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Important topics and their relevance in UPSC CSE exam for September 2, 2024. If you missed the September 1st, 2024 UPSC CSE exam key from the Indian Express, read it here. SA9923A-E HIEE450964R0001
Preliminary Examination: Current events of national and international importance
Mains Examination: GS-II: International Relations
What’s the ongoing story- The number of undocumented Indians crossing over from Canada to the US on foot has reached an all-time high, data reviewed by The Indian Express show. This spike has placed Canada’s visa screening process under the lens — more so, due to parallel concerns over Canada-bound Indian passengers seeking asylum in the UK while in transit.
— Read about the illegal immigration.
— What do you understand by the term “dunki’?
— What are the factors driving Indians to migrate to the United States illegally?
— According to the latest US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) data, an all-time high of 5,152 undocumented Indians entered the US from Canada on foot this June alone. And, the monthly number of Indians entering the US from Canada has surpassed those crossing over from the notorious Mexico route since December 2023.
— Stretching over nearly 9,000 km, the US-Canada line is the longest open border in the world, more than twice as long as the Mexico span — and, incidentally, nearly thrice the length of India’s 3,400-km border with China.
— Corresponding data from across the Atlantic shows that the number of Indians seeking asylum “at port” in the UK saw a 136% spike in 2022 (1,170) over 2021 (495) before going up further in 2023 (1,319). This year, 475 asylum seekers have already been recorded “at port” until June.
— Why Canada: “Canada offers the ideal combination of an accessible visa and a soft border. It’s a much safer option than taking one of those ‘dunki’ (illegal) routes via West Asia, Africa or the Caribbean, to join the crowd waiting to cross the heavily guarded Mexico border,” said an immigration consultant registered with the Canada Regulatory Council.
— UK’s Transit Loophole: If the Canada border is attracting undocumented Indians to the US, the UK lure is the exemption for Canada-bound Indians from obtaining transit visas for London stopovers. In fact, the jump in the number of Indians stands out among the top five asylum seekers by nationality in the UK.
— What is the status of India-US bilateral relations?
— How does illegal migration impact U.S.-India relations?
— What legal frameworks exist in India to address illegal migration?
— How does illegal migration contribute to socio-economic issues?
“Refugees should not be turned back to the country where they would face persecution or human right violation”. Examine the statement with reference to the ethical dimension being violated by the nation claiming to be democratic with open society. (UPSC CSE 2021)
Other Important Articles Covering the same topic:
How Indians stand little chance of asylum in US and UK but still manage to stay on
Mains Examination: GS-II, GS-III: Government policies and interventions, Economic Development, Agriculture
What’s the ongoing story- Ashok Gulati , Reena Singh writes– “The Centre and Punjab government deserve compliments for starting a new scheme to diversify agriculture and help farmers shift away from paddy. It gives them an incentive of Rs 17,500 per hectare to shift to less water-guzzling crops in the kharif season.”
— What are the issues and challenges associated with paddy cultivation?
— What are the water-guzzling crops?
— What are the rice-producing states of India?
— “Covering up to five hectares for the beneficiary, the scheme is funded in a 60:40 ratio by the Centre and Punjab government — it will cost Rs 289.87 crore for 2024-25.”
— “Haryana has a similar scheme in place. But the results have not been very encouraging. The reason: The profitability gap between paddy and its major substitute crops — pulses, oilseeds, millets, and even maize — is much more than Rs 17,500/ha being offered.”
— “The policy of rewarding farmers for switching away from paddy should be operational for a minimum of five years as the savings in the subsidy bill will be almost permanent. The current policy does not make it clear whether Rs 17,500/ha is for a year or more. If it is for just a year, the policy would be a non-starter. Which farmer would volunteer to let profits go down dramatically after a year?”
— “The benefits of diversifying away from paddy in this belt are well-known. It will save their soil from degrading, save groundwater depletion, reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, and promote much-needed crop biodiversity….The successful implementation of this scheme will have a positive impact on the agriculture sustainability of the states, and the country at large.”
— “Purchasing alternative crops at MSP to provide a reliable market to farmers who choose crop diversification is not going to cost the government extra.”
— The Punjab government has been actively promoting the direct seeding of rice (DSR), or ‘tar-wattar’ technique, This can reduce water use by 15% to 20% (the traditional puddling method requires 3,600 to 4,125 litres of water to grow a single kilo of rice). Moreover, DSR requires less labour and matures 7 to 10 days faster, giving farmers more time to manage paddy straw.
— What is crop diversification and its significance?
— What are the key challenges faced by farmers in shifting from paddy to less water-intensive crops?
— What are the environmental and economic benefits of shifting from paddy to less water-intensive crops?
— What initiatives have been taken by the government to promote crop diversification?
(1) Consider the following statements about direct seeding of rice (DSR):
1. DSR is effective against weeds and saves water compared to transplanting.
2. DSR uses less water per irrigation
3. In DSR, water acts as a natural herbicide.
How many of the statements given above are correct?
What is Integrated Farming System? How is it helpful to small and marginal farmers in India? (UPSC CSE 2022)
Other Important Articles Covering the same topic:
Paddy diversification incentive: Will timing benefit Punjab and its farmers this year
Preliminary Examination: Indian Polity and Governance-Constitution and Rights Issues, etc.
Mains Examination: GS-II: Welfare schemes for vulnerable sections of the population by the Centre and States and the performance of these schemes.
What’s the ongoing story- Alok Bansal, Yashawardhana writes— “Census classifications have the potential to entrench identities and aggravate social divisions. More significantly, contrary to religion, which continues to have some influence over personal rituals and ceremonies, caste is purely a vestige with no functional relevance in any facet of modern life.”
— History of census in India: Know in detail
— What is the objective of caste census?
— “Reason cited for supporting this exercise (caste sensus) is that it will help the government shape its policies in line with the aspirations of different groups. But this kind of action might have far-reaching effects and even permanently fracture India’s social fabric.”
— “This has been demonstrated by history: During British rule, the inclusion of religion in the Census and subsequent creation of separate electorates had a negative impact on social cohesion, eventually resulting in India’s Partition. Similarly, adding caste to official Census data is bound to aggravate social differences, strengthen identity politics, and splinter the country along caste lines. Thus, this is by no stretch of imagination a harmless exercise.”
— “It could derail the movement towards the creation of a casteless society and has the potential to permanently damage the national integrity of the country.”
— “Census classifications have the potential to entrench identities and aggravate social divisions. More significantly, contrary to religion, which continues to have some influence over personal rituals and ceremonies, caste is purely a vestige with no functional relevance in any facet of modern life.”
— “In today’s India, most youth, especially in urban India, do not identify themselves by their caste and some are not even aware of it….Unfortunately, conducting a caste-based Census would force these youth to identify as members of a particular caste, thereby entrenching the caste system.”
— “Considering the diversity of caste subgroups in our society, a Census would trigger divisions, along the lines of caste and sub-castes.”
— Every Census in independent India from 1951 to 2011 has published data on Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes, but not on other castes. Before that, every Census until 1931 had data on caste.
— What is the significance of caste census?
— Has a caste census ever been conducted?
— What are the advantages and disadvantages of caste census?
(2) Which of the following articles of the Constitution of India provides for promotion of educational and economic interests of Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and other weaker sections?
Other Important Articles Covering the same topic:
A look at the complicated history of caste census
Preliminary Examination: Current events of national and international importance
Mains Examination: GS-II: International Relations
What’s the ongoing story- The significance of the French police’s move to take into custody the head of messaging platform Telegram as he stepped off a private jet near Paris on August 24 goes beyond the arrest itself, and the subsequent diplomatic fracas it set off with Moscow.
— What is Safe Harbour Protection?
— Which Indian law provides safe harbour protection to intermediaries?
— Telegram is alleged to have allowed illicit content linked to drug trafficking, child pornography, violent propaganda, and organised crime. Durov himself is not charged with any of these offences — instead, French prosecutors have pressed charges relating to about a dozen offences related to the app, which claims it has close to 1 billion users, enabling users to facilitate illicit activities and for not cooperating with law enforcement.
— Safe harbour rules: The legal action initiated by the French authorities against Durov impinges on the protection that is accorded to social media platforms across jurisdictions under a provision known as “safe harbour”.
— The basic premise of safe harbour protection is: since social media platforms cannot control at the first instance what users post, they should not be held legally liable for any objectionable content that they host, provided they are willing to take down such content when flagged by the government or courts.
— Since social media platforms are generally understood to be crucial tools of free speech, safe harbour is viewed as a basic tenet of enabling freedom of expression on these platforms.
— In the United States, this protection is available to social media platforms under Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act. Section 79 of India’s Information Technology Act, 2000 is somewhat similar — it classifies social media platforms as intermediaries and broadly shields them from legal action over the content that users post.
— What are the key provisions of the Information Technology Act, 2000?
— What measures have been taken by the government to regulate social media in India?
— What are the advantages and disadvantages of social media?
— How does the concept of safe harbour protection balance the competing interests of free speech and the necessity to regulate harmful content?
What are social networking sites and what security implications do these sites present? (UPSC CSE 2013)
Preliminary Examination: Current events of national and international importance, Indian Polity and Governance- Constitution, Rights Issues
Mains Examination: GS-II: Polity and Constitution
What’s the ongoing story- In a series of decisions, the Supreme Court has highlighted the rights of people accused of money laundering, even in the face of stringent provisions on arrest and bail under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002 (PMLA).
— Know about the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002 (PMLA).
— What rights are provided to the person under arrest?
— Read about the Enforcement Directorate (ED).
— In Vijay Madanlal Choudhary v. Union of India (2022), a three-judge bench led by Justice A M Khanwilkar (retired) upheld all the challenged PMLA provisions, including the restrictive bail conditions and the wide powers of investigation and arrest granted to the Enforcement Directorate (ED). These powers have been recently reined in through smaller interventions.
— On grounds of arrest: Section 19 of the PMLA gives the ED the power of arrest if the material it possesses gives it reason to believe an individual is guilty of money laundering…The SC detailed the issue in Pankaj Bansal v Union of India (2023). The court said an accused has a fundamental right to be informed of the grounds of arrest under Article 22 of the Constitution of India. Written grounds of arrest must be given “as a matter of course and without exception”, it held. Without this, the arrest would be illegal and invalid.
— On bail for undertrials: Section 436A of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973, states that if a person has been detained for up to half the maximum period of imprisonment for that offence while the trial or investigation is underway, they shall be released on bail. In Vijay Madanlal , the bench held that this would apply to PMLA as well.
— Notably, Section 436A has since been replaced by Section 479 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, likely impacting PMLA cases. For example, a new explanation in the section states that if more than one offence or multiple cases are pending against someone — common in money laundering cases — the section on bail will not apply.
— On relaxing ‘twin conditions’: Section 45 of the PMLA provides stringent “twin conditions” for bail, requiring an accused to prove that he has not committed an offence under the PMLA (reversing the standard burden of proof in criminal cases) and is not likely to commit any offence while on bail. However, the bench held that these conditions can be “relaxed” if the accused has undergone a long period of incarceration.
— On bail exception for women: Section 45 states that a woman “may be released on bail, if the Special Court so directs”.
— What are the recent amendments to the PMLA??
— What are the different types of bail?
— What are the criticisms of the PMLA?
— What initiatives have been taken by the government to tackle the challenge of money laundering?
1. Exchange between virtual digital assets and fiat currencies.
2. Exchange between one or more forms of virtual digital assets.
3. Transfer of virtual digital assets.
4. Safekeeping or administration of virtual digital assets or instruments enabling control over virtual digital assets.
How many of the above are covered under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act?
Other Important Articles Covering the same topic:
SC underlines: Bail is the rule, jail exception even in PMLA cases, Article 21 higher right
Preliminary Examination: Current events of national importance and Polity
Mains Examination: GS-II: Government policies and interventions, Issues relating to Health
What’s the ongoing story- Justices Hima Kohli and Sandeep Mehta, while hearing the ongoing Supreme Court case against Patanjali Ayurved, pulled up the AYUSH ministry for its July 1 notification asking state licensing authorities “not to initiate/take any action under” Rule 170 of the Drugs and Cosmetics Act.
— What do you understand by the term “AYUSH”?
— Read about the Drugs and Cosmetics Act and Ayurvedic, Siddha and Unani Drugs Technical Advisory Board (ASUDTAB)
— How are the AYUSH drugs regulated in India?
— The rule, introduced in 2018, is designed to prevent misleading advertisements of AYUSH products.
— In 2018, the government brought in Rule 170 to govern the manufacture, storage, and sale of medicines in the country, “specifically for controlling inappropriate advertisements of Ayurvedic, Siddha and Unani medicines”.
— The rule prohibits AYUSH drug manufacturers from advertising their products without approval and allotment of a unique identification number from the state licensing authority. The manufacturers have to submit details such as textual references and rationale for the medicine from authoritative books, indication for use, evidence of safety, effectiveness, and quality of drugs.
— The rule states that the application will be rejected if the manufacturer does not provide their contact details, if the contents of the advertisement are obscene or vulgar, products for enhancement of male or female sexual organs, depicts photographs or testimonials from celebrities or government officials, refers to any government organisation, gives false impression or makes misleading or exaggerated claims.
— The rule was introduced after a parliamentary standing committee highlighted the problem of misleading claims, and the need for the AYUSH ministry to proactively pursue the issue.
— Ayush systems of medicine include Indian systems of medicine and Homoeopathy. Ayush is an acronym for Ayurveda, Yoga & Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha, Sowa Rigpa and Homoeopathy.
— What is the difference between allopathic medicines and AYUSH drugs?
— What is the significance of traditional knowledge of medicine?
— What are the issues and challenges associated with the AYUSH sector in India?
— What initiatives have been taken by the government with regard to the Initiative AYUSH?
How is the Government of India protecting traditional knowledge of medicine from patenting by pharmaceutical companies? (UPSC CSE 2019)
Other Important Articles Covering the same topic:
AYUSH medicines: Without trials, no way to tell what are misleading claims
Preliminary Examination: Current events of national importance and environment
Mains Examination: GS-I, GS-III: Geography and Environment
What’s the ongoing story- Namibia plans to cull hundreds of its most majestic wild animals, including dozens of elephants and hippopotamuses, to provide meat for its 1.4 million people — nearly half the southern African nation’s population — who are reeling under the worst drought in a century.
— Know about the geography of Namibia.
— Read about the El Niño and its impact.
— Map work: Location of Angola, Zambia, Zimbabwe, and Namibia.
— Drought in Namibia: Namibia is located in drought-prone southern Africa, and frequently witnesses such events — it had declared national emergencies because of extreme droughts in 2013, 2016 and 2019. But the ongoing drought has been especially widespread and devastating, Juliane Zeidler, the country director of the World Wildlife Fund in Namibia, told The New York Times .
— The drought began in Botswana in October 2023, spread and intensified across Angola, Zambia, Zimbabwe, and Namibia, and affects most of southern Africa today, according to a report by the European Commission.
— The situation is so bad mainly because of El Niño, a weather pattern associated with extreme heat and dry spells in many parts of the world and the ocean.
— Numerous studies have found that with rising temperatures due to climate change, extreme weather events such as droughts and floods have become more frequent and intense.
— Food availability is usually low in Namibia from July through September, and the situation has been made worse by the drought. Staple crops such as maize have dried up, large numbers of livestock have died, and almost 84% of the country’s food reserves are exhausted, a United Nations spokesman said on August 23. As stocks have diminished, prices have skyrocketed, curtailing access to food for a large number of people.
— It is not just for meat that Namibia wants to cull wild animals. The government fears that the drought will force the animals to migrate in search of food and water, which could bring them into conflict with human populations. The country has a significant number of wild animals, including 24,000 elephants, one of the largest populations in the world.
— How climate change is leading to extreme weather events?
— What can be the ecological impacts of large-scale killing of wildlife in Namibia?
(4) With reference to the El Niño, consider the following statements:
1. It refers to the abnormal warming of sea surface waters in the equatorial Pacific Ocean.
2. It emerges naturally during autumn-summer in the northern hemisphere.
3. It does not affect the temperatures and rainfall patterns.
4. El Niño typically lasts for 2 to 3 months.
How many of the statements given above are correct?
Most of the unusual climatic happenings are explained as an outcome of the El-Nino effect. Do you agree? (UPSC CSE 2014)
Mains Examination: GS-II, GS-III: Government policies and interventions, Economic Development, agriculture
What’s the ongoing story- Most economics commentators and policymakers tend to club wheat and rice, treating them as part of a “cereal surplus” and “mono-cropping/lack of diversification” problem. But today, the situations in the two crops are very different.
— Know about the climatic requirements for Rice and Wheat Cultivation.
— What are the different types of cropping patterns?
— What are the top 3 rice and wheat-producing states in India?
— Rice is grown both during the kharif (southwest monsoon) and rabi (winter-spring) seasons. Moreover, it is cultivated across a wide geography. Table 1 shows as many as 16 states producing 2 mt and more each.
— Wheat, by contrast, has a single rabi cropping season and only eight states producing 2 mt-plus each, all concentrated in northern, central and western India. The big four alone (UP, MP, Punjab and Haryana) account for over 76 per cent of India’s output. Wheat is, thus, a temporally as well as geographically more constrained crop than rice. This is what makes its production relatively more volatile.
— In rice, the main limiting factor is water availability. Wheat, on the other hand, has become vulnerable to winters getting shorter, warmer and less predictable — perhaps due to climate change. Mercury spikes in March (when the crop is in grain formation and filling stage), or above-average November-December temperatures (during the sowing and vegetative growth period) have taken a toll on production in the last three years, reflected in depleted government stocks.
— While India’s wheat production is facing structural challenges — from temporal, geographical and climate-induced factors — consumption is growing.
— Given a scenario of rising consumption and geography/climate-imposed production challenges, one can well imagine India turning into an importer of wheat. “That’s inevitable in the short term. For the long term, the government needs to focus on boosting per-acre yields, and breeding climate-smart varieties,” Kumar said.
— It is the opposite with rice, where domestic consumption is not keeping pace with production. Either way, the time has come to de-hyphenate rice-wheat, and not conflate one with the other. The two cereals are grains apart in terms of issues faced, both current and for the future.
— How do rice and wheat cultivation patterns impact India’s water resources?
— How can crop diversification help in achieving sustainable agriculture in India?
What are the major factors responsible for making the rice-wheat system a success? In spite of this success how has this system become bane in India? (UPSC CSE 2020)
Other Important Articles Covering the same topic:
How a new tech promises to kill weeds in rice and wheat fields, remove need for stubble-burni ng
Indian MSMEs losing ground as Chinese goods flood market: GTRI
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Roshni Yadav is currently working as a Deputy Copy Editor with The Indian Express. She is an alumna of the University of Delhi and Jawaharlal Nehru University, where she pursued her graduation and post-graduation in Political Science. She has over four years of work experience in ed-tech and media. At The Indian Express, she writes for the UPSC section. Her interests lie in national and international affairs, governance, economy, and social issues. You can contact her via email: roshni.yadav@indianexpress.com ... Read More
Former Australian skipper Michael Clarke criticized Cricket Australia for not including Sunil Gavaskar in the trophy presentation for the Border Gavaskar Test series. Gavaskar had to stand at the boundary rope and clap while Allan Border presented the trophy to Pat Cummins.
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