Questions :-

1) C.K. Mishra committee was recently seen in news. The committee is related to which of the following domains?

1. Digital currency.
2. E-commerce regulations.
3. Sustainable Finance.
4. Mobile Banking.

Answer –  Sustainable Finance.

International Financial Services Centres Authority (IFSCA) has constituted an Expert Committee to recommend approach towards development of Sustainable Finance Hub and provide road map for the same. The expert committee is being chaired by Shri C.K. Mishra.

2) With reference to Ashgabat Agreement, consider the following statements:

1. It aims to develop transit corridor between Central Asia and the Persian Gulf.
2. India is not the member of this agreement.

Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

1. 1 only
2. 2 only
3. Both 1 and 2
4. Neither 1 nor 2

Answer – 1 Only

3) Denarau action plan, sometimes seen in news is related to which of the following?

1. womens access to quality and affordable financial services
2. Addressing climate change in the post-pandemic world
3. Ushering gender equality in workplaces
4. Building a sustainable and resilient urban infrastructure

Answer – womens access to quality and affordable financial services

Alliance for Financial Inclusion (AFI)

• AFI members committed to the Denarau Action Plan (DAP) to increase women’s access to quality and affordable financial services globally — bridging the financial inclusion gender gap.
• The Denarau Action Plan targets to accelerate the progress of women’s financial inclusion by halving the financial inclusion gender gap across AFI member jurisdictions by 2021.

Prelims Specific News Items –

1) What is CCAMLR?

• CCAMLR is an international treaty to manage Antarctic fisheries to preserve species diversity and stability of the entire Antarctic marine ecosystem.
• CCAMLR came into force in April 1982.
• India has been a permanent member of the CCAMLR since 1986.
• Work pertaining to the CCAMLR is coordinated in India by the Ministry of Earth Sciences through its attached office, the Centre for Marine Living Resources and Ecology (CMLRE) in Kochi, Kerala.

2) The Ministry of Labour and Employment has launched DigiSaksham Initiative.

DigiSaksham-

• It is joint initiative with Microsoft India is an extension of the Government’s ongoing programs to support the youth from rural and semi-urban areas.
• Through DigiSaksham initiative, free of cost training in digital skills including basic skills as well as advance computing, will be provided to more than 3 lakh youths in the first year.
• The Jobseekers can access the training through National Career Service (NCS) Portal.
• DigiSaksham will be implemented in the field by Aga Khan Rural Support Programme India (AKRSP-I).

Training offered

• Under the initiative, there will be basically three types of training viz. Digital Skills – Self paced learning, VILT mode training (Virtual Instructor led) and ILT mode training (Instructor led).
• The ILT training which is in person training would be conducted at the Model Career Centres (MCCs) and National Career Service Centres (NCSC) for SCs/STs across the country.
• Students will be able to access training in areas like Java Script, Data Visualisation, Advance Excel, Power Bi, HTML, Programming languages, software development fundamentals, Introduction to coding etc.

3) What is a Free Trade Agreement (FTA)?

• A FTA is a pact between two or more nations to reduce barriers to imports and exports among them.
• Under a free trade policy, goods and services can be bought and sold across international borders with little or no government tariffs, quotas, subsidies, or prohibitions to inhibit their exchange.
• The concept of free trade is the opposite of trade protectionism or economic isolationism.

Key benefits offered by FTA

• Reduction or elimination of tariffs on qualified: For example, a country that normally charges a tariff of 12% of the value of the incoming product will rationalize or eliminate that tariff.
• Intellectual Property Protection: Protection and enforcement of intellectual property rights in the FTA partner country is upheld.
• Product Standards: FTA enhances the ability for domestic exporters to participate in the development of product standards in the FTA partner country.
• Fair treatment for investors: FTA provides treatment as favourably as the FTA partner country gives equal treatment for investments from the partner country.
• Elimination of monopolies: With FTAs, global monopolies are eliminated due to increased competition.

4) In a major boost to farmers of the tribal-dominated Balaghat district in Madhya Pradesh, local rice brand Chinnor known for its special fragrance, softness and taste, has been awarded the Geographical Indication (GI) tag by the central government entity

Important news :-

1) Renunciation of Indian citizenship now simpler –

The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has simplified the process for Indians who want to renounce their citizenship. Provisions have been made for applicants to upload documents online, with an upper limit of 60 days for the renunciation process to be completed.

Loss of Citizenship

The Citizenship Act, 1955 also lays down three modes by which an Indian citizen may lose his/ her citizenship. These are renunciation, termination and deprivation (RTD):

• Renunciation :- It is a voluntary act by which a person, after acquiring the citizenship of another country, gives up his Indian citizenship. This provision is subject to certain conditions.
• Termination :- Takes place by operation of law when an Indian citizen voluntarily acquires the citizenship of another country. He automatically ceases to be an Indian citizen (Article 9).
• Deprivation :- It is a compulsory termination of the citizenship of India obtained by registration or naturalisation, by the Government of India, on charges of using fraudulent means to acquire citizenship.

Editorial – Important Articles

1) Reading Gandhi as a lesson of political maturity –

What distinguishes Gandhi from all politicians in today’s world is not only his simplicity and honesty — which have become rare characteristics for many men and women who pretend to represent our wills and wishes around the globe — but also his belief in the moral growth of humanity. 

 For Gandhi, politics was essentially an ethical mode of conduct. As such, and not strangely, Gandhi believed in no divorce between politics and ethics.

As a practitioner of empathetic humanism and a pluralist thinker, Gandhi was an exemplar of a lifelong process of listening and learning

Gandhian thought in the realm of religion and politics revolves around this concept of epistemic humility. That is why Gandhi had a profoundly ethical view of religions.

What is epistemic humility –

Epistemic humility is an intellectual virtue. It is grounded in the realization that our knowledge is always provisional and incomplete—and that it might require revision in light of new evidence.

he recognised neither the infallible authority of prophetic texts nor the sanctity of religious traditions. At the same time, he was the foremost critic of the epistemological arrogance of modern rationality and its authoritarian practices in terms of colonial thinking and imperialistic domination.

It is on account of his overriding concern for the self-respect of individuals and nations that Gandhi joined the two notions of truth and non-violence to that of the term Swaraj. Gandhi believed that all individuals irrespective of their religion, race and culture had the right to self-governance.

Gandhi firmly believed that the anthropological and ethical origins of such a state of maturity resided in the spiritual capacity of human beings. But he also underlined this move towards maturity as a process of learning to be responsible towards oneself and the others. As a result, everything Gandhi did and wrote during his lifetime was an attempt to bring into the open his own journey of intellectual and political maturity. He, therefore, used the concept of maturity not only in the social context, but also as an expression of character building which he distinguished from literary training.

 “Literary training by itself adds not an inch to one’s moral height and character-building is independent of literary training.” 

According to Gandhi, character-building was an art of developing a sense of autonomy and having authority over one’s self.

Gandhi’s acknowledgment of the moral imperative of maturity and his devotion to democratic transparency continues to distinguish his political psychology from most of the other discourses in Indian and world politics.

Therefore, it goes without saying that by reading Gandhi closely and correctly, we can get to the conclusion that, despite all his shortcomings, his appeal to mature and conscientious politics and nobility of spirit continues to be a strong ethical response to the political issues and challenges of our time. 

2) Time to sound the bell with class doors reopening –

Context of the Editorial –

Learning recovery and safety should be top priorities as schools begin to open again across India

The gaps in online learning

While remote, online learning is the only resort to connect students with teachers. It is a pale substitute for in-person learning. Many children have been excluded from online classes, due to the digital divide. There is also grave concern over the learning outcome for children who can connect.

Eight out of 10 parents of students aged between five to 13 years are of the opinion that their children were learning less or significantly less remotely compared to when in school. More than nine of every 10 children in Classes 2 to 6 have lost at least one specific ability in language from the previous year.

Back at school : The Fear and Required Safety Precautions

The decision to reopen schools is fraught with emotions, fears, and heated debates. The questions being raised by parents need to be addressed. Schools must put in place and implement all safety protocols.

Schools can focus on getting back younger children first, as primary and pre-primary-school age children are the least likely to be infected.

An online survey conducted by UNICEF reached nearly 11,000 respondents (parents, teachers, and students). By and large, all 6,157 responding parents felt that being vaccinated is the most important safety measure for children to return to school. While parents (55%) said they were not keen on sending their child to school yet, parents (60%) did not feel confident that their child’s school and staff are ready for safe reopening.

Teachers have shown remarkable courage and commitment across India. They stepped up to support online and offline learning across high tech, low tech and no tech settings. And used various other platforms for learning and even did door-to-door visits with students.

There is no better alternative to the safe reopening of schools. The longer children are out of schools, the more difficult it would be for them to return and learn. The social and economic costs of children continuing to be out of school have become too high.