PM IAS SEP 15 NEWS ANALYSIS

Annabhau Sathe

In Context

• Recently, Maharashtra’s Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnav unveiled a statue of Lok Shahir (balladeer) Annabhau Sathe at the All-Russia State Library for Foreign Literature in Moscow. 

Annabhau Sathe (1 August 1920 – 18 July 1969)

• About:
  • Tukaram Bhaurao Sathe, popularly known as Anna Bhau Sathe was a social reformer, folk poet, and writer from Maharashtra. 
  • He was a Dalit born into the untouchable community, and his upbringing and identity were central to his writing and political activism.
  • In 1930, his family left the village and came to Mumbai. Here, he worked as a porter, a hawker and even a cotton mill helper.
  • In 1934, Mumbai witnessed a workers’ strike under the leadership of Lal Bawta Mill Workers Union in which he participated.
  • During his days at the Matunga Labour Camp, he got to know R B More, an associate of Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar in the famous ‘Chavdar Lake’ satyagraha at Mahad, and joined the Labour Study Circle.
  • Sathe was a Marxist-Ambedkarite mosaic, initially influenced by the communists but he later became an Ambedkarite.
  • He is credited as a founding father of ‘Dalit Literature’ and played vital role in Samyukta Maharashtra Movement.
• His works as a Writer
  • Sathe’s work was immensely inspired by the Russian revolution and the Communist ideology. 
  • He was a member of the Communist Party of India (CPI), and featured among the selected authors from India whose work was translated in Russian.
  • He formed Dalit Yuvak Sangh, a cultural group and started writing poems on workers’ protests, agitations.
  • Sathe wrote his first poem on the menace of mosquitoes in the labour camp.  The group used to perform in front of the mill gates. 
  • Progressive Writers Association was formed at the national level at the same time with the likes of Premchand, Faiz Ahmad Faiz, Manto, Ismat Chugtai, Rahul Sankrutyayan, Mulkraj Anand as its members. The group would translate the Russian work of Maxim Gorky, Anton Chekhov, Leo Tolstoy, Ivan Turgenev into Marathi, which Sathe got hooked on. 
  • In 1939, he wrote his first ballad ‘Spanish Povada’.
  • Sathe and his group travelled across Mumbai campaigning for workers’ rights. Out of the 49 years that he lived, Sathe, who began writing only after the age of 20, churned out 32 novels, 13 collections of short stories, four plays, a travelogue and 11 povadas (ballads).
  • Several of his works like ‘Aklechi Goshta,’ ‘Stalingradacha Povada,’ ‘Mazi Maina Gavavar Rahili,’ ‘Jag Badal Ghaluni Ghav’ were popular across the state. 
  • Almost six of his novels were turned into films and many translated into other languages, including Russian. 
  • His ‘Bangalchi Hak’ (Bengal’s Call) on the Bengal famine was translated into Bengali and later presented at London’s Royal Theatre. 
  • His literature depicted the caste and class reality of Indian society of that time.
• Russian connection:
  • He was once called the Maxim Gorky of Maharashtra.
  • He was immensely inspired by Gorky’s ‘The Mother’ and the Russian revolution, which was reflected in his writings.
  • He travelled to Russia in 1961 along with a group of other Indians.

Hate Speech During Elections

In News

• Recently, the Election Commission told the Supreme Court that it faces difficulties in dealing with the issue of “hate speech” during elections.

More about the news

• Election Commission’s statement:
  • Hate speech has not been defined under any existing law in India.
  • In the absence of any specific law governing ‘hate speech’ and ‘rumour mongering’ during elections, the Election Commission of India employs various provisions of the IPC and the RP Act-1951 to ensure that members of the political parties or even other persons do not make statements to the effect of creating disharmony between different sections of society.
• Pravasi Bhalai Sangathan vs Union of India Case:
  • The EC pointed out that the issue of “hate speech” during elections was dealt with by the SC in the 2014 case, ‘Pravasi Bhalai Sangathan vs Union of India’.
  • In the judgement, SC had then observed that the implementation of existing laws would solve the problem to a great extent.

Hate Speech

• What is Hate Speech?
  • There is no international legal definition of hate speech, and the characterization of what is ‘hateful’ is controversial and disputed. 
  • The term hate speech is understood as any kind of communication in speech, writing or behaviour, that attacks or uses pejorative or discriminatory language with reference to a person or a group based on their religion, ethnicity, nationality, race, colour, descent, gender or other identity factors.
• Indian Constitution and hate speech:

• Freedom of Speech and Expression: 
  • It is protected as a fundamental right in the Constitution of India under Article 19(1) (a) which states that all citizens shall have the right to freedom of speech and expression.
• Article 19(2): 
  • A reasonable restriction has been put forth by the Indian constitution where the word reasonable should strike a balance between the use and misuse of this freedom.

• Other provisions regarding Hate Speech:
  • Section 153A IPC penalises ‘promotion of enmity between different groups on grounds of religion, race, place of birth, residence, language, etc., and doing acts prejudicial to maintenance of harmony’.  
  • Section 153B IPC penalises ‘imputations, assertions prejudicial to national-integration’.  
  • Section 295A IPC penalises ‘deliberate and malicious acts, intended to outrage religious feelings of any class by insulting its religion or religious beliefs’.  
  • Section 298 IPC penalises ‘uttering, words, etc., with deliberate intent to wound the religious feelings of any person’.  
  • Section 505 IPC penalises publication or circulation of any statement, rumour or report causing public mischief and enmity, hatred or ill-will between classes.
  • Part VII of the Representation of People Act, 1951 classifies hate speech as an offence committed during elections into two categories: corrupt practices and electoral offences. The relevant provisions regarding hate speech in the RPA are Sections 8, 8A, 123(3), 123(3A) and 125. 
  • In the realm of the hate speech debate, the Model Code of Conduct (MCC) assumes significance as Item 1 (General Conduct) of the MCC prohibits parties and candidates from making any appeals to caste or communal feelings for securing votes.
• Challenges
  • Difficult to Interpret: 
    • The word ‘hate speech’ is a tricky term, merely criticising someone is not hate speech. 
  • Curtailing Dissent: 
    • The dissent and criticism of the elected government’s policy, when deceptive or even false, could be ethically wrong, but it should not necessarily invite penal action.
  • Defining intent: 
    • If someone discusses and speaks about controversial and sensitive topics relating to religion, caste, creed, etc. The question is primarily one of intent and purpose which is hard to define. 

Recent Attempts to Define Hate Speech in India

• In the 267th Report of the Law Commission of India, hate speech is stated as an incitement to hatred primarily against a group of persons defined in terms of race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, religious belief and the like.
• The Bureau of Police Research and Development (BPR&D) recently published a manual for investigating agencies on cyber harassment cases that defined hate speech as a “language that denigrates, insults, threatens or targets an individual based on their identity and other traits (such as sexual orientation or disability or religion etc.).
• In 2019, the Ministry decided to overhaul the IPC, framed in 1860 and the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) after seeking suggestions from States, the Supreme Court, High Courts, the Bar Council of India, Bar Councils of States, universities and law institutes on comprehensive amendments to criminal laws. 

Way ahead

• The hate speech is often rooted in, and generates intolerance and hatred and, in certain contexts, can be demeaning and divisive. 
• It is a menace to democratic values, social stability and peace. As a matter of principle, the government must confront hate speech at every turn. 
• The problem of hate speech has been approached outside of the current legal system.
• The government should also bring comprehensive amendments to criminal laws to prevent hate speech and expression especially during elections.

Anti – Defection Law

In News

• Recently, eight of the 11 Congress MLAs in the Goa Assembly defected to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

Anti-defection Law

• Origin:
  • Aaya Ram Gaya Ram was a phrase that became popular in Indian politics after a Haryana MLA Gaya Lal changed his party thrice within the same day in 1967.  
  • The anti-defection law was a response to the similar toppling of multiple state governments by party-hopping MLAs.
  • Parliament added it to the Constitution in 1985. 
• Constitutional Basis:
  • The Tenth Schedule was inserted in the Constitution by the 52nd Amendment Act. 
  • It lays down the process by which legislators may be disqualified on grounds of defection. 
• What constitutes defection?
  • Voluntarily giving up:
    • When legislators elected on the ticket of one political party “voluntarily give up” membership of that party or vote in the legislature against the party’s wishes. 
    • A legislator’s speech and conduct inside and outside the legislature can lead to deciding voluntarily giving up membership.
  • Independent members:
    • The second scenario arises when an MP/MLA who has been elected as an independent joins a party later. 
  • Nominated legislators:
    • The law specifies that nominated legislators can join a political party within six months of being appointed to the House, and not after such time.
  • Violation of the law in any of these scenarios can lead to a legislator being penalised for defection. 
• Applicable to: 
  • The law applies to both Parliament and state assemblies.
• Deciding authority:
  • The Presiding Officers of the Legislature (Speaker, Chairman) are the deciding authorities in such cases. 
  • The Supreme Court has held legislators can challenge their decisions before the higher judiciary.
• How long does it take for deciding cases of defection?
  • The law does not provide a time frame within which the presiding officer has to decide a defection case. 
  • The court in its recent judgement has held that, ideally, Speakers should take a decision on a defection petition within three months.
• Exceptions in Law:
  • Legislators may change their party without the risk of disqualification in certain circumstances. 
    • The law allows a party to merge with or into another party provided that at least two-thirds of its legislators are in favour of the merger. 
    • In such a scenario, neither the members who decide to merge, nor the ones who stay with the original party will face disqualification.
• Interpretation by Courts: 
  • The Supreme Court has interpreted different provisions of the law.
  • The phrase ‘Voluntarily gives up his membership’ has a wider connotation than resignation
    • The law provides for a member to be disqualified if he ‘voluntarily gives up his membership’. 
    • However, the Supreme Court has interpreted that in the absence of a formal resignation by the member, the giving up of membership can be inferred by his conduct.
  • In other judgments, members who have publicly expressed opposition to their party or support for another party were deemed to have resigned.
• Decision of the Presiding Officer is subject to judicial review: 
  • Initially it was not subject to Judicial Review:
    • The law initially stated that the decision of the Presiding Officer is not subject to judicial review. 
    • This condition was struck down by the Supreme Court in 1992, thereby allowing appeals against the Presiding Officer’s decision in the High Court and Supreme Court.
    • However, it held that there may not be any judicial intervention until the Presiding Officer gives his order.
• It affects the ability of legislators to make decisions:
  • The anti-defection law seeks to provide a stable government by ensuring the legislators do not switch sides. 
  • However, this law also restricts a legislator from voting in line with his conscience, judgement and interests of his electorate. 
  • Such a situation impedes the oversight function of the legislature over the government, by ensuring that members vote based on the decisions taken by the party leadership, and not what their constituents would like them to vote for.

Significance

• The law aims to bring stability to governments by discouraging legislators from changing parties. 
• Anti-defection law tries to bring a sense of loyalty of the members towards their own party. 
• It aims to ensure that members selected in the name of the party are also loyal to the party manifesto and the basic philosophy of the party to which he belongs.

Criticisms

• Ambiguous Nature of Split: 
  • The law punishes individual MPs/MLAs for leaving one party for another but allows a group of MP/MLAs to join (i.e. merge with) another political party without inviting the penalty for defection. 
  • In recent years, opposition MLAs in some states have broken away in small groups gradually to join the ruling party. 
  • The flaw seems to be that the exception is based on the number of members rather than the reason behind the defection.
• Power to the Speaker:
  • One of the major criticisms of this power is that it is not necessary that the speaker has legal knowledge and expertise to look upon and perform such acts in such cases.
• No penalty for political parties:
  • The law does not penalise political parties for encouraging or accepting defecting legislators.
• No Freedom to go against party whip:
  • A political party acts as a dictator for its members who are not allowed to dissent. 
  • In this way, it violates the principle of representative democracy wherein the members are forced to obey the high command.
• Problem with merger provision: 
  • The provision tends to safeguard the members of a political party where the original political party merges with another party subject to the condition that at least two-thirds of the members of the legislature party concerned have agreed to such a merger. 

Views of Committees on Anti-Defection Law

• Dinesh Goswami Committee on Electoral Reforms (1990)
  • Disqualification should be limited to cases where (a) a member voluntarily gives up the membership of his political party, (b) a member abstains from voting, or votes contrary to the party whip in a motion of vote of confidence or motion of no-confidence.
  • The issue of disqualification should be decided by the President/ Governor on the advice of the Election Commission.
• Law Commission (170th Report, 1999)
  • Provisions which exempt splits and mergers from disqualification to be deleted.
  • Pre-poll electoral fronts should be treated as political parties under anti-defection law.
  • Political parties should limit issuance of whips to instances only when the government is in danger.
• Election Commission
  • Decisions under the Tenth Schedule should be made by the President/ Governor on the binding advice of the Election Commission.
• Constitution Review Commission (2002)
  • Defectors should be barred from holding public office or any remunerative political post for the duration of the remaining term.
  • The vote cast by a defector to topple a government should be treated as invalid.

Suggestions made to improve the law

• Former Vice President Hamid Ansari has suggested that it applies only to save governments in no-confidence motions. 
• The Election Commission of India has suggested it should be the deciding authority in defection cases. 
• The Supreme Court recently said Parliament should set up an independent tribunal headed by a retired judge of the higher judiciary to decide defection cases swiftly and impartially.
• Some commentators have argued that the President and Governors should hear defection petitions. 

Conclusion

• The introduction of the Tenth Schedule in the Indian Constitution was aimed at curbing political defections.
• Though the law has succeeded in a reasonable way but due to some of its loopholes, it has not been able to achieve the best it can.

International scenario on Anti Defection LawBangladesh:Article 70 of the Bangladesh Constitution says a member shall vacate his seat if he resigns from or votes against the directions given by his party. The dispute is referred by the Speaker to the Election Commission.Kenya:Section 40 of the Kenyan Constitution states that a member who resigns from his party has to vacate his seat. The decision is by the Speaker, and the member may appeal to the High Court.Singapore:Article 46 of the Singapore Constitution says a member must vacate his seat if he resigns, or is expelled from his party. Article 48 states that Parliament decides on any question relating to the disqualification of a member.South Africa:Section 47 of the South African Constitution provides that a member loses membership of the Parliament if he ceases to be a member of the party that nominated him.

Promotion of Hindi in Institutions

In News

• Recently, the centre is taking efforts to promote Hindi in Indian government institutions in foreign countries.

More about the news

• The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has written to the External Affairs Ministry to promote the use of Hindi for official work in banks, public sector undertakings, embassies and other government offices located in foreign countries.
• MHA had previously asked the External Affairs Ministry to constitute an Official Language Implementation Committee that would oversee the progress of Hindi in official work.

Eighth Schedule to the Constitution of India & promotion of Hindi languageThe Eighth Schedule to the Constitution of India lists the official languages of the Republic of India.Part XVII of the Indian Constitution deals with the official languages in Articles 343 to 351.The Constitutional provisions relating to the Eighth Schedule occur in articles 344(1) and 351 of the Constitution.Article 344(1): It provides for the constitution of an official language Commission by the President, which shall consist of a Chairman and such other members representing the different languages specified in the Eighth Schedule to make recommendations to the President for the progressive use of Hindi for official purposes of the Union.Article 345: Official language or languages of a State subject to the provisions of Article 346 and 347.It would thus appear that the Eighth Schedule was intended to promote the progressive use of Hindi and for the enrichment and promotion of that language.Article 351: It provides for enriching the Hindi language by assimilating in it the forms, style and expressions used in the languages specified in the Eighth Schedule so that it may serve as a medium of expression for all the elements of the composite culture of India.

Government’s efforts to promote Hindi

• Language of Parliamentary reports: 
  • In 2017, MHA accepted most of the recommendations contained in the 2011 report of a parliamentary standing committee on Hindi. 
  • Some of the recommendations were:
    • Option to write exams in Hindi, 
    • Minimum knowledge of Hindi must for government jobs, 
    • 50% government advertisements in Hindi, 
    • Railway tickets should be bilingual- Hindi being one of the languages and announcement at railway stations in “C” category (non-Hindi speaking) such as Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Telengana and Kerala should be in Hindi.
• Websites open by default in Hindi:
  • In 2017, the government stated that the websites of all the Union Ministries and the offices under their control should be bilingual and the Hindi pages should also be compulsorily uploaded while updating the website.
    • Most government websites are bilingual now — Hindi and English. 
  • However, the websites of organisations such as the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), the Border Security Force (BSF) and even the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) open in Hindi by default.
• Press releases:
  • In the past two years, most press releases by the Union Ministries were released first in Hindi.
• Digital dictionary:
  • Ministry of Education in collaboration with the MHA had developed a digital dictionary that included commonly used words in various regional languages. 
  • This included words from technology and banking to ensure that people from various fields could work in Hindi with ease.

Promotion of Education in regional languages

• The National Education Policy 2020:
  • The National Education Policy 2020 emphasises multilingualism and proposes a three-language formula in schools, where at least two of the languages are native to India. 
  • State Government are publishing bilingual and trilingual textbooks at foundational level and the learning material on Diksha platform relevant to the school curriculum has been made available in 33 Indian languages.
• Higher education:
  • As far as higher education is concerned, engineering courses are being offered in six Indian languages in 19 engineering colleges across 10 States from 2021-2022. 
  • The provision for the additional supernumerary seats in regional languages and up to 50% of the sanctioned intake in the regional languages have also been made by the AICTE.
  • At the UGC we have formed a committee for translating books in subjects such as commerce and humanities.

World Hindi DayWorld Hindi Day or Vishwa Hindi Divas is celebrated every year on January 10th to mark the first World Hindi Conference that was held in Nagpur on January 10 in 1975. In 2006, former Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh declared that January 10 will be observed as World Hindi Day every year.This was also the first time that the ministry of external affairs started celebrating the day abroad. It is celebrated across the world to promote the use of the Hindi language.Aim: To spread awareness about Hindi as an international language across the world. About National Hindi DivasIndia also celebrates National Hindi Divas on September 14th. It, however, is different from World Hindi Day as National Hindi Divas is celebrated to commemorate the adoption of Hindi as an official language of India by the Constituent Assembly.The Constituent Assembly of India accepted Hindi, written in Devanagari script, as the official language of India on September 14th, 1949, under Article 343 of the Indian Constitution.The reason behind adopting Hindi as one of the official languages was to simplify administration in a nation with multiple languages.

Artificial Sun

In News

• Recently, South Korean scientists created an ‘artificial sun’ in pursuit of unlimited clean energy.

More about the news

• About:
  • Scientists from Seoul National University and the Korea Institute of Fusion Energy have made a major breakthrough in their pursuit of clean nuclear energy by creating an ‘artificial sun’ at the Korea Superconducting Tokamak Advanced Research (KSTAR) reactor. 
  • Reportedly, the reactor reached temperatures upward of 100 million degree Celsius for 30 seconds. 
    • Comparatively, the core of the sun hits temperatures around 15 million degrees.
• Previous attempts:
  • Chinese scientists have been working on developing smaller versions of the nuclear fusion reactor since 2006.
    • Recently, the Experimental Advanced Superconducting Tokamak (EAST) fusion energy reactor created an artificial sun, reaching temperatures of 70 million degrees Celsius for 1,056 seconds, which is five times hotter than the sun.

Significance

• Energy security
  • By mimicking the natural reaction of the sun, scientists are hoping that the technology may help humanity harness vast amounts of energy and help battle the energy crisis. 
• Cleaner energy:
  • It is pertinent to note that nuclear fusion is considered the holy grail of energy and it is what powers our sun. 
  • It merges atomic nuclei to create massive amounts of energy, which is the opposite of the fission process used in atomic weapons and nuclear power plants, which splits them into fragments.
  • The process requires no fossil fuels and leaves behind no hazardous waste materials, unlike the nuclear fission process that powers commercial nuclear energy production. 
  • Unlike fission, fusion emits no greenhouse gases.
• Less Disaster: 
  • Physicists also claim that there is far less risk of an environmental disaster.

Challenges

• Keeping the temperature over 100 million degrees.
• Operating at a stable level for a long time.
• Nuclear fusion remains a long way from being realised outside of a laboratory, despite decades of research into the technology.

China’s artificial Sun-EASTAbout:It is a nuclear fusion reactor facility, designed and developed by China.The facility is called an “artificial sun” because it mimics the nuclear fusion reaction that powers the real sun – which uses hydrogen and deuterium gases as fuel.The EAST has been used since 2006 by scientists from all around the world to conduct fusion-related experiments.The EAST project is part of the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER) facility, which will become the world’s largest nuclear fusion reactor when it becomes operational in 2035. Purpose:To replicate the process of nuclear fusion, which is the same reaction that powers the sun.Working:The EAST harnesses extremely high temperatures to boil hydrogen isotopes into a plasma, fusing them together and releasing energy.Fuel is heated to temperatures of over 150 million degrees C so that it forms a hot plasma “soup” of subatomic particles. With the help of a strong magnetic field, the plasma is kept away from the walls of the reactor to ensure it does not cool down and lose its potential to generate large amounts of energy. The nuclei of deuterium and tritium — both found in hydrogen — are made to fuse together to create a helium nucleus, a neutron along with a whole lot of energy.

Way Ahead

• Although these are significant developments, there is still a lot to go before the world is able to see a fully functioning artificial sun.

Nuclear Fission

Nuclear Fusion

Nuclear fission is the process of splitting apart nuclei (usually large nuclei). The critical mass of the substance and high-speed neutrons are requiredTakes little energy to split two atoms in a fission reactionFission reactions do not normally occur in nature.Fission produces many highly radioactive particles.The energy released by fission is a million times greater than that released in chemical reactions; but lower than the energy released by nuclear fusion.One class of nuclear weapons is a fission bomb, also known as an atomic bomb or atom bomb.Nuclear fission is the splitting of a massive nucleus into photons in the form of gamma rays, free neutrons, and other subatomic particles. In a typical nuclear reaction involving 235U and a neutron.

It is the process wherein lighter atoms combine to form heavier atoms accompanied by the release of energy.This process powers the Sun and other stars, whereby they generate heat and light.Process: The Deuterium (H-2) and Tritium (H-3) atoms are combined to form Helium (He-4). A free and fast neutron is also released as a result.The neutron is powered by the kinetic energy converted from the ‘extra’ mass left over after the combination of lighter nuclei of deuterium and tritium occurs.

National List of Essential Medicines

In News 

• Recently, the National List of Essential Medicines (NLEM), 2022, was released, with 384 drugs in it across 27 categories. 
  • While 34 new drugs are on the list, 26 drugs from the earlier NLEM were dropped.

About National List of Essential Medicines (NLEM)

• It is a dynamic document and is revised on a regular basis considering the changing public health priorities as well as advancement in pharmaceutical knowledge.
• It was first formulated in 1996 and was revised thrice in 2003, 2011 and 2015, before 2022. 
• The NLEM independent Standing National Committee on Medicines (SNCM) was constituted by the Union Health Ministry in 2018. 
• For inclusion in NLEM, the drugs have to be useful in treating diseases which are a public health problem in India. 
• They have to be licensed by the DCGI, have proven efficacy, a safety profile based on scientific evidence and are cost effective.
•  Purpose : To promote rational use of medicines considering three important aspects which are cost, safety and efficacy.
  •  It also helps in optimum utilisation of healthcare resources and budget, drug procurement policies, health insurance, improving prescribing habits, medical education and training and drafting pharmaceutical policies. 
  • In NLEM, the medicines are categorised based on the level of the healthcare system as primary, secondary and tertiary.

Addition of Tribes to the List of STs

In News 

• Recently, the Union Cabinet approved the addition of four tribes to the list of Scheduled Tribes, including those from Himachal Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Chhattisgarh. 

About 

• The Hatti tribe in the Trans-Giri area of Sirmour district in Himachal Pradesh, the Narikoravan and Kurivikkaran hill tribes of Tamil Nadu and the Binjhia in Chhattisgarh, who were listed as ST in Jharkhand and Odisha but not in Chhattisgarh, were the communities newly added to the list.
• Further, the Cabinet approved a proposal to bring the Gond community residing in 13 districts of Uttar Pradesh, under the ST list from the Scheduled Caste list.
  • This includes the five subcategories of the Gond community (Dhuria, Nayak, Ojha, Pathari, and Rajgond).

Process of Inclusion 

• The process to include tribes in the ST list begins with the recommendation from the respective State governments, which are then sent to the Tribal Affairs Ministry, which reviews and sends them to the Registrar General of India for approval. 
• This is followed by the National Commission for Scheduled Tribes’ approval before the list is sent to the Cabinet for a final decision.

Exercise Kakadu

In News

• INS Satpura and a P8 I Maritime Patrol Aircraft of the Indian Navy reached Darwin in Australia, for participation in the multinational Exercise Kakadu – 2022, hosted by the Royal Australian Navy(RAN).

Exercise Kakadu 2022

• About:
  • The exercise Kakadu is the RAN’s flagship biennial regional International engagement activity and has grown in size and complexity since its inception in 1993.
  • It  is a two-week-long exercise, both in harbour and sea, involving ships and maritime aircraft from 14 navies. During the harbour phase of the exercise, the ship’s crew will engage in operational planning interactions and sports activities with the participating naval forces.
• Significance:
  • The exercise provides an opportunity for regional partners to undertake multinational maritime activities ranging from constabulary operations to high-end maritime warfare in a combined environment.
  • It underscores India’s vision of SAGAR (Security and Growth for All in the Region) and shared objectives of the two countries towards ensuring good order in the maritime domain and strengthening cooperation.

Other Military Exercises with Australia

• Exercise Pitch Black
• Malabar Exercise

Cognitive Dissonance

Context

• The Term was in the News. It is important for the Paper IV of the General Studies of UPSC.

What is Cognitive Dissonance?

• About:
  • The cognitive dissonance theory was one of the most influential theories in social psychology first proposed by Leon Festinger in his book A Theory of Cognitive Dissonance in 1957. 
  • Cognitive dissonance theory explains how individuals or groups rationalise their support and belief toward different religions, cults or political parties, partially blinding themselves to reduce the contradictions between their thoughts and behaviour.
  • Theory proposes that inconsistency between one’s thoughts and  behaviours would lead to an uncomfortable psychological or emotional tension (Cognitive Dissonance).
• Example:
  • You know that smoking (or drinking too much) is harmful to your health, but you do it anyway. You rationalize this action by pointing to your high stress levels.
  • An IPS officer believes in non-violence but takes the decision to opt for Lathi Charge to disperse the crowd mostly faces Cognitive dissonance.
• Resolving dissonance
  • Festinger explained that there were different ways in which individuals or groups resolved cognitive dissonance to best suit their situations.
  • Either by changing one’s thoughts, changing one’s behaviour to match one’s thoughts, adding a thought to justify the behaviour or trivialise the inconsistency between thoughts and behaviour.
  • In most cases, people tend to justify their behaviour by either adding consonant elements or negating contradictory or inconsistent thoughts. This is because it is easier to change one’s thoughts than to introspect and question one’s belief system.

National Maritime Heritage Complex (NMHC)

In Context

• Recently, the Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways planned to build a National Maritime Heritage Complex (NMHC) at the site of the Indus Valley civilization in Lothal, Gujarat.

About National Maritime Heritage Complex (NMHC)

• It is one of the major projects under Sagarmala scheme of MoPSW which has an edutainment approach. 
• It is a first of its kind complex in India that will showcase India’s rich and diverse maritime heritage.

LothalLothal was one of the southernmost sites of the ancient Indus Valley civilization, located in the Bh?l region of the modern state of Gujar?t. Construction of the city is believed to have begun around 2200 BCE.Archaeological Survey of India (ASI), discovered Lothal in 1954. It had the world’s earliest known dock, which connected the city to an ancient course of the Sabarmati river on the trade route between Harappan cities in Sindh and the peninsula of Saurashtra.It  was a vital and thriving trade Centre in ancient times, with its trade of beads, gems, and valuable ornaments reaching the far corners of West Asia and Africa.The techniques and tools they pioneered for bead-making and in metallurgy have stood the test of time for over 4000 years.The Lothal site has been nominated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and its application is pending on the tentative list of UNESCO.

2021 Global Estimates of Modern Slavery

In News

• The latest Global Estimates of Modern Slavery published by the International Labour Organization (ILO), International Organization for Migration (IOM) and international human rights group Walk Free.

Key Highlights 

• It revealed that last year, some 50 million people were living in modern slavery:
  • 28 million in forced labour and 22 million in forced marriages.

• It found that 10 million more people were trapped in modern slavery in 2021, compared to 2016 global estimates. 
  • Women and children were especially vulnerable.
• Highest : The Asia-Pacific region had the highest number of people in modern slavery and the Arab states the highest prevalence. 
• Pandemic : The COVID-19 pandemic had increased the risk of modern slavery and made the target of ending it among children by 2025 and universally by 2030 even more difficult.
• Impact : These crises have led to unprecedented increases in extreme poverty, lower education rates, a rise in distress migration and significant increases in reports of gender-based violence. These factors are associated with increased vulnerability to forced marriage.
• Recommendations: Improving and enforcing laws and labour inspections;
  • ending State-imposed forced labour; 
  • stronger measures to combat forced labour and trafficking; 
  • extending social protection, and strengthening legal protections, including raising the legal age of marriage to 18.
  • addressing the increased risk of trafficking and forced labour for migrant workers