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 burden that women bear
2. Funds for POSHAN Abhiyaan unutilised
1. Need economic reforms beyond liberalisation
1. Mental health challenges in the uniformed forces
Content for Mains Enrichment (Essay/Ethics)
1. Environmental cost of factory-farmed meat
3. Quad discusses China’s concerns in the Indo-Pacific
6. Global Alliance for Industry Decarbonization (GAID)
7. Limited improvement in air pollution
Syllabus: Institutions and bodies for the protection of vulnerable sections of society, Social empowerment etc
Directions: This is from an editorial piece in The Hindu. Important for mains can be used as an example of issues faced by women in India.
Context: 75% of women across India undertake time-consuming efforts every day to ensure their families have water (referred to as ‘domestic drudgery’) (NFHS-5).
How government interventions can save women from domestic drudgery:
Q. Performance of welfare schemes that are implemented for vulnerable sections is not so effective due to the absence of their awareness and active involvement at all stages of the policy process – Discuss. (UPSC 2019)
Source: down to earth, PIB
Directions: Important for prelims and mains, can be used as the reason for issues faced by for better delivery of schemes
Context: More than half the funds for POSHAN Abhiyaan unutilised: 4th progress report released by the NITI Aayog
The report listed five key elements of the POSHAN Abhiyaan scheme:
● The month of September every year is celebrated as the Rashtriya Poshan Mah or the National Nutrition Month across the country.
● Bachcha and Shiksha –Poshan Bhi Padhai Bhi
● Gender-sensitive water conservation and management
● Traditional food for women and children in tribal areas.
Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana – National Rural Livelihood Mission (DAY-NRLM):
● It is a centrally sponsored programme, launched by the Ministry of Rural Development in June 2011.
● Aim: To eliminate rural poverty through:
○ Improved access to financial services for the rural poor households across the country.
● To reach out to all rural poor households and impact their livelihoods.
Q. Can the vicious cycle of gender inequality, poverty and malnutrition be broken through microfinancing of women SHGs? Explain with examples(UPSC 2021)
With reference to Poshan Abhiyaan, consider the following statements:
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
Syllabus: Indian Economy, Government policies after Liberalization
This is an opinion piece. Can note down a few unique suggestions
Context: Pandemic recovered economy need further reforms, but this reform has to be beyond liberalization.
Liberalization means the loosening of government controls.
No doubt we need more capital and better integration with world markets. But IMF-WB holy trinity of structural land, labour and other market-opening reforms harms many domestic citizens and, beyond a point, runs into severe resistance that imposes large political costs.
Recent Liberalization suggestions and issues with it:
Q. Assess India’s 1991 liberalisation reforms and the lessons it offers in contemporary times. (10M)
Link it with basics of liberalization policy, Narsimhan Committee report.
With the reference to the Indian economy after the 1991 economic liberalization, consider the following statements: (UPSC2020)
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
After the LPG reforms of 1991, it is inevitable that the rural/agriculture workforce would start shifting towards urban/non-Agri sectors. So 2 is wrong and 3 is correct. The steady transition to urbanization over the years is leading to the decline in the rural share of the population, workforce and GDP of the country. 4 is correct.
Which of the following has/have occurred in India after its liberalization of economic policies in 1991? (UPSC 2017)
Select the correct answer using the codes given below:
India’s agriculture sector has shown a gradual decline in contribution to the Indian economy post-reform. So, option 1 is wrong.
Context: Court of Inquiry’s findings about a case of fratricide at a Border Security Force (BSF) camp in Amritsar highlighted that the person who shot his colleagues had shown signs of mental stress but these signs were not given enough attention.
The constabulary accounts for around 85 per cent of state police and CAPFs. This personnel perform their duties as directed by their seniors.
Uniformed forces are tightly structured with a command-and-control hierarchy system.
What needs to be done?
Dignity at the workplace and pride in the uniform compensate for any lack of resources. But this has to be reinforced with proactive interventions.
Factory farming of animal products for human consumption is fueling climate change, according to a new report.
Factory farming refers to intensive livestock production that maximises output at the lowest cost.
Across four major hot spots, the annual consumption of chicken alone creates the same climate change impact as keeping 29 million cars on the road for a year
World Animal Protection has asked governments to stop giving approval for new factory farms for the next ten years. It called for reducing animal production by at least 50 per cent by 2040 and insisted on introducing compulsory minimum welfare standards for animals.
Direction: It is important to know the basic difference between RPA 1950 Vs 1951 (see diagram)
Context: PIL on cancellation of registration of political parties that use religious symbols or names of religions in their nomenclature.
Using religion, race, caste, community or language for electoral gains, is prohibited under Section 123 of RPA 1951 ( Corrupt practices in elections)
Context: India and Bangladesh signed multiple agreements.
Issues related to the Quad vaccine initiative:
Direction: Kindly go through the y’day article on Road accidents, where we have mentioned more tools for safety.
Context: Union road transport ministry will soon make rear seat belt alarm mandatory, in a bid to nudge all occupants of a four-wheeler to buckle up for their safety.
The three-point seat belt is a low-cost restraint system that prevents occupants of a vehicle from being thrown forward in a crash.
Context: As per the External Debt management Unit ( under Dept. of Economic Affairs), India’s external debt rose to US$ 620.7 bn (Six hundred twenty point seven) as on March 2022 (an increase of over 8% compared to the previous year)
A country’s gross external debt is the liabilities that are borrowed from outside the country and have to be paid back in the same currency.
External debt is classified as:
Direction: Just relate GAID with IRENA and Pvt. Industries.
Context: IRENA ( Int’l Renewable Energy Agency) along with major companies (including Tata Steel) have launched GAID with the aim to accelerate net-zero ambitions and decarbonization of the industrial value chains.
Benefits: Allow dialogue and coordinated action
1st meeting will be held at COP27 in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt (Nov 2022)
The International Renewable Energy Agency is an intergovernmental organization mandated to facilitate cooperation, advance knowledge, and promote the adoption and sustainable use of renewable energy.
IRENA also coordinates Small Island Developing States (SIDS) Lighthouse Initiative for supporting the energy transition efforts of Small Island countries.
Fig: location of Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt map
Direction: NCAP is an important programme of govt. for pollution control in Indian cities.
Context: An analysis by the environmental think tank, Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) reported limited improvement in PM2.5 for the cities under the National Clean Air Programme (NCAP).
Non-attainment cities: It covers 132 of India’s most polluted cities, whose air quality did not meet the national ambient air quality standards from 2011 to 2015.
The NCAP launched in 2019 aims to bring a 20%-30% reduction in pollution levels from PM2.5 and PM10 particles by 2024, using 2017 pollution levels as a base.
Lacuna with the programme: For monitoring, CPCB only considers levels of PM10, the relatively larger, coarser particles.
However PM2.5, the smaller, more dangerous particles, aren’t monitored as robustly in all cities, mostly due to the lack of equipment.
Context: Pakistan (which recently saw massive flooding) wants rich countries that have contributed the most to climate change, to pay damages to poorer nations.
Climate reparations refer to a call for money to be paid by the Global North to the Global South as a means of addressing the historical contributions that the Global North has made (and continues to make) toward climate change.
Principle: Demand for compensation for loss and damage from climate disasters is an extension of the universally acknowledged “Polluter Pays” principle (polluter liable for paying for remedial action and compensating the victims)
Limitations: Reluctance from developed countries, difficulty in estimating the quantum of loss and damage, no mandatory global consensus.
On the face of it, Pakistan’s and other developing world’s demand for reparations appears to be a long shot, but the principles being invoked are fairly well-established in environmental jurisprudence.
Direction: Few points can be added to the note on Indo-German Economic relations.
Context: India and Germany have begun a dialogue on engagement in various areas including- Lighthouse Cooperation on Agroecology, Natural resources and Natural farming.
Direction: Although the content of the report is good, it is too technical and theoretical. You can see a few targets (see diagram)
Context: FAO has recently released BTR to give importance to the aquatic food system as the driver of employment, inclusive growth, SDGs and environmental recovery.
Aim: Coordinate efforts by countries, communities and agencies to maximize the contribution of the aquatic (both freshwater and saltwater) food systems to food security.
The aims re-emphasize the 2021 Declaration for sustainable Fisheries and Aquaculture of the Committee on Fisheries (COFI)
Some of the Indian Initiatives: Separate ministry for Fisheries (2019), PM Matsya Smapada Yojana (2020), Blue revolution 2.0, Kisan credit card for fish farmers, FIDF: Fisheries and aquaculture Infrastructure Development fund (FIDF)
Context: Argentina’s mystery pneumonia outbreak, where 11 people have been infected has finally been identified as Legionellosis by the country’s health ministry.
Legionellosis is a “pneumonia-like illness that varies in severity from mild febrile illness to a serious and sometimes fatal form of pneumonia,” according to the WHO.
The disease typically spreads via inhalation of contaminated aerosols from contaminated water, which could come from — air conditioning cooling towers, evaporative condensers associated with air conditioning and industrial cooling, hot and cold water systems, humidifiers and whirlpool spas.
Direct human-to-human transmission of this disease has not yet been reported, according to the WHO.
There is concern that it could contribute to the spread of these highly disease-causing strains by linking modern man-made water systems through human transmission.”
Context: James Webb Space Telescope recently took picture of the ‘Einstein Ring’.
The image was captured using the James Webb Space Telescope’s MIRI (Mid-Infrared Instrument)
An Einstein ring is created when light from a galaxy or star passes by a massive object en route to the Earth. Due to gravitational lensing, the light is diverted, making it seem to come from different places. (see image)
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