×

UPSC Courses

DNA banner

DAILY NEWS ANALYSIS

Monthly DNA

11 Feb, 2021

16 Min Read

Media as target

GS-II : Governance Rights based issues

Media as target

Introduction

  • ED’s raids in the office of independent digital news platform NewsClick have invited justified condemnation from organisations representing the media.
  • There is every likelihood that this operation is linked to the platform’s in-depth coverage of ongoing protests as well as the various struggles of the people and the grassroots organisations that represent them.
  • The ED is said to be investigating alleged money laundering to the tune of? 30 crore.
  • Not much is known about the nature of the police case, but the agency is empowered by the Prevention of Money-Laundering Act to investigate if the proceeds of crime related to a ‘predicate offence’ have been laundered.

Case of suspicion

  • It is difficult to brush aside the suspicion that the website is being targeted for its coverage of the farmers’ agitation as well as last year’s country-wide protests against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act.
  • The present regime’s record is quite dismal when it comes to the obvious use of central agencies such as the CBI, ED, IT and even the NIA, to rein in dissenting voices.
  • It is unfortunate that specialised agencies are allowing themselves to be used as force multipliers in political battles against sections of the Opposition.
  • Laws that are serious in nature and ought not to be invoked lightly are being used with abandon against those seen to have invited the establishment’s wrath.
  • This may explain the frequency with which the offence of sedition (Section 124A) is being invoked for speeches and writings, while allegations of anti-national activity peddled by those groomed to build such narratives lead to action under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act.
  • In other instances, cases of promoting social enmity or outraging religious sentiments are also slapped selectively to ‘discipline’ comedians and script-writers.
  • The Supreme Court’s intervention has protected prominent journalists from arrest for defamation for tweets that turned out to be incorrect.

Source: TH

Turkey’s space program

GS-III : S&T Space

Turkey’s space program

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan recently unveiled an ambitious 10-year space program that includes missions to the moon, developing internationally viable satellite systems, and sending Turkish astronauts into space.

President Erdogan also informed that Turkey plans on establishing its first contact with the moon in 2023 when the nation will mark the centennial of the founding of the Turkish Republic.

However, the critics have questioned the Turkish government’s decision of spending huge money on this goal at a time when the country’s economy is suffering.

Source: HT

Petition to Convert INS Viraat into a Museum

GS-I : Art and Culture Art Forms

Petition to Convert INS Viraat into a museum

  • The warship has been proposed to be dismantled at the ship-breaking yard at Alang in Gujarat.
  • However, Bombay HC has stayed the order on the petition of Envitech to convert the maritime museum and a multifunctional adventure centre.

Source: TH

Concern Among People of Lahaul-Spiti After Glacial Outburst in Uttarakhand

GS-I : Indian Geography Dam

Concern Among People of Lahaul-Spiti After Glacial Outburst in Uttarakhand

  • The concern is about the Tandi project on the Chandra-Bhaga River Basin after the Uttarakhand flooding debacle.

  • Other Proposed projects in Lahul-Spiti are Rashil (102 MW), Bardang (126 MW), Miyar (90 MW) and Jispa.

Chenab River-

  • Source: It rises in the upper Himalayas in the Lahaul and Spiti district of Himachal Pradesh state.
    • The river is formed by the confluence of two rivers, Chandra and Bhaga, at Tandi, 8 km southwest of Keylong, in the Lahaul and Spiti district.
      • The Bhaga river originates from Surya taal lake, which is situated a few kilometres west of the Bara-lacha la pass in Himachal Pradesh.
      • The Chandra river originates from glaciers east of the same pass (near Chandra Taal).
  • Flows Through: It flows through the Jammu region of Jammu and Kashmir into the plains of Punjab, Pakistan, before flowing into the Indus River.

Source: TH

Appe Midi Varieties of Mango

GS-III : Biodiversity & Environment Vegetation

Appe Midi Varieties of Mango

  • The Appe Midi variety of mangoes that nearly went extinct have been conserved by B.V. Subbarao in Shimoga district of Karnataka.
  • They are mainly found in the Western Ghats.
  • They are being presently conserved by the India Institute of Horticulture Sciences, Bengaluru.

Source: TH

Other Related News

10 February,2021
Belated, but bold

Belated, but bold Introduction The government’s spending plans for 2021-22 hinge on better tax collections, and an ambitious plan to raise non-tax revenue. Strategic Disinvestment Policy Finance Minister has announced large-scale monetisation of government sector assets, i

Cutting trans fat

Cutting trans fat Introduction Come January 1, 2022, India will join a select group of countries limiting industrial trans fat to 2% by mass of the total oils/fats present in the product. India would thus be achieving the WHO target a year in advance (WHOs target is by 2023). Trans

Fine-tuning the State-of-the-app technology

Fine-tuning the State-of-the-app technology Context WhatsApp had announced an upcoming change to its privacy policy, which led to growing concerns around privacy among many users, and who started switching over to other messaging services such as Signal and Telegram. Platforms and COV

POCSO doesn’t brook dilution

Dangerous precedent The recent judgment of the Bombay High Court, in Satish Ragde v. State of Maharashtra, in which the accused was acquitted under the POCSO Act, came under massive criticism. The Bench acquitted a man found guilty of assault on the grounds that he groped his victim over h

Strategic Disinvestment Policy for Public Sector Enterprises

Strategic Disinvestment Policy for Public Sector Enterprises The policy promised as part of the Atma Nirbhar Bharat package, states the government will exit all businesses in non-strategic sectors, with only a ‘bare minimum’ presence in four broad sectors. These strategic sectors

Capping on Transfats

Capping on Transfats Trans fat is naturally present in red meat and dairy products. The focus is on restricting the industrially produced trans fat used solely to prolong the shelf life of products to 2% by mass of the total oils/fats present in the product 2022 Repeated use at a high

New Variety of Marigold Developed by IIHR

New Variety of Marigold Developed by IIHR Indian Institute of Horticultural Research has developed a new variety of Marigold named Arka Shubha This variety of marigolds can be used for the extraction of crude carotene up to 2.8%. Presently, India imports most of its carotene

MoU for the construction of the Shahtoot dam in Afghanistan

MoU for the construction of the Shahtoot dam in Afghanistan MoU was signed recently for the construction of the Shahtoot dam to provide drinking water to Kabul. The proposed dam will be on the Kabul river basin. It is one of the five river basins in Afghanistan. The dam will provide

PM Modi Invited to Participate in G-7 Dialogue

PM Modi Invited to Participate in G-7 Dialogue India has been invited as a special guest at Cornwall, United Kingdom to attend the G-7 grouping meeting. PM Modi may also head over to Brussels to conclude the pending India-EU Bilateral Trade and Investment Agreement (BTIA) talks. The talks

09 February,2021
Uttarakhand floods

Uttarakhand floods Introduction The staggering collapse of part of a glacier in Uttarakhand’s Nanda Devi mountain and the ensuing floods that have claimed many lives come as a deadly reminder that this fragile, geologically dynamic region. Reason of flash floods A signific

Issue of Tamil Nadu Governor under Article 161

Issue of Tamil Nadu Governor under Article 161 Context Tamil Nadu Governor Banwarilal Purohit has decided that only the President can decide the issue of granting remission to the seven life convicts in the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case. View of the Supreme Court It has often

First steps in the journey to universal health care

First steps in the journey to universal health care Introduction About 20 years ago, Thailand rolled out universal health coverage for its population at a per capita GDP similar to today’s India. For India, the lesson of COVID-19 entails setting forth on a steady and incremental pa

A Budget not for the environment

A Budget not for the environment Introduction In 1991, when the then Finance Minister Manmohan Singh ushered in economic reforms that catapulted India into the global economy in a belief that once there is enough money in the economy through growth, it can be put for ecological purposes.

Glacial Lake Outburst Flooding

Glacial Lake Outburst Flooding A glacial lake outburst flooding (GLOF) occurs when a breach in the glacial lake causes a sudden surge downstream. Such lakes are formed when glaciers erode land, melt and over time become a large mass of water in the depression formed, and these can be breach

Sri Lanka clears a Chinese energy project 50 kms from Rameshwaram

Sri Lanka clears a Chinese energy project 50 km from Rameshwaram Sri Lanka govt. has recently cleared a Chinese energy project in 3 islands near to Jaffna peninsula. Sinosoar-Etechwin Joint Venture will be executing the project. These hybrid renewable energy systems projects will

Toppers

Search By Date

Newsletter Subscription
SMS Alerts

Important Links

UPSC GS Mains Crash Course - RAW Prelims Answer Key 2024