3 August 2024, The Indian EXPRESS
Govt’s big infra push: Nod to road projects worth Rs 50,655 crore
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GS 3: Infrastructure: Energy, Ports, Roads, Airports, Railways etc.
- In a big push to infrastructure spending, the Union government Friday approved eight national high-speed corridor projects under which 936-km length highways will be constructed at a cost Rs 50,655 crore.
- After a meeting of the Prime Minister-chaired Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA), a statement by the government said the implementation of these projects will generate 4.42 crore mandays of direct and indirect employment.
Sub-quota for SCs: Finding data easier said than done
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GS 1: Social empowerment
- A crucial aspect of the Supreme Court’s landmark verdict empowering states to make sub-classifications within the Scheduled Caste (SC) category is that the court has held that such a process has to be undertaken based on “quantifiable and demonstrable data” on the levels of backwardness and representation in government services and education institutions and not on “whims or as a matter of political expediency”.
40 yrs after Rakesh Sharma, Subhanshu Shukla to be 2nd Indian to travel to space
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GS 3: Achievements of Indians in science & technology
Govt reissues draft notification to declare over 56000 sq km of Western Ghats as eco-sensitive
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GS 3: Conservation
- The Central government on Friday issued the sixth iteration of a draft notification, declaring 56,825.7 sq km of the Western Ghats an ecologically sensitive area (ESA) in the states of Gujarat, Maharashtra, Goa, Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu.
- The notification has been reissued after the previous draft, notified on July 6, 2022, lapsed; the Centre and these six states have not arrived at a consensus on the extent of ESA to be demarcated in the ecological hotspot.
- The ESAs proposed across these states are spread over 449 sq km in Gujarat, Maharashtra (17,340 sq km), Goa (1,461 sq km), Karnataka (20,668 sq km), Tamil Nadu (6,914 sq km), and Kerala (9,993.7 sq km).
- The Centre has provided a window of 60 days to submit objections and suggestions on the draft.
Gender, DSDs and testosterone: issues in Olympic boxing row
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Prelims Syllabus: Current Affairs
- Italy’s Angela Carini withdrew from her Round of 16 boxing bout against Algeria’s Imane Khelif after only 46 seconds and a couple of punches to her face on Thursday, triggering the Olympics’ biggest controversy yet.
- Since her victory, Khelif has been the target of a wave of abuse, with many calling her a “biological man” who had an “unfair advantage” over Carini. Some people also wrongly identified Khelif as a transgender woman.
What are the legal challenges to Great Nicobar infrastructure project?
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GS 3: Conservation, environmental pollution and degradation, environmental impact assessment
- The Central government’s Rs 72,000 cr-Great Nicobar Island (GNI) infrastructure project will involve the construction of an airport for civilian and defence use, an international container transshipment terminal, and a township.
- However, it has also faced legal challenges in the National Green Tribunal (NGT) and the Calcutta High Court, which has jurisdiction over the Andaman and Nicobar Islands.
- Last week, conclusions of a high-powered committee (HPC) formed by NGT in 2023 to revisit the project’s green clearance were submitted in an affidavit to NGT’s Kolkata bench by the Andaman and Nicobar Islands Integrated Development Corporation Limited (ANIIDCO). ANIIDCO is the project’s implementing agency.
Laying a new field
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GS 3: Major crops-cropping patterns in various parts of the country
- Private sector investment in agriculture technologies — those helping boost crop yields or cutting production costs for Indian farmers — has been halting in the last decade or more.
- This is unlike in the first two decades after liberalisation, which saw a host of agronomic interventions — from hybrid seeds in vegetables and maize, genetically modified (GM) Bt cotton, tissue-culture and high-density planting of fruit crops, drip irrigation and laser land leveling, to fast-growing broiler chicken and layer breeder birds.
- These were all introduced by private players, both Indian (Mahyco, Jain Irrigation, Venky’s, Suguna) and multinational (Monsanto/Bayer, Syngenta, Pioneer/Corteva).
- That flow of innovations has slowed considerably. One reason was an extended period of low farm prices following the collapse of a decade-long global commodity boom in 2013-14.
- No less important, though, has been the Luddite turn in domestic policymaking — the promotion of paramparagat krishi (organic farming) being combined with blocking not just the commercialisation, but even open-field trials, of new GM crops.
Before the Landslide
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GS 3: Disaster and disaster management
- Years ago, when I was posted in Kerala during the initial decades of my service, Wayanad was an idyllic hill station in the lush Western Ghats, known for its vast tea plantations.
- I had the opportunity to visit Wayanad several times and was always inspired by the warmth and resilience of the people.
- The origin point of rivers like the Kabini and Chaliyar, the district has dense forest cover.
- It is also home to various biological reserves, wildlife sanctuaries and national parks.
- In the past few days, Wayanad has been in the news for a devastating landslide that claimed hundreds of lives.
- The landslide, which was triggered by a cloudburst, also resulted in the destruction of homes, with several people trapped under debris.
- It struck Meppadi, Mundakkai, and Chooralmala and resulted in the collapse of a nearby bridge that was used to enter Attamala in Mundakkai.
Dignity Denied
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GS 2: Mechanisms, laws, institutions and Bodies constituted for the protection and betterment of vulnerable sections of society
- In the landmark NALSA vs Union of India judgment of 2014, when Justice K S Radhakrishnan spoke up for transgender persons’ right to define their gender identity, he linked it to “the most basic aspects of self-determination, dignity and freedom”.
- No one, he said, “shall be forced to undergo medical procedures, including sex reassignment surgery, sterilisation or hormonal therapy, as a requirement for legal recognition of their gender identity.”
- Ten years on, even as Hyderabad-based IRS officer M Anukathir Surya made headlines when his request for change of name and gender in all official records was accepted by the Centre, stories of several others, as reported in this newspaper, speak of a process of mental agony and humiliation.
- Demands for proof of gender affirmation surgery and even medical examinations, and threats of job loss show that when it comes to the rights of transgender persons, a lack of empathy still hobbles the system.
Elephant in the civil servant’s room
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GS 2: Role of civil services in a democracy; Constitutional Democracy
- It is a matter of some surprise that a government with most of its members being proud members of the RSS took 10 years to lift the ban on government servants joining the organisation.
- There is no doubt that this decision will make only a nominal difference because civil servants sympathising with the RSS have been aplenty.
- Now they will adorn the membership openly while in office.
- With this decision, formalisation of the idea of the Hindu state has been taken one step further.
- One only hopes that the DoPT does not next ordain all civil servants to attend RSS shakhas on Guru Purnima or participate in the Dussehra rally and upload a selfie.
State’s government, Centre’s rule
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GS 2: Issues and challenges pertaining to the federal structure
- The death of three UPSC aspirants amidst unprecedented rains in Delhi — due to waterlogging and subsequent flooding of the basement of an IAS coaching centre — has shocked the nation.
- Reports have revealed that the centre was using a basement to conduct classes in blatant violation of building byelaws and the storm water drain along the road was also encroached upon and covered, making the passage of water difficult.
- These facts raise deep questions on the greed of the coaching industry, profiting by risking their students’ lives, and the role of the municipal bodies that allow such violations to persist.
Govt, RBI turn cautious over unrestricted foreign fund flows into longer term bonds
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GS 3: Indian Economy and issues relating to planning, mobilization, of resources, growth, development and employment
- Over a month after India government bonds (IGBs) were included in the much-awaited JP Morgan’s emerging markets bond indices, the government and the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) have turned cautious and excluded long-term government bonds with 14-year and 30-year tenors from the Fully Accessible Route (FAR).
- The decision was taken earlier this week amid speculation about more unrestricted inflows by foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) which can trigger uncertainties and risks in the future.
- As the inclusion of Indian bonds will be staggered into the GBI-EM Global Diversified Index (GBI-EM GD) over 10 months (starting June 28, 2024, through March 31, 2025), official sources don’t rule out more FPI flow into Indian long-term bonds through FAR.
Sebi looking to demystify IPO filing process for faster approval: Chief Buch
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GS 3: Indian Economy and issues relating to planning, mobilization, of resources, growth, development and employment
- Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) is looking to simplify the initial public offer (IPO) filing process by bringing in a template-based ‘fill-in-the-blank’ kind of document which will help in bringing down the approval process, its Chairperson Madhabi Puri Buch said.
- The capital markets regulator is also bringing in an innovative product which would be a combination of rights issue and preferential allotment of shares, she said.
