28 June 2023 : Indian Express
Indian Express
28-June-2023
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1. Prime Minister pushes Uniform Civil Code, accuses Opposition of instigating Muslims
Syllabus – GS II
Recent Context – Modi interacts with students on board a Vande Bharat Express in Bhopal.
In his first public push for a Uniform Civil Code, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that the country cannot have separate laws for its people and that the Constitution obligates the State to secure a UCC for its citizens.
Highlights on UCC
- The UCC is the last of the three issues at the heart of the BJP’s ideological agenda–the other two being the Ram temple in Ayodhya, construction of which is underway, and the removal of Article 370 in J&K, done in 2019.
- A number of state BJP governments–Goa, Gujarat, Uttarakhand and Madhya Pradesh–have already begun efforts to bring a UCC in their states.
- BJP sources said the party is confident of numbers to pass a UCC if a law for it is brought to Parliament, following a report from the Law Commission.
- Tribal groups have reservations on the UCC. More than 30 tribal organisations in Jharkhand alone want the Law Commission to withdraw the UCC idea.
- For the BJP, tribal communities form a crucial support base in Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan.
- At the same time, the UCC also has the potential to divide non-BJP parties and be a stumbling block in unity efforts. Parties like AAP and BJD do not have objections to the UCC, while the JD(U) wants a discussion on the matter.
UCC
- The Uniform Civil Code (UCC) calls to formulte one law for India, which would apply to people of all religions in matters such as marriage, divorce, adoption, and inheritance.
- It dates back to colonial India when the British government submitted its report in 1835 stressing the need for uniformity in the codification of Indian law relating to crimes, contracts, and evidence, specifically recommending that personal laws of Hindus and Muslims be kept outside such codification.
- An increase in legislation dealing with personal issues at the far end of British rule forced the government to form the B N Rau Committee to codify Hindu law in 1941.
Constitutional Provisions
- Article 44: The “State shall endeavour to provide for its citizens a uniform civil code (UCC) throughout the territory of India.”
- Article 37: The “state shall endeavour by suitable legislation”, while the phrase “by suitable legislation” is absent in Article 44.
Triple Talaq Issue
- Egypt has over 90 per cent Sunni Muslim population. The practice of triple talaq was abolished there 80-90 years ago. It is also absent in Pakistan, Indonesia, Qatar, Jordan, Syria, Bangladesh and other Muslim-majority countries.
- The Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Marriage) Act, 2019 was enacted to protect the rights of married Muslim women, prohibit divorce by pronouncing talaq by their husbands, and provide for matters connected therewith or incidental thereto.
- This act declared talaq as void and illegal.
2. IIT Bombay breaks into top 150 in QS world ranking, eight years after IISc first made it
Syllabus – GS I, GS II
Recent Context – IIT Bombay has made a remarkable leap, climbing 23 positions to secure the 149th rank.
Significant Fluctuations
- IISc fell 70 positions from 155th rank to 225. It now stands as the third-highest-ranked Indian institution, compared to being the best Indian institution last year.
- Similarly, IIT Delhi fell from 174 to 197, IIT Kanpur from 264 to 278 and IIT Madras from 250 to 285, among others.
- The reduction in emphasis on the faculty-student ratio (FSR) has had a negative impact on institutions such as IISC, which is primarily a research-focused institution with a lower teaching load compared to the IITs. IISc had been performing well on the FSR indicator. Due to the decreased weightage, its ranking has been affected.
- However, according to a QS spokesperson, this is not the only factor that led to IISc’s fall in rankings.
New Indicators
- The UK-based ranking agency, QS Quacquarelli Symonds, has partly attributed the fluctuation to a revision of the assessment parameters this year.
- It introduced three new indicators– sustainability, employment outcomes, and international research network, each carrying a weightage of 5per cent.
- QS adjusted the importance assigned to other parameters to accommodate the three new indicators.
- The weightage given to the academic reputation indicator has been lowered from 40 per cent to 30 per cent.
- Similarly, the emphasis on the faculty-student ratio has also been decreased from 15% to 10%, and the significance attributed to the employer reputation indicator has been increased from 10% to 15%.
India’s Position
- With 45 universities ranked this year, India is the seventh most-represented country globally and the third in Asia, trailing only Japan (52 universities) and China (Mainland) (71 universities).
- India has two more entries in the world’s top 500 universities, with the University of Delhi (407th) and Anna University (427th) debuting in this tier.
- Four new Indian universities: the University of Petroleum and Energy Studies (UPES), Chitkara University, Guru Gobind Singh Indraprastha University, and the Indian Statistical Institute, have been ranked this year.
- Overall, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in the US topped the World University Ranking for the twelfth consecutive time this year, followed closely by UK’s Cambridge University and Oxford University.
- Notably, the National University of Singapore (NUS) moved up three positions from Rank 11 last year to become the first Asian university to break into the top 10 club.
QS Rankings
- The QS World University Rankings is an annual university rankings publication comprising the global overall and subject rankings. It is the most widely read university rankings in the world.
- It currently leads the higher education industry with consistent growth and innovation, progressively affecting the way students and institutions engage.
- The QS rankings systematically evaluate key aspects of higher education institutions, ultimately offering potential students expert advice proven to align students with their chosen path.
3. Wagner chief Prigozhin starts exile in Belarus, Putin praises Russian troops
Syllabus – GS II
Recent Context – Russian mercenary leader Yevgeny Prigozhin arrived in Belarus under a deal that ended a brief mutiny by his fighters, as President Vladimir Putin praised his armed forces for averting a civil war.
Inside the Deal
- In Moscow, Putin sought to reassert his authority after the mutiny led by Prigozhin in protest against the Russian military’s handling of the conflict in Ukraine.
- Russian authorities also dropped a criminal case against his Wagner Group mercenary force, apparently fulfilling another condition of the deal brokered by Lukashenko that defused the crisis.
Wagner Group
- Officially known as the PMC Wagner, the mercenary organisation was first identified in 2014 during Russia’s annexation of Crimea.
- It’s essentially a network of contractors that supply soldiers for hire, and the group got registered as a company in 2022 and opened a new headquarters in St Petersburg, as per the BBC.
- Reports suggest that 80 per cent of its troops in Ukraine have been recruited from prison.
- The organisation’s owner and head is Prigozhin.
- Close links to prominent people helped Prigozhin expand his business. And after Putin became president, he was awarded a host of government contracts. Prigozhin subsequently earned the nickname “Putin’s Chef”.
- The lucrative earnings in the food industry weren’t enough for the businessman, though, and he eventually got into the sector of providing private military service.
- Besides Ukraine, Wagner Group has reportedly been active in a number of African and West Asian countries. According to media reports, it provides its services to different governments, often in exchange for access to gold and diamond mines.
4. MEIRA PAIBIS
Syllabus – GS I
Recent Context – The Spear Corps of the Indian Army accused women activists in Manipur of “deliberately blocking routes and interfering in Operations of Security Forces” as the state struggles to contain the weeks-long waves of rioting and unrest.
Women ‘torch bearers’
- The Meira Paibi, formed in 1977 have led one of the largest grassroots movements in the world, initially focused on fighting alcoholism and drug abuse has now expanded to counter human rights violations and the development of society at large.
- The Meira Paibis, or “women torch bearers”, are so called because of the flaming torches that they hold while marching in the streets, often at night.
- The Meira Paibis, also known as Imas or Mothers of Manipur, are Meitei women from all sections of the Imphal valley, are widely respected, and represent a powerful moral force.
- The Meira Paibis are loosely organised, usually led by groups of senior women, but have no rigid hierarchy or structure or overt political leanings.
- They become more visible at certain times, but their presence and importance in Manipur are permanent and palpable, and their role as society’s conscience keepers is widely acknowledged.
- Over the decades, the Meira Paibis have led numerous social and political movements in the state, including some powerful protests against alleged atrocities by Indian security forces, leveraging their strong position in society in the interest of the causes they have backed.
Some Major Actions
- The Meira Paibi women were the active support base of Irom Sharmila, the activist who remained on a hunger strike in the state from 2000 to 2016 to protest against the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act.
- In 2015, the state saw tensions over demands for the Inner Line Permit (ILP) system, that requires outsiders to obtain a permit to enter. The Meira Paibis played an active role to ensure bandhs and shutdown calls in the markets.
- The Meira Paibis have also been reported to play a role in the current crisis. The armed forces recently apprehended 12 KYKL cadres with arms, ammunition and war-like stores during an operation in Itham village in Imphal East but were forced to release them, reportedly after pressure from women activists who confronted the security personnel.
5. Indian Ocean Dipole, and its potential to limit El Nino effects
Syllabus – GS I
Recent Context – With the El Nino phenomenon almost certain to affect the Indian monsoon this year, high hopes are pinned on the development of a positive Indian Ocean Dipole (IOD) and its ability to counterbalance the El Nino effect.
Indian Ocean Dipole
- The IOD was identified as an independent system only in 1999.
- The air circulation in the Indian Ocean basin moves from west to east, from the African coast towards the Indonesian islands, near the surface, and in the opposite direction at the upper levels. That means the surface waters in the Indian Ocean get pushed from west to east.
- In a normal year, warmer waters in the western Pacific near Indonesia cross over into the Indian Ocean and make that part of the Indian Ocean slightly warmer. That causes the air to rise and helps the prevailing air circulation.
- In the years when the air circulation becomes stronger, more warm surface waters from the African coast are pushed towards the Indonesian islands, making that region warmer than usual. This causes more hot air to rise, and the cycle reinforces itself. This is the state of negative IOD.
- The opposite case involves air circulation becoming slightly weaker than normal. In some rare cases, the air circulation even reverses direction. Consequently, the African coast becomes warmer while the Indonesian coastline gets cooler.
- A positive IOD event often develops at times of an El Nino, while a negative IOD is sometimes associated with La Nina.
- During El Nino, the Pacific side of Indonesia is cooler than normal, because of which the Indian Ocean side also gets cooler. That helps the development of a positive IOD.
- Many studies suggest that ENSO actually induces IOD events. There is evidence to show that IOD events can have an independent existence.
IOD Impacts
- A positive IOD helps rainfall along the African coastline and the Indian sub-continent while suppressing rainfall over Indonesia, Southeast Asia and Australia.
- The impacts are opposite during a negative IOD event.
- Compared with ENSO events, the impacts of IODs are much weaker.
For Enquiry
28 June 2023 : Indian Express
28 June 2023 : PIB
28 June 2023 : The Hindu Editorial
28 June 2023 : Daily Current Affairs
27 June 2023 : Daily Quiz
27 June 2023 : Indian Express
27 June 2023 : PIB
27 June 2023 : The Hindu Editorial
27 June 2023 : Daily Current Affairs
26 June 2023 : Daily Quiz
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Daily Current Affairs For UPSC ,The Hindu Editorial Summary
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