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GS Paper: GS1

  • Six degrees of Endangerment of a Language

    Recently, The NY Times reported that the “near-extinct” Nepalese language Seke has just 700 speakers around the world. As per the Endangered Languages Project (ELP), there are roughly 201 endangered languages in India and about 70 in Nepal.

    The last year, 2019, was the International Year of Indigenous Languages, mandated by the UN.

    Nepal’s Seke language

    • According to the Endangered Language Alliance (ELA), Seke is one of the over 100 indigenous languages of Nepal.
    • The dialects from these villages differ substantially and are believed to have varying degrees of mutual intelligibility.
    • In recent years, Seke has been retreating in the face of Nepali, which is Nepal’s official language and is considered to be crucial for getting educational and employment opportunities outside villages.

    Degrees of endangerment

    UNESCO has six degrees of endangerment. These are:

    1. Safe, which are the languages spoken by all generations and their intergenerational transmission is uninterrupted;
    2. Vulnerable languages, which are spoken by most children but may be restricted to certain domains;
    3. Definitely endangered languages, which are no longer being learnt by children as their mother tongue.
    4. Severely endangered are languages spoken by grandparents and older generations, and while the parent generation may understand it, they may not speak it with the children or among themselves.
    5. Critically endangered languages are those of which the youngest speakers are the grandparents or older family members who may speak the language partially or infrequently and lastly,
    6. Extinct languages, of which no speakers are left.

  • Eruption of Taal Volcano

     

    In the Philippines, a volcano called Taal on the island of Luzon; 50 km from Manila has recently erupted.

    Taal Volcano

    • Taal is classified as a “complex” volcano. Taal has 47 craters and four maars (a broad shallow crater).
    • It is situated at the boundaries of two tectonic plates — the Philippines Sea Plate and the Eurasian plate — it is particularly susceptible to earthquakes and volcanism.
    • A complex volcano, also called a compound volcano, is defined as one that consists of a complex of two or more vents, or a volcano that has an associated volcanic dome, either in its crater or on its flanks.
    • Examples include Vesuvius, besides Taal.
    • The Taal volcano does not rise from the ground as a distinct, singular dome but consists of multiple stratovolcanoes (volcanoes susceptible to explosive eruptions), conical hills and craters of all shapes and sizes.

    Threats posed

    • Taal’s closeness to Manila puts lives at stake. Manila is a few tens of kilometres away with a population of over 10 million.
    • The volcano is currently at alert level 4, which means that a “hazardous eruption” could be imminent within a few hours to a few days.
    • Hazardous eruptions are characterised by intense unrest, continuing seismic swarms and low-frequency earthquakes.

    Earlier records of eruption

    • Taal has erupted more than 30 times in the last few centuries. Its last eruption was on October 3, 1977.
    • An eruption in 1965 was considered particularly catastrophic, marked by the falling of rock fragments and ashfall.
    • Before that, there was a “very violent” eruption in 1911 from the main crater. The 1911 eruption lasted for three days, while one in 1754 lasted for seven months.
    • Because it is a complex volcano with various features, the kinds of eruption too have been varied. An eruption can send lava flowing through the ground, or cause a threat through ash in the air.

  • Fastest growing cities in India

     The Economist has put Malappuram at the top of the “Top ten fastest-growing cities” in the world.

    Anomalies in the data

    • The total fertility rate (TFR, the number of children a woman is likely to have in the childbearing age of 15-49) in Kerala is 1.8 as per NITI Aayog data from 2016 — below the replacement rate of 2.1.
    • Another Kerala city, Thrissur, is No. 13, and the capital Thiruvananthapuram is No. 33 on the UN list.
    • Tiruppur in Tamil Nadu — which has an even lower TFR of 1.6 — is No. 30.
    • Surat in Gujarat (TFR of 2.2) is No. 27. There is no representation on the list from high population growth states like Bihar and UP.

    What does “fastest growing” refer to? How is a “city” defined?

    • The list based on data from the UN Population Division refers to “urban agglomerations” (UA), which are extended areas built around an existing town along with its outgrowths — typically villages or other residential areas or universities, ports, etc., on the outskirts of the town.
    • The Census defines a UA as “a continuous urban spread consisting of a town and its adjoining urban outgrowths or two or more physically contiguous towns together”.
    • The NCT of Delhi is a UA that includes the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) and New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) areas, as well as 107 “Census towns” — erstwhile surrounding villages where more than 75% of the population is now engaged in non-agricultural pursuits.

    A pace of urbanization

    • The Economist has listed the rate at which the populations of the UAs are expected to increase between 2015 and 2020.
    • Since data on India and many other countries were not available for 2015 (the last Census in India was in 2011), the UN report used projections of UAs’ populations — estimates based on past population growth data.
    • The rate of growth between 2015 and 2020 thus calculated provides a measure of the pace of urbanisation.

    How does urban population grow?

    • Urban populations can grow when the birth rate exceeds the death rate when workers migrate to the city in search of jobs; when more areas get included within the boundaries of the city; or when existing rural areas are reclassified as urban.
    • The low fertility rate in Kerala means the increase in the population of Malappuram and other cities is not because women are having more children; rather it is because more villages are being transformed into towns, and city borders are expanding.
    • According to the Census definition, an urban area is either a census town (CT) or a statutory town (ST). An ST is any place with a municipal corporation, municipal council, or cantonment board.
    • A CT can be a village with “urban characteristics” — a population more than 5,000, population density more than 400 people per sq km, and with more than 75% of the population not engaged in agriculture for their livelihood.
    • When a village becomes a CT, its population is included in the urban population of the district.

    Could migration have caused the increase?

    • Migration can either increase or decrease the population of a town.
    • Kerala sees both emigration — migration from the state to other places — and immigration — the migration of workers to the state.
    • Also the remittances that emigrants send allow the residents of villages to move away from agriculture, which changes the status of a village to census town.

    Why these cities are growing so fast?

    • These cities are seeing rapid urbanisation, and the main reason is the inclusion of new areas in the UA’s limits.
    • In 2001, there were two municipal corporations within the UA of Malappuram. In 2011, the number of municipal corporations had doubled to four, and an additional 37 CTs were included within Malappuram.
    • The population of the UA (excluding the residents of the outgrowths) increased almost 10 times in the same period — from 1,70,409 to 16,99,060 — obviously because of the inclusion of existing urban areas in the town.
    • Similarly, Kollam UA grew from one municipal corporation in 2001 to 23 CTs, one municipal corporation, and one municipal council in 2011.
    • Its population increased by 130%, even though the population of the original ST of Kollam actually decreased by 4%.

    Why is this not seen elsewhere in India?

    • In Kerala, urbanisation is driven by a move away from agriculture, which leads to a change in a village’s Census classification status.
    • This is evident from the large number of CTs that were included in the UAs of the state since the last Census. On the other hand, except Delhi, the more populous cities in the North had fewer CTs in 2011.
    • While the pace of urbanisation has been slower in the North, some unnaturally high increases in the population can be expected after the 2021 Census — because in some cases, villages on the peripheries were brought within the administrative boundaries of the cities.

    Is it good for the economy?

    • Urbanisation leads to the growth of cities, which are sites of infrastructure like universities, hospitals, and public transport facilities.
    • There are more opportunities for the youth, which is why they attract young people and entrepreneurs.
    • In India, people moving to cities leave behind (to some extent) caste and class divisions that dominate life in the villages, and can hope to climb up the social ladder.
    • However, unplanned urbanisation can be “exclusionary”, making it difficult for migrants to live there given the high cost.
    • Unregulated housing, lack of reliable public transport, and longer commutes within these towns puts a strain on the meagre resources of migrants.

  • Person in news: Swami Vivekananda

    January 12 is the birth anniversary of Swami Vivekananda, the famous spiritual leader and intellectual from the late 19th century. In his honour, the government of India in 1984 declared his birthday as National Youth Day.

    Swami Vivekananda early life

    • Vivekananda was born in Kolkata on January 12, 1863, as Narendra Nath Datta.
    • From an early age, he nurtured an interest in Western philosophy, history, and theology, and went on to meet the religious leader Ramakrishna Paramhansa, who later became his Guru.
    • He remained devoted to Ramakrishna until the latter’s death in 1886.
    • In 1893, he took the name ‘Vivekananda’ after Maharaja Ajit Singh of the Khetri State requested him to do so, changing from ‘Sachidananda’ that he used before.
    • After Ramakrishna’s death, Vivekananda toured across India, and set after educating the masses about ways to improve their economic condition as well as imparting spiritual knowledge.

    The Chicago address

    • Vivekananda is especially remembered around the world for his speech at the Parliament of the World’s Religions in Chicago in 1893.
    • The speech covered topics including universal acceptance, tolerance and religion, and got him a standing ovation.
    • He began delivering lectures at various places in the US and UK, and became popular as the ‘messenger of Indian wisdom to the Western world’.

    Return to India

    • After coming back to India, he formed the Ramakrishna Mission in 1897 “to set in motion a machinery which will bring noblest ideas to the doorstep of even the poorest and the meanest.”
    • In 1899, he established the Belur Math, which became his permanent abode.

    His legacy

    • Through his speeches and lectures, Vivekananda worked to disseminate his religious thought.
    • He preached ‘neo-Vedanta’, an interpretation of Hinduism through a Western lens, and believed in combining spirituality with material progress.
    • ‘Raja Yoga’, ‘Jnana Yoga’, ‘Karma Yoga’ are some of the books he wrote.
    • An important religious reformer in India, Swami Vivekananda is known to have introduced the Hindu philosophies of Yoga and Vedanta to the West.
    • Subhas Chandra Bose had called Vivekananda the “maker of modern India.”

  • Person in news: Manilal Doctor

    An associate of Mahatma Gandhi, Manilal Doctor is known for his efforts towards helping abolish the indentured labour system that Indian immigrants in many parts of the British Empire were subjected to. He fought for the rights of Indian-origin people in Mauritius and Fiji.

    The indentured labour system

    • In 1833, the British Parliament banned slavery, and the practice became illegal throughout the Empire. However, to maintain the supply of labour in their territories, colonial authorities effectively replaced slavery with the indentured labour system.
    • The ‘indenture’ (meaning contract) system required Indians to sign a legal agreement stating their consent to move abroad for a minimum of five years to work mainly on sugar estates.
    • Many were lured to distant lands, such as the Caribbean, South Africa, Réunion, Mauritius, Malaysia, and Fiji, where they ended up living in miserable conditions.
    • In the mid 19th century, over 35 lakh Indians were transported to British, French, and Dutch colonies around the world. The system was officially banned in 1917.

    Manilal Doctor

    • Born in 1881 in Vadodara, Doctor studied law in Bombay before travelling to Britain in 1905 for further studies.
    • He became a member of the Indian Home Rule Society in London, and wrote in the monthly ‘Indian Sociologist’.
    • In 1906, Doctor met Gandhi, who at the time was in London to meet imperial authorities on behalf of South Africa’s Indian origin people.
    • During the meeting, Gandhi asked Doctor to move to Mauritius to assist the Indian community there in their struggle for equal rights. Doctor arrived in Mauritius the following year.

    In Mauritius (1907-1911)

    • Doctor organised the Indian community in the island colony, which consisted of indentured and non-indentured workers, and advocated for the abolition of discriminatory laws.
    • He practised law at the Supreme Court in St Louis, and provided free legal service to bonded workers in need.
    • Doctor visited plantations across the island and met indentured labourers, making them aware of their rights and encouraged them to agitate.
    • He founded ‘The Hindustani’ newspaper in Mauritius, which had the motto “Liberty of Individuals! Fraternity of Men!!! Equality of Race!!!”
    • Doctor also helped establish the Arya Samaj in Mauritius. He returned to India in 1911.

    Next, Fiji (1912-1920)

    • In 1912, Gandhi deputed Doctor to the Fiji Colony with the same objective. Like in Mauritius, Doctor emerged as the leader of the Indian community in Fiji in the coming years.
    • In Fiji, Doctor started ‘The Indian Settler’ newspaper, and helped set up the Indian Imperial Association. Here too, he helped establish the Arya Samaj.
    • In 1920, Doctor organised a major strike, which rattled colonial authorities.
    • The imperial administration had Doctor deported to New Zealand, where he remained under surveillance and was barred from practising.
    • In 1922, Doctor was able to move to Gaya in Bihar, where he could practise law. He later practised for many years in Aden, also then a British colony, and died in Bombay in 1956.

  • Person in news: Revolutionary Ashfaqullah Khan

    The Uttar Pradesh cabinet has approved a proposal for a zoological garden spread across 121 acres in Gorakhpur, to be named after the freedom fighter and revolutionary Ashfaqullah Khan.

    Ashfaqullah Khan

    • Khan was a freedom fighter who, along with Ram Prasad Bismil, was sentenced to death for the Kakori train robbery, commonly referred to as the Kakori conspiracy of 1925.
    • He was born on October 22, 1900, in Shahjahanpur, Uttar Pradesh.
    • He grew up at a time when Mahatma Gandhi had launched the non-cooperation movement and urged Indians not to pay taxes to the government or co-operate with the British.

    Moved by NCM withdrawal

    • Within about 1.5 years of the movement’s launch, in February 1922, the Chauri Chaura incident took place in Gorakhpur — a large number of non-cooperation protestors clashed with the police and set the police station on fire, killing roughly 22 policemen.
    • Opposed to violence, Gandhi called off the movement.
    • The youth of the country were greatly disappointed and disillusioned with this. Khan was one among these youths.
    • Subsequently, he joined the revolutionaries and became acquainted with Bismil.

    Ashfaqullah Khan and the Hindustan Socialist Republican Association

    • In the mid-1920s, Khan and Bismil went on to found the Hindustan Socialist Republican Association (HSRA), with the aim of winning freedom for the country through an armed revolution.
    • HSRA published its manifesto titled “The Revolutionary” in 1925.
    • It held that the immediate object of the revolutionary party in the domain of politics is to establish a federal Republic of United State of India by an organized and armed revolution.
    • The final constitution of this Republic shall be framed and declared at a time when the representatives of India shall have the power to carry out their decision.
    • But the basic principles of this Republic will be universal suffrage and abolition of all system which make the exploitation of man by man possible, e.g. the railways, the mines and other industries such as the manufacture of steel and ships all these shall be nationalised.

    The Kakori Conspiracy

    • In August 1925, an armed robbery took place on board the Kakori Express, going from Shahjahanpur to Lucknow, carrying money that had been collected at various railway stations and was to be deposited in Lucknow.
    • In this planned robbery, carried out to fund the activities of the HSRA, Bismil, Khan and over 10 other revolutionaries stopped the train and fled with the cash they found in it.
    • Within a month of the robbery, many members of the HSRA were arrested.
    • In September 1926, Bismil was arrested however Khan was on the run and was later arrested.
    • The trial for the case went on for about 1.5 years. It ended in April 1927, with Bismil, Khan, Rajendra Lahiri and Roshan Singh sentenced to death, and the others given life sentences.

  • Epiphany festival

    The Epiphany festival was celebrated in parts of India, such as Goa and Kerala. In Goa, the celebration is known by its Portuguese name ‘Festa dos Reis’, and in parts of Kerala by its Syriac name ‘Denha’.

    Epiphany or Three Kings’ Day

    • Epiphany is among the three oldest and major festival days in Christianity, the two others being Christmas and Easter.
    • It is celebrated on January 6 by a number of Christian sects, including Roman Catholics, and on January 19 by some Eastern Orthodox churches.
    • In the West, the duration between December 25 and January 6 is known as the Twelve Days of Christmas.
    • Epiphany is a feast day, or a day of commemoration, which in Christianity marks the visit of the Magi (meaning the Three Wise Men or Three Kings) to the Infant Jesus (Christ from his nativity until age 12).
    • According to Christian belief, the Magi — Balthasar, Melchior, and Gaspar (or Casper), the kings of Arabia, Persia, and India, respectively — followed a miraculous guiding star to Bethlehem to paid homage to the Infant Jesus.
    • The day also commemorates the baptism of Jesus in the Jordan River.

    Celebrations in India

    • In Goa, the Magi or Three Kings are called ‘Reis Magos’ in Portuguese.
    • The Reis Magos fort, and church, in Bardez, and the Three Kings Chapel in Cansaulim, get their name from the belief.
    • Communities in Bardez, Chandor, Cansaulim, Arossim, and Cuelim are known to celebrate Epiphany.
    • In Kerala, at the St. Mary’s Orthodox Syrian Cathedral in Piravom, ‘Denha’ is an important annual celebration, in which a big congregation takes part.

  • Blaze down under

    Context

    In Australia, forest fires, among the worst in the country’s history, have been raging since September and show no signs of abating.

     Unabated fire in Australia

    • The fire, worst in Australia’s history, has been raging since September and shows no signs of abating.
    • At least 24 people lost their lives, 500 million animal have perished, and more than 12bn acres of land has turned to cinders.
    • New South Wales, the country’s worst-affected state, declared an emergency last week in its southeastern region.

    Climate change and the fire

    • Australians have vented their anger at Prime Minister for playing down the blaze’s association with climate change.
    • Bushfires are actually a part of Australia’s ecosystem. Many plants depend on them to cycle nutrients and clear vegetation.
    • Eucalyptus trees in Australia depend on fire to release their seeds.
    • The prolonged blaze this year has coincided with Australia’s harshest summer.
    • Parts of the country recorded their highest recorded temperature in December.
    • Much of Australia is facing a drought that is a result of three consecutive summers with very little precipitation.
    • This, according to climate scientists, is unprecedented.
    • Australian Bureau of Meteorology’s 2018 State of the Climate report had given a hint of the change.
    • It said “Australia’s climate has warmed by just over 1 degree Celsius since 1910, leading to an increase in the frequency of extreme heat events.’’
    • This has led to more rainfall in northern Australia but created drought-like conditions in the more densely populated southeast.

    Damage caused to the flora and fauna of Australia

    • Australia is home to nearly 250 animal species.
    • Some of them like the koalas and kangaroos are not found elsewhere.
    • The region also has the highest rate of native animals going extinct over the past 200 years.
    • Experts, for example, reckon that more than a quarter of the koala habitat has been consumed by the blaze.
    • The fires have also caused a drop in the bird, rodent and insect populations.

    Conclusion

    • These creatures perished are the building blocks of the ecosystem and the fall in their population is bound to have long-term impacts. In Australia’s bushfires lies a warning about the complex ways in which climate variables interact.

  • Places in news: Nankana Sahib

    Recently tension mounted in Pakistan after few goons vandalized the Nankana Sahib Gurdwara.

    Nankana Sahib

    • Nankana Sahib is a city of 80,000 in Pakistan’s Punjab province, where Gurdwara Janam Asthan (also called Nankana Sahib Gurdwara) is located.
    • The shrine is built over the site where Guru Nanak, the founder of Sikhism, was believed to be born in 1469.
    • It was constructed by Maharaja Ranjit Singh, after he visited Nankana Sahib in 1818-19 while returning from the Battle of Multan.
    • It is 75 kms to the west of Lahore, and is the capital of Nankana Sahib district.
    • The city was previously known as Talwandi, and was founded by Rai Bhoi, a wealthy landlord.
    • Rai Bhoi’s grandson, Rai Bular Bhatti, renamed the town ‘Nankana Sahib’ in honour of the Guru. ‘Sahib’ is an Arabic-origin epithet of respect.

    Historical significance

    • During British rule, the Gurdwara Janam Asthan was the site of a violent episode when in 1921, over 130 Akali Sikhs were killed after they were attacked by the Mahant of the shrine.
    • The incident is regarded as one of the key milestones in the Gurdwara Reform Movement, which led to the passing of the Sikh Gurdwara Act in 1925 that ended the Mahant control of Gurdwaras.
    • In 2014, Pakistan had a memorial for the massacre built.

  • [op-ed snap]Secularism’s Brexit moment

     

    Context

    In India, the debate on the issue of secularism needs to be based on a more principled and practical basis.

    Change in public discourse

    • Popular skepticism of secularism has been growing these days.
    • Secularism is being increasingly discounted not only by the hardliners but also by the moderate middle.
    • It is no longer taboo to raise questions that were formerly the preserve of the fringe.
    • Today, democracy is taken for granted by all the Indians. No one raises questions over its utility.
    • Secularism need to be elevated to the same level as is the democracy today, where no one raises the question on its utility.

    What are the issues with the defenders of secularism?

    • Rather than make case for secularism, its champions indulge in name-calling and citing the example from the past to tarnish and shut down critics.
    • They also cite the Constitution in their support-without realising that it is this very document’s secular thrust that has became suspect.
    • They also assume the obvious correctness of their cosmopolitan worldview.

    What changes need to be made?

    • They must make a case for secularism anew-principled and practical.
    • On principled basis-individual equality, freedom of conscience and personal habits.
    • On a practical basis-no country can flourish by degrading their minority.
    • They must stress the India’s plurality and “live and let live” culture, syncretic traditions and long history of respect and accommodation of differences.
    • They also need to show some humility.
    • They also have to show openness to fair-minded criticism.

    Conclusion

    These suggestions are urgently needed to be followed by those arguing in the defence of secularism otherwise there is a very real possibility of a large section of a society losing faith in secularism. In this anxious hours India needs to engage in open and self-critical debate-rather than polarising polemic.