Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: HSRA
Mains level: HSRA and its revolutionary activities
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.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Epiphany Festival
Mains level: NA
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.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: The post of CDS and its responsibilities.
Mains level: Paper 3-Security forces and their mandates.
Context
Recently Chief of Defence Staff post was created by the Government. The utility of this post and the problem it could create are debated.
History leading to the post
- First World War brought to the fore the command and control dilemmas of concurrent conflicts.
- During the colonial years of Great Britain, an issue that received consideration was the British higher command and control structures.
- With the declaration of the Second World War, the responsibility of higher command fell on War Cabinet serviced by the Chiefs of Staff Committee.
- Winston Churchill as prime minister given the supreme power but remained responsible to the parliament.
- After the U.S. entered the war, a unified command required a single commander.
- After the war ended and the Cold War started, Eisenhower became the supreme commander of NATO.
- While political powers were vested in the NATO council.
- Despite the experience of the World Wars the U.S. has not created CDS.
- In the U.S., the military chain of command runs directly from theatre commanders to civilian secretaries to the President.
- Britain, however, created the post of the Chief of Defence Staff.
The outline for India
- The three-tier defense management structure was adopted by Jawaharlal Nehru.
- Cabinet Committee on security has served India for well over the years.
Role of CDS
- Department of Military Affairs, headed by CDS will deal with the Army, Navy and Air force and The Territorial Army.
- Works related to procurement related exclusively to the services except for capital acquisition.
- He will also act as a Principal Military Advisor to the Defence Minister.
- CDS will not exercise any military command, including the three Service Chiefs, so as to be able to provide impartial advice to the political leadership.
A subordination
- There would be an implied subordination of the three service chiefs to the CDS notwithstanding any declaration to the contrary.
- CDS is tasked with facilitating the restructuring of military commands.
- Bringing about jointness in operations including through the establishment of joint/ theatre command.
- This could encroach upon the domain of the service chiefs.
- The CDS would outrank the three service chiefs even though all are four-star.
- CDS could override the Service Chiefs on critical tactical and perhaps even strategic issues.
Conclusion
- The Department of Military Affairs would exercise control over the three services and also most problematic is the erosion of the civilian supremacy which could result with the creation of the post.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Not much.
Mains level: Paper 2- International relations.
Context
The raging fire in Australia gives provides an opportunity for India and Australia to deepen their dialogue including on energy.
Scope for the two countries
- At this moment India and Australia have a rare opportunity to translate their converging interests into a partnership.
- At Australia India Leadership Dialogue last month in Melbourne, the breadth and depth of the relationship was evident.
- As a consequence of the bushfires, the debate on global warming, climate change and fossil fuels is going to intensify in the weeks ahead.
- Environmental activism has gained ground throughout Australia.
- Indian Ocean Dipole may have triggered the drought that is related to the fires.
- The campaign against fossil fuels and the export of coal is sure to intensify.
- India and Australia are two economies with a great stakeholding in fossil fuels.
- It is critical for India and Australia to ensure that their dialogue on energy acquires momentum.
- Both countries must simultaneously strengthen the International Solar Alliance and the search for other alternative green fuels.
Common threat of China
- Leadership Dialogue also recognised that we are living through a period of immense turbulence, disruption, and even subversion.
- Presence of assertive China is the single biggest challenge to our two countries.
- In India, there is a consensus that the Australia-India relationship is an idea whose time has well and truly come.
Area of coordination
- India and Australia can work on the area of water management to trauma research to skill and higher education.
- Both the countries can also work in the area of maritime security, cybersecurity, counterterrorism,
- In a survey, Indians ranked Australia in the top four nations towards which they feel most warmly.
- Both have a strategic interest in ensuring a free, open, inclusive and rules-based Indo-Pacific region.
- Indians are today the largest source of skilled migrants in Australia.
- there is need for an early conclusion of a bilateral Free Trade Agreement.
Conclusion
There is a large scope for both countries to coordinate on wide issues like energy, research, security and work together for the benefit of both countries.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Not much.
Mains level: Paper 2- Health.
Context
The deaths of nearly 200 children in Kota, from largely preventable diseases, lays bare the condition of the healthcare system in India.
Where does India stand?
- According to UNICEF’s ‘State of World’s Children 2019’ report, India reported the maximum number of deaths of children under five in the world in 2018.
- 8,82,000 children under five died that year.
- That means around 2,416 deaths per day.
- The death of children due to largely-preventable illnesses is a matter of serious concern and calls for urgent introspection.
Factors that govern child health
- Most of the children who died in Gorakhpur, Muzaffarpur and Kota belong to the lowest strata of the society.
- It won’t be wrong to conclude that they were victims of structural violence.
- This structural violence is unleashed through a multitude of social, political and economic factors apathy of healthcare professionals, poor health services/infrastructure
- And low rates of female literacy, economic inequality, the rigid caste system, social apartheid, lack of political will and patriarchy play role.
- As a society, we have stopped looking at the deaths of our citizens through the prism of compassion and concern.
- Structural violence influences the nature and distribution of extreme suffering.
What is being done in the wrong way?
- The government is considering the takeover of 750 district hospitals by private medical colleges through a public-private partnership (PPP) model.
- This, despite ample evidence about the failure of the model in the country’s healthcare system.
- Nobel laureate Kenneth Arrow demonstrated that profit and private involvement in healthcare lead to an erosion of trust.
- An Individual’s demand for medical services is irregular and unpredictable, the involvement of a private market model for such services can be disastrous.
- The U.S.’s experiences in the PPP model in healthcare have shone a light on the deficits in transparency and highlighted the lack of care of vulnerable groups.
Conclusion
- What urgently a sincere engagement by the state in matters concerning peoples’ health.
- We need to question the government’s priorities in a country where nearly a million children die every year
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: GDP, GNP, GVA etc.
Mains level: First Advance Estimates
The First Advance Estimates (FAE) were recently released by the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI).
The First Advance Estimates and their significance
- The First Advance Estimates (FAE) extrapolate a variety of data, such as the Index of Industrial Production (IIP), the financial performance of listed companies, first advance estimates of crop production etc., for the first 7 to 8 months to arrive at the annual figure.
- The significance of the FAE is that this is the final bit of official data before the government presents its next Budget.
- The sector-wise Estimates are obtained by extrapolation of indicators like-
- IIP of first 7 months of the financial year,
- financial performance of Listed Companies in the Private Corporate sector available upto quarter ending September, 2019
- 1st Advance Estimates of Crop production,
- accounts of Central & State Governments, information on indicators like Deposits & Credits, Passenger and Freight earnings of Railways, Passengers and Cargo handled by Civil Aviation, Cargo etc., available for first 8 months of the financial year”.
Estimates for 2018-19
- It estimated India’s GDP will grow by just 5 per cent in the current financial year (2019-20). Last financial year, 2018-19, the Indian economy grew at 6.8 per cent.
- The gross value added (GVA), which maps the economic activity from the income side as against the GDP which maps it from the expenditure side, is expected to grow by 4.9 per cent in 2019-20 as against 6.6 per cent in 2018-19.
Drivers of the GDP
There are four main drivers of the GDP:
- One, the private consumption expenditure – that is the expenditure that you and I make in our personal capacity. This category has grown by just 5.7 per cent in 2019-20 while it grew by 8 per cent last financial year.
- The second driver is the expenditure made by the Government. This grew by 10.5 per cent, which is higher than the rate of growth (9.2 per cent) in the last financial year.
- But the most disappointing number is the deceleration in business investments in the economy.
- This driver, which is the key to sustainable long-term growth, grew by less than 1 per cent; last financial year it grew by 10 per cent.
- This shows that while the private consumption demand is tepid, businesses have completely turned off the tap on new investments despite the government making a once-in-generation cut in corporate taxes.
Performance in terms of GVA
- The GVA data provides a detailed picture. Given that the overall GVA has decelerated sharply, almost all sectors have witnessed slower growth in economic activity.
- Only “Public Administration, Defence and Other Services,“ which essentially measures how the government did, grew by 9.1 per cent.
- All other sectors saw a GVA growth that was slower than the average growth in the last financial year.
- The worst performing sectors are ‘Agriculture, Forestry and Fishing’, ‘Mining and Quarrying’, ‘Manufacturing’ and ‘Construction’, which are expected to see a GVA growth of 2.8 per cent, 1.5 per cent, 2.0 per cent and 3.2 per cent respectively.
Back2Basics
Real vs. Nominal GDP
- GDP is the total market value of all goods and services produced in the economy during a particular year, inclusive of all taxes and subsidies on products.
- The market value taken at current prices is the nominal GDP.
- The value taken at constant prices — that is prices for all products taken at an unchanged base year (2011) — is the real GDP.
- In simple terms, real GDP is nominal GDP stripped of inflation.
- Real GDP growth thus measures how much the production of goods and services in the economy has increased in actual physical terms during a year.
- Nominal GDP growth, on the other hand, is a measure of the increase in incomes resulting from rise in both production and prices.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: GOCO Model
Mains level: Various investment models
Indian Army has initiated the process of identifying potential industry partners to implement the Government Owned Contractor Operated (GOCO) model for its base workshops and ordnance depots intended to improve operational efficiency.
GOCO model
- The GOCO model was one of the recommendations of the Lt. Gen. DB Shekatkar (Retd.) committee to enhance combat capability and re-balancing defence expenditure.
- In GOCO model, the assets owned by government will be operated by the private industries.
- Under the GOCO model, the private companies need not make investments on land, machinery and other support systems.
- The missions are set by government and the private sectors are given full independence in implementing the missions using their best practices.
- The main advantage of the model is that the targets are achieved in lesser time frame. Also, it will boost competitiveness among the private entities paving way to newer technologies.
Who will be eligible under the mode?
- The service provider should be an Indian registered company with at least 10 years of working experience in related domains and have an average annual turnover of ₹50 crore for each of the last three financial years.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Op Twist, Yeild Curve
Mains level: Outcomes of the Op Twist
Reserve Bank of India Governor has informed that the market’s reaction to Operation Twist was on expected lines.
Operation Twist
- The simultaneous buy-sell of government bonds, known as Operation Twist, was conducted to bring down long-term interest rate while allowing short term rates to inch up.
- The move was aimed at addressing liquidity, which is assymetric — abundant at the shorter end but not on the longer end. The move will help in monetary transmission.
- The central bank has so far carried out three rounds of simultaneous bond buy-and-sell via open market operations.
For more reading, navigate to the page:
Operation Twist
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Not Much
Mains level: Indian diaspora in Gulf region
The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has announced a five-year multiple-entry visa scheme for all nationalities, in a move that is geared towards promoting tourism in the country.
What is UAE’s new visa scheme?
- According to the Dubai-based Gulf News, prior to this, tourists could get single or multiple-entry visas for a duration of 30 or 90 days.
- In the new five-year multiple-entry system, visa holders may be allowed to stay for six months at a stretch.
- The details of the scheme are yet to be announced. The country’s Federal Authority for Identity and Citizenship will be implementing the decision.
- Travellers from Africa, some South American countries, Arab states outside the Gulf, and European states from outside the European Union and the former Soviet Union previously needed visas.
- The UAE currently receives more 2.1 crore tourists annually, and has recently increased its pace of rolling out policies to boost its trade and tourism sectors.
Other reforms
- In July 2019, the UAE allowed women employed in the country to sponsor work permits for their husbands, fathers, and adult children, and reduced the fees for obtaining work permits by 50 per cent to 94 per cent for 145 services and transactions.
- In the same month, the Emirate of Dubai said it would accept the Indian rupee (INR) for transactions at duty-free stores.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: SASE
Mains level: Not Much
Snow and Avalanche Study Establishment (SASE) has issued an Avalanche warning to Leh in Ladakh region.
SASE
- SASE is a laboratory of the Defence Research and Development Organization (DRDO)
- It is located near Manali, Himachal Pradesh.
- Its primary function is research in the field of snow and avalanches to provide avalanche control measures and forecasting support to Armed forces.
- Leh is important as it has two passes namely Chang La and Khardung La with world’s highest motorable roads through them with several avalanche-prone zones.
- Its utility is also meant for the soldiers in the worlds highest battle filed Siachen, in the region.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Great Indian Bustard
Mains level: Protection measures for GIB
Since June last year, nine GIB eggs collected from the Desert National Park in Jaisalmer where a conservation centre has been set up, have hatched, and the chicks are reported to be doing well.
Great Indian Bustard
- The Great Indian Bustard, one of the heaviest flying birds, can weigh up to 15 kg and grow up to one metre in height.
- It is considered the flagship grassland species, representing the health of the grassland ecology.
- For long, conservationists have been demanding to secure this population, warning that the bird might get extinct in the coming decades.
- It would become the first mega species to disappear from India after Cheetah in recent times.
- Till 1980s, about 1,500-2,000 Great Indian Bustards were spread throughout the western half of India, spanning eleven states.
- However, with rampant hunting and declining grasslands, their population dwindled.
- In July 2011, the bird was categorised as “critically endangered” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).
Various threats to GIBs
I. General threats to GIB
- Habitat loss & fragmentation, change of land use pattern, desertification, ill-thought plantation of exotic & invasive species in grassland ecosystems are some of the generic causes.
- Neglect of state institutions due to classification of ‘grasslands’ as ‘wastelands’, conversion of grasslands to agriculture lands due to increasing irrigation potential and decline of nature/GIB-friendly agrarian practices, are all commonly and correctly blamed for the steady decline in India’s GIB population.
II. Role of Noise Pollution
- Noise pollution affects the mating and courtship practices of the GIB.
- The male GIB inflates his ‘gular’ pouch (near the neck) which almost touches the ground, in order to produce a large booming sound which reverberates across the grassland.
- The male GIB does this to attract GIB females and to inform them of his exact location in the vast expanse of the grassland.
- Thus, the sound of the male GIB should be loud enough to transcend the walls of the sanctuary and be audible to female GIBs in the fields nearby.
- The noise generated by human activities, whether be it by vehicles, tractors, music during processions, firecrackers, may interfere with the GIB’s mating call and drown it out.
III. Other threats
- The rate of reproduction amongst GIBs is very low; the female GIB lays only one egg per year.
- This solitary egg is under threat from natural predators of the grasslands such as jackals, hyenas or foxes or invasive species such as crows or feral dogs.
- In such a scenario, every opportunity the GIBs lose to mate pushes the species closer to extinction.
Protection Measures
- Birdlife International uplisted this species from Endangered to Critically Endangered (2011)
- Protection under CITES Appendix I
- Protection under Schedule I Wildlife (Protection) Amendment Act 2002
- Project Great Indian Bustard (Rajasthan): aims at identifying and fencing off bustard breeding grounds in existing protected areas as well as provide secure breeding enclosures in areas outside protected areas.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Not much.
Mains level: Paper 1-Climate change,Forest fires.
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.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Not much.
Mains level: Paper2 - International relations
Context
Targeted killing of powerful Iranian Major-General could have done more bad than good for the U.S.
Series of events after the assassination
- The Iraqi parliament voted to expel the U.S. troops stationed in Iraq and deny them access to its airspace, land or water.
- Pro-Iranian groups could attack across the region where thousands of U.S. troops and official personnel are stationed.
- Soleimani’s assassination has awakened the deep strain of Iranian patriotism.
- And Iran is not alone.
- In Beirut, Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah called Soleimani the “glue that held the Resistance Axis together”.
- The U.S threat of striking “52 Iranian sites” did not win the U.S. any support on the international stage.
- Even the Europeans, otherwise steadfast with the U.S. in these sorts of adventures, hesitated.
- Arab League’s Secretary-General Ahmed Aboul Gheit expressed concern over the situation and asked for calm.
- This is the same man who had, only a few weeks ago, accused Iran of sowing chaos in the region.
- It is likely that China and Russia will table a resolution at the UN that calls for calm as well as criticises the U.S.
- This will certainly be vetoed by the U.S.
Desperate and irrational policy
- Till now the U.S. has not been able to extricate itself from its illegal war against Iraq.
- That war provided a massive advantage to Iran not only in Iraq but also across the region.
- This is what terrified two of the U.S.’s allies, Israel and Saudi Arabia, both of whom pressured Washington to increase its threats against Iran.
- S. create the conditions for the rise of the worst kind of violence in Iraq, and later Syria
- It also weakened the strategic position of its allies.
- No attempt by the U.S. to regain its authority has worked.
- The U.S. policy against Iran and Iraq appear desperate and irrational.
Conclusion
- The U.S recklessness has isolated it further and deepened anxieties amongst its increasingly isolated regional allies, Israel and Saudi Arabia.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Tulu language and its region in India.
Mains level: Paper 2-Official languages of the union and the states.
Context
With numerous languages in the country, placing all deserving languages on an equal footing will promote social inclusion and national solidarity.
Figures and facts
- According to the 2001 Census, India has 30 languages that are spoken by more than a million people each.
- It also has 122 languages that are spoken by at least 10,000 people each.
- It also has 1,599 languages, most of which are dialects.
- These are restricted to specific regions and many of them are on the verge of extinction.
- Article 29 provides every citizens of India with a distinct culture, language, and script, the right to conserve the same.
- It is the responsibility of both the state and the citizens of this distinct language, script or culture to preserve the same.
Eighth schedule and Tulu language
- Sanskrit has 24,821 speakers and it is in the Eighth Schedule according to the 2011 Census.
- However, many languages with sizeable speakers are not in the schedule.
- Bhili/Bhilodi has 1,04,13,637 speakers. Garo has 11,45,323 speakers, Ho has 14,31,344 speakers.
- Tulu is a Dravidian language whose speakers are concentrated in two coastal districts of Karnataka and in Kasaragod district of Kerala.
- The Tulu language speakers are larger in numbers than Sanskrit and Manipuri which included in the Eighth Schedule.
- The cities of Mangaluru, Udupi, and Kasaragod are the epicenter of Tulu culture.
What are the benefits of being on the Eighth Schedule
- Tulu would get recognition from Sahitya Academy.
- The book in Tulu would get translated into other recognised Indian languages.
- The MP’s and MLA’s could speak in Tulu in the Parliament and Assemblies.
- Candidates could write all-India competitive examination like the Civil Services exam in Tulu.
Yuelu Proclamation
- It was made by UNESCO at Changsha, The People’s Republic of China, in 2018.
- It says the protection and promotion of linguistic diversity help to improve social inclusion and partnerships.
- It helps reduce the gender and social inequality between different native speakers.
- It guarantee the rights for native speakers of endangered, minority, indigenous languages, as well as non-official languages and dialects to receive education, enhance the social inclusion level and social decision-making ability by encouraging them to participate in a series of actions to promote cultural diversity, endangered language protection, and the protection of intangible cultural heritage.
Conclusion
- Tulu, along with other deserving languages, should be included in the Eighth Schedule of the Constitution in order to substantially materialise the promise of equality of status and opportunity mentioned in the Preamble.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: FRs confined to the minority communities
Mains level: Read the attached story
The Supreme Court has held that the state is well within its rights to introduce a regulatory regime in the “national interest” to provide minority educational institutions with well-qualified teachers in order for them to “achieve excellence in education.”
Article 30 is not absolute
- The verdict said that Article 30(1) (right of minorities to establish and administer educational institutions of their choice) was neither absolute nor above the law.
- The regulatory law should however balance the dual objectives of ensuring standard of excellence as well as preserving the right of the minorities to establish and administer their educational institutions.
- Regulations that embrace and reconcile the two objectives should be reasonable.
- The managements of minority institutions cannot ignore such a legal regime by saying that it is their fundamental right under Article 30.
Serving the national interest
- A regulation framed in the national interest must necessarily apply to all institutions regardless whether they are run by majority or minority as the essence of Article 30(1) is to ensure equal treatment between the majority and minority institutions.
- An objection can certainly be raised if an unfavorable treatment is meted out to an educational institution established and administered by minority.
- But if ensuring of excellence in educational institutions is the underlying principle behind a regulatory regime and the mechanism of selection of teachers is so designed to achieve excellence in institutions, the matter may stand on a completely different footing.
Striking a balance
- The court explains how to strike a “balance” between the two objectives of excellence in education and the preservation of the minorities’ right to run their educational institutions.
- For this, the court broadly divides education into two categories – secular education and education “directly aimed at or dealing with preservation and protection of the heritage, culture, script and special characteristics of a religious or a linguistic minority.”
- When it comes to the latter, the court advocated “maximum latitude” to be given to the management to appoint teachers.
- The court reasons that only “teachers who believe in the religious ideology or in the special characteristics of the concerned minority would alone be able to imbibe in the students admitted in such educational institutions, what the minorities would like to preserve, profess and propagate.”
- However, minority institutions where the curriculum was “purely secular”, the intent must be to impart education availing the best possible teachers.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Indian Data Relay Satellite System (IDRSS)
Mains level: Significance of IDRSS
India plans to ring in its own era of space-to-space tracking and communication of its space assets this year by putting up a new satellite series called the Indian Data Relay Satellite System.
Indian Data Relay Satellite System (IDRSS)
- The IDRSS is planned to track and be constantly in touch with Indian satellites, in particular those in low-earth orbits which have limited coverage of earth.
- In the coming years, it will be vital to ISRO whose roadmap is dotted with advanced LEO missions such as space docking, space station, as well as distant expeditions to moon, Mars and Venus.
- It will also be useful in monitoring launches.
- The first beneficiary would be the prospective crew members of the Gaganyaan mission of 2022 who can be fully and continuously in touch with mission control throughout their travel.
- IDRSS satellites of the 2,000 kg class would be launched on the GSLV launcher to geostationary orbits around 36,000 km away.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Jus Cogens
Mains level: Principle of Jus Cogens
The US has threatened to target few historical sites if Iran retaliates to attack US in revenge. This is a breach of JUS COGENS as targeting cultural sites amounts to a a war crime.
Jus Cogens
- The jus cogens rules have been sanctioned by the Vienna Conventions on the Law of Treaties of 1969 and 1986. According to both Conventions, a treaty is void if it breaches jus cogens rules.
- Jus Cogens or ius cogens, meaning “compelling law” in Latin, are rules in international law that are peremptory or authoritative, and from which states cannot deviate.
- These norms cannot be offset by a separate treaty between parties intending to do so, since they hold fundamental values.
- Today, most states and international organisations accept the principle of jus cogens, which dates back to Roman times.
What does the convention say?
- Article 53 of the 1969 Convention says: “A treaty is void if, at the time of its conclusion, it conflicts with a peremptory norm of general international law.
- For the purposes of the present Convention, a peremptory norm of general international law is a norm accepted and recognized by the international community of States as a whole as a norm.
- From this no derogation is permitted and which can be modified only by a subsequent norm of general international law having the same character.
- Article 64 says- If a new peremptory norm of general international law emerges, any existing treaty which is in conflict with that norm becomes void and terminates.
- Besides treaties, unilateral declarations also have to abide by these norms.
What is included in jus cogens?
- So far, an exhaustive list of jus cogens rules does not exist.
- However, the prohibition of slavery, genocide, racial discrimination, torture, and the right to self-determination are recognised norms.
- The prohibition against apartheid is also recognised as a jus cogens rule, from which no derogation is allowed, since apartheid is against the basic principles of the UN.
What is the problem with targeting cultural heritage?
- Following the unparalleled destruction of cultural heritage in World War II, the nations of the world adopted at The Hague in 1954, The Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict.
- It was the first international treaty focussed exclusively on the protection of cultural heritage during war and armed conflict.
- The Convention defined cultural property as “movable or immovable property of great importance to the cultural heritage of every people, such as monuments of architecture, art or history, whether religious or secular; archaeological sites….”, etc.
- There are currently 133 signatories to Convention, including countries that have acceded to and ratified the treaty.
- Both the United States and Iran (as well as India) signed the Convention on May 14, 1954, and it entered into force on August 7, 1956.
- The Rome Statute of 1998, the founding treaty of the International Criminal Court, describes as a “war crime” any intentional attack against a historical monument, or a building dedicated to religion, education, art, or science.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Schedule VIII languages
Mains level: Read the attached story
According to the 2001 Census, India has 30 languages that are spoken by more than a million people each. Additionally, it has 122 languages that are spoken by at least 10,000 people each. It also has 1,599 languages, most of which are dialects. Tulu is one such language with considerable number of speakers.
Speakers of Tulu
- Tulu is a Dravidian language whose speakers are concentrated in two coastal districts of Karnataka and in Kasaragod district of Kerala.
- Kasaragod district is called ‘Sapta bhasha Samgama Bhumi (the confluence of seven languages)’, and Tulu is among the seven.
- The Census reports 18,46,427 native speakers of Tulu in India.
- The Tulu-speaking people are larger in number than speakers of Manipuri and Sanskrit, which have the Eighth Schedule status.
Schedule VIII languages
- Among the legion of languages in India, the Constitution has 22 languages. They are protected in Schedule VIII of the Constitution.
- But many languages that are kept out of this favoured position are in some ways more deserving to be included in the Eighth Schedule.
- For example, Sanskrit, an Eighth Schedule language, has only 24,821 speakers (2011 Census).
- Manipuri, another scheduled language, has only 17,61,079 speakers. However, many unscheduled languages have a sizeable number of speakers.
Why does Tulu deserve a place in the Schedule?
- At present, Tulu is not an official language in India or any other country. Efforts are being made to include Tulu in the Eighth Schedule of the Constitution.
- If included in the Eighth Schedule, Tulu would get recognition from the Sahitya Akademi. Tulu books would be translated into other recognised Indian languages.
- The Yuelu Proclamation, made by the UNESCO at Changsha, The People’s Republic of China, in 2018 calls for protection and promotion of linguistic diversity.
Conclusion
- India must accommodate this plethora of languages in its cultural discourse and administrative apparatus.
- Article 29 of the Constitution provides that a section of citizens having a distinct language, script or culture have the right to conserve the same.
- Placing of all the deserving languages on equal footing will promote social inclusion and national solidarity. It will reduce the inequalities within the country to a great extent.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: NA
Mains level: Ethical Veganism and its philosophy
An employment tribunal in the UK has ruled that “ethical veganism” is a philosophical belief and has to be protected by law against discrimination.
What’s the issue about?
- A man was fired from an animal welfare charity for raising concerns about its pension funds’ alleged investment in companies that use animal testing.
- He for gross misconduct on insisting to ban fox-hunting and other types of recreational hunting in Britain.
- The tribunal had to determine if ethical veganism fit the criteria of a religious or philosophical belief.
- The tribunal determined that ethical veganism meets the test required to be a philosophical belief, because of which it is protected under the British Equality Act, 2010.
- Many vegetarians claimed that they were discriminated at workplace for not eating meat. In his case, the tribunal had dismissed the case, calling his vegetarianism a lifestyle choice.
Veganism, ethical veganism, and ethical vegetarianism
- Broadly, a vegan person does not consume meat products and also products that are derived from animals (such as milk, eggs, etc).
- ‘The Ethical Case for Veganism’ in the Oxford Handbook of Food Ethics, loosely defines veganism as a lifestyle choice to refrain from eating meat as well as products made from or by animals.
- Ethical veganism, on the other hand, has been defined as the view that attaches a positive ethical valuation to a vegan lifestyle.
- Significantly, ethical veganism is different from ethical vegetarianism — the latter makes a distinction between products made from animals, such as meat, and products made by animals, such as milk.
- Ethical vegetarianism is opposed to products made from animals in particular.
- There is also an ethical omnivorism, which permits the use of some animal products and may restrict the use of others based on some ethical criterion, say the authors of the Food Ethics paper.
Types of ethical veganism
- They mention two types of ethical veganism: broad absolutist veganism, under which it is always wrong to use any product made by or from animals, and modest ethical veganism, under which it is typically wrong to use products made from or by a range of animals including cats, dogs, cows, pigs, etc.
- An example of the former category is a person who would not press a leather button, “even if doing so were necessary in order to avert global nuclear war”.
- The reasons for adopting veganism as a lifestyle can range from wanting a better and healthier lifestyle, environmental, or religious reasons.
Britain’s Equality Act
- The act protects people from discrimination in the workplace and in the wider society in the UK.
- The Act offers a basic framework of protection against direct and indirect discrimination, harassment, and victimisation in services and public functions, etc.
- Under the Act, a belief is defined as any religious or philosophical belief.
- Since the tribunal has ruled that ethical veganism is a philosophical belief, it is a protected characteristic under the Act.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Nankana Sahib
Mains level: Significance of Nankana Sahib in Sikhism
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.
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