Daily Current Affairs for UPSC CSE
Topics Covered
- Global Multidimensional Poverty Index
- Governors Power
- One nation one fertilizer
- Facts for Prelims
1 . Global Multidimensional Poverty Index
Context: Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI) was released recently.
About Global Multidimensional Poverty Index
- The global Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI) measures acute multidimensional poverty across more than 100 developing countries.
- The 2010 Human Development Report introduced the MPI and since 2018 the Human Development Report Office (HDRO) and the Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative jointly produce and publish the MPI estimates.
- The MPI relies on two main databases that are publicly available and comparable for most developing countries: the ICF Macro Demographic and Health Survey (DHS) and the UNICEF’s Multiple Indicators Cluster Survey (MICS). For several countries, national household surveys with the same or similar content and questionnaires are used
How Multidimensional Poverty is measured
- Multidimensional poverty identified by measuring each person’s overlapping deprivations across 10 indicators in three equally weighted dimensions: health, education and standard of living
- The health and education dimensions are based on two indicators each, while standard of living is based on six indicators. All the indicators needed to construct the MPI for a country are taken from the same household survey.
- Each indicator is equally weighted within its dimension, so the health and education indicators are weighted 1/6 each, and the standard of living indicators are weighted 1/18 each.
- The MPI is the product of the headcount or incidence of multidimensional poverty (proportion of people who are multidimensionally poor) and the intensity of multidimensional poverty (average share of weighted deprivations, or average deprivation score,1 among multidimensionally poor people) and is therefore sensitive to changes in both components.
- One deprivation alone may not represent poverty. The MPI requires a person to be deprived in multiple indicators at the same time. A household, and so all its members, is multidimensionally poor if it is deprived in one third or more of the weighted indicators. We also count persons who are vulnerable to multidimensional poverty as those who are deprived in one fifth or more but less than one third of the weighted indicators. Those who are deprived in one half or more are considered living in severe multidimensional poverty. The MPI ranges from 0 to 1, and higher values imply higher multidimensional poverty.
- The MPI complements the international $1.90 a day poverty rate by identifying who is multidimensionally poor and also shows the composition of multidimensional poverty.
Findings of the report
- The latest release from October 2022 covers 111 developing countries
- The 2022 MPI Report finds that reducing poverty at scale is possible and unveils new ‘poverty profiles’ that can offer a breakthrough in development efforts to tackle the interlinked aspects of poverty.
- The report identifies a series of ‘deprivation bundles’ — recurring patterns of poverty — that commonly impact those who live in multidimensional poverty across the world. The data are used to identify the poverty profiles that are more common in certain places. This is a crucial step in designing strategies that address multiple aspects of poverty at the same time.
- Even before the COVID-19 pandemic and the current cost-of-living crisis are accounted for, the data shows that 1.2 billion people in 111 developing countries live in acute multidimensional poverty. This is nearly double the number who are seen as poor when poverty is defined as living on less than $1.90 per day.
Key Observations about India
- About 41.5 crore people exited poverty in India during the 15-year period between 2005-06 and 2019-21, out of which two-third exited in the first 10 years, and one-third in the next five years.
- Incidence of poverty fell from 55.1% in 2005-06 to 16.4% in 2019-21 in the country.
- Deprivations in all 10 MPI indicators saw significant reductions as a result of which the MPI value and incidence of poverty more than halved.
- Improvement in MPI for India contributed to the decline in poverty in South Asia.
- It is for the first time that it is not the region with the highest number of poor people, at 38.5 crore, compared with 57.9 crore in Sub-Saharan Africa.
- The report doesn’t fully assess the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on poverty in India as 71% of the data from the National Family Health Survey-5 (2019-2021) relied upon for MPI were collected before the pandemic.
- Bihar, the poorest State in 2015-2016, saw the fastest reduction in MPI value in absolute terms.
- The incidence of poverty there fell from 77.4% in 2005-2006 to 34.7% in 2019-2021.
- India has by far the largest number of poor people worldwide at 22.8 crore, followed by Nigeria at 9.6 crore.
- Two-thirds of these people live in a household in which at least one person is deprived in nutrition.
- There were also 9.7 crore poor children in India in 2019-2021 — more than the total number of poor people, children and adults combined, in any other country covered by the global MPI.
2 . Governor’s Power
Context: Governor of Kerala opened the next battlefront against the State government by threatening to remove Ministers from their posts if they continued to lower the dignity of his office.
Key Highlights
- In an official tweet, the Governor of the State said: The CM and Council of Ministers have every right to advise the Governor. But statements of individual Ministers that lower the dignity of the Governor’s office can invite action including withdrawal of pleasure”.
- Higher Education Minister remark on Governor’s refusal to sign the University Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2022 into law seemed to have provoked Raj Bhavan.
- He suggested Governor of Kerala to return the Bill for legislative review instead of withholding assent indefinitely.
- The tweet sparked protests from ruling and Opposition party leaders, who accused the Governor of overstepping constitutional limits.
- CPI(M) State secretary Governor’s tweet indicated brazen ignorance of the Constitution and principles of Parliamentary democracy.
- He said Governors were bound by the advice of Chief Minister in matters relating to appointment and dismissal of Ministers.
How did the post of Governor come about?
- Since 1858, when India was administered by the British Crown, provincial Governors were agents of the Crown, functioning under the supervision of the Governor-General.
- Over the following decades, the Indian nationalist movement sought various reforms from British rule, aiming for better governance.
- These efforts culminated in the Government of India Act, 1935, which came into force in 1937, bringing provincial autonomy. Post this, the Indian National Congress commanded a majority in six provinces.
- With the 1935 law, the Governor was now to act in accordance with the advice of Ministers of a province’s legislature but retained special responsibilities and discretionary power.
- Upon Independence, when the Provisional Constitution of 1947 was adapted from the 1935 Act, the post of Governor was retained but the phrases ‘in his discretion, ‘acting in his discretion, and ‘exercising his individual judgement’, were omitted.
- The post of the Governor was extensively debated in the Constituent Assembly, which too decided to retain it while re-orienting its role from the British era.
- Under the parliamentary and cabinet systems of governance adopted by India, the Governor was envisaged to be the Constitutional Head of a State.
Constitutional provisions about Governor’s role
- State executive consists of Governor and Council of Ministers with Chief Minister as its head.
- The Governor of a State is appointed by the President for a term of five years and holds office during his pleasure.
- Only Indian citizens above 35 years of age are eligible for appointment to this office. Executive power of the State is vested in Governor.
- The important provisions defining the Governor’s role state that the Governor appoints the Chief Minister after an election and the Council of Ministers on the advice of the CM (Article 164).
- The Governor can also summon, prorogue, and dissolve the Legislative Assembly (Article 174).
- By convention, he does this on the advice of the Council of Ministers while they enjoy the confidence of the Assembly.
- The M.M Punchhi Commission’s report on Centre-State relations points out that the exercise of his discretion happens only when following the Council’s advice would be unconstitutional or if the Council has lost the confidence of the Assembly.
- Every Bill passed in an Assembly has to be sent to the Governor (Article 200), after which he has four options
- To assent to the Bill
- Withhold assent
- Reserve the Bill for the consideration of the President, or
- Return the Bill to the legislature, asking it to reconsider the Bill or an aspect of it.
- The Governor can also suggest an amendment to the Bill.
- The legislature is supposed to quickly consider the recommendations but if it chooses to pass the Bill in the same form again, “the Governor shall not withhold assent therefrom”.
- Council of Ministers with the Chief Minister as head aids and advises Governor in exercise of his functions except in so far as he is by or under the Constitution required to exercise his functions or any of them in his discretion.
- In respect of Nagaland, Governor has special responsibility under Article 371 A of the Constitution with respect to law and order and even though it is necessary for him to consult Council of Ministers in matters relating to law and order, he can exercise his individual judgement as to the action to be taken.
- Similarly, in respect of Arunachal Pradesh, Governor has special responsibility under Article 371H of the Constitution with respect to law and order and in discharge of his functions in relation thereto.
- Governor shall, after consulting the Council of Ministers, exercise his individual judgement as to the action to be taken.
- These are, however, temporary provisions if President, on receipt of a report from Governor or otherwise is satisfied that it is no longer necessary for Governor to have special responsibility with respect to law and order, he may so direct by an order.
- Likewise, in the Sixth Schedule which applies to tribal areas of Assam, Meghalaya, Tripura and Mizoram as specified in para 20 of that Schedule, discretionary powers are given to Governor in matters relating to sharing of royalties between district council and state government.
- All Governors while discharging such constitutional functions as appointment of Chief Minister of a State or sending a report to President about failure of constitutional machinery in a State or in respect of matters relating to assent to a Bill passed by legislature, exercise their own judgement.
4 . One nation one fertilizer
Context: Prime Minister inaugurated 600 Kisan Samridhi Kendras and ‘One Nation, One Fertilizer’ scheme and said that these steps were being taken to modernise agriculture.
About the One Nation, One Fertilizer’ scheme
- Under One Nation, One Fertilizer Scheme all subsidised soil nutrients – urea, di-ammonium phosphate (DAP), Muriate of Potash (MoP), and NPK – will be marketed under the single brand Bharat across the nation.
- With the launch of this scheme, India will have a common bag design across the country like Bharat urea, Bharat DAP, Bharat MOP, Bharat NPK, and so on.
- Under the scheme, all fertiliser companies, State Trading Entities (STEs) and Fertiliser Marketing Entities (FMEs) will be required to use a single “Bharat” brand for fertilisers and logo under the PMBJP.
- The single brand name for UREA, DAP, MOP and NPKS etc. would be BHARAT UREA, BHARAT DAP, BHARAT MOP and BHARAT NPK etc. respectively for all Fertiliser Companies, State Trading Entities (STEs) and Fertiliser Marketing Entities (FMEs).
- Specifications of the new packaging for companies-
- The new “Bharat” brand name and PMBJP logo will cover two-thirds of the front of the fertiliser packet
- The manufacturing brands can only display their name, logo, and other information on the remaining one-third space.
- The Kisan Samridhi Kendras would function as helping centres for farmers in this process.
- Under the scheme, ₹16,000 crore will be credited into the bank accounts of over 8.5 crore farmers.
- The amount under the scheme would be credited directly into the accounts of farmers
Importance
- The rationale is that since fertilizers of a particular category must meet the nutrient-content specifications of the Fertilizer Control Order (FCO), there is no product differentiation among different brands for each type of fertilizer.
- For example, DAP should have the same nutrient content, whether it is produced by one company or another.
- So, the concept of ‘One Nation, One Fertiliser’ will help farmers overcome their confusion over brand-specific choices, as all DAP fertilizer brands must have 18% nitrogen and 46% phosphorus.
- Farmers are generally unaware of this fact and prefer certain brands as a result of vigorous marketing strategies adopted by firms with strong retailer networks developed over time.
- It has been found that such brand preferences have resulted in fertilizer-supply delays to farmers and an extra burden on the exchequer due to increased freight subsidies needing to be paid for the long-distance crisscross movement of fertilizers.
- The One Nation One Fertiliser scheme will prevent the criss-cross movement of fertilisers and reduce high freight subsidies.
PM Kisan Samruddhi Kendras (PM-KSK)
- 600 PM Kisan Samruddhi Kendras (PM-KSK) were inaugrated that will act as a one-stop-shop for farmers who can buy products and avail of multiple services related to the agriculture sector.
- The Centre also intends to convert more than 3.3 lakh fertiliser retail shops in the country into PM- Kisan Samruddhi Kendras (PM-KSK) in a phased manner.
- The PM-KSK will supply agri-inputs like seeds, fertilisers, and farm implements. It will also provide testing facilities for soil, seeds and fertilisers. Information about government schemes will also be provided.
5 . Facts for Prelims
Def expo 2022
- ‘Path to Pride’: biggest-ever DefExpo, exclusively for Indian companies will be held in Gandhinagar, Gujarat
- Five-day event will showcase the growing prowess of the domestic defence industry to achieve ‘Make in India, Make for the World’ vision.
- It is the largest exhibition on Land, Naval and Homeland Security systems in India. During the five-day, three days will be allotted for business while two days will be allotted for public days.
- 75 countries will be participating in DefExpo.
- India-Africa Defence Dialogue & Indian Ocean Region plus conclave aimed at promoting peace & security and establishing new defence & industrial partnerships will be concluded.
- There will be a ‘Invest for Defence’ platform for eminent industrialists to contribute to the Government’s efforts towards development of defence industrial ecosystem.
- Over 53 African countries have been invited for IADD to be held on October 18 and 44 for the IOR+ conclave on October 19.
- This edition has the largest participation and is spread over 1 lakh square metres with 75 countries, 33 Foreign Ministers, 1,340 companies and 10 State pavilions.