of view. These linkages provided in this ‘hint’ format help you frame possible questions in your mind that might arise(or an examiner might imagine) from each current event. InstaLinks also connect every issue to their static or theoretical background. This helps you study a topic holistically and add new dimensions to every current event to help you think analytically

1. The Center vs State tussle over IAS postings

2. Supreme Court’s contradictory verdicts reinforce the need for a Bail Act

3. Data opportunity at the G20

1. Reinvent the economic growth model

Content for Mains Enrichment (Ethics/Essay)

2. Karnataka prisoners to manage fuel stations soon

3. India’s ‘Panch Pran’ target for the next 25 years

1. Center raises thresholds for prosecutions and arrests under Customs Act

11. ‘Medicine from The Sky’ Project

Syllabus: Role of Civil services in democracy, mode of posting of IAS and other central services in state etc

Context: It has been reported that fewer All India Services (AIS) officers working in the States were coming forward to opt for tenure with the Center.

Factors that account for the reluctance:

All India Services (AIS): The All India Services (AIS) comprises the three civil services of India:

Center’s dialogue with the States over amending the AIS rules assumes importance: Such amendment would empower the Center to commandeer the services of any officer serving in the States to work for the former, with or without the concurrence of the State concerned or the consent of the particular officer.

Related article: Bureaucrats Haven’t Failed. But They Can Do Better

Direction: Read through it once. We have clubbed two articles together.

Q. The jurisdiction of the Central Bureau of Investigation(CBI) regarding lodging an FIR and conducting a probe within a particular state is being questioned by various States. However, the power of States to withhold consent to the CBI is not absolute. Explain with special reference to the federal character of India. (UPSC 2021)

Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

Direction: It is a legal article. No need to go in-depth, just know the issue.

Arguments in favour of making immediate arrests and denial of bail to the undertrials:

Hasty arrest, near impossible bail: CJI

Q. Comprehensive reforms are needed in the criminal justice system to ensure effective enforcement of the law, uphold accountability, have a well-trained workforce and speedy disposal of the cases. Comment. (250 words)

Syllabus: Bilateral, regional and global grouping involving India, G20 etc

Context: According to the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation (ITIF), data localisation laws have more than doubled from 2017 to 2021, indicating that countries (including G20 countries) seek and want increasing levels of regulatory control over data.

Examples of increasing regulation over data:

Advantages of G20 to play a role in data governance:

India’s position on Data governance:

Q. Data security has assumed significant importance in the digitized world due to rising cyber crimes. Justice B. N. Srikrishna Committee Report addresses issues related to data security. What, in your view, are the strengths and weaknesses of the Report relating to the protection of personal data in cyberspace? (UPSC 2018)

Q. The long sustained image of India as a leader of the oppressed and marginalized nations has disappeared on account of its newfound role in the emerging global order.’ Elaborate(UPSC 2019)

Which of the following countries is/are part of the G20?

Select the correct answer using the codes given below:

Refer to the image above

Direction: Don’t miss any articles by Sunita Narain (D2E) on the environment

Context: The author argues that future global actions must accept the reality of climate equity and use it to drive economic growth

Climate equity ensures the just and fair distribution of the benefits of climate protection efforts among all poor and rich countries, and rural and urban populations.

Reinvent “growth” to become low-carbon, sustainable and yet affordable:

Climate change and associated Issues

Q. How far do you think the nature-based solutions a viable option in dealing with climate change in India? Analyze with suitable illustrations. (250 Words)

“Climate Action Tracker” which emission reduction pledges of different countries are a : (a) Database created by a coalition of research organisations (b) Wing of “International Panel of Climate Change” (c) Committee under “United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change” (d) Agency promoted and financed by the United Nations Environment Programme and World Bank.

The Climate Action Tracker (CAT) is an independent scientific analysis produced by two research organisations tracking climate action since 2009. It tracks progress toward the globally agreed aim of holding warming well below 2°C and pursuing efforts to limit warming to 1.5°C.

Which one of the following statements best describes the term ‘Social Cost of Carbon?

(a) Long-term damage done by a tonne of CO2 emissions in a given year.

(b) Requirement of fossil fuels for a country to provide goods and services to its citizens, based on the burning of those fuels.

(c) Efforts put in by a climate refugee to adapt to live in a new place.

(d) Contribution of an individual person to the carbon footprint on the planet Earth.

India’s violent and devastating partition in 1947 displaced some 15 million people and left at least a million dead. So many families fled for their lives, never to return to the villages, towns and cities they had once called home.

But now, they can revisit those very places – the houses they left behind, the schools they dropped out of and even the people they thought they would never see again.

Project Dastaan allows them to do just that and take a walk down memory lane, albeit a painful one, with their custom 360-degree VR videos.

The Karnataka state prisons department is planning to start fuel stations to be run and managed by prisoners. These stations will be started at selective places which are close to prisons and can be easily monitored by the department staff.

This initiative is in line with reform and rehabilitation initiatives – wherein prisoners will have a sense of responsibility and will live a life of dignity.

The Five Resolves that PM asked people to take include;

According to PM, these five resolves will be significant for a developed country when country will mark 100 years of independence in 2047. These five resolves also include the PM’s dream of ‘Vishwaguru India’.

Context: The Ministry of Civil Aviation’s flagship program Regional Connectivity Scheme UDAN (UdeDeshkaAamNagrik) has completed 5 years of success (launched in 2016) since the launch of its first flight by the Prime Minister on 27th April 2017.

Aim: It seeks to improve regional air connectivity to tier-2 and tier-3 cities (mostly underserved or unserved regions) through the revival of unused and underused airports.

Direction: Not so important. Go through it once.

Context: SC commented that the practice of ‘Talaq-e-Hasan’ is not so improper

Direction: ‘Manthan’ is not so important. Have some knowledge about STIAC

Context: It has been launched by the Office of the Principal Scientific Adviser for promoting collaboration between industry and the Scientific research and development ecosystem to meet India’s sustainability goals.

Principal Scientific Adviser (PSA): He is the chief advisor to the government on matters related to scientific policy and holds a secretary-level position.

Similar Name: Bureau of Police Research and Development (BPR&D), in coordination with the All-India Council for Technical Education (AICTE), launched an online hackathon “Manthan 2021” (for a technical solution to challenges faced by intelligence agencies)

Fig: Components under PM’s STIAC

Direction: Although new initiatives are not so important, NGP is.

Context: Jal Shakti Ministry unveiled a new initiative under Arth Ganga (under Namami Gange Programme)

Arth Ganga aims to promote economic activities along the Ganga River bank

Direction: This is old News. PM Samapada Scheme is important.

Context: A new model for the development of Grain Silos (tall tower or pit on a farm used to store grain) under PPP mode at over 80 locations have been proposed

PPP model selected: design, build, fund, own and transfer (DBFOT) (land is owned by FCI) and design, build, fund, own and operate (DBFOO) (land belongs to private entities)

Government steps for storage of grains:

Context: PAN (Pesticide Action Network) has reported that several states are using above the recommended amount of certain pesticides

Pesticide Action Network is “an international coalition of around 600 NGOs, citizens’ groups, and individuals in about 60 countries.” which opposes pesticide use, and advocates what it proposes as more ecologically sound alternatives.

Direction: Do keep a short list of alternatives to SUP.

Context: S&T ministry will encourage startups (through a loan) to manufacture and commercialize “compostable” plastic to mitigate the usage of Single Use plastics (SUP)

Programme is supported by NIDHI-PRAYAS Scheme, Niti Aayog and UNIDO

SUP has been banned from July 2022 in India.

Compostable plastic: Instead of using plastic made from petrochemicals and fossil fuels, compostable plastics are derived from renewable materials like corn, potato, tapioca starches, cellulose, soy protein, and lactic acid.

Context: India buys discounted Venezuelan petroleum coke to replace coal (due to high prices of coal)

Petroleum coke (or pet coke) is a final carbon-rich solid material that derives from oil refining

Previously Supreme Court had banned the use of Petcoke in NCR areas (Delhi)

1st shipment: India, which counts the United States and Saudi Arabia as major petcoke suppliers, received its first-ever cargo from Venezuela at the beginning of 2022

Context:  Delhi, Kolkata first, second globally in PM2.5 pollution as per the report titled Air Quality and Health in Cities (by US-based research organization Health Effects Institute’s (HEI) State of Global Air Initiative)

Source: Air Quality and Health in Cities

In Arunachal Pradesh, the pilot project of using drones in healthcare, agriculture and disaster management including the “Medicine from the Sky project” is being undertaken in association with the World Economic Forum (WEF).

The first flight of drone service was carried from Seppa to Chayang Tajo in the East Kameng district. This project is inspired by the Prime Minister’s vision of transforming India into the world’s drone hub.

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