💥Mains Ready By December. Smash Mains & Smash PYQ Admissions Open
Talk to Mentor

Civilsdaily

Login

GS Paper: GS1

  • [pib] Sugamya Bharat App

    Union Minister for Social justice and Empowerment has launched the “Sugamya Bharat App”.

    Sugamya Bharat App

    • The Sugamya Bharat App is a simple to use Mobile App with an easy registration process, requiring only 3 mandatory fields, namely, Name, Mobile number and Email-id.
    • Registered users can raise issues related to accessibility being faced.
    • The App is made accessible for ease of use for persons with disabilities also with features such as font size adjustment, color contrasting option, text to speech, and having an integrated screen reader in Hindi and English.
    • It is available in 10 regional languages, namely, Hindi, English, Marathi, Tamil, Odiya, Kannada, Telugu, Gujarati, Punjabi, and Malayalam.
    • The App also has the provision of easy photo uploads with a geotagging option of the premise where accessibility intervention is required.

    Its features

    • The app, a Crowdsourcing Mobile Application is a means for sensitizing and enhancing accessibility in the 3 pillars of the Accessible India Campaign i.e. built environment, transportation sector and ICT ecosystem in India.
    • The app provides for five main features, 4 of which are directly related to enhancing accessibility, while the fifth is a special feature meant only for Divyangjan for COVID related issues.

    The accessibility-related features are:

    • Registration of complaints of inaccessibility across the 3 broad pillars of the Sugamya Bharat Abhiyaan;
    • Positive feedback of examples and best practices worth emulating being shared by people as jan-bhagidhari;
    • Departmental updates and guidelines and circulars related to accessibility.

    Back2Basics: Sugamya Bharat Abhiyan

    • Accessible India Campaign or Sugamya Bharat Abhiyan is a program that is set to be launched to serve the differently-able community of the country.
    • The flagship program has been launched on 3 December 2015, the International Day of People with Disabilities.
    • The program comes with an index to measure the design of disabled-friendly buildings and human resource policies.
    • The initiative also in line with Article 9 of the (UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities) which India is a signatory since 2007.
    • The scheme also comes under the Persons with Disabilities Act, 1995 for equal Opportunities and protection of rights which provides non-discrimination in Transport to Persons with Disabilities.

  • What is Stockholm+50?

    Stockholm+50 is a high-level meeting that the Government of Sweden plans to hold in conjunction with the 50th anniversary of the first UN conference on the human environment – the 1972 Stockholm Conference.

    The 1972 Stockholm Conference

    • The UN Conference on the Human Environment, also known as the Stockholm Conference, was the first UN conference on the environment and was held between 5 and 16 June 1972 in Stockholm.
    • The meeting’s outcome document – the Stockholm Declaration – included several principles that are still important for environmental management.
    • Another result of the meeting was the establishment of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the World Environment Day, held annually on 5 June.

    Try this PYQ:

    Q.The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) is an international treaty drawn at:

    (a) United Nations Conference on the Human Environment, Stockholm, 1972

    (b) UN Conference on Environment and Development, Rio de Janeiro, 1992

    (c) World Summit on Sustainable Development, Johannesburg, 2002

    (d) UN Climate Change Conference, Copenhagen, 2009

    Background

    • It’s been a generation since global leaders met in Stockholm in 1972 to discuss environmental challenges.
    • Then the concerns were for the local environment; there was no talk of climate change or even the depletion of the ozone layer.
    • All that came later. In 1972, the discussion was on the toxification of the environment as water and air were foul.

    Progress for 50 years

    • The toxification of the environment is still a pressing concern; countries have indeed cleaned up locally but added to the emissions in the global atmosphere.
    • Now, we are out of time as climate change impacts are spiralling out of control.

    Perils of Ecological Globalization

    • The fact is we stitched up the global ecological framework in terms of the many agreements only.
    • During this time, we also signed another agreement on free-trade — the economic globalisation agreement.
    • But we never really understood how these two frameworks — ecological and economic globalisation — would counteract each other.
    • As a result, we have worked to build an economic model based on discounting the price of labour and of the environment.

    Expectations from Stockholm+50

    • The aim of Stockholm+50 is to contribute to concrete action.
    • It aims at leveraging sustainable consumption and production patterns and nature-based solutions in order to achieve climate-neutral, resilient, circular and inclusive economies.
    • The narrative and result will be further developed together with interested governments and other partners.

  • 10th century Buddhist Monastery uncovered in Jharkhand’s Hazaribagh

    The Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) has unearthed a Buddhist monastery, believed to be at least 900 years old, buried under a mound in a village situated in a hilly area of Hazaribagh district of Jharkhand.

    Details of the excavation

    • The findings were significant since the monastery is on the old route to Varanasi, 10 km from Sarnath, where the Buddha gave his first sermon.
    • Archaeologists found four statues of the deity Tara in Varad Mudra and six statues of the Buddha in bhumisparsa Mudra
    • So it is a significant finding as deity Tara’s statues mean this was an important centre of the Vajrayana sect of Buddhism.
    • Vajrayana is a form of Tantric Buddhism, which flourished in India from the 6th to 11th century.

    Tap to read more about Buddhism at:

    Chapter 5 | Mauryan Period (400BC – 200BC)

    Learning: Various Mudra of Buddha

    PC: Pinterest

  • Inscription on Krishnadevaraya’s death discovered

    The first-ever epigraphical reference to the date of death of Vijayanagara king Krishnadevaraya has been discovered in the Tumakuru district of Karnataka.

    Try this question from CS Mains 2016:

    Q.Krishnadevaraya, the King of Vijayanagara was not only an accomplished scholar himself, but was also a great patron of learning and literature. Discuss.

    Who was Krishnadevaraya?

    • Krishna Devaraya was the emperor of the Vijayanagara Empire during 1509–1529. He was the third ruler of the Tuluva Dynasty and is considered to be its greatest ruler.
    • He possessed the largest empire in India after the decline of the Delhi Sultanate.
    • Krishnadevaraya earned the titles Kannada Rajya Rama Ramana (lit, “Lord of the Kannada empire”), Andhra Bhoja (lit, “Andhra Bhoja(Scholar) King”) and Mooru Rayara Ganda (lit, “King of Three Kings”).
    • He became the dominant ruler of the peninsula of India by defeating the Sultans of Bijapur, Golconda, the Bahmani Sultanate and the Gajapatis of Odisha, and was one of the most powerful Hindu rulers in India.
    • Indeed, when the Mughal Emperor Babur was taking stock of the potentates of north India, Krishnadevaraya was rated the most powerful and had the most extensive empire in the subcontinent.
    • Portuguese travellers Domingo Paes and Fernao Nuniz also visited the Vijayanagara Empire during his reign.

    His literary work

    • The rule of Krishnadevaraya was an age of prolific literature in many languages, although it is also known as a golden age of Telugu literature.
    • He was fluent in many languages like Kannada, Marathi, Sanskrit, Telugu and Tamil.
    • Eight Telugu poets were regarded as eight pillars of his literary assembly and known as Ashtadiggajas. He himself composed an epic Telugu poem Amuktamalyada.
    • He took the title of Abhinava-Bhoja and Sakala-Kala-Bhoja (“Bhoja of all the arts”) in honour of Parmara emperor Bhoja who was a polymath, a master of 64 arts and a military genius.

    What does the inscription say?

    • As per the inscription, Krishnadevaraya died on October 17, 1529, Sunday.
    • Incidentally, this day was marked by a lunar eclipse.
    • The inscription also registers the gift of village Honnenahalli in Tumakuru for conducting worship to the god Veeraprasanna Hanumantha of Tumakuru.
    • The Kalahasti inscription refers to the date of Achyutaraya’s (his successor) coronation as October 21, 1529 AD.

  • [pib] Who was Mannathu Padmanabhan (1878-1970)?

    The Prime Minister has tweeted tributes to Sri Mannathu Padmanabhan on his death anniversary.

    UPSC is digging deeper in the regional freedom movements to get such questions beyond our knowledge base.Try this question from CSP 2020

    Q.The Vital Vidhvansak, the first monthly journal to have the untouchable people as its target audience was published by:

    (a) Gopal Babu Walangkar

    (b) Jyotiba Phule

    (c) Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi

    (d) Bhimarao Ramji Ambedkar

    Here, we know something about options b, c and d. So it is less dicey to pull the odd man out.

    Mannathu Padmanabhan

    • Padmanabhan was an Indian social reformer and freedom fighter from the south-western state of Kerala.
    • He is recognised as the founder of the Nair Service Society (NSS), which claims to represent the Nair community that constitutes 12.10% (From KMS 2011) of the population of the state.
    • He fought for social equality, the first phase being the Vaikom Satyagraha, demanding the public roads near the temple at Vaikom be opened to low caste Hindus.
    • He took part in the Vaikom (1924) and Guruvayoor (1931) temple-entry Satyagrahas; the anti-untouchability agitations. He opened his family temple for everyone, irrespective of caste distinction.
    • He became a member of the Indian National Congress in 1946 and took part in the agitation against Sir C. P. Ramaswamy Iyer’s administration in Travancore.
    • As the first president of the Travancore Devaswom Board, he revitalised many temples which had almost ceased to function.

  • Same-sex marriages cannot be recognized: Centre

    The Centre has opposed any changes to the existing laws on marriage to recognise same-sex marriages, saying such interference would cause “complete havoc with the delicate balance of personal laws in the country”.

    What is the case?

    • A petition had sought to recognize same-sex marriage.
    • Despite the decriminalization of Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), the petitioners cannot claim a fundamental right for same-sex marriage being recognised under the laws of the country”.

    What did the Centre say?

    • Living together as partners and having a sexual relationship with same-sex individuals is not comparable with the Indian family unit concept.
    • The Indian concept of family constitutes a husband, a wife and children which necessarily presuppose a biological man as a ‘husband’, a biological woman as a ‘wife’ and the children born out.
    • It said the 2018 landmark judgment of the Supreme Court decriminalizing consensual homosexual sex in India was “neither intended to nor did it in fact, legitimize the human conduct in question”.

    Why such a move by the Centre?

    • The registration of marriage of same-sex persons also results in a violation of existing personal as well as codified law provisions — such as ‘degrees of prohibited relationship’; ‘conditions of marriage’; ‘ceremonial and ritual requirements’ under the personal laws governing the individuals”.
    • Any other interpretation except treating ‘husband’ as a biological man and ‘wife’ as a biological woman will make all statutory provisions unworkable, the government cautioned.
    • In a same-sex marriage, it is neither possible nor feasible to term one as ‘husband’ and the other as ‘wife’ in the context of the legislative scheme of various personal laws.

    Back2Basics: Article 377 of IPC

    • Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) is an act that criminalizes homosexuality and was introduced in the ear 1861 during the British rule of India.
    • Referred to ‘unnatural offences’ and says whoever voluntarily has carnal intercourse against the order of nature with any man, woman or animal, shall be punished with imprisonment for life.
    • However, in a historic verdict, the Supreme Court of India on September 6, 2018, decriminalized Section 377 of the IPC and allowed gay sex among consenting adults in private.
    • The SC ruled that consensual adult sex is not a crime saying sexual orientation is natural and people have no control over it.
    • It also said that Section 377 remains in force relating to sex with minors, non-consensual sexual acts, and bestiality.

  • [pib] City Innovation Exchange (CiX)

    The City Innovation Exchange (CiX) platform was launched by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs.

    City Innovation Exchange (CiX)

    • The CiX will connect cities to innovators across the national ecosystem to design innovative solutions for their pressing challenges.
    • The platform will ease the discovery, design & validation of solutions through a robust, transparent and user-centric process that will reduce barriers for innovators and cities to discover fitting solutions.
    • Built on the concept of ‘open innovation’, the platform will help in the flow of ideas ‘outside in and inside out, enhancing the skills and capacity required to deliver smart urban governance.
    • Through interaction with Academia and Businesses/Startups, the platform will benefit cities in the transfer of ideas from ‘labs’ to the real environment.
    • Similarly, by helping urban governments interact with citizens, the platform will ensure the adoption of tested solutions that will be impactful and sustainable.

    Benefits of CiX

    • The CiX platform will be a significant addition to the growing innovation ecosystem of India and focuses on fostering innovative practices in cities.
    • CiX, through an ‘open innovation’ process, engages with innovators to design-test-deliver on solutions to pressing urban challenges.
    • This initiative is among the ongoing efforts to realize PM’s vision of New and AtmaNirbhar Bharat, by making cities more self-reliant and enabled to meet the needs of and provide services to their citizens.
    • The platform in due time will help our cities in adopting solutions that will enhance the quality of life for their residents and significantly improve the Ease of Doing Business.

    Try this PYQ:

    Q.The Constitution (Seventy-Third Amendment) Act, 1992, which aims at promoting the Panchayati Raj Institutions in the country, provides for which of the following?

    1. Constitution of District Planning Committees.
    2. State Election Commissions to conduct all panchayat elections.
    3. Establishment of State Finance Commissions.

    Select the correct answer using the codes given below:

    (a) Only 1

    (b) 1 and 2 only

    (c) 2 and 3 only

    (d) 1, 2 and 3

  • Pagri Sambhaal Movement of 1907

    As a part of the ongoing farmers’ protest, groups across the country have celebrated February 23 as ‘Pagri Sambhal Diwas’.

    Try this PYQ:

    Q.What was the immediate cause for the launch of the Swadeshi movement?

    (a) The partition of Bengal done by Lord Curzon.

    (b) A sentence of 18 months rigorous imprisonment imposed on Lokmanya Tilak.

    (c) The arrest and deportation of Lala Lajpat Rai and Ajit Singh; and passing of the Punjab Colonization Bill.

    (d) Death sentence pronounced on the Chapekar brothers.

    Pagri Sambhaal Movement

    • Pagrhi Sambhaal Jatta was a successful farm agitation that forced the British government to repeal three laws related to agriculture back in 1907.
    • Bhagat Singh’s uncle Ajit Singh was the force behind this agitation, and he wanted to channel people’s anger over the farm laws to topple the colonial government.

    What were the ‘three laws’?

    • The three farm-related acts at the centre of the storm in 1907 were the Punjab Land Alienation Act 1900, the Punjab Land Colonization Act 1906 and the Doab Bari Act.
    • These acts would reduce farmers from owners to contractors of land, and gave the British government the right to take back the allotted land if the farmer even touched a tree in his field without permission.
    • Amid resentment against the laws, Bhagat Singh’s father Kishan Singh and uncle Ajit Singh, with their revolutionary friend Ghasita Ram, formed the Bharat Mata Society.
    • It worked to mobilise this unrest into a revolt against the British government.

    Repeal of the laws

    • Ajit Singh persuaded Congress leader Lala Lajpat Rai to come on the stage during a rally in Lyallpur on March 3, 1907, to protest against the laws.
    • On sensing the popular resentment, the British made a minor amendment to the laws.
    • The agitation couldn’t remain non-violent. Ajit Singh was booked for sedition after his speech at a public meeting in Rawalpindi on April 21, 1921.
    • Violence erupted soon afterwards and the British government repealed the three controversial laws in May 1907.

  • Places in news: Lake Chad

    One of Africa’s largest freshwater bodies, Lake Chad, has shrunk by 90 per cent.

    Try this PYQ from CSP 2018:

    Q.Which of the following has/have shrunk immensely/dried up in the recent past due to human activities?

    1. Aral Sea
    2. Black Sea
    3. Lake Baikal

    Select the correct answer using the code given below:

    (a) 1 only

    (b) 2 and 3

    (c) 2 only

    (d) 1 and 3

    Lake Chad

    • Lake Chad in the Sahel spans the countries of Nigeria, Niger, Chad and Cameroon and is home to 17.4 million people.
    • It is blessed with rich aquatic and terrestrial biodiversity.
    • The Chari River, fed by its tributary the Logone, provides over 90% of the lake’s water, with a small amount coming from the Yobe River in Nigeria/Niger.
    • Despite high levels of evaporation, the lake is freshwater.
    • The Lake Chad basin comprises biosphere reserves, World Heritage and Ramsar sites as well as wetlands of international conservation importance.

    Why it is significant?

    • For years, the lake has been supporting drinking water, irrigation, fishing, livestock and economic activity for over 30 million people in the region.
    • It is vital for indigenous, pastoral and farming communities in one of the world’s poorest countries.
    • However, climate change has fuelled a massive environmental and humanitarian crisis.
    • The United Nations has termed the Lake Chad crisis as “one of the worst in the world”.

    A looming peril

    • The lake has shrunk 90 per cent over the last 60 years since the chronic droughts surged at the beginning of the 1970s.
    • The surface area of the lake was 26,000 square kilometres in 1963; it has now reduced to less than 1,500 square kilometres.
    • Its population is exploding and the region has been ripped apart from conflict at an unprecedented scale.

    Behind all crises

    • The ever-changing climate has dramatically worsened the situation, amplifying food and nutritional insecurity in the region.
    • Temperature is rising one-and-a-half times faster than the global average. The seasonal and inter-rainfall patterns have been drastically changing each year.
    • This has triggered food insecurity, ultimately pushing communities into the arms of terrorist groups.
    • Boko Haram is one of the top insurgent groups with a strong foothold in the region.

  • Carbon Watch: India’s first app to assess one’s carbon footprint

    Chandigarh became the first state or UT in India to launch Carbon Watch, a mobile application to assess the carbon footprint of an individual.

    Carbon Footprint

    • A carbon footprint is the total greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions caused by an individual, event, organization, service, or product, expressed as carbon dioxide equivalent.
    • It corresponds to the whole amount of greenhouse gases (GHG) produced to, directly and indirectly; support a person’s lifestyle and activities.
    • Carbon footprints are usually measured in equivalent tons of CO2, during the period of a year, and they can be associated with an individual, an organization, a product or an event, among others.
    • The GHGs whose sum results in a carbon footprint can come from the production and consumption of fossil fuels, food, manufactured goods, materials, roads or transportation.

    Note: An ecological footprint, as explained earlier compares the total resources people consume with the land and water area that is needed to replace those resources. A carbon footprint also deals with resource usage but focuses strictly on the greenhouse gases released due to burning of fossil fuels.

    How does the app Carbon Watch work?

    • As a person downloads the application, they will need to fill details in four parts — Water, Energy, Waste Generation and Transport (Vehicular movement).
    • In the category of Water, the person will be required to inform about the consumption of water.
    • In the Energy category, the details regarding the electricity units consumed every month at the house, monthly bill etc and usage of solar energy will have to be furnished.
    • In the Waste category, the individual will need to inform about the waste generated on their part and their family.
    • In the transport section, the individual will have to inform about the mode of transport used by four-wheeler, two-wheeler or bicycle.

    Try this PYQ:

    As a result of their annual survey, the National Geographic Society and an international polling firm GlobeScan gave India top rank in Greendex 2009 score. What is this score?

    (a) It is a measure of efforts made by different countries in adopting technologies for reducing the carbon footprint

    (b) It is a measure of environmentally sustainable consumer behavior in different countries

    (c) It is an assessment of programs/schemes undertaken by different countries for improving the conservation of natural resources

    (d) It is an index showing the volume of carbon credits sold by different countries