Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS), the National Standards Body of India, has developed an Indian Standard, IS 17693: 2022 for ‘non-electric cooling cabinet made of clay’.
IS 17693: 2022
BIS standard specifies the construction and performance requirements of a cooling cabinet made out of clay, which operates on the principle of evaporative cooling.
These cabinets may be used to store perishable foodstuff without the need of electricity.
This standard helps BIS in fulfilling 6 out of 17 UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) like No poverty, Zero hunger, Gender equality, Affordable and clean energy, Industry, innovation, and infrastructure, and Responsible consumption and production.
Why such move?
Named as ‘Mitticool refrigerator’, Mansukh Bhai Prajapati from Gujarat is the innovator behind the refrigerator which projects an eco-friendly technology.
It is a natural refrigerator made primarily from clay to store vegetables, fruits, milk, and also for cooling water.
It provides natural coolness to foodstuffs stored in it without requiring any electricity.
Fruits, vegetables, and milk can be stored reasonably fresh without deteriorating their quality.
Back2Basics: Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS)
BIS is the National Standards Body of India working under the aegis of the Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food & Public Distribution.
It is established by the Bureau of Indian Standards Act, 1986 which came into effect on 23 December 1986.
The organization was formerly the Indian Standards Institution (ISI), set up under the Resolution of the Department of Industries and Supplies in September 1946.
The ISI was registered under the Societies Registration Act, 1860.
A new Bureau of Indian standard (BIS) Act 2016 has been brought into force with effect from 12 October 2017.
The Act establishes the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) as the National Standards Body of India.
The debate surrounding the comments by some political spokespersons has put the spotlight on the need for anti-blasphemy law which deals with criticism of or insults to religion.
Presently India does not have a formal legal framework for dealing with hate speech concerning any particular religion.
What is Blasphemy?
Blasphemy is one of the world’s most abused law when it comes to suppressing the voices of communities, rationalists as well as at many times scientists.
It is often regarded as a reasonable restriction over the freedom of speech and expression.
It many a times is also regarded as a hindrance in the development of a scientific temper among people.
It also a methodology of imposing the religious beliefs and virtues of one community over other.
A backgrounder
Being a society with mostly Hindu population, India never saw a legislation against blasphemy till 1927.
Prior to independence, in the fog of communal tensions, a Pamphlet was published by Mahashay Rajpal.
It sparked controversy, with the members of Muslim community seeking punishment for Rajpal as it was a violent attack over the religious sentiments of Muslims.
Eventually Rajpal was acquitted because of the lack of any blasphemy law in India, only to be murdered in 1929.
Beginning of legislation
The British colonial government eventually in the time of need, amended the Indian Penal Code, 1860 and added the Section 295(A) in the year 1927.
The Section even after the partition of India, is present in the Indian Penal Code, 1860, as well as in Pakistan and Bangladesh.
What is Section 295A of the Indian Penal Code (IPC)?
Section 295A, define the contours of free speech and its limitations with respect to offences relating to religion.
It prescribes punishment for deliberate and malicious acts, intended to outrage religious feelings of any class by insulting its religion or religious beliefs.
It calls for imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to [three years], or with fine, or with both.
It has been invoked on a wide range of issues from penalizing political satire and seeking bans on or withdrawal of booksto even political critique on social media.
Chapters to penalize religious offenses
Section 295A is one of the key provisions in the IPC chapter to penalize religious offenses. The same chapter includes offenses to penalize:
Damage or defilement of a place of worship with intent to insult the religion (Section 295)
Trespassing in a place of sepulture (burial) (Section 297)
Uttering, words, etc, with deliberate intent to wound the religious feelings of any person (Section 298) and
Disturbing a religious assembly (Section 296)
Frequency of use
The state often invokes Section 295A along with 153A of the IPC, which penalises promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion, race, place of birth, residence, language, etc.
It acts prejudicial to the maintenance of harmony and Section 505 of the IPC punishes statements conducing to public mischief.
What about online hate speech?
In cases where such speech is online, Section 66A of the Information Technology Act was invoked.
However, in a landmark verdict in 2015, the Supreme Court struck down Section 66A as unconstitutional on the ground that the provision was “vague” and a “violation of free speech”.
However, the provision continues to be invoked.
Issues with such laws
The broad, vague terms in the laws are often invoked in its misuse.
Lower conviction rates for these provisions indicate that the process — where a police officer can arrest without a warrant — is often the punishment.
Critics have pointed out that these laws are intended for the state to step in and restore “public order” rather than protect free speech.
Voice for Anti-Blasphemy Laws
(1) Sacrosanctity of Religions
Most of the religions establish in the mind of people, the sacrosanctity of God as well as the religion itself.
Scholars in the past have held that the God is above and beyond the scope of any question or doubt.
Acts such as impunity, apostasy and blasphemy have been held to be grievous offense, penalty of which at many times can be death.
(2) Enforcement of Religious Sanctions
For example in Afghanistan the Constitution declares Islam to be the official “religion of the state”.
It goes on to stating that no law can be contrary to the beliefs and provisions of the sacred religion.
For issues on which the Constitution and Penal Code are silent (including conversion and blasphemy), courts rely on Shari’a.
(3) Stable Governance
Sometimes religion is not a purely personal affair but is the foundation of the state, a vector of spiritual civilization affecting not only the feeling and thoughts, but also the actions of human beings.
Hereby it can be understood that Religion affects the actions of human beings, thus requires a protection legally as a moral & social value that drives a human, leading to a stable society and better governance.
The responsibility to protect religious sentiments of others later transforms into a legal duty when the state recognizes the Right to Religion.
(4) Reasonable Restriction for Harmony
Most of the countries implement Blasphemy laws as a reasonable restriction for the maintenance of communal harmony.
Not to forget the fact that the Section 295(A) was introduced in the IPC, 1860 to put a hold on a series of communal violence provoked by the use of blasphemous statements.
Thus the British governments’ aim of introducing 295(A) was to put the reasonable restriction of the freedom of speech for the maintenance of order in the society.
Issues with Anti-Blasphemy Law
Throughout the world there have been numerous oppositions against blasphemy laws which at points have succeeded at points have not.
(1) Lack of a definition for term Religion
Blasphemy has been described as irreverence towards God or Religion, however the term Religion itself lacks a proper definition for itself.
Belief in God which may unite Judaism, Islam and Christianity, is clearly insufficient as a definition, because some religions, such as Hinduism are arguably, Polytheistic.
Definition that depends upon a belief on God or Gods would similarly fail to include Buddhism, as it doesn’t include belief in a God.
(2) Freedom of Religion
Many jurisdictions have tried to define the term religion through commentaries or judgments.
The Universal Declaration of Human Rights in its article 18 also protects Atheistic and Non- Theistic views in order to broaden the term Religion.
If the term Religion is broadened enough to include Atheism, then it also comes under the purview of Freedom of Religion and the practicing Atheism may fall under the category of Blasphemy at many instances.
Apart from Atheism, many religions also come a lot of time in conflict with other religions, at many times which may lead to blasphemy.
(3) Curb on freedom of speech and expression
Freedom of Speech and expression is a fundamental right in the constitution of various countries including India and also is a Human Right.
The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights in its article 19 states that everyone shall have the right to freedom of expression.
This right shall include freedom to seek, receive and impart information and ideas of all kinds, regardless of frontiers, either orally, in writing or in print, in the form of art, or through any other media of his choice and the right to hold
(4) A Tool for Oppression
Blasphemy for a very long time has been seen as a tool for the majority to oppress the minority. One of the best example for it is in Pakistan and the Saudis.
Their laws puts immense restrictions on non-Muslims and slightest defiance invites sentences such as beheadings.
The ratio of Muslims to non-Muslims among blasphemy defendants illustrates the extent to which these laws are used to persecute religious minorities.
(5) Promotes Violence
The allegations of blasphemy at multiple occasions leads to violence and extremism and have been used by vigilante groups and non-state actors to justify and instigate incidents of interreligious violence.
The Constitutional Court review of Blasphemy laws in Indonesia led to mass protests with hard lined groups threatening the petitioners.
The petitioners had asserted that the law had played an instrumental role in creating sectarian tensions and religious conflict rather than preventing them.
This has been the umbrella under which various militant groups attack, burn and destroy others.
(6) Hurdle in development of scientific temper
A large number of incidents have taken place across the world where a rationalist has faced a threat for questioning religious doctrines and has been persecuted under the blasphemy laws.
It is to be noted that astrologer Galileo Galilei was put under house arrest for supporting Heliocentrism as opposed to Geocentrism in the Bible.
These were some of the arguments against Blasphemy laws in various countries, which may or may not applicable in other countries as well.
India’s considerations for such laws
(1) Nature of the State and Society
It is not the business of the government to supress real or imaginary attacks upon a particular religious doctrine.
India is a secular state by the virtue of its constitution. A secular state is neither a supporter of religion nor irreligion.
However the imposition of a penal provision that acts as an anti- blasphemy law is a biasness against the irreligious, as discussed earlier the practice and propagation of irreligion may amount to blasphemy for few religions.
(2) Violation of Freedom of Speech and Expression
Throughout the history of Independent India, the section has been defined as a reasonable restriction over freedom of speech to secure public order.
In the Ramji Lal Modi case the court had held that the Constitution in Article 19(2) permits the state to restrict freedom of speech and expression in interests of public order.
In the light of above state case laws, Free speech gets a wider scope.
However, in practical approach, the idea of an imminent lawless action makes it very difficult in the case of Blasphemous acts.
It is quite unpredictable as to what statement containing elements of blasphemy has the capability to spark off violence.
(3) Promotion of Violence & Victimhood
The IPC sections also incite the display of wounded feelings. More than this, the law encourages or generates specifically violent displays of wounded feelings.
The provisions main objective was to prevent violence.
Say, a ban on a book under Section 295(a) requires a strategy and being violent is the first part of it as it is the clearest proof that the sentiments of a class of citizens of India has been outranged.
(4) India’s International Responsibility
As stated earlier, the International Covenant for civil and political rights in its article 19 makes it a duty of every country to ensure its citizen’s right to freedom of Speech and expression.
It also states that any sort of blasphemy law is a clear violation of the Article 19.
Hence, since India has ratified the above mentioned Covenant it is its duty to abolish any such laws
(5) Question of Malice
The section 295 (A) has put emphasis only on those act which are done with an element of malice in it, punishable.
However what is to be looked into is the fact that, when it comes to the malice, proving it is a complex and difficult issue, and in India the disposal rate of cases are very slow.
Most of the times, such cases take a very long time & surpass the duration of the punishment itself.
The element of Malice was added to make sure that any necessary or constructive criticism doesn’t get restricted.
Way forward
Laws should be made with an objective to punish miscreants and curb their objective and not to protect the religion from them.
One and only one sustainable solution to this is to make the society tolerable, and for that education is the key.
This will provide for a society which will respect the right to express thoughts and right to speech and at the same time, respecting all religions, minorities and their beliefs also.
It has to be kept into mind that the concept of blasphemy was a concept developed and fit for a pre-modern society, led by a government that is not secular and democratic.
Conclusion
To conclude, these words by Ludwig Feuerbach are appropriate, “God is not liable to offence; and even if he were offended, He would not under any circumstances wish the punishment of his offenders.”
Public order only can be censored. Hereby the only incitement that has to be there is an incitement of violence. This is where the laws of Blasphemy and hate speech differs.
However, blasphemous statements are that doesn’t contain elements of hate or violence is left at the level of tolerance for a section of society.
This becomes even weaker due to the presence of Blasphemy laws.
Day 1 of UPSC Bootcamp was a huge success. Are you ready for Day 2? (click here: Day 1 Assignment) || Register for CivilsDaily’s Mega Bootcamp Day 2 i.e. 19th June 2022. Mains Answer Writing, Ethics, Essay, and more. Details below.
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Assignment: DAY 1
Do these and share in the Telegram group. We will be discussing them.
It is a mentor-driven Essay test series for UPSC 2022 Mains exam. Our focus is on personalized attention in evaluation, execution, and course correction. Our innovative methodology in topic selection, reviews, and evaluation on one hand and mentorship and collaborative approach on the other will build your capacity to write Essays that will fetch 150+ marks.
Program inclusion
Highly relevant, precise, and thoughtful topic selection
5 FLTs
Model essays
Evaluated Copy
Post Test Mentorship Calls by Zeeshan sir
Membership to exclusive Essay group on Habitat
Notes and references on Habitat
Special offer for Smash Mains students and Previously enrolled students
What are we offering and how is it unique?
We’ve innovated at every step of the process.
Our research tells us there are 8 broad themes of essays being asked since 2010 – Economy, Polity, Women Issues, Education, Science & Tech, Philosophy, IR, Miscellaneous.
But there is some rationality to the way UPSC selects essay topics. Those themes are highly relevant to the current times and one can find a strong correlation with current affairs of the past year(s).
We plan to develop your competencies so that you can be better prepared for the actual exam.
An innovative methodology for reviews
Our biggest innovation lies in our review methodology. Specific portions of your essay will be highlighted with symbols to indicate issues in essay writing
(X) Cross–FUNDAMENTAL FLAWS like judgments/strong postures which need to be avoided at all costs.
(*)Star -APPRECIATION for uniqueness.
STRUCTURE is not maintained. Issues with Language and expression.
GENERAL SUGGESTIONS for candidates.
Along with this, Zeeshan sir will also leave specific reviews on strengths and weaknesses.
We don’t want to merely suggest additional points that can be googled by the student themselves or point out superficial flaws like not ‘sticking to the topic’. They don’t necessarily highlight the shortcomings in the essay. This adds very little value to students. We go much beyond that and help students fix major flaws in their essays.
10 parameters on which your essays are going to get evaluated
Comprehension of the topic
Language and Expression
Structure and Organisation of thought.
Objectivity and Biases. Balance of perception
Attitude whether a learner or judgmental
Focus and attention
Content and Source matter, Knowledge and information processing capability
Ability to forge links in an interdisciplinary manner
The simplicity of disposition
Observational Skills
Model essays with indicative structure and good essay copies
You will be provided with good essay copies to serve as sample answers. This is a better alternative than sample answers which are hastily written and at times not updated with the latest figures.
Students have an incorrect impression that going through a sample essay will somehow help them write better essays. This is absolutely incorrect.
To develop your competency in tackling different topics, you have to be able to come up with appropriate structures. This aspect of the program addresses this issue.
The expectation from you would be that you study the solutions in detail and try to address the shortcomings in your essays. Should doubts still persist, we’re here to help.
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Membership to an exclusive group on Habitat
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For essays, you need multiple perspectives to understand a topic or an issue in its entirety. You need discussions; arguments; confluence, confrontation, and integration of ideas. Here, discussions will be facilitated by mentors and enriched by different viewpoints from peers. Moreover, you can ask and discuss any of your doubts with peers and Zeeshan sir.
Besides these, you will be given the following
Any additional material that we release for essays.
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HOW TO ATTEMPT ANSWERS IN DAILY ANSWER WRITING ENHANCEMENT(AWE)?
Daily 4 questions from General studies 1, 2, 3, and 4 will be provided to you.
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Sayali believes UPSC Mains is the stage that matters in your success. It is your performance in the Mains exam hall that will decide your name in the list. Other than this “..you need clarity of vision”, says Sayali, to keep yourself determined to your goal.
It is yet another validation of CivilsDaily’s vision and approach to personalized mentorship.
In a candid conversation with us, Sayali shared her journey, hardships, lessons learned, and her secret of what kept her going.
About Sayali Mhetre
Sayali hails from Maharashtra and is an engineering graduate. Sayali took multiple attempts to crack UPSC and secure an AIR 398 in UPSC 2021. This was her third attempt. Sayali’s optional was Marathi Literature.
She is into reading and loves Marathi novels. She also lists maintaining a gratitude journal in her hobby list.
Sayali has really made us proud and we wish her all the very best. She is going to be a great administrator and an inspiration to millions.
Massive protests are occurring against the Agnipath scheme all across the nation.
What is the Agnipath Scheme?
This will be the only form of recruitment of soldiers into the three defence services from now.
The scheme aims at strengthening national security and for providing an opportunity to the youth to serve in the armed forces.
Recruits under the scheme will be known as ‘Agniveers’.
After completing the four-year service, they can apply for regular employment in the armed forces.
They may be given priority over others for various jobs in other government departments.
The move is expected to decrease the average age profile of armed forces personnel from the current 32 to 24-26 years over a period of time.
Why are aspirants protesting?
Contractualisation of armed forces: The foundation of this scheme is a four-year contract.
Jobs for the majority: States such as Bihar, Jammu & Kashmir, Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Rajasthan, are where the bulk of the Army recruitment takes place.
Perks and benefits: Many of these people value job stability, which includes retirement benefits and pensions over competitive salaries.
Uncertainty after end of commission: Most of them will be forced to leave the job within four years, which doesn’t fit into their hopes and aspirations.
Casualization of Training: It reportedly takes two to three years to train a member of the army, but as a part of the Agnipath, soldiers will only be trained for six months.
Threats to national security: Defence analysts have allegedly pointed out that the Russian soldiers who were trained for a limited amount of time before they went to war have performed disastrously.
Conflicts of interest: Apprehensions have been voiced against how the new recruits will be adjusted in the existing system under which most of the Army units are region, caste or class based.
Reasons behind aspirants’ frustration
Unemployment: Analysts always cite the crunch of gazetted officers in the Armed forces and there has been no recruitment for the last two years.
Pandemic impact: Many aspirants lost their chance to join the Armed forces as they are now overage.’
Unanticipated reforms: In guise of a push for “major defence policy reform”, the scheme is a fuss.
What is the official explanation?
Once retired, aspirants will be free to pursue other careers, with several departments and governments.
Aspirants will get preference, educational credits, skill certificates, to help them rehabilitate in other fields.
Those wishing to be entrepreneurs will get a financial package and bank loans and those wishing to study further will be given 12 class equivalent certificate.
For job-seekers, the government has already said they will get priority in the Central Armed Police Forces.
Way forward
The modalities of how this will happen are still being worked out.
But one thing is very clear, poorly crafted schemes are on the rise.
For making any scheme a success, pre-legislative consultation and discussion in the public domain is a must.
India’s economy is better placed than many other countries to avoid the risk of potential stagflation worldwide, said the Reserve Bank of India Deputy Governor.
Why in news?
Stagflation remains a risk to the US economy, and there are similarities between the situation in the 1970s and today, a/c to World Bank.
Surging prices for oil and food are pushing up the cost of living, and business executives are voicing concerns about the outlook for the economy.
What is Stagflation?
Stagflation is a stagnant growth and persistently high inflation. It, thus, describes a rather rare and curious condition of an economy.
Iain Macleod, a Conservative Party MP in the United Kingdom, is known to have coined the phrase during his speech on the UK economy in November 1965.
What happens in Stagflation?
Typically, rising inflation happens when an economy is booming — people are earning lots of money, demanding lots of goods and services and as a result, prices keep going up.
When the demand is down and the economy is in the doldrums, by the reverse logic, prices tend to stagnate (or even fall).
But stagflation is a condition where an economy experiences the worst of both worlds — the growth rate is largely stagnant (along with rising unemployment) and inflation is not only high but persistently so.
Possible reasons behind
Volatility due to war: Global economic conditions continued to deteriorate as commodity prices and financial market volatility have led to heightened uncertainty.
Monetary tightening: In advanced economies, the war against inflation would entail significant monetary tightening, complicating the growth-inflation outlook.
Global slowdown: Emerging market economies grapple with the global trade slowdown, capital outflows and imported inflation.
Why is it so unpopular?
The combination of slow growth and inflation is unusual, because inflation typically rises and falls with the pace of growth.
The high inflation leaves less scope for policymakers to address growth shortfalls with lower interest rates and higher public spending.
Back2Basics: Inflation and its impact
Depression: It is Economic depression is a sustained, long-term downturn in economic
Deflation: It is the general fall in the price level over a period of time.
Disinflation: It is the fall in the rate of inflation or a slower rate of inflation. Example: a fall in the inflation rate from 8% to 6%.
Reflation: It is the act of stimulating the economy by increasing the money supply or by reducing taxes, seeking to bring the economy back up to the long-term trend, following a dip in the business cycle. It is the opposite of disinflation.
Skewflation: It is the skewed rise in the price of some items while remaining item prices remain the same. E.g. Seasonal rise in the price of onions.
Stagflation: The situation of rising prices along with falling growth and employment, is called stagflation. Inflation is accompanied by an economic recession.
Most of us may not know the small desert situated in the state of Tamil Nadu. It consists of red sand dunes and is confined to the Thoothukudi district.
Theri Desert
The red dunes are called theri in Tamil.
They consist of sediments dating back to the Quaternary Period and are made of marine deposits.
They have very low water and nutrient retention capacity.
The dunes are susceptible to aerodynamic lift.
This is the push that lets something move up. It is the force that is the opposite of weight.
Mineral composition of Theris
The analysis of the red sand dunes reveal the presence of heavy and light minerals.
These include Ilmenite, Magnetit, Rutile, Garnet, Zircon, Diopside, Tourmaline, Hematite, Goethite, Kyanite, Quartz, Feldspar, Biotite.
The iron-rich heavy minerals like ilmenite, magnetite, garnet, hypersthene and rutile present in the soil had undergone leaching by surface water.
They were then oxidised because of the favourable semi-arid climatic conditions.
How did they form?
Theris appear as gentle, undulating terrain.
The lithology of the area shows that the area might have been a paleo (ancient) coast in the past.
The presence of limestone in many places indicates marine transgression.
The present-day theris might have been formed by the confinement of beach sand locally, after regression of the sea.
When high velocity winds from the Western Ghats blew east, they induced migration of sand grains and accumulation of dunes.
Another story of their formation
Another view is that these are geological formations that appeared in a period of a few hundred years.
The red sand is brought from the surface of a broad belt of red loam in the plains of the Nanguneri region (about 57 kilometres) by south west monsoon winds during May-September.
The winds after draining the moisture behind the Mahendragiri hill and the Aralvaimozhi gap of the Western Ghats become dry and strike the plains in the foothills, where vegetation is sparse.
Deforestation and the absence of vegetative cover in the Aralvaimozhi gap and the Nanguneri plains are considered to be the major causes of wind erosion.
In a study published in the Science journal, researchers have claimed that the bubonic plague was originated in modern day northern Kyrgyzstan around 1338-1339 – nearly 7-8 years before it ravaged large parts of the world.
What is Black Death?
The term Black Death refers to the bubonic plague that spread across Western Asia, Northern Africa, Middle East and Europe in 1346-53.
Most scholars agree that the Black Death, which killed millions, was caused by bacterium Yersinia pestis and was spread by fleas that were carried by rodent hosts.
The microorganism Y. pestis spread to human populations, who at some point transmitted it to others either through the vector of a human flea or directly through the respiratory system.
Why this plague was called the Black Death?
It is commonly believed that the term Black Death gets its name from the black marks that appeared on some of the plague victims’ bodies.
In the 14th century, the epidemic was referred to as the ‘great pestilence’ or ‘great death’, due to the demographic havoc that it caused.
The world black also carried a dark, gloomy emotional tone, due to the sheer amount of deaths generated by the plague.
Why is the new discovery significant?
The geographical origin point of the plague has been debated for centuries.
Some historians have argued that the plague originated in China, and spread across Europe by Italian merchants who first entered the continent in trading caravans through Crimea.
Another story argues that Mongol army hurled plague-infested bodies into the city during the siege of Caffa (Crimea) and led to the spread of the disease.
