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17th March 2020

Locations in the news

1. Wuhan City, China

• Wuhan city is the capital of Hubei province, the People’s Republic of China.
• The COVID-19 outbreak was first identified in Wuhan in December 19 and recognised as a pandemic by WHO on 11 March 2000.
• The new coronavirus emerged from Wuhan wet market, where live animal that would never normally meet in the wild live side by side, facilitating the trans-species mutations of pathogens.

2. Idlib province of Syria

• Capital City-Idlib
• The northern Syrian province of Idlib was the last remaining stronghold controlled by forces opposed to President Bahar-al Assad.
• The opposition once controlled large parts of the country but the Syrian army has retaken most of the territory over the past five years with the help of Russian air power and Iran-backed militiamen.

3. Middle-East peace plan

• The concept map of the proposed plan by the US shows the occupied Jordan valley under Israeli control.
• And a West Bank split north and south around Jerusalem.
• In a concession to the Palestinians, however, a plan to link Gaza to the West Bank by road has been revived.

4.Abqaiq and Khurais oilfields

• A drone attack on the oil processing plant at Abqaiq and the country’s second-largest oil field at Khurais in the eastern province north of Riyad created uncertainties in the global oil market.
• These attacks along with the attacks on the oil tankers in the sea were events that led to the US strike that killed the Iranian general.

5. New Ramsar sites in India

• The Ramsar Convention has declared 10 more wetlands in India as sites of international importance.
• This brings the total number of Ramsar sites in India to 37. Some of the newly added sites are-
  • Nandur Madhameshwar- First site in Maharashtra.
  • Saman Bird Sanctuary-Mainpuri, UP
  • Nawabganj Bird Sanctuary- Unnao, UP
  • Samaspur Bird Sanctuary- Raebareli UP
  • Sandi Bird Sanctuary- Hardoi UP
  • Parvati Arga Bird Sanctuary –UP
  • Sarsai Nawar Jheel- Etawah UP
  • Beas conservation reserve-Punjab

6. Archaeological excavation at Dhaba

• An archaeological excavation carried out at Dhaba in the upper Son valley in Madhya Pradesh has found evidence of continuous human occupation in this area almost 80,000 years ago.
• The large Megalithic tools were dated between approximately 80,000 years and 65,000 years and small tools were dated approximately 50,000 years.

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16th March 2020

Important straits in the news.

A strait is a naturally formed, narrow, typically navigable waterway that connects two larger bodies of water. Most commonly it is a channel of water that lies between two landmasses. Some straits are not navigable, for example, because they are too shallow, or because of an unnavigable reef or archipelago.

Strait of Hormuz

• It links the Persian Gulf (west) with the Gulf of Oman and the Arabian Sea (southeast).
• On the north coast lies Iran, and on the south coast the United Arab Emirates and Musandam, an exclave of Oman. 
• The strait is 35 to 60 miles (55 to 95 km) wide and separates Iran from the Arabian Peninsula.
• It contains the islands of Qeshm (Qishm), Hormuz, and Hengām (Henjām) and is of great strategic and economic importance, especially as oil tankers collecting from various ports on the Persian Gulf must pass through the strait.
• OPEC members Saudi Arabia, Iran, the UAE, Kuwait and Iraq export most of their crude via the Strait
• Qatar, the world’s biggest liquefied natural gas (LNG) exporter, sends almost all of its LNG through the Strait
• The UAE and Saudi Arabia have sought to find other routes to bypass the Strait, including building pipelines.

2. Strait of Malacca

• Strait of Malacca connects the Andaman Sea (Indian Ocean) and the South China Sea (Pacific Ocean).
• Stretching about 800km, it is the longest straits in the world and facilitates not just shipping and the movement of people in the surrounding communities but is a confluence of trade, cultures, ideas, and knowledge between the East and West.
• It runs between the Indonesian island of Sumatra to the west and peninsular (West) Malaysia and extreme southern Thailand to the east and has an area of about 25,000 square miles (65,000 square km).
• The strait derived its name from the trading port of Melaka (formerly Malacca)—which was of importance in the 16th and 17th centuries—on the Malay coast.
• As the link between the Indian Ocean and the South China Sea, the Strait of Malacca is the shortest sea route between India and China and hence is one of the most heavily travelled shipping channels in the world.
• Singapore, one of the world’s most important ports, is situated at the strait’s southern end.
• The global shift in economic power from the West to the East coupled with burgeoning trade, investments, and production in areas spanning the Indian and Pacific Ocean regions has given increasing importance to this region.

3. Bab-el-Mandab

• The Bab al-Mandab strait is the narrow waterway that separates the Arabian Peninsula from the Horn of Africa.
• It links the Red Sea to the Gulf of Aden and the Indian Ocean.
• At its narrowest point, the strait is only 29 km wide between Yemen on one side and Djibouti and Eritrea on the other.
• It is a key strategic channel for commerce and trade, with an estimated 4 percent of global oil supply passing through it.

4. Palk Strait

• It connects the Bay of Bengal in the northeast with Palk Bay in the southwest.
• The strait is 40 to 85 miles (64 to 137 km) wide, 85 miles long, and less than 330 feet (100 metres) deep.
• It receives several rivers, including the Vaigai (India), and it contains many islands on the Sri Lankan side.
• The Sethusamudram Ship Canal Project (SSCP) is a 167 km long shipping canal, and envisages the creation of a navigable canal from the Gulf of. Mannar to the Bay of Bengal to facilitate the movement of ships.
• The Adam’s Bridge is a series of sand shoals created by sedimentation over a period of time.
• All islands are made up of a calcareous framework of dead reef and sand.
• In India, the Gulf of Mannar region in Tamil Nadu is one of the four major coral reef areas and the others are Gulf of Kutch in Gujarat, Lakhsadweep and Andaman and Nicobar islands.
• With its rich biodiversity of over 4,000 species of various flora and fauna, part of this Gulf of Mannar between Rameswaram and Tuticoirin covering 21 islands and the surrounding shallow coastal waters was declared as a Marine National Park in 1986.

5.Sunda Strait

• It links the Java Sea (Pacific Ocean) with the Indian Ocean (south).
• Sunda Strait, Indonesian Selat Sunda, is a channel, 16–70 miles (26–110 km) wide, between the islands of Java (east) and Sumatra.
• The Sunda Strait is an important passage connecting the Indian Ocean with eastern Asia.
• The strait stretches in a roughly northeast/southwest orientation, with a minimum width of 24 km (15 mi) at its northeastern end between Cape Tua on Sumatra and Cape Pujat on Java.
• It is very deep at its western end, but as it narrows to the east it becomes much shallower, with a depth of only 20 m (65 feet) in parts of the eastern end.
• It is notoriously difficult to navigate because of this shallowness, very strong tidal currents, sandbanks, and man-made obstructions such as oil platforms off the Java coast.
• The strait’s narrowness, shallowness, and lack of accurate charting make it unsuitable for many modern, large ships, most of which use the Strait of Malacca instead.

6.Mozambique Channel

• It is located between the island nation of Madagascar on the east and Mozambique on the African mainland (west).
• About 1,000 miles (1,600 km) long, it varies in width from 250 to 600 miles (400 to 950 km) and reaches a maximum depth of 10,000 feet (3,000 m).
• The Comoro Archipelago marks the northern entrance, and the islands of Bassas da India and Europa lie in the south.
• An important route for shipping in eastern Africa, it receives all major Madagascar rivers and has the ports of Mahajanga (Majunga) and Toliary (Tuléar) on the same coast.
• Along the opposite coast are the mouth of the Zambezi River and the ports of Maputo (formerly Lourenço Marques), Moçambique, and Beira.
• The Mozambique Current passes through the strait.

7.Gibraltar Strait

• It is a channel connecting the Mediterranean Sea with the Atlantic Ocean, lying between southernmost Spain and northwesternmost Africa.
• It is 36 miles (58 km) long and narrows to 8 miles (13 km) in width between Point Marroquí (Spain) and Point Cires (Morocco).
• It is one of the most significant global sea lanes because it provides a means of seaborne transit for shipping between the Atlantic and Mediterranean, and via the Suez Canal into the Indian Ocean and beyond.
• After the English Channel, the Strait is the world’s busiest shipping lane.

8. Bosphorus strait and Dardanelles strait

• Bosphorus,also known as the Strait of Istanbul, is a narrow, natural strait and an internationally significant waterway located in northwestern Turkey.
• The Bosporus connects the Black Sea with the Sea of Marmara, and, by extension via the Dardanelles, the Aegean and Mediterranean seas.
• It is the world’s narrowest strait used for international navigation.
• Dardanelles is a narrow, natural strait and internationally significant waterway in northwestern Turkey that forms part of the continental boundary between Europe and Asia, and separates Asian Turkey from European Turkey.
• The Dardanelles connects the Sea of Marmara with the Aegean and Mediterranean Seas, while also allowing passage to the Black Sea by extension via the Bosphorus.
• The Dardanelles is 61 kilometres (38 mi) long, and 1.2 to 6 kilometres (0.75 to 3.73 mi) wide, averaging 55 metres (180 ft) deep with a maximum depth of 103 metres (338 ft) at its narrowest point abreast the city of Çanakkale

9. Yucatan Strait

Joining seas/ Water Bodies : Gulf of Mexico and Caribbean Sea

Location: Mexico-Cuba

10. Mesina Strait  

Joining seas/ Water Bodies : Mediterranean Sea

Location: Italy-Sicily

11. Otranto Strait

Joining seas/ Water Bodies :Adriatic Sea & Ionian Sea

Location: Italy-Albania

12. Cook Strait 

Joining seas/ Water Bodies :South Pacific Ocean

Location:  New Zealand (North & South Islands)

13. North Channel

Joining seas/ Water Bodies :Irish Sea & Atlantic Ocean

Location: Ireland-England

14. Hudson strait     

Joining seas/ Water Bodies : Gulf of Hudson & Atlantic Ocean

Location: Canada

15. Magellan strait   

Join: Pacific and South Atlantic Ocean

Location: Chile

16. Makassar Strait

Joining seas/ Water Bodies: the Java Sea & Celebes Sea

Location: Indonesia

17. Tsugaru Strait 

Joining seas/ Water Bodies: Japan Sea and Pacific Ocean

Location: Japan (Hokkaido-Honshu Island)

18. Tatar Strait  

Joining seas/ Water Bodies: Japan Sea & Okhotsk Sea

Location: Russia (East Russia-Sakhalin Islands)

19. Fovex Strait 

Joining seas/ Water Bodies: South Pacific Ocean

Location: New Zealand (South Island- Stewart Island)

20. Formosa Strait  

Joining seas/ Water Bodies: the South China Sea & East China Sea

Location: China-Taiwan

21. Taurus Strait

Joining seas/ Water Bodies:Arafura Sea & Gulf of Papua

Location: Papua New Guinea — Australia

22. Bass Strait

Joining seas/ Water Bodies: the Tasman Sea & South Sea

Location: Australia

23. Bering Strait

Joining seas/ Water Bodies: the Bering Sea & Chukchi Sea

Location: Alaska-Russia

24. Bonne-Fasio Strait

Joining seas/ Water Bodies: Mediterranean Sea

Location: Corsica — Sardinia

25. Davis Strait  

Joining seas/ Water Bodies : the Baffin Bay & Atlantic Ocean

Location: Greenland-Canada

26. Denmark Strait 

Joining seas/ Water Bodies: North Atlantic and the Arctic Ocean

Location: Greenland-Iceland

27. Dover strait  

Joining seas/ Water Bodies: The English Channel & North Sea

Location: England-France

28. Florida Strait

Joining seas/ Water Bodies: Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic Ocean

Location: USA-Cuba

[WpProQuiz 409]

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14th March 2020

Important officers and their role in the Maurya Empire

1. Sannidhata – Treasurer and keeper of the stores in Maurya Period. He was in charge of the collection of revenue from various parts of the kingdom and looked after the income and expenditure by supervising the works of akshapataladhyaksha (Accountant-General)
2. Samharta– His function was to collect Revenue both in cash and kind.
3. Amatyas–They were some sort of administrative personnel or civil servants who filled the highest administrative and judicial appointments.
4. Rajukas–Ashoka appointed a class of officers known as the Rajukas, who were vested with the authority of rewarding as well we punishing people.
5. Adhyaksas-­ The officers who looked after the various departments.
6. Yuktas- They appear to have been the subordinate official whose duties were largely secretarial works and accounting.
7. Gopa and Sthanika- There was an intermediate level of administration between the district level and village level, which was administered by the Gopa and Sthanikas.
8. Gramika- Head of the village. He was not a paid servant and was chosen among village elders.
9. Grambhojaka- Gramika was helped by Grambhojaka.
10. Pramukha- Eighteen chief handicrafts of the time were organised in guilds called as Shrenis, the president of Shrenis was known as Pramukha.

Important officers of the Gupta empire

1. Uparika- He was directly appointed by the king as a provincial governor.
2. Kumaramatyas- A link between the central and the provincial administration under the Guptas was provided by the officers called Kumaramatyas and Ayuktas. Kumaramatyas was a body of top-ranking officials attached not only to the king but also to the crown-prince and sometimes placed in charge of district.
3. Gopasramin- In Samudraguptas period an officer working as akshapataladhikrita. Their function was to enter numerous matters in the accounts register, recover royal dues and to check embezzlement and recover fines.
4. Sandhivigrahika-The foreign minister, minister of war and peace. First appeared under the rule of Samudragupta.
5. Mahabaldikarta-Commander-in-Chief.
6. Mahadandanayaka-
7. Mahapratihara- Chief of palace guards.
8. Pustapala- Record-keeper. Maintained record of land transactions in a district. They were also known as Karanika.
9. Vishaya- Vishayas were divided into smaller parts called Vithis which were the villages and consisted of the lowest unit of administration.
10. Mahattama,Mahattaka and Mahattara- Elder who assisted the Gramika in the village administration.
11. Agharikas- During the reign of Harsha, Agharikas looked after the land given in charity.
12. Samantas- Feudal chiefs.

Important officers of Satvahana Period

1. Uparakshita- In Satvahanas kingdom, their function was building caves for monks.
2. Gaulamika- Administration of the villages was placed under them in the Satvahana period.
3. Valaikkarars- Troops in the royal service and were the bodyguard of the monarch

Medieval India

Amils– Revenue officers

Arz-i-mamalik– Minister in-charge of the army of the whole country.

Ahl-i-qalam– Reporter

Baqqal– Trader, grain-dealer

Batai– Division of crop between the cultivator and landlord or the government, payments may be in

kind or cash

Barid- An intelligence officer appointed by the state to collect information

Chachar– Land out of cultivation for 3-4 years.

Chaauth or Chauthaai– One-fourth of the land revenue, originally a Zamindari charge in Gujrat demanded by Shivaji as a war expense.

Charai– A tax on cattle.

Dagh System– A system of branding of horses and animal.

Dam- A copper coin considered as 1/40* the silver rupee for the official purposes.

Dastur-al-amal- Rule book

Dhimmi-  A non-Muslim client or subject

Darul Mulk- Capital

Gumashta- An agent or representative

Hamam– A room for the bath of hot and cold water

Hundi- A bill of exchange

Jamabandi– Settlement of the amount of revenue assessed upon an estate or district

Jarib– A measurement, land measurement or survey

Jihat– Extra cesses

Jizya– (a) In the literature of Delhi sultanate, any tax which is not kharaj or land tax

(b) In the Shariat, a personal and yearly tax on non-Muslims.

Kankut– Estimation of land revenue

Karori– A revenue officer.

Khiraj– Land revenue

Mahal- A group of land regarded as a unit for land revenue purposes.

Mansab– A military rank conferred by the Mughal emperor.

Mauza- Revenue term for village

Mokasa- Grant of land for military service, rent-free land.

Nabud– Remission of land revenue on account of natural disasters.

Paibaqi- Land reserved for allotment in jagir

Polaj- Land continuously in cultivation

Sarrafs– Money Chargers, bankers

Saurghal-Rent-free land

Taqavi- Advance of money for sowing or extending cultivation

Upari- Temporary occupant; tenant at will.

Usar- Barren land

Zawabit- Secular laws.

[WpProQuiz 392]

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13th March 2020

Important Socio-Cultural Reform movements

1. Brahmo Samaj

• Raja Ram Mohan Roy (1772-1833) founded the Brahmo Sabha in August 1828; it was later renamed Brahmo Samaj.
• The Samaj was committed to “the worship and adoration of Eternal, Unsearchable, Immutable Being who is the author and Preserver of the Universe”.
• Prayers, Meditations and reading of the Upanishads were to be the forms of worship and no forms of a graven image, statute or sculpture, carvings, paintings, picture, portraits etc were to be allowed in the Samaj buildings, thus underlining the Samaj’s opposition to idolatry and meaningless rituals.
• The long-term agenda of Brahmo Samaj was to Purify Hinduism and to preach monotheism.
• This long-terms agenda was based on twin pillars of reason and Vedas and
• The Samaj kept its emphasis on human dignity, opposition to idolatry and criticism of social evils such as Sati.
• Maharishi Debendranath Tagore gave a new life to the movement when the joined it in 1843.
• The Samaj supported widow remarriage, women’s education, the abolition of polygamy improvement in ryots’ condition and temperance.
• When Keshub Chandra Sen was made the acharya by soon after he joined it, the Samaj experienced another phase of energy, vigour and eloquence. He was instrumental in popularising the movement.
• After Keshab Chandra Sen was dismissed from the Brahmo Samaj owing to his radical reforms he founded Brahmo Samaj of India.
• Significance of the Brahmo Samaj-
  • Denounce polytheism and idol worship.
  • Discarded faith in divine avatars.
  • It denied that any scripture could enjoy the status of ultimate authority transcending human reason and conscience.
  • It criticised the caste system.
  • Took no definite stand on the doctrine of karma and transmigration of the soul.

2. Prarthana Samaj

• Keshab Chandra Sen helped found the Prarthana Samaj in Bombay in 1863.
• They relied on education and persuasion rather than on confrontation with Hindu orthodoxy.
• It’s four-point social agenda includes-
  • Disapproval of the cast system.
  • Women’s education.
  • Widow remarriage
  • Raising the age of marriage for both male and female.
• Prominent figures include-
  • G. Ranade (1842-1901)
  • G. Bhandarkar
  • G. Chandavarkar. 

 3. Young Bengal Movement

• Henry Vivan Derozio, who taught at the Hindu College was the leader and its inspirer.
• During the 1820s and early 1830s, there emerged a radical intellectual trend among the youth in Bengal which came to be known as ‘Young Bengal Movement’.
• Drawing inspiration from the French Revolution, Derozio inspired his pupils to
  • Think freely and rationally.
  • Question all authority.
  • Love, liberty and equality and freedom.
  • Oppose decadent customs and traditions.
• The movement also supported women’s rights and education.
• The movement, however, failed to have long term impact, reasons for which are-
  • Prevailing social conditions at that time were not ripe for the adoption of radical ideas.
  • The movement lacked any real link with the masses.

 4. Paramhansa Mandalis

• It was founded in Maharashtra in 1849.
• The founder of this movement believed in one god.
• They were primarily focused on breaking the caste barriers.
• They also advocated widow remarriage and women’s education.
• Branches of Paramhansa Mandalis existed in Poona, Satara and other towns of Maharashtra.

 5. Satya Shodhak Samaj

• Jyotiba Phule founded the Satyashodhak Samaj in 1873.
• Its leadership came primarily from the backward classes-Malis, Telis, Kunbis, Saris and Dhangars.
• Main aims of the movement were-
  • Social service.
  • Spread of education among women and lower classes.
• Phule aimed at the complete abolition of the caste system and socio-economic equalities.
• The movement gave a sense of identity to the deprived communities as a class against Brahmins who were seen as the exploiters.

6.The Ramkrishna Movement

• It was led by Ramkrishna Paramhansa.
• The Brahmo Samaj appealed more to the intellectual elite in Bengal, while the average Bengali found more emotional satisfaction in the cult of bhakti and yoga so the movement found many followers.
• Two objectives of the Ramakrishna movement were
  • To bring into existence a band of monks dedicated to a life of renunciation and practical spirituality.
  • In conjunction with lay disciples to carry on preaching, philanthropic and charitable works, looking upon all men, women and children, irrespective of caste, creed or colour, as veritable manifestations of the Divine.
• The second objective was taken up by Swami Vivekananda after Ramakrishna’s death when he founded the Ramakrishna Mission in 1897.
• Paramahamsa sought salvation through traditional ways of renunciation, meditation and bhakti amidst increasing westernisation and modernisation.

7. The Servants of India Society.

• Gopal Krishna Gokhale (1866-1915), founded the Servants of India Society in 1905 with the help of M.G. Ranade.
• The aim of the society was-
  • to train national missionaries for the service of India;
  • to promote, by all constitutional means, the true interests of the Indian people;
  • to prepare a cadre of selfless workers who were to devote their lives to the cause of the country in a religious spirit.
• The society chose to remain aloof from political activities and organisations like the Indian National Congress.

8. Arya Samaj

• Dayananda Saraswati (1824-1883) founded the movement.
• Dayananda subscribed to the Vedic notion of chaturvarna system in which a person was not born in any caste but was identified according to the occupation the person followed.
• The Arya Samaj fixed the minimum marriageable age at twenty-five years for boys and sixteen years for girls.
• Inter-caste marriages and widow remarriages were also encouraged. Equal status for women was the demand of the Samaj, both in letter and in spirit.

9. Sree Narayana Guru Dharma Paripalana (SNDP) Movement

• It was started by Sree Narayana Guru Swamy (1856- 1928) among the Ezhavas of Kerala.
• Ezhavas were a backward caste of toddy-tappers and were considered to be untouchables, denied education and entry into temples.
• The SNDP movement was an example of a regional movement born out of the conflict between the depressed classes and upper castes.
• Sree Narayana Guru held all religions to be the same and condemned animal sacrifice besides speaking against divisiveness on the basis of caste, race or creed.
• The movement as a whole brought transformative structural changes such as upward social mobility, a shift in the traditional distribution of power and a federation of ‘backward castes’ into a large conglomeration.

10. Sef-Respect Movement

• This movement was started by V. Ramaswamy Naicker, a Balija Naidu, in the mid-1920s.
• The movement aimed at a rejection of the brahminical religion and culture which Naicker felt was the prime instrument of exploitation of the lower castes.
• He sought to undermine the position of brahmin priests by formalising weddings without brahmin priests.

11. Temple Entry Movement

• K. Madhavan, a prominent social reformer and editor of Deshabhimani, took up the issue of temple entry with the Travancore administration. Nothing transpired.
• In the meanwhile, Vaikom, in the northern part of Travancore, became a centre of agitation for temple entry.
• In 1924, the Vaikom Satyagraha led by K.P. Kesava was launched in Kerala demanding the throwing open of Hindu temples and roads to the untouchables.
• Gandhi undertook a tour of Kerala in support of the movement.
• Leaders like P. Krishna Pillai and A.K. Gopalan were among the satyagrahis.
• Finally, in 1936, the Maharaja of Travancore issued a proclamation throwing open all government-controlled temples to all Hindus.

12. Aligarh Movement

• A section of Muslims led by Syed Ahmed Khan (1817-1898) was ready to allow the official patronage to stimulate a process of growth among Indian Muslims through better education and employment opportunities.
• He wanted to reconcile Western scientific education with the teachings of the Quran which were to be interpreted in the light of contemporary rationalism and science even though he also held the Quran to be the ultimate authority.
• He said that religion should be adaptable with time or else it would become fossilised, and that religious tenet was not immutable.
• He advocated a critical approach and freedom of thought and not complete dependence on tradition or custom.
• He was also a zealous educationist-founded the Mohammedan Anglo-Oriental College (later, the Aligarh Muslim University) at Aligarh in 1875.
• The Aligarh Movement emerged as a liberal, modern trend among the Muslim intelligentsia based in Mohammedan Anglo-Oriental College, Aligarh.
• It aimed at spreading-
  • (i) modern education among Indian Muslims without weakening their allegiance to Islam;
  • (ii) social reforms among Muslims relating to purdah, polygamy, widow remarriage, women’s education, slavery, divorce, etc.
• The ideology of the followers of the movement was based on a liberal interpretation of the Quran and they sought to harmonise Islam with modern liberal culture.
• They wanted to impart a distinct socio-cultural identity to Muslims on modern lines.

13. The Deoband School (Darul Uloom)

• The Deoband Movement was begun at the Darul Uloom,Deoband, in Saharanpur district (United Provinces) in 1866 by Mohammad Qasim Nanotavi (1832-80) and Rashid Ahmed Gangohi (1828-1905) to train religious leaders for the Muslim community.
• The Deoband Movement was organised by the orthodox section among the Muslim ulema as a revivalist movement.
• It has the twin objectives of propagating pure teachings of the Quran and Hadis among Muslims and keeping alive the spirit of jihad against the foreign rulers.
• On the political front, the Deoband school welcomed the formation of the Indian National Congress and in 1888.
• Shibli Numani, a supporter of the Deoband school, favoured the inclusion of English language and European sciences in the system of education.
• He founded the Nadwatal Ulama and Darul Uloom in Lucknow in 1894-96. He believed in the idealism of the Congress and cooperation between the Muslims and the Hindus of India to create a state in which both could live amicably.

14. Sikh Reform Movements.

• The Sikh community could not remain untouched by the rising tide of rationalist and progressive ideas of the nineteenth century.
• The Singh Sabha Movement was founded at Amritsar in 1873 with a two-fold objective—
  • to make available modern western education to the Sikhs, and
  • to counter the proselytising activities of Christian missionaries as well as the Brahmo Samajists, Arya Samajists and Muslim maulvis.
• For the first objective, a network of Khalsa schools was established by the Sabha throughout Punjab.
• In the second direction, everything that went against the Gurus’ teachings was rejected, and rites and customs considered to be consistent with Sikh doctrine were sought to be established.
• The Akali movement (also known as Gurudwara Reform Movement) was an offshoot of the Singh Sabha Movement.
• It aimed at liberating the Sikh gurudwaras from the control of corrupt Udasi mahants.
• The government tried its repressive policies against the non-violent non-cooperation satyagraha launched by the Akalis in 1921 but had to bow before popular demands.
• The government passed the Sikh Gurudwaras Act in 1922 (amended in 1925) which gave the control of gurudwaras to the Sikh masses to be administered through Shiromani Gurudwara Prabandhak Committee (SGPC) as the apex body.
• The Akali Movement was a regional movement but not a communal one.

15. The Theosophical Movement

• A group of westerners led by Madame H.P. Blavatsky and Colonel M.S. Olcott, who were inspired by Indian thought and culture, founded the Theosophical Society in New York City, the United States in 1875.
• In 1882, they shifted their headquarters to Adyar, on the outskirts of Madras.
• The society believed that a special relationship could be established between a person’s soul and God by contemplation, prayer, revelation, etc.
• It accepted the Hindu beliefs in reincarnation and karma and drew inspiration from the philosophy of the Upanishads and Samkhya, yoga and Vedanta schools of thought.
• It aimed to work for the universal brotherhood of humanity without distinction of race, creed, sex, caste or colour.
• It opposed child marriage and advocated the abolition of caste discrimination, uplift of outcastes, improvement in the condition of widows.
• In India, the movement became somewhat popular with the election of Annie Besant (1847-1933) as its president.
• She laid the foundation of the Central Hindu College in Benaras in 1898 where both Hindu religion and Western scientific subjects were taught.
• The Theosophical Society provided a common denominator for the various sects and fulfilled the urge of educated Hindus.
• To an average Indian, the Theosophist philosophy seemed to be vague and lacking a positive programme; to that extent, its impact was limited to a small segment of the westernised class.
• As religious revivalists, the Theosophists did not attain much success.
• But as a movement of westerners glorifying Indian religious and philosophical traditions, it gave much-needed self-respect to the Indians fighting British colonial rule.
• Viewed from another angle, the Theosophists also had the effect of giving a false sense of pride to the Indians in their outdated and sometimes backwards-looking traditions and philosophy.

Important Newspapers associated with the freedom Struggle

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12th March 2020

Important Schemes and Policies related to education.

1. SHREYAS Scheme: Scheme for Higher Education Youth in Apprenticeship and Skill (SHREYAS)

Launched by- Ministry of Human Resource Development

Important objectives-

• Improve employability: The scheme aims to improve the employability of introducing employment relevance to the learning process of higher education.
• Linking education with industry: Close link between education and industry/service sector.
• Establishing earn while you learn the system into education

Operation of the scheme-

• It will be operated in conjunction with the National Apprenticeship Promotion Scheme.
• The scheme will be implemented by the Sector Skill Council.

2.  NEAT Scheme- National Educational Alliance for Technology (NEAT) 

Launched by- Ministry of Human Resource Development

Objective- Objective is to use Artificial Intelligence to make learning more personalised and customised as per the requirements of the learner.

• It is a PPP based scheme.
• MHRD would act as a facilitator to ensure that the solutions are freely available to a large number of economically backward students.
• MHRD would create and maintain a National NEAT platform that would provide one-stop access to these technological solutions.
• EdTech companies would be responsible for developing solutions and manage the registration of learners through the NEAT portal.

3. EQUIP- ‘Education Quality Upgradation and Inclusion Programme (EQUIP)’

• It is a Five-year vision plan, finalised and released by HRD Ministry.
• The ten Expert Groups have suggested more than 50 initiatives that would transform the higher education sector completely.
• The groups have suggested 10 goals for the higher education sector.
• Key Goals are-
  • Double the Gross Enrolment Ratio (GER) in higher education and resolve the geographically and socially skewed access to higher education institutions in India.
  • Position at least 50 Indian institutions among the top-1000 global universities.
  • Double the employability of the students passing out of higher education
  • Achieve a quantum increase in investment in higher education.

  Important Initiatives launched in 2019-

• DHRUV- The Pradhan Mantri Innovative Learning Programme –
  • DHRUV has been started by the Ministry of Human Resource Development, Government of India to identify and encourage talented children to enrich their skills and knowledge.
  • In centres of excellence across the country, gifted children will be mentored and nurtured by renowned experts in different areas, so that they can reach their full potential.
  • The program aims to cover two areas namely Science and Arts.
  • The program is to be launched from the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO).
• NISHTHA- National Initiative for School Heads and Teachers Holistic Advancement.
  • Its aim is to build capacities of 42 Lakh government teachers across the country.
  • The basic objective of this massive training programme ‘NISHTHA’ is to motivate and equip teachers to encourage and foster critical thinking in students.
• PARAMARSH- Paramarsh’ for Mentoring NAAC Accreditation Aspirant Institutions to promote Quality Assurance in Higher Education
  • The scheme will be operationalized through a “Hub & Spoke” model wherein the Mentor Institution, called the “Hub” is centralized and will have the responsibility of guiding the Mentee institution through the secondary branches the “Spoke”.
• SHAGUN– Union HRD Minister launches Integrated Online junction for School Education ‘Shagun’
  • It is one of the world’s largest Integrated Online Junction for – School Education.
  • It is an over-arching initiative to improve the school education system by creating a junction for all online portals and websites relating to various activities of the Department of School Education and Literacy in the Government of India and all States and Union Territories.
• UDISE+ Unified District Information System for Education Plus – To ensure quality, credibility and timely availability of information from all the schools in the country.

4. RISE– Revitalising Infrastructure and Systems in Higher Education (RISE).

• Higher Education Financing Agency (HEFA) scope was expanded to meet the rising financial requirements of educational infrastructure in the country
• The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs has approved the proposal for expanding the scope of Higher Education Financing Agency (HEFA) by enhancing its capital base to Rs. 10,000 crore and tasking it to mobilise Rs. 1,00,000 crore for Revitalizing Infrastructure and Systems in Education (RISE) by 2022.
• The CCEA has also approved that the modalities for raising money from the market through Government guaranteed bonds and commercial borrowings.
• In order to expand this facility to all institutions, especially to the institutions set up after 2014, Central Universities which have very little internal resources, and the school education/health education infrastructure like AllMSs, Kendriya Vidyalayas, the CCEA has approved five windows for financing under HEFA.

5. IMPRESS- Impactful Policy Research in Social Sciences

• Under the Scheme, 1500 research projects will be awarded for 2 years to support the social science research in the higher educational institutions and to enable research to guide policymaking.
• The broad objective is to identify and fund research proposals in social sciences with maximum impact on governance and society.

6. SPARC- Scheme for Promotion of Academic and Research Collaboration.

• SPARC scheme aims at improving the research ecosystem of India’s higher educational institutions by facilitating academic and research collaborations between Indian Institutions and the best institutions in the world.
• At a total cost of Rs.418 Cr for implementation up to 31.3.2020 and Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur is the National Coordinating Institute to implement the SPARC programme.
• Only such Indian institutes can apply which are in top 100 NIRF ranking or top 100 NIRF subject ranking.

 7. LEAP-Leadership for Academicians Programme

• It is a flagship leadership development training programme.
• It is a three weeks Flagship leadership development training programme (2 weeks domestic and one-week foreign training) for second level academic functionaries in public-funded higher education institutions.
• The implementation of LEAP Programme will be through 15 NIRF top-ranked Indian Institutions.

8. ARPIT- Annual Refresher Programme In Teaching (ARPIT)

• It is a major and unique initiative of online professional development of 15 lakh higher education faculty using the MOOCs platform SWAYAM.
• For implementing ARPIT, 75 discipline-specific institutions have been identified and notified as National Resource Centres (NRCs) in the first phase.

9. Pradhan Mantri Vidya Lakshmi Karyakram- It is a first of its kind portal for students seeking Education Loan.

• A fully IT-based Student Financial Aid Authority has been proposed through the ‘Pradhan Mantri Vidya Lakshmi Karyakram.
• This initiative aims to bring on board all Banks providing Educational Loans.

10. Institutes of Eminence Scheme-

• The aim of the scheme is to bring higher educational institutions selected as IoEs in top 500 of the world ranking in the next 10 years and in top 100 eventually overtime.
• The salient features are available in the UGC Guidelines and the UGC Regulations under which greater autonomy viz.
  • To admit foreign students up to 30% of admitted students.
  • To recruit foreign faculty up to 25% of faculty strength.
  • To offer online courses up to 20% of its programmes; to enter into academic collaboration with top 500 in the world ranking Institutions without permission of UGC.
  • Free to fix and charge fees from foreign students without restriction.
  • The flexibility of course structure in terms of a number of credit hours and years to take a degree; complete flexibility in fixing of curriculum and syllabus, etc. has been provided to IoEs.
• Each Public Institution selected as IoE will be provided financial assistance up to Rs. 1000 Cr over a period of five years.
• The private institution will not be given any funds.

11. Samagra Shiksha Scheme–

• The scheme is an overarching programme for the school education sector extending from pre-school to class XII and aims to ensure inclusive and equitable quality education at all levels of school education.
• It envisages the ‘school’ as a continuum from pre-school, primary, upper primary, secondary to senior secondary levels and subsumes the three erstwhile centrally sponsored schemes- Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA), Rashtriya Madhyamik Shiksha Abhiyan (RMSA) and Teacher Education(TE).
• Bridging gender and social category gaps at all levels of school education is one of the major objectives of the scheme.
• The scheme reaches out to girls and children belonging to Scheduled Caste (SC), Scheduled Tribe (ST), minority communities and transgender.
• The Samagra Shiksha scheme supports States for a strengthening of school infrastructure including in rural areas.
• The scheme provides for the infrastructural strengthening of existing government schools based on the gaps determined by Unified District Information System for Education (UDISE) and proposals received from respective States/UTs.

12. Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan-

• Universalizing elementary education across the countryRashtriya Avishkar Abhiyan, Vidhyanjali, PBBB.
• Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan is implemented as a Centrally Sponsored Scheme in partnership with State Governments for universalizing elementary education across the country. Its overall goals include universal access and retention, bridging of gender and social category gaps in education and enhancement of learning levels of children.
• SSA provides for a variety of interventions, including inter alia, the opening of new schools, construction of schools and additional classrooms, toilets and drinking water, provisioning for teachers, periodic teacher training and academic resource support, textbooks and support for learning achievement. These provisions are made in accordance with norms and standards and free entitlements as mandated by the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education (RTE) Act, 2009. 

13. Rashtriya Madhyamic Shiksha Abhiyan (RMSA)-

• It aims to raise the minimum level of education to class X and universalize access to secondary education.
• To ensure good-quality secondary education with a focus on Science, Mathematics and English; and
• To reduce the gender, social and regional gaps in enrolments, dropouts and improving retention.
• To make sure that the secondary schools conform to prescribed norms, removing gender, socio-economic and disability barriers, etc. Important physical facilities are provided which include, (i) additional classrooms, (ii) laboratories, (iii) libraries, (iv)art and crafts room, (v) toilet blocks, (vi) drinking water provisions, (vii) electricity / telephone/internet connectivity and (viii) disabled-friendly provisions. Improvement in quality through, (i) appointment of additional teachers to improve PTR (ii) in-service training of teachers, (iii) ICT enabled education, (iv)curriculum reforms and (v) teaching learning reforms. Equity aspects addressed through (i) special focus in micro-planning, (ii) preference to areas with concentration of SC/ST/minority for opening of schools, (iii) special enrolment drive for the weaker section, (iv more female teachers in schools and (v) separate toilet blocks for girls. 

14. Rashtriya Ucchatar Shiksha Abhiyan (RUSA)-

• It is a Centrally Sponsored Scheme (CSS), launched in 2013. It aims at providing strategic funding to eligible state higher educational institutions based on their progress.
• The key objectives of RUSA are to improve access, equity and quality in higher education through planned development of higher education at the state level.
• The central funding (in the ratio of 60:40 for general category States, 90:10 for special category states and 100% for union territories) would be norm based and outcome dependent.
• The funding flows from the central ministry through the state governments/union territories to the State Higher Education Councils before reaching the identified institutions.

 15. Unnat Bharat Abhiyan (UBA)-

• It aims at-
  • Building institutional capacity in Institutes of higher education in research & training relevant to the needs of rural India.
  • As a flagship programme of the Ministry of HRD, it aims to link the Higher Education Institutions with a set of at least (5) villages, so that these institutions can contribute to the economic and social betterment of these village communities using their knowledge base.
  • Provide rural India with professional resource support from institutes of higher education, especially those which have acquired academic excellence in the field of Science, Engineering & Technology and Management.
• The UBA 2.0 was officially launched on 25^th April, 2018

16. SWAYAM-

• Study Webs of Active Learning for Young Aspiring Minds is an indigenous IT platform for hosting the Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs).
• SWAYAM is designed to achieve the three cardinal principles of Education Policy viz., access, equity and quality.
• It targets those students who could not complete their studies and professionals who wish to upgrade their knowledge.
• This is done through an indigenous developed IT platform that facilitates hosting of all the courses, taught in classrooms from 9th class till post-graduation to be accessed by anyone, anywhere at any time.

17. Saksham Scholarship Scheme-

• The scheme was launched in 2014-15, with the objective of encouraging economically weaker differently-abled students to pursue technical education at Diploma and Degree levels.
• The scholarship amount of Rs.30,000 is provided towards tuition fee reimbursement and Rs.20000 as contingency allowance for 1000 persons/annum.

18. Swayam Prabha-

• The SWAYAM PRABHA is a group of 32 DTH channels devoted to telecasting of high-quality educational programmes on a 24X7 basis using the GSAT-15 satellite.
• Every day, there will be new content for at least (4) hours which would be repeated 5 more times in a day, allowing the students to choose the time of their convenience.
• Information and Library Network (INFLIBNET), an autonomous Inter-University Centre (IUC) of UGC maintains the web portal.
• The DTH Channels shall cover the following:
  • Higher Education.
  • School education (9-12 levels)
  • Curriculum-based courses that can meet the needs of life-long learners of Indian citizens in India and abroad.
  • Assist students (class 11th & 12th) prepare for competitive exams.

19.Shala Darpan Portal-

• It is an E-Governance school automation and management system for Navodaya Vidyalaya Samiti (NVS).
• This portal has been developed for information sharing and knowledge dissemination for employees and students across schools and offices of NVS.

20. All School Monitoring Individual Tracing Analysis (ASMITA)-

• Shala Asmita Yojana (SAY) aims to track the educational journey of close to 25 crore school students from Class I to Class XII across 15 lakh schools in the country.
• Students will be tracked through their Aadhaar numbers and incase those not having a unique number will be provided with it.
• This online database will carry information about student attendance and enrolment, mid-day meal service, learning outcomes and infrastructural facilities, among other things, on one platform for both private and government schools. 

21. Global Initiative of Academic Network (GIAN)-

• It is intended to enlarge and deepen the interface of India’s institutions of higher learning and globally recognised institutions of academic eminence.
• Under it, faculty from highly rated institutions abroad will visit India, interact and partner with their counterparts and with students, and deliver specialised courses. 

22. IMPRINT India-

• It is MHRD supported Pan-IIT + IISc joint initiative to address the major science and engineering challenges that India must address and champion to enable, empower and embolden the nation for inclusive growth and self-reliance.
• This novel initiative with a twofold mandate is aimed at:
  • Developing new engineering education policy.
  • Creating a road map to pursue engineering challenges
• IMPRINT provides the overarching vision that guides research into areas that are predominantly socially relevant.

23. Ishan Uday and Ishan Vikas-

• Ishan Vikas and Ishan Uday schemes are being implemented for the students of the North-Eastern region.
• Ishan Vikas is coordinated by IIT, Guwahati.
• Under it selected school children from the North Eastern States  are  brought in close contact with the Indian Institute of Technology (IITs), Indian Institutes of Science Education and Research (IISERs) and  National Institute of Advanced Studies (NIAS) during the vacation period
• Ishan Uday Scholarship Scheme is administered by the University Grants Commission (UGC). Under the scheme, the scholarship is provided to the economically backward students from the North East Region for pursuing general degree courses, technical and professional degree courses.
• It is envisaged to provide 10000 scholarships annually.

24. Shodhganga-

• It is the repository developed to contain an electronic copy of all M.Phil/PhD thesis to make it accessible to all institutions.
• The task of setting-up of this repository is assigned to Information and Library Network (INFLIBNET), an interuniversity centre of the University Grants Commission (UGC).
• It also provides access to Indian theses and dissertations in open access to the worldwide academic community and making visibility of Indian research to other countries.

25. Vidya Virta Abhiyan-

• It is to encourage varsities to display portraits of Param Veer Chakra-decorated soldiers.
• The objective is to instil a sense of nationalism and patriotism among the students
• Universities and educational institutions across the country will have a wall of heroes, depicting portraits of soldiers who showed extraordinary courage in defending the nation.

26. Diksha Portal-

• HRD ministry has launched Diksha Portal (diksha.gov.in) for providing a digital platform to a teacher to make their lifestyle more digital.
• It will serve as National Digital Infrastructure for Teachers.
• Diksha portal will enable, accelerate and amplify solutions in the realm of teacher education. It will aid teachers to learn and train themselves for which assessment resources will be available.

27. Margadarshan-

• The scheme aims to provide mentoring to institutes by a well-performing Institute.
• Institutions of repute will act as a mentor with its existing facilities to serve as the hub to guide and disperse knowledge to 10 technical institutions.
• It is under the purview of All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE), a national-level apex advisory body under the Ministry of Human Resource and Development.
• Mentor institute also provides services to faculty for self-improvement.
• Government-owned, aided and self-financed institutes and universities approved by AICTE can participate.

28. JIGYASA-

• It is a student- scientist connect programme by the Ministry of HRD and Ministry of S&T.
• It focuses on connecting school students and scientists so as to extend student‘s classroom learning to research laboratory based learning by visiting CSIR laboratories and by participating in mini-science projects.
• CSIR and Kendriya Vidyalaya Sangathan (KVS) are collaborating to implement this programme.

29. Maitreyi Yatra-

• It is an exclusive student exchange programme for J&K organized by Ministry of Human Resource development.
• It provides a good opportunity for the youth of J&K to be acquainted with culture, language and development story of different parts of the country.

30. Madhyamik and Ucchatar Shiksha Kosh (MUSK)-

• It is a non-lapsable pool in the Public Account for secondary and higher, education known as “Madhyamik and Uchchtar Shiksha Kosh” (MUSK) into which all proceeds of “Secondary and Higher Education Cess” will be credited.
• The funds arising from the MUSK would be utilized for schemes in the education sector which would be available for the benefit of students of secondary and higher education, all over the country.
• The MUSK would be maintained as a Reserve Fund in the non-interest bearing section of the Public Accounts of India.
• The major benefit will be enhancing access to secondary and higher education through the availability of adequate resources while ensuring that the amount does not lapse at the end of the financial year.

31. National Testing Agency (NTA)-

• It has been established as a premier, specialist, autonomous and self-sustained testing organization to conduct entrance examinations for admission/fellowship in higher educational institutions.
• It will be registered as a society under the Indian Societies Registration Act.
• It will act an autonomous and self-sustained premier testing organization chaired by an eminent educationist appointed by Ministry of HRD.
• It would conduct those entrance examinations which are currently being conducted by the CBSE (NEET, JEE), AICTE etc, thereby relieving them of this responsibility.

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