Current Affairs Reverse Engineering – CARE (04-06-2024)
| News at a Glance |
| Polity and Governance: India created world record with 64.2 crore people voting in Lok Sabha polls |
| International Relations: Mexico elects Claudia Sheinbaum as its first woman president |
| China says U.S. plays ‘dishonourable role’ supporting Philippines in South China Sea |
| Disaster Management: Deadly landslide in Papua New Guinea |
| Science and Technology: ICMR seeks to provide oral formulation of hydroxyurea to treat sickle cell disease in children |
India created world record with 64.2 crore people voting in Lok Sabha polls
Source: The Hindu
UPSC Syllabus Relevance: GS 2 – Polity and Governance
Context: India created world record with 64.2 crore people voting in Lok Sabha polls: CEC Rajiv Kumar
Why in News
- India created a world record with 64.2 crore voters, including 31.2 crore women, participating in the Lok Sabha elections this year, Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar.
Key Highlights
- Chief Election Commissioner said over 68,000 monitoring teams and 1.5 crore polling and security personnel were involved in the world’s largest electoral exercise.
- Mr. Kumar also dared the opposition to share evidence of allegations that returning officers and district magistrates were influenced to vitiate the poll process so the panel could take action against them.
- The opposition should also tell the Commission about those trying to influence the poll process before the counting of votes begins.
- The Commission had made preparations to deal with any foreign attempt to influence the poll process but these allegations have come from within the country itself.
Voting Rights in India
- The Indian Constitution has granted the right to vote to all Indian citizens of sound mind above the age of 18, irrespective of an individual’s caste, religion, social or economic status.
- This right is universally granted to all Indians, with a few exceptions.
- As a voter, one is entitled to certain rights and privileges as laid down by the Constitution, which safeguards the rights of the voter. It also lays down the conditions under which this privilege is granted to citizens.
- Voting is not a fundamental right, but is a legal right granted to citizens.
- As per the Indian Constitution, all Indian citizens above the age of 18 years who have registered themselves as voters are eligible to vote.
- These individuals can vote in national, state, district as well as local government body elections.
- No individual can be detained or prevented from voting, unless they fulfil the criteria for disqualification.
Constitutional Provisions Safeguarding Voting Rights
Article 324-329 in Part XV of the Constitution of India provides the framework for free and fair elections. It provides the following provisions:
- Article 324: The Constitution, through Article 324 provides for an independent Election Commission, in order to ensure free and fair elections in the whole country.
- Article 325: No person is to be declared ineligible for inclusion in the electoral roll-on grounds only of religion, race, caste, sex or any of them.
- Article 326: The elections to the Lok Sabha and the state assemblies are to be on the basis of Adult Franchise. Thus, every person who is a citizen of India and who is 18 years of age, is entitled to vote at the election.
- Article 327 and Article 328: As per these Articles, the Parliament and the State Legislatures can make provision with respect to all matters relating to elections to the Parliament and the State Legislatures.
- Article 329: This article of the Constitution of India bars the interference of the courts in the electoral matters.
Disqualification from Voting Process
- The Indian Constitution has laid down the following rules regarding disqualification of voters from the election process:
- Individuals who are convicted of offences committed under Section 171E (which deals with bribery) and Section 171F (which deals with personation or undue influence at an election) of the Indian Penal Code are disqualified from participating in elections.
- Those convicted of offences under Section 125 (which deals with various electoral offences), Section 135 and Section 136 of the Representation of People’s Act face disqualification from elections.
- If an individual votes in more than one constituency, his vote is disqualified.
‘Right to Vote’ in India
- ‘The right to Vote’ in India is a Constitutional right.
- The rights that are enshrined in the Indian Constitution and conferred on the citizens of India, and do not fall under the domain of Part III, are known as constitutional rights.
- The Right To Vote is guaranteed by the Constitution of India under Article 326 of the Indian Constitution.
- Every citizen has to attain the age of 18 to exercise this particular right.
- Full voting rights were guaranteed to the citizens of India under the concept of ‘Universal Suffrage’ in 1950.
- The 61st constitutional amendment of 1988 reduced the voting age for elections to Lok Sabha and State Legislative Assemblies from 21 to 18 years.
- However, unlike Fundamental rights, Constitutional rights do not apply to everyone. They are applicable on certain grounds.
- If any law shows inconsistency with the Constitutional rights, the law itself is declared null and void.
| CARE MCQ | UPSC PYQ |
Q1. Consider the following statements:
Which of the statements given above is/are correct? a) 1, 3, and 4 b) 2, 4, and 5 c) 1, 3, and 5 d) 2, 3, and 4 |
Q. Right to vote and to be elected in India is a (2017)
Ans: C |
| Answer 1- C
Explanation
|
Mexico elects Claudia Sheinbaum as its first woman president
Source: The Hindu
UPSC Relevance: GS2- International Relations
Context: An official quick count shows climate scientist Claudia Sheinbaum holds an irreversible lead in the race that would make her Mexico’s first female president.
Why in News
- Mexico’s projected presidential winner Claudia Sheinbaum will become the first woman President in the country’s 200-year history.
Elections In Mexico
- The National Electoral Institute’s president said Ms. Sheinbaum had between 58.3% and 60.7% of the vote, according to a statistical sample.
- Opposition candidate Xóchitl Gálvez had between 26.6% and 28.6% of the vote and Jorge Álvarez Máynez had between 9.9% and 10.8% of the vote.
- The preliminary count, which started off very slowly, put Ms. Sheinbaum 27 points ahead of Ms. Gálvez with 42% of polling place tallies counted shortly after her victory speech.
- The governing party candidate campaigned on continuing the political course set over the last six years by her political mentor President Andrés Manuel López Obrador.
- His anointed successor, the 61-year-old Ms. Sheinbaum led the campaign wire-to-wire despite a spirited challenge from Gálvez.
- This was the first time in Mexico that the two main opponents were women.
Mexico’s First Woman President
- Electing a female president would be a huge step in a country with soaring levels of gender-based violence and deep gender disparities.
- Mexico still has a famously intense “machismo,” or culture of male chauvinism, that has created large economic and social disparities in society.
- In its most extreme form, the misogyny is expressed in high rates of femicides, and things like acid attacks against women.
- A historic number of women in the socially conservative country are taking up leadership and political roles.
- That’s in part due to a decades-long push by authorities for greater representation in politics, including laws that require political parties to have half of their congressional candidates be women.
- Since 2018, Mexico’s Congress has had a 50-50 gender split, and the number of female governors has shot up.
- Both frontrunner Sheinbaum and Gálvez have promised to address high rates of gender-based violence and gender disparities if they win.
About the President-Elect: Claudia Sheinbaum
- Age: 61 years old
- Background: Climate activist and former mayor of Mexico City
- Religion: Jewish, making her the first Jew to become the president of the predominantly Catholic Christian nation.
- Ideology: A staunch supporter of the leftist President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, who is considered the second most popular leader in the world after Narendra Modi.
Mexican Presidency: Constitutional Provisions
- According to the Mexican Constitution of 1917, the President is the head of the executive branch and is directly elected by the people for a six-year term.
- A person can become president only once in Mexico, which prevented López Obrador from contesting again.
- Mexico is a federal country with 31 states, and in case of the president’s death or resignation, the legislature elects a new provisional president. There is no provision for a vice president in Mexico.
| CARE MCQ | UPSC PYQ |
| Q2. Claudia Sheinbaum, recently seen in the news, is related to which of the following?
a) Winning a Nobel Prize for her contributions to environmental science. b) Being appointed as the CEO of a multinational corporation. c) Becoming the first woman president of Mexico in a historic landslide win. d) Leading a national campaign for education reform. |
Q. The ‘Fortaleza Declaration’ recently in the news, is related to the affairs of: (2015)
a) ASEAN b) BRICS c) OECD d) WTO Answer: (b) |
| Answer 2– C
Explanation –
|
China says U.S. plays ‘dishonourable role’ supporting Philippines in South China Sea
Source: The Hindu
UPSC Relevance: GS2- International Relations
Context: China’s foreign ministry said it is willing to continue to work with ASEAN countries to manage differences at sea and deepen sea-related cooperation
Why in News
- China said the United States has played an “extremely dishonourable role” in supporting and cooperating with the Philippines, using issues in the South China Sea to provoke relations between China and the region.
About the Issue
- China is willing to continue to work with ASEAN countries, including the Philippines, to manage differences at sea and deepen sea-related cooperation.
- President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr denounced illegal, coercive and aggressive actions in disputed waters of the South China Sea.
South China Sea (SCS):
- The South China Sea is an arm of western Pacific Ocean in Southeast Asia.
- It is south of China, east & south of Vietnam, west of the Philippines and north of the island of Borneo.
- Bordering states & territories (clockwise from north): the People’s Republic of China, the Republic of China (Taiwan), the Philippines, Malaysia, Brunei, Indonesia, Singapore and Vietnam.
- It is connected by Taiwan Strait with the East China Sea and by Luzon Strait with the Philippine Sea.
Strategic Significance of South China Sea
- South China sea holds tremendous strategic importance for its location as it is the connecting link between the Indian Ocean and the Pacific Ocean, through Strait of Malacca.
- According to the United Nations Conference on Trade And Development (UNCTAD) one-third of the global shipping passes through it, carrying trillions of trade which makes it a significant geopolitical water body.
- According to the Department of Environment and Natural Resources, Philippines, this sea has one-third of the entire world’s marine biodiversity and contains lucrative fisheries providing food security to the Southeast Asian nations.
- The SCS is believed to have huge oil and gas reserves beneath its seabed.
- It is one of the world’s most heavily trafficked waterways.
- An estimated USD 3.4 trillion in ship-borne commerce transits the sea each year, including energy supplies to U.S., Japan and South Korea.
What is South China Sea dispute?
- The South China Sea is situated just south of the Chinese mainland and is bordered by the countries of Brunei, China, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Taiwan and Vietnam.
- The countries have bickered over territorial control in the sea for centuries, but in recent years tensions have soared to new heights.
- China’s rise as a global power. The South China Sea is one of the most strategically critical maritime areas (more on this later) and China eyes its control to assert more power over the region.
- In 1947, the country, under the rule of the nationalist Kuomintang party, issued a map with the so-called “nine-dash line” (for a detailed explanation, scroll down).
- The line essentially encircles Beijing’s claimed waters and islands of the South China Sea — as much as 90% of the sea has been claimed by China.
- The line continued to appear in the official maps even after the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) came to power.
- In the past few years, the country has also tried to stop other nations from conducting any military or economic operation without its consent, saying the sea falls under its Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ).
- China’s sweeping claims, however, have been widely contested by other countries. In response, China has physically increased the size of islands or created new islands altogether in the sea, according to the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR).
Nine-dash line and other claims
- China claims by far the largest portion of territory in an area demarcated by its so-called “nine-dash line”.
- The line comprises nine dashes which extends hundreds of miles south and east from its most southerly province of Hainan.
| CARE MCQ | UPSC PYQ |
Q3. What is the primary concern of countries contesting China’s territorial claims in the South China Sea?
Which of the above statements is/are correct?
|
Q. Consider the following pairs: (2018)
Regions sometimes Country mentioned in news
Which of the pairs given above are correctly matched? (a) 1, 2 and 3 (b) 3 and 4 only (c) 1 and 3 only (d) 2 and 4 only Ans: C |
| Answer 3 A
Explanation
|
Deadly landslide in Papua New Guinea
Source: Indian Express
UPSC Syllabus Relevance: GS3- Disaster Management
Context: Papua New Guinea witnesses frequent natural disasters, and climate change is leading to more frequent landslides.
Why in News
- On May 24, parts of a mountain fell on Papua New Guinea’s Yambali village due to a colossal landslide, whereby more than 2,000 people are estimated to be buried, with more than 70,000 affected by the disaster.
Key Concerns
- Papua New Guinea is vulnerable to natural disasters such as landslides and earthquakes because of a host of reasons, including its geographical location and deforestation. However, climate change has worsened the situation in recent years.
- Rescue workers have been toiling to save the buried. But days after the incident, they seem to have lost hope.
What happened?
- The Yambali village in Enga province was hit by a landslide around 3 am with boulders — as big as shipping containers — falling on buildings, homes, and at least one school.
- Rescue efforts began immediately and videos posted on social media showed people frantically digging through the debris with makeshift tools.
- But the efforts were severely limited as “rocks are still moving, the mountain is still crumbling, and we are seeing rock and debris pile up on what’s already happened.
- Till May 29 — five days after the incident — only six bodies had been recovered. With not much hope of finding any survivors, locals started to hold funeral ceremonies, collective events known locally as “haus krai”.
Why is Papua New Guinea vulnerable to landslides and earthquakes?
- The main reason is the geographical location of the country. It sits on the Pacific ‘Ring of Fire’ — a string of hundreds of volcanoes and earthquake sites which run along the Pacific Ocean.
- The ring, which is a semicircle or horse shoe in shape, witnesses many earthquakes due to constant sliding past, colliding into, or moving above, or below each other of the tectonic plates.
- Frequent earthquakes also lead to a high number of landslide incidents in Papua New Guinea. For instance, in 2018, a large earthquake triggered many landslides across the region.
- Other factors like the country’s mountainous terrain and tropical climate also contribute to more frequent landslides.
- The heavy rain and storms lead to increased erosion, flooding, and higher tides, all of which raise the chance of dangerous rockfalls.
- The situation is exacerbated by the fact that Papua New Guinea lacks infrastructure and economic development to deal with natural disasters — unlike other nations like Taiwan, Italy and Japan, which are also vulnerable to such disasters.
- As a result, death tolls are usually high when landslides or earthquakes take place in the country.
- Besides the aforementioned factors, deforestation and mining have also played a role in more landslides.
- As Papua New Guinea is the world’s fifth largest exporter of palm oil, it is dominated by palm oil plantations, which have been cropped up in place of forests.
- The mining of “gold, silver, nickel, copper, and cobalt.. and LNG operations have been taking place in areas where deadly landslides occurred in the past.
Role of climate change
- Much like the rest of the world, Papua New Guinea is also reeling from the adverse effects of climate change.
- The country has witnessed an increase in temperature of approximately 0.8-0.9 degree Celsius, as measured in the difference between average temperature in 1900–1917 and 2000–2017, according to a report by the United Nations.
- Consequently, extreme weather events have become more frequent and intense in Papua New Guinea.
- Although it is difficult to attribute the latest landslide to climate change, experts believe that the phenomenon contributed to the incident.
- Higher temperatures result in more evaporation of water, which enables the atmosphere to hold more moisture.
- In such a situation, storms can be more dangerous as they can cause a higher precipitation intensity.
- This is likely what happened in Papua New Guinea — it has experienced heavy rainfall so far in 2024, which could have triggered the landslide.
| CARE MCQ | UPSC PYQ |
| Q4. Which of the following factors contribute to Papua New Guinea’s vulnerability to landslides and earthquakes?
i) Geographical location on the Pacific ‘Ring of Fire’ ii) Dense urban population iii) Heavy rainfall and storms iv) Lack of economic development Select correct code: a) i and ii b) i and iii c) i, iii, and iv d) All of the above |
Q. Consider the following statements : (MPSC 2019)
(a) The Disaster Management Act was passed by the Parliament in 2005. (b) The Union Home Minister Acts as a Chairperson of the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA). (c) The NDMA may have not more than nine members including Vice-Chairman. (d) The tenure of the members of NDMA shall be five years. Which of the statements given above are correct?
Ans B |
| Answer 4 B
Explanation
|
ICMR seeks to provide oral formulation of hydroxyurea to treat sickle cell disease in children
Source: The Hindu
UPSC Syllabus Relevance: GS 3- Science and Technology
Context: ICMR seeks to provide oral formulation of hydroxyurea to treat sickle cell disease in children
Why in news
- The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) has invited Expressions of Interest (EoI) from eligible organisations for the “joint development and commercialisation” of low dose or paediatric oral formulation of hydroxyurea to treat sickle cell disease in India.
Concerns
- India has the highest prevalence of sickle cell disease in South Asia, and over 20 million sickle cell affected individuals reside in the country.
- While most pharmaceutical companies in India market 500 mg capsules or 200 mg tablets of hydroxyurea, the biggest challenge in treatment is that it’s not available in the suspension form for effective use in the case of paediatric patients.
- In children, the prescribed dose is 10-15 mg per kilogram of body weight after two years of age.
- This titration of dose is difficult, and currently, it’s carried out by using a fraction of the broken capsules, which is not an appropriate method because it can lead to less accurate administration of the drug, which has five dose-related side effects.
Sickle cell disease
- Sickle cell disease is one of the most common monogenic disorders of haemoglobin, and hydroxyurea, a myelosuppressive agent, is an effective drug for treating patients of sickle cell disease, and thalassemia.
- The ICMR said that since only high dosage hydroxyurea tablets are available, initiating a low dose treatment becomes a tedious task for service providers, as the capsule or tablet has to be broken down appropriately to be administered in accordance with body weight, thereby risking the efficacy available with measured doses.
Role of ICMR
- The ICMR is the apex biomedical research body in the country.
- It also said that in India, according to the National Health Mission’s guidelines, healthcare providers initiate hydroxyurea therapy to only symptomatic sickle cell disease patients among children both because of the lack of availability of paediatric doses as well as the fear of toxicity.
About ICMR
- The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), New Delhi, the apex body in India for the formulation, coordination and promotion of biomedical research, is one of the oldest medical research bodies in the world.
- The ICMR has always attempted to address itself to the growing demands of scientific advances in biomedical research on the one hand, and to the need of finding practical solutions to the health problems of the country, on the other.
- It is funded by the Indian government through the Department of Health Research, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.
- ICMR was established in 1911 as the Indian Research Fund Association (IRFA) and was later renamed in 1949 as the Indian Council of Medical Research.
| CARE MCQ | UPSC PYQ |
Q5. Which of the following statements about the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) are correct?
|
Q. Which of the following are the reasons for the occurrence of multi-drug resistance in microbial pathogens in India? (2020)
(1) Genetic predisposition of some people. (2) Taking incorrect doses of antibiotics to cure diseases. (3) Using antibiotics in livestock farming. (4) Multiple chronic diseases in some people. Select the correct answer using the code given below. (a) 1 and 2 (b) 2 and 3 only (c) 1,3 and 4 (d) 2,3 and 4 Ans 14: D |
| Answer 5 A
Explanation
|