UPSC prelims Mains Current affairs Free PDF - StudyIQ

Get Free UPSC IAS Prelims Mains current affairs pdf part 1 and start the preparation of upsc ias exams with studyiq Education. For more upsc ias current affairs pdf visit - https://downloads.studyiq.com/free-pdfs/upsc-ias-daily-current-affairs-mcqs-the-hindu-pdf or upsc ias online coaching classes or courses visit -https://www.studyiq.com/course-detail/upsc-ias-pre-mains

1. MOST IMP
CURRENT
AFFAIRS FOR
PRELIMS 2022

KAPIL SIKKA

2. ABOUT ME
GS by Kapil Sikka (https://t.me/kapillive)

Mentoring, guiding and teaching UPSC
students since 8 years

Polity, Indian Economy, Essay, Internal
Security & Post Independence India
Teaching Political Science Optional
2
@kapilsikkaa

4. POLITY

Current Affairs

5. 1. National Commission for Safai
Karamcharis (NCSK)
The Union Cabinet has approved the extension of the tenure of the
National Commission for Safai Karamcharis (NCSK) for three years
beyond 31.3.2022.

6. About NCSK
•Establishment: 1993
•Act: NCSK Act 1993
•Body: Statutory
•Objective: To give its recommendations to the Government
regarding specific programmes for welfare of Safai Karamcharis,
study and evaluate the existing welfare programmes for Safai
Karamcharis, investigate cases of specific grievances etc.

7. •Work assigned under Prohibition of Employment as Manual
Scavengers and their Rehabilitation Act, 2013
1.to monitor the implementation of the Act
2.tender advice for its effective implementation to the Centre and
State Governments
3.enquire into complaints regarding contravention / non-
implementation of the provisions of the Act

8. 2019 saw the highest number of manual scavenging deaths

2018, 29,923 people were engaged in manual scavenging in Uttar
Pradesh, making it the highest in any State in India.

10. As part of the ‘World toilet Day’ (Nov 19) celebrations, Ministry of
Housing and Urban Development is launching a week long
awareness campaign on Safai Mitra Suraksha Challenge (SSC)
from November 14th to 20th November 2021

to run up to the ‘
Swachh Amrit Diwas’, an award ceremony to
recognize the role and efforts of the states, cities, ULBs and
Cantonment Board in Swachh Survekshan 2021, and Garbage Free
Star Rating certification on 20th November, 2021

11. Under Safaimitra Suraksha Challenge (SSC), Call Centre and
Helpline number for safe cleaning have been operationalized in 345
cities with ‘14420’ helpline number till date for safe cleaning of
septic tanks/sewers & registering complaints on hazardous
cleaning.

31 States/UTs have established with
Responsible Sanitation
Authority (RSA) and 210 cities are having the Sanitation Response
Units (SRU).

All 246 participating cities have already notified ban on single-use
plastic (SUP).

12. MoHUA has also designed standard uniform designs for different
categories of sanitation workers across urban India.

These include Swachhata Commandos (sanitation workers engaged in
underground cleaning of sewers and septic tanks), Safaimitras (engaged
in road sweeping and waste collection) and Swachhata Supervisors/
Operators.

The designs have been developed with support from NIIFT, Mohali and
NIFT Gandhinagar and specifications have been rolled out to States and
ULBs to prepare and distribute the uniforms as per the approved designs.

14. GARBAGE FREE STAR RATING
CERTIFICATION

17. This self-declaration will be further verified through an independent
third-party agency appointed by MoHUA for

1-star, 3-star, 5-star and 7-star garbage free ratings.

19. WHAT IS MANUAL SCAVENGING

Manual scavenging is the practice of removing human excreta by hand
from sewers or septic tanks. India banned the practice under the
Prohibition of Employment as Manual Scavengers and their Rehabilitation
Act, 2013 (PEMSR).

The Act bans the use of any individual for manually cleaning, carrying,
disposing of or otherwise handling in any manner, human excreta till its
disposal.

20. In 2013, the definition of manual scavengers was also broadened to
include people employed to clean septic tanks, ditches, or railway
tracks.

The Act recognizes manual scavenging as a “dehumanizing
practice,” and cites a need to “correct the historical injustice and
indignity suffered by the manual scavengers.”

21. Why in News?
•The Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) wrote to the
States that the Union government proposes to amend Rule 6
(deputation of cadre officers) of the Indian Administrative Service
(Cadre) Rules 1954.
2. Department of Personnel and Training
(DoPT)

22. It’s Impact:

•The Union government will acquire for itself overriding powers to
transfer IAS and IPS officers through Central deputation, doing
away with the requirement of taking the approval of the State
governments.

23. What is the rule for Central Deputation?
• Before any officer of the AIS is called for deputation to the Centre,
his or her concurrence is required.

• The Establishment Officer in the DoPT invites nominations from the
State governments.

•Once the nomination is received, their eligibility is scrutinised by a
panel and then an offer list is prepared, usually with the State
government on board.

24. Data
• As per the latest offer list on the MHA’s website, only 10 IPS
officers from States have offered themselves to be available for
Central deputation, including four Director General rank officers and
only two Superintendent of Police rank officers.

25. All India Services
• The Constitution provides for the creation of All India Services (AIS)
common to the Union and the States. (Article 312)
• The All India Services Act, 1951 provides that the Central
Government may make rules for regulating the recruitment and the
conditions of service of persons appointed to the All India Services.
• Presently only the IAS, the IPS and the IFS have been constituted
as All India Services.

26. What are West Bengal’s objections?
Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has written to Prime Minister
Narendra Modi, who is the Minister for DoPT, that the proposals are
“against the spirit of cooperative federalism” and “will affect administration of
the state”.

27. What are West Bengal’s objections?
“By insisting on officers to be made available for deputation through the
proposed amendment, not only will the administration of States be affected
but also it would become impossible to assess and plan the administration of
a State – by engaging such officers who form part of the Central
Deputation Reserve, fraught with the uncertainty of their sudden
deputation by the Centre,”

28. How are officers sent on central
deputation today, and how could the
amendments affect it?
The Centre asks every year for an “offer list” of officers of the All
India Services (IAS, IPS and Indian Forest Service) willing to go on
central deputation, from which it selects officers.

29. How are officers sent on central
deputation today, and how could the
amendments affect it?
While Rule 6(1) says that in case of disagreement, the state shall
give effect to the decision of the Centre, this has not been possible in
several cases of conflict.

30. Even the proposed amendment leaves the state with an
escape route by stating that the number of officers to be sent
on deputation shall be decided by the central government “in
consultation with the State Government concerned”.

31. And while the Centre mandates the state governments to provide a
list of officers, the officer too must be willing, with Rule 6(2)
stating: “no cadre officer shall be deputed to any organisation or
body of the type referred to in item (ii), except with his consent”.
Item (ii) covers certain kinds of organisations.

32. In January 2021, a West Bengal-based lawyer, Abu Sohel, filed a PIL
in the Supreme Court seeking Rule 6(1) be struck down.

He contended that because of the rule, states have to bear the brunt
of arbitrary actions taken by the Centre, while the rule makes it
difficult for the Centre to enforce its will on a state that refuses to
back down.

The court, ruling on March 1, did not find any merit in the petition.

33. In cases of tussle, how often has the
Centre has its way?
Usually, the states have had their way. Among the latest examples
was a tussle involving Alapan Bandyopadhyay, an IAS officer of the
1987 batch, now retired and serving as Chief Adviser to West Bengal
CM Banerjee.

34. In cases of tussle, how often has the
Centre has its way?
Last year, when he was due to begin an extension of three months
after retiring as Chief Secretary, the Centre asked him to report on the
day of his retirement. Bandyopadhyay did not do so, and the Chief
Minister did not relieve him either.

35. In December 2020, the Centre asked that three IPS officers, who were
in charge of security when BJP president J P Nadda’s motorcade was
attacked outside Kolkata on December 10, allegedly by supporters of
the Trinamool Congress, be sent on deputation to the Centre.

The state refused, citing a shortage of IPS officers, and the Centre did
not insist either.

36. Why in News?
•National Legal Services Authority (NALSA) is committed to deliver
prompt and inexpensive justice to the citizens.
•Recently, it has decided to lay more emphasis on contribution of
National Lok Adalat in effectively reducing the number of pending
cases through
Alternative Dispute Mechanisms.
3. National Lok Adalat

37. • Across the country, a total number of 1,27,87,329 cases were
disposed of in four National Lok Adalats, which included a huge
number of pending cases i.e., 55,81,117 and a record number of
pre-litigation cases i.e., 72,06,212.

38. About Lok Adalat
• Lok Adalat is one of the alternative dispute redressal mechanisms.
• It is a forum where disputes/cases pending in the court of law or at
pre-litigation stage are settled/ compromised amicably.
• Lok Adalats have been given statutory status under the Legal
Services Authorities Act, 1987.

39. Provisions of the Act
• Under the said Act, the award (decision) made by the Lok Adalats
is deemed to be a decree of a civil court and is final and binding on
all parties.
• No appeal against such an award lies before any court of law.
• If the parties are not satisfied with the award of the Lok Adalat
though there is no provision for an appeal against such an award.
• However, they are free to initiate litigation by approaching the court
of appropriate jurisdiction by filing a case by following the required
procedure, in exercise of their right to litigate.

40. Fees
• There is no court fee payable when a matter is filed in a Lok Adalat.

• If a matter pending in the court of law is referred to the Lok Adalat
and is settled subsequently, the court fee originally paid in the court
on the complaints/petition is also refunded back to the parties.

41. Deciding Authority
• The persons deciding the cases in the Lok Adalats are called the
Members of the Lok Adalats.
• They have the role of statutory conciliators only and do not have
any judicial role; therefore they can only persuade the parties to
come to a conclusion for settling the dispute outside the court in the
Lok Adalat.
• They should not pressurize or coerce any of the parties to
compromise or settle cases or matters either directly or indirectly.

42. MEMBERS
•The Lok Adalat is presided over by a

•sitting or retired judicial officer as the chairman,

•with two other members, usually a lawyer and a social worker

43. • The Lok Adalat shall not decide the matter so referred at its own
instance, instead the same would be decided on the basis of the
compromise or settlement between the parties.

• The members shall assist the parties in an independent and
impartial manner in their attempt to reach amicable settlement of
their dispute.

44. Nature of Cases to be Referred to Lok Adalat

• Any case pending before any court.
• Any dispute which has not been brought before any court and is
likely to be filed before the court.
•Provided that any matter relating to an offence not compoundable
under the law shall not be settled in Lok Adalat.

50. Mobile Lok Adalats are also organized in various parts of the
country which travel from one location to another to resolve
disputes in order to facilitate the resolution of disputes through
this mechanism.

51. Why in News?
•Recently, a Judge of the Madras High Court has said that a recent
order passed by another judge of the same court, mandating the
installation of CCTV cameras inside spas [massage and therapy
centres], appears to run counter to the Supreme Court's landmark
judgement in K.S. Puttaswamy case (2017).
4. Right to Privacy

52. About Right to Privacy:
• The right to privacy is protected as an intrinsic part of the right to
life and personal liberty under Article 21
• It is a part of the freedoms guaranteed by Part III of the
Constitution.
•Related Articles: Articles 14, 19 and 21 of the Constitution of India:

53. K.S. Puttaswamy case (2017):
• The Supreme Court described privacy and its importance in the
landmark decision of K.S. Puttaswamy v. Union of India in 2017.
• The Puttaswamy judgement holds that the right to privacy is
protected as a fundamental constitutional right under Articles 14, 19
and 21 of the Constitution of India.

54. Various Forms of Right to Privacy:
• A right to bodily autonomy
• A right to informational privacy
• A right to privacy of choice

55. •The right to go abroad
•The right to privacy
•The right to education
•The right against solitary confinement
•The right against hand cuffing
•The right against delayed execution
•The right to shelter
•Right to livelihood
•Right to health and medical aid
•The right against custodial death
•The right against public hanging
•Doctors assistance
•Right to internet
•Right to Marriage

56. The doctrine of Separation of Powers:
• The reach of fundamental rights cannot be curtailed by any judicial
measure.
• It held that, though no right can be absolute, restrictions can be put
in place only by the legislature or the executive.
• Apart from it, the Supreme Court alone can do so in the exercise of
its power under Article 142.

57. Why in News?
•The Centre has informed the Delhi High Court that the Personal
Data Protection Bill 2019, contains provisions related to the ‘right to
be forgotten’.
5. Right to be Forgotten

58. What is Right to be Forgotten?
• ‘Right to be forgotten’ is a fairly new concept in India where an
individual could seek to remove or delete online posts which may
contain an embarrassing picture, video or news articles mentioning
them.
•The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY), in
an affidavit, stated that the international legal concept of ‘right to be
forgotten’ is evolving in India. “The right to privacy (Article 21) is a
fundamental right and it also includes the right to be forgotten.”

59. Personal Data Protection Bill 2019:
•This Bill contains provisions related to the doctrine of ‘right to be
forgotten’.
•The Bill seeks to provide for protection of personal data of individuals,
and establishes a Data Protection Authority for the same.
•The Bill governs the processing of personal data by:
i)government,
ii)companies incorporated in India
iii)foreign companies dealing with personal data of individuals in India

60. •Definition of Personal Data: Personal data is data which pertains
to characteristics, traits or attributes of identity, which can be used
to identify an individual.
•The Bill categorises certain personal data as sensitive personal
data. This includes financial data, biometric data, caste,
religious or political beliefs, or any other category of data
specified by the government, in consultation with the Authority
and the concerned sectoral regulator.

63. •What is a Privilege Motion and who can move it?
•The Right to be Forgotten falls under the purview of an individual’s right to
privacy, which is governed by the Personal Data Protection Bill that is yet
to be passed by Parliament.
So, what is the ‘Right to be Forgotten’
in the Indian context?

64. •What is a Privilege Motion and who can move it?
•In 2017, the Right to Privacy was declared a fundamental right by the
Supreme Court in its landmark verdict.
•The court said at the time that, “the right to privacy is protected as an
intrinsic part of the right to life and personal liberty under Article 21 and as
a part of the freedoms guaranteed by Part III of the Constitution”.
So, what is the ‘Right to be Forgotten’
in the Indian context?

65. •What is a Privilege Motion and who can move it?
•The Personal Data Protection Bill was introduced in Lok Sabha on
December 11, 2019 and it aims to set out provisions meant for the
protection of the personal data of individuals.
What does the Personal Data Protection
Bill say about this?

66. •What is a Privilege Motion and who can move it?
•Clause 20 under Chapter V of this draft bill titled “Rights of Data
Principal” mentions the “Right to be Forgotten.”

•It states that the “data principal (the person to whom the data is
related) shall have the right to restrict or prevent the continuing
disclosure of his personal data by a data fiduciary”.
What does the Personal Data Protection
Bill say about this?

67. •Therefore, broadly, under the Right to be forgotten, users can de-link,
limit, delete or correct the disclosure of their personal information held
by data fiduciaries.

•A data fiduciary means any person, including the State, a company,
any juristic entity or any individual who alone or in conjunction with
others determines the purpose and means of processing of personal
data.

68. •Even so, the sensitivity of the personal data and information cannot be
determined independently by the person concerned, but will be overseen
by the Data Protection Authority (DPA).

•This means that while the draft bill gives some provisions under which a
data principal can seek that his data be removed, but his or her rights are
subject to authorisation by the Adjudicating Officer who works for the
DPA.

69. •While assessing the data principal’s request,
•this officer will need to examine the sensitivity of the personal
data,
•the scale of disclosure, degree of accessibility sought to be
restricted,
•role of the data principal in public life and the nature of the
disclosure among some other variables.

70. •What is a Privilege Motion and who can move it?
•The Center for Internet and Society notes that the “right to be
forgotten” gained prominence when the matter was referred to the
Court of Justice of European Union (CJEC) in 2014 by a Spanish
Court.
Do other countries recognise this right?

71. •What is a Privilege Motion and who can move it?
•In this case, one Mario Costeja González disputed that
the Google search results for his name continued to show results
leading to an auction notice of his reposed home.

•González said that the fact that Google continued to show these in its
search results related to him was a breach of his privacy, given that the
matter was resolved, the center notes.
Do other countries recognise this right?

72. •In the European Union (EU), the right to be forgotten empowers individuals
to ask organisations to delete their personal data.

•It is provided by the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), a
law passed by the 28-member bloc in 2018.

73. •According to the EU GDPR’s website, the right to be forgotten appears
in Recitals 65 and 66 and in Article 17 of the regulation, which states,

• “The data subject shall have the right to obtain from the controller the
erasure of personal data concerning him or her without undue delay
and the controller shall have the obligation to erase personal data
without undue delay” (if one of a number of conditions applies).

74. •In its landmark ruling, the EU’s highest court ruled in 2019 that the ‘right to
be forgotten’ under European law would not apply beyond the borders of
EU member states.
•The European Court of Justice (ECJ) ruled in favour of the search engine
giant Google, which was contesting a French regulatory authority’s order to
have web addresses removed from its global database.

75. •This ruling was considered an important victory for Google, and laid down
that the online privacy law cannot be used to regulate the internet in
countries such as India, which are outside the EU.

76. INTERNATIONAL
JURISPRUDENCE
•United Kingdom Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (1974) and the 'Spent
Conviction Scheme' have the effect of limiting the disclosure of certain
offences

•RTBF took shape largely from the 1995 Directive of the European Union
on the protection of individuals with regard to the processing of personal
data

•established in the European Union General Data Protection Regulations
(GDPR) 2016, which came into force on the 25 th May 2018.

77. INDIAN STATUS

79. 79

80. Why in News?
•A Division Bench of the Gujarat High Court has asked a journalist
facing contempt of court proceedings to speak only in English as
that was the language in the higher judiciary.
6. Language in High Court

81. Article 348 in The Indian Constitution
• Language to be used in the Supreme Court and in the High Courts
and for Acts, Bills, etc
1. Notwithstanding anything in the foregoing provisions of this Part,
until Parliament by law otherwise provides
(a) all proceedings in the Supreme Court and in every High Court,
(b) the authoritative texts

82. Constitutional Provisions:
• The Article 348 of the Constitution mandates that the language of
the High Court would be English.
What the High Court Rule says?
• In the High Court, there is a rule even if any party who does not
hire a lawyer and appears in person has to speak and argue in
English only.

83. i)of all Bills to be introduced or amendments thereto to be moved in
either House of Parliament or in the House or either House of the
Legislature of a State,
ii)of all Acts passed by Parliament or the Legislature of a State and
of all Ordinances promulgated by the President or the Governor of
a State, and
iii) of all orders, rules, regulations and bye laws issued under this
Constitution or under any law made by Parliament or the
Legislature of a State, shall be in the English language

84. Why in News?
•Recently, the Hon’ble Supreme Court revoked a year-long
suspension of 12 MLAs of the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly.
Suspension of the Maharashtra
Legislative Assembly

85. Ground of Suspension:
• The resolution passed by the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly
suspended the MLAs for a period of one year on the pretext of their
disorderly behavior during the ongoing monsoon session.

86. Challenge to the Suspension in Supreme Court:
• The suspended MLAs filed a writ petition (Ashish Shelar and Ors. v.
State of Maharashtra Legislative Assembly and anr.) in the Hon’ble
Supreme Court.
• The challenge to suspension relied mainly on grounds of denial of
the principles of natural justice and violation of laid-down procedure.
• The MLAs were not allowed to present their opinions, and their
suspension in itself violated Article 14[2] (equality before law) of the
Constitution.

87. Why it is Revoked?
• The Hon’ble Court held that the suspension of MLAs was
‘unconstitutional’, ‘substantively illegal’ and ‘beyond the powers of
the assembly’.
• The court held that the resolution passed by the House was
‘irrational’ since the suspension should be limited to the time frame
of the ongoing session.
• The bench took note of the fact that a suspension for one full year
was even worse than expulsion.

88. • For, in cases of expulsion the vacant seats would be filled up
through suitable mechanisms.
• A reduction in the number of members of the Opposition party
would put the coalition government at a higher pedestal since the
opposition might not be able to effectively participate fearing such
suspensions.
• The bench referred to Article 190(4), which lays down that the
House may declare the seat vacant of a member who is absent for
60 days without permission.

89. • Section 151(A) of The Representation of the People Act, 1951
mandates a bye-election for filling any vacancy shall be held within
six months from the date of the occurrence of the vacancy.
• This indicates that no constituency can have a vacant seat for more
than six months.

Source:
https://www.juscorpus.com/supreme-courts-verdict-on-suspension-of-
mlas-an-analysis/

90. Why in News?
•According to Hindustan Times, 27 students were barred from
entering a government-run pre-university college — which is
equivalent to a high school — for wearing hijabs in the coastal town
of Kundapur in Karnataka's Udupi district.
Freedom of Religion

91. Freedom of Religion:
Constitutional Provisions:
• Article 25: It imparts freedom of conscience and free profession,
practice and propagation of religion.
• Article 26: It gives freedom to manage religious affairs.
• Article 27: It sets freedom as to payment of taxes for promotion of
any particular religion.
• Article 28: It gives freedom as to attendance at religious instruction
or religious worship in certain educational institutions.

92. Article 28 in Detail:
• Article 28 provides freedom from any religious instruction in
educational institutions which are maintained completely out of
State funds.
• This article is not applicable to an educational institution if it is
administered by the State, but was established under any
endowment or trust requiring certain religious instruction to be
imparted in that institution.

93. • This article also protects a person from taking part in any religious
instruction or attending any religious worship which may be
conducted in an institution recognized by State or receiving aid
from State funds unless his guardian has consented.

94. What does Islam says?
Kerala Governor Arif Mohammad Khan has expressed that hijab is not
a part of Islam as a turban is of Sikhism.
He said:
• Hijab is not a part of Islam.
• Hijab is mentioned seven times in Quran, but it is not in connection
with the women's dress code.
• It is in connection with 'purdah' which means that when you speak,
you should have 'purdah' in between.

95. Why in News?
•The Delimitation Commission is proposing to effect significant
changes to the electoral boundaries of Jammu and Kashmir by
creating a trans-Pir Panjal Lok Sabha constituency while redrawing
the existing assembly constituencies.
Delimitation Commission

96. Background:
•After Article 370 was diluted and Ladakh became a separate Union
Territory (UT), Jammu and Kashmir’s Lok Sabha seats were
reduced from six to five – two in Jammu and three in Kashmir.

97. Delimitation Commission:
•Delimitation literally means the act or process of fixing limits or
boundaries of territorial constituencies in a country or a province
having a legislative body.
•In India, such Delimitation Commissions have been constituted 4
times – in 1952 under the Delimitation Commission Act, 1952, in
1963 under Delimitation Commission Act, 1962, in 1973 under
Delimitation Act, 1972 and in 2002 under Delimitation Act, 2002.
•It is appointed by the President of India.

98. •It works in tandem with the Election Commission of India.
•The Delimitation Commission in India is a high power body whose
orders have the force of law and cannot be called in question
before any court.
•These orders come into force on a date to be specified by the
President of India in this behalf.
•According to Article 82 of the Constitution, the Parliament must
pass a Delimitation Act following each census.
•Under Article 170, the states also get classified into territorial
constituencies after every census.

99. Why in News?
•Ministry of Mines has notified the Minerals (Evidence of Mineral
Contents) Second Amendment Rules, 2021 and the Mineral
(Auction) Fourth Amendment Rules, 2021 to amend the Minerals
(Evidence of Mineral Contents) Rules, 2015 [MEMC Rules] and the
Mineral (Auction) Rules, 2015 [Auction Rules], respectively.
Minerals (Evidence of Mineral Contents)
Second Amendment Rules, 2021

100. •The amendment rules have been framed after extensive
consultations with the State Governments, industry associations,
miners, other stakeholders and general public.

101. What are the Important Amendments?
•Any person intending to obtain composite licence in respect of an
area may submit a proposal to the State Government.
•In order to identify mineral potentiality of a block based on the
available geoscience data where resources are yet to be
established, then the State Government shall place it before a
committee.

102. •On being satisfied of mineral potentiality of the area, the committee
may recommend the area for notification for auction with such
alteration in it as may be required.
•The committee shall recommend or reject the proposal within sixty
days of its receipt in the State Government and thereafter the State
Government shall notify recommended block for auction or reject
the recommendation within sixty days of such recommendation.

103. 103