Covid-19 pandemic has led to the cancellation of annual public observance of Hul in Jharkhand.
Try this question from CSP 2018:
Q.After the Santhal uprising subsided, what was/ were the measure/measures taken by the colonial government?
The territories called ‘Santhal Paraganas’ were created.
It became illegal for a Santhal to transfer land to a non Santhal.
Select the correct answer using the code given below:
(a) 1 only
(b) 2 only
(c) Both 1 and 2
(d) Neither 1 nor 2
Hul Divas
Hul Divas is observed annually on June 30 in memory of tribals — Sidho and Kanhu Murmu — who led the Santhal Hul (rebellion) on June 30, 1855, at Bhognadih in Sahebganj district.
About Santhal Rebellion
The Santhals of Rajmahal Hills resented the oppression by revenue officials, police, money-lenders, and landlords—in general, by the “outsiders’ (whom they called diku).
The Santhals under Sido and Kanhu rose up against their oppressors, declared the end of the Company’s rule and asserted themselves independent in 1854.
It was only in 1856 after extensive military operations that the situation was brought under control. Sido died in 1855, while Kanhu was arrested in 1866.
A separate district of Santhal Parganas was created by the Government to pacify the Santhals.
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The Amendments in the Indian Stamp Act, 1899 has been brought through Finance Act 2019 for Rationalized Collection Mechanism of Stamp Duty across India with respect to Securities Market Instruments.
Up till now, we knew that stamp duties are levied on property transactions, registrations etc. With the Finance Act 2019, the stamp duties are also levied on Mutual Funds.
What is Stamp Duty?
Stamp duty is a legal tax payable in full and acts as evidence for any sale or purchase of a property. It is payable under Section 3 of the Indian Stamp Act, 1899.
The levy of stamp duty is a state subject and thus the rates of stamp duty vary from state to state.
The Centre levies stamp duty on specified instruments and also fixes the rates for these instruments.
It is usually paid by the buyer with regardless of agreement and in case of property exchange, both seller and the buyer has to share the stamp duty equally.
A stamp duty paid instrument/document is considered a proper and legal instrument/document and has evidentiary value and is admitted as evidence in courts.
What is the move?
Beginning July 1, all shares and mutual fund purchases will attract a stamp duty of 0.005 per cent and any transfer of security will attract a stamp duty of 0.015 per cent.
The government had introduced changes to the Stamp duty Act last year by introducing a uniform rate of stamp duty on the trading of shares and commodities.
All categories of mutual funds (except for ETFs) will attract stamp duty for the first time.
Shares purchased by individuals at stock exchanges were charged stamp duty at different rates by respective states.
Where all will it be applicable?
The stamp duty will be applicable on all transactions, including shares, debt instruments, commodities and all categories of mutual fund schemes.
As for mutual funds, it will be applicable on all fresh purchases, including the fresh monthly purchases in previously registered Systematic Investment Plans.
It will also be applicable if investors switch from one scheme to another and also in case of dividend reinvestment transactions.
Transfers of units from one Demat account to another, including market/off-market transfers, will also attract stamp duty.
How does it impact the investor?
The impact on long-term investments by a retail investor is nominal.
Since the stamp duty will be charged a one-time charge, if an investor invests Rs 1 lakh in a mutual fund scheme or in stock and holds it for two years, he will have to pay a duty of only Rs 5.
In fact, it will be marginally lower as the stamp duty is applicable on the net investment value i.e gross investment amount less than any other deduction like transaction charge.
There is no duty at the time of redemption.
What about big investors?
The impact is higher for investors with short-term investment horizons such as banks and corporates who invest in liquid and overnight schemes of mutual funds.
How much revenue can it generate for the government?
In the financial year 2019-20, the mutual fund industry mobilized aggregate funds of over Rs 188 lakh crore.
A high portion of that was in overnight funds or liquid funds.
A 0.005 per cent stamp duty on this amount works out to Rs 940 crore.
If the industry continues to mobilise funds to the tune of Rs 190 lakh crore or higher, it will generate revenues of nearly Rs 1,000 crore for the government from mutual fund transactions itself.
Back2Basics: Mutual Funds
MF is a trust that collects money from a number of investors who share a common investment objective.
Then, it invests the money in equities, bonds, money market instruments and/or other securities.
Each investor owns units, which represent a portion of the holdings of the fund.
The income/gains generated from this collective investment are distributed proportionately amongst the investors after deducting certain expenses, by calculating a scheme’s “Net Asset Value or NAV.
It is one of the most viable investment options for the common man as it offers an opportunity to invest in a diversified, professionally managed basket of securities at a relatively low cost.
All funds carry some level of risk. With mutual funds, one may lose some or all of the money invested because the securities held by a fund can go down in value.
A new map has revealed the lost continent of Zealandia.
The ocean relief can be divided into various parts such as Continental Shelf, Continental Slope, Continental Rise or Foot, Deep Ocean basins, Abyssal plains & Abyssal Hills, Oceanic Trenches, Seamounts and Guyots.
Revise these ocean bottom relief features from your basic references.
Zealandia — or Te Riu-a-Māui, as it’s referred to in the indigenous Māori language — is a 2 million-square-mile (5 million square kilometres) continent east of Australia, beneath modern-day New Zealand.
Scientists discovered the sprawling underwater mass in the 1990s, then gave it formal continent status in 2017.
Still, the “lost continent” remains largely unknown and poorly studied due to its Atlantean geography.
Its formation
It is a group of submerged pieces of crust that separated from the ancient supercontinent Gondwana about 85 million years ago.
Gondwana was formed when Earth’s ancient supercontinent, Pangea, split into two fragments.
Laurasia was transformed into North America, Asia, and Europe, while Gondwana became Africa, South America, Australia, and Antarctica.
But land masses continued to be rearranged afterwards, with Zealandia breaking off Gondwana.
Data revealed by the new map
The new maps reveal Zealandia’s bathymetry (the shape of the ocean floor) as well as its tectonic history, showing how volcanism and tectonic motion have shaped the continent over millions of years.
Data for the bathymetric map was provided by the Seabed2030 project — a global effort to map the entire ocean floor by 2030.
Why call it a continent?
Zealandia was classified as a “microcontinent,” as the island of Madagascar, until 2017.
But according to Mortimer, it has all the requirements to be classified as a continent.
It has defined boundaries; it occupies an area of over one million square kilometres and is elected above the ocean crust.
In new research, scientists from China – which has the largest population of pigs in the world – have identified a “recently emerged” strain of influenza virus that is infecting Chinese pigs and that has the potential of triggering a pandemic.
Practice question for mains:
Q.What are zoonotic diseases? Why China has emerged as the epicentre of global outbreaks of zoonotic disease?
G4 Flu
Named G4, the swine flu strain has genes similar to those in the virus that caused the 2009 flu pandemic.
The scientists identified the virus through surveillance of influenza viruses in pigs that they carried out from 2011 to 2018 in ten provinces of China.
They also found that the G4 strain has the capability of binding to human-type receptors (like, the SARS-CoV-2 virus binds to ACE2 receptors in humans).
The virus was able to copy itself in human airway epithelial cells, and it showed effective infectivity and aerosol transmission.
Swine industry is the new hotspot for zoonoses
The scientists report that the new strain (G4) has descended from the H1N1 strain that was responsible for the 2009 flu pandemic.
Pigs are intermediate hosts for the generation of pandemic influenza virus.
Thus, systematic surveillance of influenza viruses in pigs is a key measure for pre-warning the emergence of the next pandemic influenza.
Back2Basics: 2009 swine flu pandemic
The WHO declared the outbreak of type A H1N1 influenza virus a pandemic in 2009 when there were around 30,000 cases globally.
It was caused by a strain of the swine flu called the H1N1 virus, which was transmitted from human to human.
Influenza viruses that commonly circulate in swine are called “swine influenza viruses” or “swine flu viruses”.
Like human influenza viruses, there are different subtypes and strains of swine influenza viruses. Essentially, swine flu is a virus that pigs can get infected by.
The symptoms of swine flu include fever, cough, sore throat, body aches, headaches, chills and fatigue.
More than a century after it was first seen, the Assam keelback — a snake species endemic to the region — was rediscovered in 2018 at the Poba Reserve Forest (RF) by a team from Wildlife Institute of India (WII).
Try this question from CSP 2018:
Q.In which one of the following State Pakhui Wildlife Sanctuary is located?
The species is small — about 60 cm long, brownish, with a patterned belly.
This particular keelback does not belong to the generalized keelback snake of India but is rather a unique genus (Herpetoreas).
It was discovered 129 years ago by Samuel Edward Peel, a British tea planter based in Upper Assam.
The snake’s ‘lost’ status has a lot to do with the habitat it occupies — in this case, a lowland evergreen forest.
These forests have been selectively degraded during the last 100 years: tea plantations have been made, selective logging has taken place, and many other activities such as oil exploration and coal mining.
Is the snake under threat?
Most snakes and other reptiles are categorised as ‘data deficient’ in the IUCN list.
There is practically no information available about it and it is difficult to determine its status.
A team of researchers have “rediscovered” a rare species called Globba andersonii from the Sikkim Himalayas near the Teesta River valley region after a gap of nearly 136 years.
Try this question from CSP 2016:
Q.With reference to ‘Red Sanders’, sometimes seen in the news, consider the following statements:
It is a tree species found in a part of South India.
It is one of the most important trees in the tropical rain forest areas of South India.
Which of the above statements is/are correct?
(a) 1 only
(b) 2 only
(c) Both 1 and 2
(d) Neither 1 nor 2
Globba Andersonii
IUCN status: Critically Endangered
Globba andersonii is characterised by white flowers, non-appendaged anthers (the part of a stamen that contains the pollen) and a “yellowish lip”.
The plant, known commonly as ‘dancing ladies’ or ‘swan flowers’ was thought to have been extinct until its “re-collection”, for the first time since 1875.
The earliest records of the collection of this plant were dated between the period 1862-70 when it was collected by Scottish botanist Thomas Anderson from Sikkim and Darjeeling.
Then, in 1875, the British botanist Sir George King, had collected this taxon from the Sikkim Himalayas.
We are ecstatic to announce that allUPSC Optional groups are live now on Civilsdaily’s Habitat – our learning platform. (Links for all optional provided below)
Habitat is yet another innovation by Civilsdaily. Another day, another slay! Not boasting really! but we have actually re-invented learning in general and re-structured UPSC preparation in particular.
Preparing for Optionals in the old, outdated manner you can never be ready for the curveballs in the Optional mains exam. Modern problems require ‘postmodern’ solutions.
What is our philosophy?
We have diminished, if not removed the barrier between teacher and student. Co-learning and co-creating knowledge is the need of the hour. The discourses, the vaad-vivaad on every topic, every theory and every issue pushes theboundaries of your thoughts. (Yup, it’s desirable!)
It gets chaotic in the Mains when you are sitting there scratching your head thinking about what surprises the next question might hold for you. For that, you have to get chaotic now, turn it into constructive chaos, and channelize it.
Links of the Optionals:
(Click on it and follow the instructions provided at the bottom)
By joining these Optional groups you will be getting exclusive optional groups; mentor and community support; answer writing and discussion; planned syllabus completion and revision; notes, references, and much more.
Exclusive Optional groups on Civilsdaily’s Habitat
You will be assigned to an exclusive group for your optional. Habitat is administered by Civilsdaily’s faculty and in-service officers. Here you’re going to ask doubts; learn and unlearn, and relearn; think and discuss like you never did before.
Every discussion is going to be neatly organized in separate threads. You are going to learn with a highly focussed community of diverse-minded aspirants.
We have more than 25 optional groups.
Sociology optional group on Habitat.Anthropology optional group on Habitat.
Planned progression
Discussion and syllabus coverage of the Optionals is going to be planned not only for the day but also for a week, with dedicated days for revision, reviews, and restrategizing. It is going to ensure discipline and consistency.
Not all of you are at the same stage of preparation. Some are just beginning and some have covered the syllabus more than once. Your preparation and approach will also differ.
Modern solutions, they offer one size fits all solutions. We are way past that. Our approach is postmodern! It’s personalized and customized to your individual learning competencies, situation, attitude, and aptitude.
You are going to learn as per your learning competencies, we are just going to make it efficient.
Personalized targets
Answer writing and discussion
This is one of the most important offerings these Optional groups have to offer. Daily questions are shared, from previous year questions to topic-based questions. Answers to them are reviewed and discussed thoroughly. You don’t want to miss these sessions.
Answer writing and discussion
Notes and references
There are so many sources. Wisdom lies in not only selecting the most appropriate sources but also in knowing what you can and should avoid. All the important readings, references, and materials are suggested and shared on a regular basis. Based on the reference material shared, important topics will be pointed out and discussed.
You will be joining a focussed community of learners.
Open access to public data is essential for policy analysis and evidence-based policymaking. Policy framework for sharing of public data by the government is also looked into in this article.
How Open Data Charter came about
Open-source software enthusiasts and civil society activists in the U.S. and U.K. came with a demand to unlock the data gathered by governments for unfettered access and reuse by citizens.
Data collected at public expense must belong to the people. This is the principle for the Open Data Charter adopted by 22 countries since 2015.
It calls upon governments to disseminate public data in open digital formats.
In return, the Charter argues, governments can expect “innovative, evidence-based policy solutions”.
Steps toward making data accessible-NDSAP
The National Data Sharing and Accessibility Policy (NDSAP) was adopted in 2012.
It was a step towards making non-sensitive government data accessible online.
The main thrust of the policy is to “promote data sharing and enable access to Government of India owned data for national planning, development and awareness”.
The implementation guidelines for NDSAP include ideals such as “openness, flexibility, transparency, quality” of data.
It aims to facilitate “access to Government of India shareable data in machine-readable form”.
The guidelines prescribe open digital formats suitable for analysis and dissemination.
Opaque formats such as the portable document format and the image format are discouraged.
As part of the Open Government Data (OGD) initiative, data.gov.in was launched in 2012.
However, the implementation has lagged far behind its stated objectives.
How data could have helped policy making in Covid pandemic
The district-wise, demographic-wise case statistics and anonymous contact traces released in the public domain would have proved useful.
Reliable model forecasts of disease spread and targeted regional lockdown protocols could have been generated.
Model forecasts have limitations, but models without inputs from empirical data are even more unreliable.
Violation of OGD in data shared for pandemic
Principles of OGD notwithstanding, sufficiently granular infection data are not available.
Violating the data format guidelines, OGD portal provides COVID-19 data only as a graphic image unsuitable for any analysis.
The Indian Council of Medical Research and mygov.in fare no better.
They too do not publish district-wise statistics, and the available data are not in usable formats.
Examples from other countries
The data portals of Canada, the U.K. and the U.S. present district-wise COVID-19 cases data.
These countries also provide data about the emergent effects on mental health, jobs and education.
According to the latest report of the Open Data Barometer, an independent group measuring the impact of open data, these nations lead the pack.
India is a contender to reach the top bracket and not a laggard.
Way forward
The government must provide the impetus and incentive to exploit this voluminous data by invigorating the dated national data portal.
Every department must be mandated to share substantive data respecting privacy concerns.
The government should look within for examples of creative outcomes of opening up the database.
Start-ups have built novel applications using Indian Railways data to provide ticket confirmation prediction and real-time train status.
Consider the question “Examine the provisions for data sharing and accessibility in India. Also, elaborate how the sharing of public data could help in policymaking.”
Conclusion
Sharing public data is a way to create beneficial social impact. So, the government must ensure the implementation of policy measures and encourage the analysis of public data to come at the informed policy decision.
