The Hindu News Analysis – 08th April 2022 – Shankar IAS Academy

S. Page Number*
News Articles
No. C B D H T

T&C T&C T&C T&C

1 The manacles of caste in sanitation work 2 2
9
2 2

2 Ukraine and the anatomy of India’s neutrality (Editorial) 10 10 6 6 6

3 Nuanced, calibrated approach essential for CBDC: Sankar 16 16 14 12 12

Chinese hacker groups continue to target Indian power plants, 1, 1,

4 5 1, 8 8
says govt. 12 12

5 Prelims Practice Questions

@ end of the video
6 Mains Practice Question
*C – Chennai; B – Bengaluru; D – Delhi; H – Hyderabad; T – Thiruvananthapuram
Text & Context - 2
Pg: 9 – Delhi Edition
 Part A—Preliminary Examination
Paper I - (200 marks)
 Current events of national and international importance.
Part B—Main Examination
PAPER-II
General Studies‐I: Indian Heritage and Culture, History and Geography of the World and Society.
 Salient features of Indian Society, Diversity of India.
 Social empowerment, communalism, regionalism & secularism
PAPER-III
General Studies‐ II: Governance, Constitution, Polity, Social Justice and International relations.
 Government policies and interventions for development in various sectors and issues arising out of their design and
implementation.
 Welfare schemes for vulnerable sections of the population by the Centre and States and the performance of these
schemes; mechanisms, laws, institutions and Bodies constituted for the protection and betterment of these
vulnerable sections.
Manual scavenging:

• The practice of manually cleaning, carrying,

disposing or handling human excreta in any
manner, from dry latrines and sewers.

• History of Manual scavenging:

 Roots lie - deep within the caste-based

occupation system in India.

 Enclosed toilets during Mughal period.

 British India - first municipalities were

inducted.

 Homes with 'outhouses' or dry latrines.

 Lower castes expected to perform this job.

Why finding an alternate occupation was Steps taken by Indian Government:
impossible? • The Employment of Manual Scavengers and
1. Power and caste hierarchy are intertwined in Construction of Dry Latrines (Prohibition) Act,
a complex web. 1993 - formally prohibited employment of
manual scavengers.
2. Economic and social deprivation - given little
opportunity to be trained for something else. • The National Commission for Safai
Karamcharis Act, 1993 - a welfare legislation
3. Met with social marginalisation - exclusion
passed to monitor implementation of schemes
from village resources - subjected to physical
for sanitation workers.
thrashings and compulsion to return to work.
The Prohibition of Employment as Manual Scavengers and Their Rehabilitation (PEMSR) Act, 2013
 An umbrella legislation - look at the issue holistically.
 Prohibits - employment of manual scavengers, construction of dry latrines, and manual cleaning of septic
tanks and sewers without protective equipment.
 Identified links between scavenging as a profession and societal caste hierarchy.
 Placed the responsibility on the owners to demolish dry latrines and build proper toilets.
 Overrides all previous state laws on manual scavenging.
 Additionally these articles will be invoked.
 Article 14 - Right to Equality.
 Article 17 - Abolition of Untouchability.
 Article 21 - Protection of life and personal liberty
 Article 42 - Just and humane conditions of work, and
 Article 46 - Promotion of educational and economic interests of scheduled castes, scheduled tribes
and weaker sections.
Why still prevalent in India? Way Forward:
1. Social issue - the stigma and discrimination 1. Proper identification of the workers - States
associated with it still linger on. need to accurately enumerate the workers

2. Continued presence of unsanitary latrines that engaged in cleaning toxic sludge.

don’t use water. 2. Swachh Bharat Abhiyan - make expansion of

3. Continued reluctance on the part of state the sewer network as a top priority.

governments to admit the practice prevails 3. Need for social sensitisation to address the
under their watch. social sanction behind manual scavenging.

4. Poor enforcement of existing laws. 4. A need for a stringent law.

5. Vigorous enforcement of law.

 Practice Question – Mains
GS-II
Q. Despite various prohibitions in the Indian
constitution and legislation outlawing
manual scavenging, the dehumanising
practice continues to be practiced across
the country. Examine the causes and
propose solutions to the manual
scavenging problem.
(150 Words, 10 Marks)
Pg: 6 – D, H, T;
Pg: 10 – c, B
 Part A—Preliminary Examination
Paper I - (200 marks) Neutrality

 Current events of national and international • State of not supporting either side in an
importance. argument, war, etc.
Part B—Main Examination
• India’s neutrality
PAPER-III
General Studies‐ II: Governance, Constitution, Polity,  Historical evidences
Social Justice and International relations.
 Soviet intervention in Hungary – 1956.
 Bilateral, regional and global groupings and
agreements involving India and/or affecting India’s  To stop the Hungarian revolution.
interests.
 India’s Prime Minister - Jawaharlal
 Effect of policies and politics of developed and Nehru.
developing countries on India’s interests, Indian
diaspora.  India remained neutral.

 Important International institutions, agencies and fora-

their structure, mandate. .
• Current situation - Russian invasion on Ukraine - Why selective targeting?
India neutral.
• Political View
• Un-named condemnation of the civilian killings.
 U.S. President calls Russian action against
• India’s abstention from UN votes. Ukraine - attack on “the free world”. Not
supported by India - useless.
• Abstention from UN voting against Russia - South
Africa, United Arab Emirates, Israel, Turkey. • Economic View

• None of these countries - pressurised or  Sanctions on Russia – mostly by western

criticised from West. countries.

• India – pressures and publicly criticised by West  Backed by three Asian nations - Japan,
– US. South Korea and Singapore.

• Deputy National Security Adviser for International  China did not abide by American sanctions.
Economics warned India.
 India-Russia trade continues - effect of
• Consequences - India-Russia trade continuation. sanctions blunt.
• Strategic View
Why neutrality best option for India?
 India improved its strategic partnership with U.S &
West. • Every country formulates its foreign
policy - national interests.
 Since end of cold war - 1991.
• Not merely on moral commitments.
 Last 30 years - India retained warm ties with Russia.
• US condemns Russia – US performed
 Balance - not tested in recent past.
immoral activities.
 Present - Russian attack on Ukraine.
• Example: U.S. led NATO bombed
 Near-total breakdown in ties between Russia and the Yugoslavia for 78 days in 1999.
West.
• India’s national interests.
 India align with Russia or US?
 A continental power & maritime
 US views India - counterweight to China in the Indo- power.
Pacific region.
 India needs Russia - defence and energy
• Russia annexed Crimea and supporting
purchases and geopolitical reasons. Russia,
militancy in Donbas.
Iran and the Central Asian countries -
• U.S. provided money and limited weapons to
India’s continental security and interests.
Kyiv.
 U.S., Japan and Australia - maritime
security and interests.

How NATO failed Ukraine?

• NATO promised Ukraine - membership in

2008.

• Never got the membership.

• NATO membership promise triggered Russia’s

aggressiveness.
• No meaningful measure - NATO membership.

• NATO does not defend non-member country.

• Russian President sent his forces into Ukraine. Practice Question – Mains
• Russia will make Ukraine accept neutrality. GS – II
• Russia will control more Ukrainian territories. Q. Critically analyse whether India’s
neutrality principle is still valid in the
• Tragedy of Ukraine - NATO’s unfulfilled contemporary world.
promise.
(250 words, 15 marks)
Pg: 12 – H, T;
Pg: 14 – Delhi Edition;
Pg: 16 – C, B;
CBDC RBI - CBDC

• Central Bank Digital Currencies - digital • A legal tender.

tokens. • Issuer - Reserve Bank of India (RBI).
• Similar to cryptocurrency. • An electronic record or digital token of India.
• Issued by a central bank. • Official currency - medium of exchange, unit of
• Pegged to value of issuer country's fiat account, store of value & standard of deferred
currency. payment.

• Fiat currency - backed by a country's • RBI - same as currency issued by a central

government. bank

• Instead of a physical commodity or financial  Different form than paper (or polymer).
instrument. • A sovereign currency in an electronic form.
• Example: Indian
 Liability on a central bank’s balance sheet
Features • Provides users with a sovereign option.

• Exchangeable at par with cash.  Safe when compared to other less safe
digital instruments.
 Reduces the cost of cash.
• Block chain technology - present everywhere
• Improves the speed of transactions. This is
because it will significantly brin  Potential far beyond just digital currency.

 Time taken for cross border transactions –  Removes the need for intermediaries in
reduces. various processes.

 Make transaction real time.  Transparent, fast, and efficient system.

 Cost and distributional efficiency.

• Eliminate the need for interbank settlement.

 Improves cross-border transactions - settlement

efficiency.
• High liquidity, scalability, acceptance, ease of Practice Question – Prelims
transactions with anonymity. Q. Consider the following statement with reference
to the RBI planned Central Bank Digital
 Faster settlement and transactions. Currency (CBDC)?
1. It will eliminate the use of paper currency
permanently.
2. It is a legal tender that is to be issued by the
RBI.
Which of the above statements is/are correct ?
a) 1 only
b) 2 only
c) Both 1 and 2
d) Neither 1 nor 2
Pg: 1, 12 – C, B; Pg: 5 – Delhi Edition;
Pg: 1, 8 – Hyderabad Edition;
Pg: 8 – Thiruvananthapuram Edition
CERT-In: The Cyber Surakshit Bharat initiative:

 Organisation of the Ministry of Electronics and • Launched in January 2018 - by the

Information Technology. Ministry of Electronics and

 Nodal agency - deals with cybersecurity threats Information Technology (MeitY).

like hacking and phishing.  First public-private partnership -

 Function: leverages the expertise of the IT

industry in cyber security along with
 Collect, analyse & disseminate information on
MeitY’s organizations.
cyber incidents.
 Objective - create awareness around
 Issues alert on cybersecurity incidents.
cyber security & develop an
 Provides Incident Prevention and Response Services empowered and strong cyber
as well as Security Quality Management Services. ecosystem in Government

 Has overlapping on responsibilities with other organizations in India.

agencies.
 Deep Dive Training program - prepare the
Chief Information Security Officers and
 Operates in close coordination and
frontline IT officials to face challenges of
collaboration with Internet Service Providers
cyber security and handle the cyber crisis.
and Product/Antivirus companies.
" Cyber Swachhta Kendra " (Botnet Cleaning and
 Being operated by - the Indian Computer
Malware Analysis Centre):
Emergency Response Team (CERT-In).
• Part of Digital India initiative under the
Ministry of Electronics and Information
Technology (MeitY).

 Aim - to create a secure cyber space by

detecting botnet infections in India.

 To notify, enable cleaning and securing

systems of end users so as to prevent
further infections.
"Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre (I4C)“:

• An initiative of the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA).

• To combat cybercrime in the country - in a coordinated and effective manner.

 Scheme duration - 2018-2020.

Overview of the scheme
 To act as a nodal point in the fight against cybercrime
 Identify the research problems/needs of Law Enforcement Agencies (LEAs) and take
up R&D activities in developing new technologies and forensic tools in collaboration
with academia / research institutes within India and abroad
 To prevent misuse of cyber space for furthering the cause of extremist and terrorist
groups
 Suggest amendments, if required, in cyber laws to keep pace with fast changing
technologies and international cooperation
 To coordinate all activities related to implementation of Mutual Legal Assistance
Treaties (MLAT) with other countries related to cybercrimes in consultation with the
concerned nodal authority in MHA
 Practice Questions – Prelims
Q. Which of the following statements are the
functions of the CERT-In:
1. Collection, analysis and dissemination of
information on cyber incidents.
2. Forecast and alerts of cyber security incidents
3. Emergency measures for handling cyber
security incidents
4. Coordination of cyber incident response
activities.
Select the correct answer using the code given
below.
a) 1 and 2 only
b) 1, 2 and 3 only
c) 1, 2, 3 and 4 only
d) 4 only
 Practice Question – Prelims
Q. Consider the following statement with
reference to the RBI planned Central Bank
Digital Currency (CBDC)?
1. It will eliminate the use of paper currency
permanently.
2. It is a legal tender that is to be issued by the
RBI.
Which of the above statements is/are correct ?
a) 1 only
b) 2 only
c) Both 1 and 2
d) Neither 1 nor 2
 Practice Questions – Prelims
Q. Which of the following statements are the
functions of the CERT-In:
1. Collection, analysis and dissemination of
information on cyber incidents.
2. Forecast and alerts of cyber security incidents
3. Emergency measures for handling cyber
security incidents
4. Coordination of cyber incident response
activities.
Select the correct answer using the code given
below.
a) 1 and 2 only
b) 1, 2 and 3 only
c) 1, 2, 3 and 4 only
d) 4 only
 Practice Question – Mains
GS-II
Practice Question – Mains
Q. Despite various prohibitions in the Indian
constitution and legislation outlawing GS – II
manual scavenging, the dehumanising Q. Critically analyse whether India’s
practice continues to be practiced across neutrality principle is still valid in the
the country. Examine the causes and contemporary world.
propose solutions to the manual
scavenging problem. (250 words, 15 marks)
(150 Words, 10 Marks)