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  • Important Historical Sculpture/Tribes in India, Their festivals, and Culture

    17th Sept 2021

     

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    Important Historical Sculpture and Paintings
             Famous Sculpture/                             PaintingEra/ Dynasty     Monument
      Bodhisattva PadmapaniGupta PeriodAjanata
      Mahakapi JatakaSungaBharhut stupa
      Torso of VishnuGupta PeriodMathura
      Stupa worshipMauryan/Sunga periodBharhut stupa
      YakshiniMauryan/Sunga periodBharhut stupa
      Queen Maya’s dreamMauryan/Sunga periodBharhut stupa
      Painting of Yashodahara,Rahul & buddhaGupta PeriodAjanata
      Standing BuddhaGupta PeriodSarnath
      Seated BuddhaKushanasMathura
      Standing BuddhaKushanasGandhara
      Mara VijayaMultiple periodAjanta
      MaheshmurthiRashtrakuta PeriodElephanta caves
      Shiva chasing boarVijaynagara PeriodLepakshi temple
      Shiva killing Tripurasura Thanjavoor
      DakshinamurthyVijaynagara PeriodLepakshi temple
      Ladies attending ParvathyVijaynagara PeriodLepakshi temple
      Krishna playing the flute Pundareekapuram temple
      Sheshashayana VishnuGupta PeriodDashavtar temple
      Vishnu in Nara-Narayan formGupta PeriodDashavtar temple
      Arjun PenancePallavasMahabalipuram
      Statue of SuparshvanathaPallavas 
      Statue of Gommateshwara,Ganga DynastyShravanbelagola, Karnataka
      YakshiMauryan PeriodDidarganj
      Durga with eight arms shown in the act of defeating Mahishasura,PallavasMahishasura Mardini Cave, Mahabalipuram
      Ravana Shaking Mount KailashaRashtrakutaEllora
      Nandi bullCholasBrihadeshwara temple
      Kalyana Sundara MurthyRashtrakutaEllora
      NayikaGanga DynastyLingraj temple
      NatarajaCholasBrideshwar temple
      Manjira playerGanga DynastySurya Mandir,Odhisa
      MohiniHoysalasChennakeshava temple
      Pillars with horse riderNaykasMeenakshi temple
      Worship of Bodhi treeMauryan PeriodBharhut
      Animals worshipping Bodhi treeSungasSanchi
      YakshiniSungasSanchi
      Taming of Nalagiri elephantMauryan PeriodAmravati
      Head of BuddhaKushanasGandhara
      Seated BuddhaKushanasMathura
      Dwarfish Yaksha Pithalkoda caves
      Five RathaPallavasMahabalipuram
      VrikshikaSungaSanchi Stupa
      Buddha’s Great departureKushanasGandhara
      Indra flying amid clouds together with celestial nymphsGupta PeriodAjanta
    The following table contains the tribes in India, significant aspects of their life, and festivals they celebrate.
     Name of the tribeStates/ RegionSignificant aspects related to the tribeFestivals
     MundaChota Nagpur Plateu1.Christianity is their main religion.
    2..They speak Mundari which is austro-asiatic Language.    		Main festivals of Munda tribe are Mage Parab , Ind-Parab Jom-Nagoa or Jom Nawa ,Batauli ,Kolom Sing ,Phagu Festival ,Sarhul or Ba Parab ,Karam and Sohrai Festival
     SanthalsWest Bengal, Bihar, Orissa, Jharkhand and Assam.1.Santhals are the third largest tribe in India.
    2.Santhals speak Santhali, which belongs to the Austro- Asiatic language family. Santhals have their script called Olchiki, which was developed by Dr Raghunath Murmu in 1925.
    3.Santhals have no temples of their own. They even do not worship any idols. Santhals follow the Sarna religion.    		Santhals mainly celebrate the Karam festival which falls in the month of September and October
     AngamiNagaland1.Men wear shawls called white Mhoushu and the black Lohe. The women wear Mechala – the wrap around skirt and shawls of unique designs and patterns
    2.Christianity is the major religion followed among the Angami tribal people
    3.Angamis are quite popular for their woodcraft and artwork.    		Sekrenyi is the main festival celebrated among the Angamis in Nagaland.
     BhilsThe central Bhils are found in the mountain regions in the Indian states of Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Gujrat and Rajasthan. Bhils are also found in the north eastern parts of Tripura.1.Religion practice among the Bhils differ from place to place. Most of them worship local deities like Khandoba, Kanhoba, Bahiroba, and Sitalmata. Some of the worship Tiger God called ‘vaghdev’. They have no temples of their own.
    2.Ghoomar is the most famous dance among the Bhils.
    3.Than Gair is the religious dance drama performed by the men in the month of Sharavana (July and August)    		The Baneshwar fair is the main festival celebrated among the Bhils. This fair is held during the period of Shivatri (in the month of January or February) and is dedicated to Baneshwar Mahadev also known as Lord Shiva. On this occasion Bhils gather all together set up camps on the banks of the Som and Mahi river.
     ChenchusChenchu inhabit in the Nallamalai hills, which have been the part of the Nagarjuna Sagar Tiger Sanctuary for centuries in Andhra Pradesh India.1.Chenchus talk in Chenchu language with the Telgu accent. Their language is also known as Chenchucoolam, Chenchwar, Chenswar or Choncharu.
    2.Chenchus worship number of deities. They mainly believe in Bhagaban taru who lives in the sky and look after the Chenchus in all their doings. Another deity they worship is Garelamai Sama, who is the Goddess of forest.    		 
     KhasisKhasi tribe is mainly found in the sate of Assam and the Khasi Jaintia hills in Meghalaya1.Khasis speak Khasi, which is an Austro- Asiatic language. It is the part of the Mon-Khmer group of languages.
    2.Khasis have a matriachal society.
    3.Most of the Khasis follow Christianity as the religion. The Khasi believe in the supreme creator God U Blei Nong-thaw.    		Nongkrem is the major festival celebrated among the Khasis.
     BhuthiasBhutia tribes are of the Tibetan origin. They migrated to Sikkim around 16th century. In the northern part of the Sikkim where they are the major inhabitants, they are known as the Lachenpas and Lachungpas. Majority of the Bhutias are concentrated in the dry valley of the North Sikkim.1.Bhutia tribes usually speak Sikkimese.
    2.The legal system among the Bhutias is termed as the Dzumsa, which means the rendezvous point of the common masses.
    3. Bhutia male wear Bakhu which is a loose traditional dress with the full sleeves. While the women dress consists of Silken Honju, which is the full sleeves blouse    		Losar and Losoong are the main festivals celebrated among the Bhutia tribes.
     GondsThe Gonds are the tribal community mostly found in the Gond forests of central India. They are widely spread in the Chhindwara District of Madhya Pradesh1.Gonds tribe speak Gondi language which is related to the Telgu and the other Dravidian languages.
    2.Gonds have been largely influenced by the Hindus and for the long time have been practicing the Hindus culture and traditions. Gonds are the worshipers of Janani or the mother of creator.
    3.Gusadi dance is the most famous dance perfomed by the Gonds.    		Gonds fair and festivals are influenced from the Hindu traditions. Keslapur Jathra is the important festival of the Gonds.
     GaddisHimachal Pradesh.1.The main occupation of Gaddi tribes is shepherding and they make their livelihood by rearing and selling sheeps, goats, mules and horses
    2. They speak Gaddi langauge    		The Namagen dance is performed in the month of September to celebrate the autum. They were costumes which are largely woolen and studded with ornaments of silver. They are worn by women.
     BirhorChattisgarh1.They follow Hinduism and have their indigenous traditional beliefs. ‘Sing Bonga’, is regarded by the people as the supreme god.
    2.Birhor tribe is one of the primitive tribes. They belong to the Proto-Australoid stock; linguistically, they originate from the Austro-Asiatic group.    		 
     GaroMeghalaya1.In Garo tribes, women are the owners of property thus making it a matrilineal society.
    2.most of the Garos adopted Christianity. These tribes speak Garo language, which is also further divided into different sub-languages or dialects.    		Wangala is one of the significant festivals of these tribes This festival is celebrated after the harvest of crops as thanks giving ceremony to their deity Salijong
     ZeliangNagaland1.The Zeliang practice wet cultivation or Panikheti and terraced cultivation. They practice Jhum cultivation though they prefer Panikheti.
    2.Many have accepted the religion of Christianity.    		The Hega festival is one of the most important and the largest festivals among the Zeliang community
     RengmaNagaland1.They belong to the Mongoloid racial stock. The Rengma is a patriarchal society therefore the line of descent is traced through the male side and property rights goes to the male line.   2.The Rengma tribes are agriculturists. They grow paddy through Jhum cultivation and wet cultivation. 3.Traditionally Rengma tribes are worshippers of supernatural beings. The Supreme god is known as Teronyu. Nyensug and Nyensugi are the next important god and goddesses who are worshipped for household wealth. Now most of the Rengma tribes are ChristiansNgada is the most important festival of Rengma tribes. It is celebrated after harvesting the crop or at the end of November or in the beginning of December. Actually it is a “Thanks giving” festival of the Rengma tribes
     AoNagalandThe Ao Nagas are rich in their folk literature.
    With the arrival of Christian missionaries in the 19th century the Ao were some of the earliest converts to Christianity among the other Naga tribes.    		1. The Aos observe Moatsü Mong after the sowing is done. The festival provides them a period of recreation and entertainment after the stressful work of clearing fields, burning jungles, sowing seeds, cleaning up the Tsubu (wells) and repairs and construction of houses by elders of the Putu Menden, stretching over a week.
    2.Aos have another festival called Tsüngrem Mong. It is celebrated in the eve of the harvest.
     LushaiManipur/Mizoram1.Lushai tribes have developed expertise in swimming and hunting. That they are good archers are apparent from the fact that they can nicely handle ‘Sairawkher’.
    2.The way they dress shows that these Lushai tribes have got aesthetic sense. Lukhum is a special hat worn by the Lushai tribes. It is sharp in shape, mainly prepared from ‘bamboo splits’. Special open-hexagonal weave are used for weaving these hats.
    3.For proper administration, the whole of the Lushai society are segregated into clans and castes, nicely run by a village head. Different is the way in which they practice the ‘Sakhua sacrifice’. These Lushai tribes are pious.    		There Bamboo dance(known as Cheraw dance) is very famous.
     HmarManipur1.The society is patrilineal and patriarchal in nature.
    2. Hmars worship supernatural beings. Pathien is the supreme god.
    3.The Hmars depend on forest products. Their economy can be classified dually -traditional and subsidiary occupations.    		Chawn-lam, Dar-lam, Pheipheet-lam, Hrang-lam, Tinna-Hla-lam are the common dances of the Hmar community. All dances are based on the rhythmic tunes of musical instruments.
     KukiManipurKuki Tribe of Manipur are mainly followers of Christianity and Judaism. 
     MizoMizoram1.The Mizos are of the Mongoloid racial stock with well built features.
    2.They follow Christianity
    3.The Mizos are mainly an agricultural people. Jhum cultivation is the traditional form of agriculture that is practiced    		The Mizo celebrate many festivals among which Chapchar kut and Pavlkut are most important festivals. Chapchar kut is celebrated in the month of March. It is the spring festival celebrated. Pawl kut is a harvest festival celebrated in the months of December and January.
     ChakesangNagaland Held in between March and April, the Tsukhenyi festival is one of the least known tribal festivals in India that is celebrated with great enthusiasm by the Chakesang Nagass
     LimboosSikkim1.Many Limbu follow a combination of Buddhism and their traditional beliefs.
    2.There traditional group dance is called dhannach and is performed during marriage,death or any festivities
    3.The traditional dress of Limboos are mekhli and Taga    		 
     LepchasSikkim1.The Lepchas are the aboriginal inhabitants of Sikkim and they are mostly settled in North Sikkim. They are mostly Buddhist but many of them have now adopted Christianity
    2. The traditional cloths of the Lepchas are woven in exquisite colour combinations. Men’s dress is called Thokro-Dum and the female’s dress is called Dumdyam or Dumvum.
    3. The Lepcha trace their descent patrilineally. The marriage is negotiated between the families of the bride and the groom.    		 
     ApataniAruanchal Pradesh1.UNESCO has proposed the Apatani valley for inclusion as a World Heritage Site for its “extremely high productivity” and “unique” way of preserving the ecology
    2. Women of the Apatani Tribe, in India’s Apatani plateau, are famous for the bizarre nose plugs they’ve been wearing since times long passed.    		They have two major festival- Dree and Myoko.
     NyishisAruanchal Pradesh1.The Nyishi language belongs to the Sino-Tibetan family, however, the origin is disputed.
    2.Polygyny is prevalent among the Nyish.
    3. The Nyishis, who traditionally wear cane helmets surmounted by the crest of a hornbill beak (known as pudum, padam), have considerably affected the population of this bird.
    Several organizations, such as the Arunachal Wildlife and Nature Foundation and the Wildlife Trust of India, have been trying to stop the Nyishi hunting these birds in order to protect them from extinction. Nature reserves, such as the Pakke Sanctuary, are being set up to protect the birds, while artificial materials, such as fiberglass, have been introduced as an alternative to the hornbill beak in Nyishi dress.    		Nyokum is the festival celebrated by the Nyishi people, a religion which commemorates their ancestors.
     AdisAruanchal PradeshAdi dances vary from the slow, rustic and beautifully enchanting style Ponung (performed in Solung festival) to the exhilarating, exuberant thumps of Delong performed by Men in Etor festival. These dances have led to certain forms of dancing which jointly narrate a story, the Tapu (War Dance). In the Tapu War Dance, the dancers vigorously re-enact the actions of war, its gory details and the triumphant cries of the warriors. Yakjong is performed in Aran festival.The Adi celebrate a number of festivals, in particular their prime festivals are Aran, Solung, Etor.Solung, is observed in the first week of September for five days or more. It is a harvest festival performed after the sowing of seeds and transplantation, to seek for future bumper crops. Ponung songs and dances are performed by women folk during the festival
     Sema/Sumi NagasNagaland1.The ‘Sumi Naga’ is one of the major Naga peoples in Nagaland, India. The Sumis mainly inhabit the Zunheboto district, although many have spread and is now living in a few more districts within Nagaland.
    2.Sumi Naga tribe practiced kiti-do and were a headhunter as every other Naga tribals .    		Tuluni (July 8) is a festival of great significance for the Sumi. This festival is marked with feasts as the occasion occurs in the bountiful season of the year. Drinking rice beer indispensably forms as part of the feasts. Rice beer is served in a goblet made of bamboo or made from the leaf of plantain. This drink is called Tuluni which gives the festival its name.
     Konyak tribeNagalandThe Konyak are a Naga people, and are recognised among other Naga by their tattoos, which they have all over their face and hands; facial tattoos were earned for taking an enemy’s head. They are called the land of Angh’s. They have the largest population among the Nagas.Aoleang is the biggest festival for the Konyak. They wear their traditional attire and sing folk song to celebrate the Aoleang festival.
     ReangTripura1.The Reangs are basically a semi-nomadic tribe who practice jhum (slash and burn) or shifting method of cultivation on the hill sides.
    2. The Reang basically belonged to the Mongoloid group and speaks the Tibeto-Burmese language ‘Kau Bru    		The Hodaigri dance amongst the Reang (Bru) was usually performed on the occasion of Maikhlungmo rituals i.e. worship of Goddess of food grains and cotton especially during the month of September-October
     MishingAssam1.The Mishing tribe is the second largest tribe among the other tribes of North- East India.
    2.Traditionally Mishing people live near the bank of river and they build their “Chang Ghar” with the help of timber bamboo, thatch, etc for comfort living.    		Mishing people are easy going, very simple living and are fond of festivals. The main festival is “Ali-Aye-Ligang” which is the most colourful spring festival held every year on first Wednesday of the month “Gimur polo”(Feb-March).
     KarbiAssam1.The Karbis believes in animism which consists of such a belief in the role of spiritual beings in human life.
    2. Various types of dances are performed by the youths during the performances of Chomangkan, the death ceremony and other socio-religious festivals. The Karbis have very limited number of musical instruments. A big drum called Cheng is their main musical instrument.    		A number of festivals are observed by the people belonging to Karbi tribal group. Like for instance, they celebrate ‘Chojun Puja’ or ‘Swarak Puja’, ‘Rongker’, ‘Chokk-eroi’, ‘Hacha-Kekan’, ‘Chomangkan’.
     MikirAssam  
     KolsMadhya PradeshMost of these tribes are landless labourer. They prefer to live in groups near villages called Kolhan 
     BondaOdhisaThe Bonda are an ancient tribe of people who live in the isolated hill regions of the Malkangiri district of southwestern Odisha, India, 
     OaronsOdhisa,Bihar and Jharkhand1.Oraon also called Kurukh, aboriginal people of the Chota Nagpur region in the state of Jharkhand, India. They call themselves Kurukh and speak a Dravidian language akin to Gondi and other tribal languages of central India.
    2.Speakers of Oraon number about 1,900,000, but in urban areas, and particularly among Christians, many Oraon speak Hindi as their mother tongue.
    3.It was long thought that the Oraons and the other tribals were animists, people who attribute a living soul to plants, inanimate objects and natural phenomena. This view has been discarded although amateur anthropologists still sort it out in articles, in popular magazines. The Oraons are not nature worshipers.    		 
     MuriasChattisgarh1.The Muria are an adivasi (scheduled tribe) of the Bastar district of Chhattisgarh, India. They are part of the Gondi people.
    2.They have mixed-sex dormitories where adolescents are sent to practice premarital sex, sometimes with a single partner and sometimes serially.
    3.The Muria are traditionally animists, with village and clan deities    		 
     KorbaChattisgarhFamous for there Karma dance 
     SahariyaRajasthan1.Sahariya Tribe is the only primitive tribe of the Rajasthan state
    2.They follow Hindu religious practices and speak a dialect influenced by Hadoti.    		 
     IrulasTamil Nadu1. They inhabit the area of the Nilgiri mountains, in the states of Tamil Nadu and Kerala, India
    2.Early 20th century anthropological literature classified the Irular under the Negrito ethnic group.
    3.Unlike the Negrito tribes in the Andaman Islands who have retained their language, Irular speak the Irula language, a Dravidian language that is closely related to Tamil, Yerukala, Sholaga and other Tamil languages    		 
     BadagasTamil Nadu1.The Badagas live in the Nilgiri Hills of Tamil Nadu, India. They speak the unwritten Badaga language and are the one of the social groups in Nilgiris
    2.Thundu (a white piece of cloth) forms an integral part of the attire of Badaga women and as a cultural item, is presented to visiting dignitaries as a gesture of good will.    		Their important festival is Hethai Habba.
     UralisKerela1.The Urali tribes like most of the tribes in south India, worship nature as Gods and inventor of the world. They consider the Sun as ‘the creator of all souls’ and moon as the mother of all creation.
    2.The Uralis generally do not engage in inter-tribal marriage, instead they prefer to marry within their own tribe. It is custom amongst them to wear a sacred thread on special occasions like weddings and funerals.    		 
     JarawasAndaman & Nicobar Island1.The Jarawa are still at the primitive stage of life on earth. They entirely depend upon forest and sea for food. Wild boar and monitor lizard are consumed. Various kinds of fruit , honey and tubers are parts of their diet too.
    2.The jarawas of both sexes go complete naked. However some ornaments made with shells and palm leaves are worn by them but these are not in the sense to cover their nudity.
    This tribe has lived in the southeast part of Andaman but after the British regime they shifted to the western region of the island. They have forever been hunter gatherers in the true sense however things have changed since the 1990’s specially after the building of the old trunk road.    		 
     SentineleseAndaman & Nicobar Island1.The Sentinelese people are said to be so hostile that their home has been named the ‘hardest place to visit’ in the world.The Sentinelese and other indigenous Andamanese peoples are frequently described as negritos,
    2.They inhabit the North Sentinel island, and are the only remaining tribe in the Andamans to still maintain their isolation from the rest of the world. Nobody knows exactly how they look, the population or how they live. Since 1967, the indian governments with the help of anthropologists have tried to make contact with the tribe. They tried giving gifts of food, coconuts, etc but they were always met with hostility. The tribe showers arrows and stones at whoever comes near the island.
    .    		 
     OngeAndaman & Nicobar IslandOnges are one of the most primitive tribes in India. They belong to the Negrito racial stock and they have been mainly seen near the Dugong creek in Little Andaman. They are dependent on the food provided by nature and are a semi-nomadic tribe.
    The onge population fell post british colonization from 672 in 1986 to 92 in 1901 but has remained stable since.    		 
     ShompenAndaman & Nicobar IslandThe Shompens, who live in the Great Nicobar island, are a semi-nomadic people. They wander in their forest and coastal habitat in search of fruits and games. There are two territorial groups among the Shompens; The habitation of Shompens is the Great Nicobar which is the largest among the Nicobar group of Islands. Like the Nicobarese, they belong to the Mongoloid race. 
     PangwalHimachal Pradesh.1.These rugged people, who are Hindus, have their unique customs, traditions, and institutions. The native Pangwals and Bhotis are robust, hardworking, handsome people who keep the valley’s unique culture alive in folk songs, music and tribal dances.Music, dance and the locally brewed liquor ‘patar’, play a significant role in the life of the Pangwals. One of the major festivals celebrated towards the end of February is ‘Jukaru’
     SherdukpenAruanchal Pradesh1.The Sherdukpen language is part of the Kanauri branch of the Tibeto-Burman family.
    2.Bardo Chham is a folk dance of Sherdukpens, a small community of West Kameng District of Arunachal Pradesh, Bardo Chham is based on the stories of good and evil. According to the local beliefs, there are both good and evil in mankind. The Sherdukpens mask themselves representing the different animals and dance to show an act of fighting the evil forces.    		 
     Wattal tribeJammu & KashmirDumhal dance is performed by Wattal tribe on special occassions 
     BhutiasSikkim1.The Bhutia are a community of people of Tibetan ancestry, who speak Lhopo or Sikkimese, a Tibetan dialect fairly mutually intelligible to standard Tibetan
    2. Singhi Chham or Kanchendzonga Dance is a dance form in Sikkim whereby the dancers perform in a lion costume that represents the snow lion. It is a dance of the Bhutia people    		 
     TodasTamil NaduTribals of Nilgiri hills 

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  • 17th Sept 2021 | Current Affairs Test – 8

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  • 17th September 2021 | Prelims Daily with Previous Year Questions

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  • E-Shram

    The E-Shram portal has come into existence more than a decade after the passage of the Unorganized Workers’ Social Security Act in 2008.

    E-Shram

    • On August 26, 2021, the Ministry of Labour and Employment (MOLE) launched the E-Shram, the web portal for creating a National Database of Unorganized Workers (NDUW), which will be seeded with Aadhaar.
    • It seeks to register an estimated 398-400 million unorganized workers and to issue an E-Shram card.

    Better late than never move

    • It has come about even after repeated nudging by the Supreme Court of India.
    • It is the result of state apathy.
    • Had the Central and the State governments begun these legally mandated processes on time, much of the distress of lakhs of vulnerable workers would have been avoided.
    • In fact, the political class owe an ‘apology’ to informal workers.

    Issues with E-Shram

    (A) Time constraints

    • Long process: Given the gigantic nature of registering each worker, it will be a long-drawn process.
    • No gestation period: The Government has not mentioned a gestation period to assess its strategy and efficiency.
    • No hasty process: Employers are or required their workers to register even.While the Government can appeal to them, any penal measure will hurt the ease of doing business.

    (B) Pandemic hides

    • Considering the estimated 380 million workers as the universe of registration — debatable as the novel coronavirus pandemic has pushed lakhs of workers into informality.

    (C) Data security

    • Privacy: One of the vital concerns of e-portals is data security, including its potential abuse especially when it is a mega-sized database.
    • No national framework yet: There are also media reports pointing out the absence of a national architecture relating to data security.
    • Local server issues: It has been reported that in some States such as Maharashtra, the server was down for a few days.

    (D) Structural issue

    • Aadhaar seeding: Many workers will not have an Aadhaar-seeded mobile or even a smartphone. Aadhaar-seeding is a controversial issue with political overtones, especially in the North-eastern regions.
    • Eligibility: There are several issues concerning the eligibility of persons to register as well as the definitional issues.
    • Exclusion: By excluding workers covered by EPF and ESI, lakhs of contract and fixed-term contract workers will be excluded from the universe of UW. Hazardous establishments employing even a single worker will have to be covered under the ESI, which means these workers also will be excluded.
    • No benefits for the aged: The NDUW excludes millions of workers aged over 59 from its ambit, which constitutes age discrimination.

    (D) Complex identities of workers

    • Migration: Many are circular migrant workers and they quickly, even unpredictably, move from one trade to another.
    • Mixed work: Many others perform formal and informal work as some during non-office hours may belong to the gig economy, for example as an Uber taxi or a Swiggy employee. They straddle formal and informal sectors.
    • Gig workers: Even though MOLE has included gig workers in this process, it is legally unclear whether the gig/platform worker can be classified first as a worker at all.

    (E) Other impediments

    • Dependence on States: The central government will have to depend on the State governments for this project to be successful.
    • Lack of coordination: In many States, the social dialogue with the stakeholders especially is rather weak or non-existent. The success of the project depends on the involvement of a variety of stakeholders apart from trade unions.
    • Corruption: There is also the concern of corruption as middle-service agencies such as Internet providers might charge exorbitant charges to register and print the E-Shram cards.

    Benefits: No immediate carrot

    • Workers stand to gain by registration in the medium to long run.
    • But the instant benefit of accident insurance upto ₹0.2 million to registered workers is surely not an attractive carrot.
    • The main point of attraction is the benefits they stand to gain during normal and crisis-ridden periods such as the novel coronavirus pandemic now which the Government needs to disseminate properly.

    Way forward

    • E-Shram is a vital system to provide hitherto invisible workers much-needed visibility.
    • It will provide the Labour Market Citizenship Document to them.
    • The govt should go one step further for triple linkage for efficient and leakage-less delivery of all kinds of benefits and voices to workers/citizens: One-Nation-One-Ration Card (ONOR), E-Shram Card (especially bank account seeded) and the Election Commission Card.
    • Last but not least, registrations cannot be a source of exclusion of a person from receiving social assistance and benefits.

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  • Government sets up ‘bad bank’ to clear the NPA mess

    Paving the way for a major clean-up of bad loans in the banking system, the Union Cabinet has cleared a ₹30,600-crore guarantee programme for securities to be issued by the newly incorporated ‘bad bank’ for taking over and resolving non-performing assets (NPAs) amounting to ₹2 lakh crore.

    What is a Bad Bank?

    • A bad bank conveys the impression that it will function as a bank but has bad assets to start with.
    • Technically, it is an asset reconstruction company (ARC) or an asset management company that takes over the bad loans of commercial banks, manages them and finally recovers the money over a period of time.
    • Such a bank is not involved in lending and taking deposits, but helps commercial banks clean up their balance sheets and resolve bad loans.
    • The takeover of bad loans is normally below the book value of the loan and the bad bank tries to recover as much as possible subsequently.

    Bad Banks to be established

    • The NARCL-IDRCL structure is the new bad bank.
    • The National Asset Reconstruction Company Limited (NARCL) has already been incorporated under the Companies Act.
    • It will acquire stressed assets worth about Rs 2 lakh crore from various commercial banks in different phases.
    • Another entity — India Debt Resolution Company Ltd (IDRCL), which has also been set up — will then try to sell the stressed assets in the market.

    How will the NARCL-IDRCL work?

    • The NARCL will first purchase bad loans from banks.
    • It will pay 15% of the agreed price in cash and the remaining 85% will be in the form of “Security Receipts”.
    • When the assets are sold, with the help of IDRCL, , the commercial banks will be paid back the rest.
    • If the bad bank is unable to sell the bad loan, or has to sell it at a loss, then the government guarantee will be invoked.
    • The difference between what the commercial bank was supposed to get and what the bad bank was able to raise will be paid from the Rs 30,600 crore that has been provided by the government.

    Will a bad bank resolve matters?

    • From the perspective of a commercial bank saddled with high NPA levels, it will help.
    • That’s because such a bank will get rid of all its toxic assets, which were eating up its profits, in one quick move.
    • When the recovery money is paid back, it will further improve the bank’s position.
    • Meanwhile, it can start lending again.

    Why do we need a bad bank?

    • The idea gained currency during Rajan’s tenure as RBI Governor.
    • The RBI had then initiated an asset quality review (AQR) of banks and found that several banks had suppressed or hidden bad loans to show a healthy balance sheet.
    • However, the idea remained on paper amid lack of consensus on the efficacy of such an institution.
    • ARCs have not made any impact in resolving bad loans due to many procedural issues.
    • While commercial banks resume lending, the so-called bad bank, or a bank of bad loans, would try to sell these “assets” in the market.

    Good about the bad banks

    • The problem of NPAs continues in the banking sector, especially among the weaker banks.
    • The bad bank concept is in some ways similar to an ARC but is funded by the government initially, with banks and other investors co-investing in due course.
    • The presence of the government is seen as a means to speed up the clean-up process.
    • Many other countries had set up institutional mechanisms such as the Troubled Asset Relief Programme (TARP) in the US to deal with a problem of stress in the financial system.

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  • Mura-Drava-Danube (MDD) Biosphere Reserve

    UNESCO has designated Mura-Drava-Danube (MDD) as the world’s first ‘five-country biosphere reserve’.

    About Mura-Drava-Danube BR

    • The biosphere reserve covers 700 kilometres of the Mura, Drava and Danube rivers and stretches across Austria, Slovenia, Croatia, Hungary and Serbia.
    • The total area of the reserve — a million hectares — in the so-called ‘Amazon of Europe’, makes it the largest riverine protected area on the continent.
    • The reserve is home to floodplain forests, gravel and sand banks, river islands, oxbows and meadows.
    • It is home to continental Europe’s highest density of breeding white-tailed eagle (more than 150 pairs), as well as endangered species such as the little tern, black stork, otters, beavers and sturgeons.
    • It is also an important annual resting and feeding place for more than 250,000 migratory birds, according to WWF.
    • Almost 900,000 people live in the biosphere reserve. (UPSC may ask if it is uninhabited.)

    Significance of this BR

    • The new reserve represented an important contribution to the European Green Deal and contributes to the implementation of the EU Biodiversity Strategy in the Mura-Drava-Danube region.
    • The strategy’s aim is to revitalize 25,000 km of rivers and protect 30 per cent of the European Union’s land area by 2030.
    • The declaration as BR puts river revitalization, sustainable business practices enhancing cross-border cooperation into focus.

    Ignore at your own risk! Its better to correct it here itself.

    Such PYQs are ought to repeat any number of times in UPSC CSE.

    Q. Consider the following statements:

    1. The boundaries of a National Park are defined by legislation.
    2. A Biosphere Reserve is declared to conserve a few specific species of flora and fauna.
    3. In a Wildlife Sanctuary, limited biotic interference is permitted.

    Which of the above statements is/are correct?

    (a) 1 only

    (b) 2 and 3 only

    (c) 1 and 3 only

    (d) 1, 2 and 3

     

    [wpdiscuz-feedback id=”crefywlmtc” question=”Please leave a feedback on this” opened=”1″]Post your answers here.[/wpdiscuz-feedback]

    Back2Basics: UNESCO Biosphere Reserves

    • Biosphere reserves are ‘learning places for sustainable development’.
    • They are nominated by national governments and remain under the sovereign jurisdiction of the states where they are located.
    • They are designated under the intergovernmental MAB Programme by the Director-General of UNESCO following the decisions of the MAB International Coordinating Council (MAB ICC).
    • Their status is internationally recognized. Member States can submit sites through the designation process.
    • Biosphere reserves include terrestrial, marine and coastal ecosystems.

    They integrate three main “functions”:

    1. Conservation of biodiversity and cultural diversity
    2. Economic development that is socio-culturally and environmentally sustainable
    3. Logistic support, underpinning development through research, monitoring, education and training

    (a) Core Areas

    It comprises a strictly protected zone that contributes to the conservation of landscapes, ecosystems, species and genetic variation

    (b) Buffer Zones

    It surrounds or adjoins the core area(s), and is used for activities compatible with sound ecological practices that can reinforce scientific research, monitoring, training and education.

    (c) Transition Area

    The transition area is where communities foster socio-culturally and ecologically sustainable economic and human activities.

    UNESCO recognized BRs in India

    Year of

    recognition

    Name

    States
    2000 Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve Tamil Nadu
    2001 Gulf of Mannar Biosphere Reserve Tamil Nadu
    2001 Sundarbans Biosphere Reserve West Bengal
    2004 Nanda Devi Biosphere Reserve Uttarakhand
    2009 Pachmarhi Biosphere Reserve Madhya Pradesh
    2009 Nokrek Biosphere Reserve Meghalaya
    2009 Simlipal Biosphere Reserve Odisha
    2012 Achanakmar-Amarkantak Biosphere Reserve Chhattisgarh
    2013 Great Nicobar Biosphere Reserve Great Nicobar
    2016 Agasthyamala Biosphere Reserve Kerala and Tamil Nadu
    2018 Kanchenjunga Biosphere Reserve Part of North and West Sikkim districts
    2020 Panna Biosphere Reserve Madhya Pradesh

     

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  • Gupta Era Temple uncovered in UP

    Last week, the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) discovered remains of an ancient temple dating back to the Gupta period (5th century) in a village in Uttar Pradesh’s Etah district.

    Findings of the excavation

    • The Bilsarh site was declared ‘protected’ in 1928.
    • Every year, the ASI undertakes scrubbing work at the protected sites.
    • This year, the team discovered two decorative pillars close to one another, with human figurines resembling an ancient temple.
    • The stairs of the temple had ‘shankhalipi’ inscriptions, which were deciphered by the archaeologists as saying, ‘Sri Mahendraditya’, the title of Kumaragupta I of the Gupta dynasty.

    You will find tons of PYQs on Gupta Period. Try this recent one:

    Q. With reference to the period of Gupta dynasty in ancient India, the towns Ghantasala, Kadura and Chaula were well known as:

    (a) ports handling foreign trade

    (b) capitals of powerful kingdoms

    (c) places of exquisite stone art and architecture

    (d) important Buddhist pilgrimage centres

     

    [wpdiscuz-feedback id=”1ct5k7tlw1″ question=”Please leave a feedback on this” opened=”1″]Post your answers here.[/wpdiscuz-feedback]

    Who was Kumaragupta I?

    • Kumaragupta I was an emperor of the Gupta Empire of Ancient India.
    • A son of the Gupta emperor Chandragupta II and queen Dhruvadevi, he seems to have maintained control of his inherited territory, which extended from Gujarat in the west to Bengal region in the east.
    • In the 5th century, Kumaragupta I ruled for 40 years over north-central India.
    • Skandagupta, son and successor of Kumaragupta I is generally considered to be the last of the great Gupta rulers.
    • He assumed the titles of Vikramaditya and Kramaditya.

    What is the Shankhalipi script?

    • Shankhalipi or “shell-script” is a term used by scholars to describe ornate spiral characters assumed to be Brahmi derivatives that look like conch shells or shankhas.
    • They are found in inscriptions across north-central India and date to between the 4th and 8th centuries.
    • Both Shankhalipi and Brahmi are stylised scripts used primarily for names and signatures.
    • The inscriptions consist of a small number of characters, suggesting that the shell inscriptions are names or auspicious symbols or a combination of the two.

    Chronology and meaning

    • The script was discovered in 1836 on a brass trident in Uttarakhand’s Barahat by English scholar James Prinsep, who was the founding editor of the Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal.
    • A year later, he came across two more similar scripts at Nagarjuna group of caves in the Barabar Hills near Gaya.
    • Prominent sites with shell inscriptions include the Mundeshwari Temple in Bihar, the Udayagiri Caves in Madhya Pradesh, Mansar in Maharashtra and some of the cave sites of Gujarat and Maharashtra.
    • In fact, shell inscriptions are also reported in Indonesia’s Java and Borneo.
    • Scholars have tried to decipher shell script but have not been successful.

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    Back2Basics: Gupta Empire

    • The Gupta Empire was an ancient Indian empire which existed from the early 4th century CE to late 6th century CE.
    • This period is considered as the Golden Age of India by historians.
    • The ruling dynasty of the empire was founded by the king Sri Gupta; the most notable rulers of the dynasty were Chandragupta I, Samudragupta, and Chandragupta II alias Vikramaditya.
    • The 5th-century CE Sanskrit poet Kalidasa credits the Guptas with having conquered about twenty-one kingdoms, both in and outside India, including the kingdoms of Parasikas, the Hunas, the Kambojas, tribes located in the west and east Oxus valleys, the Kinnaras, Kiratas, and others.
    • Many of the literary sources, such as Mahabharata and Ramayana, were canonized during this period.
    • The Gupta period produced scholars such as Kalidasa, Aryabhata, Varahamihira, and Vatsyayana who made great advancements in many academic fields.

  • [pib] PLI Scheme for White Goods

    A total of  52 companies have filed their application with a committed investment of Rs 5,866 crore under the PLI scheme to incentivize the domestic manufacturing of components of White Goods.

    What are White Goods?

    • White goods refer to heavy consumer durables or large home appliances, which were traditionally available only in white.
    • They include appliances such as washing machines, air conditioners, stoves, refrigerators, etc. The white goods industry in India is highly concentrated.

    Why PLI scheme for white goods?

    • Indian appliance and consumer electronics (ACE) market reached INR 76,400 crore (~$10.93 bn) in 2019.
    • Appliances and consumer electronics industry is expected to double to reach INR 1.48 lakh crore (~$21.18 bn) by 2025.
    • The PLI Scheme on White Goods is designed to create complete component ecosystem for Air Conditioners and LED Lights Industry in India and make India an integral part of the global supply chains.
    • Only manufacturing of components of ACs and LED Lights will be incentivized under the Scheme.

    What is PLI Scheme?

    • As the name suggests, the scheme provides incentives to companies for enhancing their domestic manufacturing apart from focusing on reducing import bills and improving the cost competitiveness of local goods.
    • PLI scheme offers incentives on incremental sales for products manufactured in India.
    • The scheme for respective sectors has to be implemented by the concerned ministries and departments.

    Criteria laid for the scheme

    • Eligibility criteria for businesses under the PLI scheme vary based on the sector approved under the scheme.
    • For instance, the eligibility for telecom units is subject to the achievement of a minimum threshold of cumulative incremental investment and incremental sales of manufactured goods.
    • The minimum investment threshold for MSME is Rs 10 crore and Rs 100 crores for others.
    • Under food processing, SMEs and others must hold over 50 per cent of the stock of their subsidiaries, if any.
    • On the other hand, for businesses under pharmaceuticals, the project has to be a greenfield project while the net worth of the company should not be less than 30 per cent of the total committed investment.

    What are the incentives offered?

    • An incentive of 4-6 per cent was offered last year on mobile and electronic components manufacturers such as resistors, transistors, diodes, etc.
    • Similarly, 10 percent incentives were offered for six years (FY22-27) of the scheme for the food processing industry.
    • For white goods too, the incentive of 4-6 per cent on incremental sales of goods manufactured in India for a period of five years was offered to companies engaged in the manufacturing of air conditioners and LED lights.

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  • [pib] Reforms in Urban Planning Capacity in India

    NITI Aayog has launched a report titled ‘Reforms in Urban Planning Capacity in India’ on measures to ramp up urban planning capacity in India.

    Reforms in Urban Planning

    • The report has been developed by NITI Aayog, in consultation with concerned ministries and eminent experts in the domain of urban and regional planning.
    • It underscores urban challenges, including town planning and emphasizes need greater policy attention in our country.

    Why such report?

    • India is home to 11% of the total global urban population.
    • By 2027, India will surpass China as the most populous country in the world.
    • Unplanned urbanization, however, exerts great strain on our cities. In fact, the Covid-19 pandemic has revealed the dire need for the planning and management of our cities.
    • The existing urban planning and governance framework is complex, which often leads to ambiguity and lack of accountability.

    Highlights of the report

    The report makes several recommendations that can unblock bottlenecks in the value chain of urban planning capacity in India.  Some of them are:

    Programmatic Intervention for Planning of Healthy Cities:

    • Every city must aspire to become a ‘Healthy City for All’ by 2030.
    • The report recommends a Central Sector Scheme ‘500 Healthy Cities Programme’, for a period of 5 years, wherein priority cities and towns would be selected jointly by the states and local bodies.

    Programmatic Intervention for Optimum Utilization of Urban Land:

    • All the cities and towns under the proposed ‘Healthy Cities Programme’ should strengthen development control regulations based on scientific evidence to maximize the efficiency of urban land (or planning area).
    • The report recommends a sub-scheme ‘Preparation/Revision of Development Control Regulations’ for this purpose.

    Ramping Up of Human Resources:

    • To combat the shortage of urban planners in the public sector, the report recommends that the states/UTs may need to a) expedite the filling up of vacant positions of town planners.
    • It asks to additionally sanction 8268 town planners’ posts as lateral entry positions.

    Ensuring Qualified Professionals for Undertaking Urban Planning:

    • State town and country planning departments face an acute shortage of town planners.
    • This is compounded by the fact that in several states, ironically, a qualification in town planning is not even an essential criterion for such jobs.
    • States may need to undertake requisite amendments in their recruitment rules to ensure the entry of qualified candidates into town-planning positions.

    Re-engineering of Urban Governance:

    • The report recommends the constitution of a high-powered committee to re-engineer the present urban-planning governance structure.
    • The key aspects that would need to be addressed in this effort are:
    1. clear division of the roles and responsibilities of various authorities, appropriate revision of rules and regulations, etc.,
    2. creation of a more dynamic organizational structure, standardisation of the job descriptions of town planners and other experts, and
    3. extensive adoption of technology for enabling public participation and inter-agency coordination.

    Revision of Town and Country Planning Acts:

    • Most States have enacted the Town and Country Planning Acts, that enable them to prepare and notify master plans for implementation.
    • However, many need to be reviewed and upgraded.
    • Therefore, the formation of an apex committee at the state level is recommended to undertake a regular review of planning legislations (including town and country planning or urban and regional development acts or other relevant acts).

    Demystifying Planning and Involving Citizens:

    • While it is important to maintain the master plans’ technical rigour, it is equally important to demystify them for enabling citizens’ participation at relevant stages.
    • Therefore, the committee strongly recommends a ‘Citizen Outreach Campaign’ for demystifying urban planning.

    Steps for Enhancing the Role of Private Sector:

    • The report recommends that concerted measures must be taken at multiple levels to strengthen the role of the private sector to improve the overall planning capacity in the country.
    • These include the adoption of fair processes for procuring technical consultancy services, strengthening project structuring and management skills in the public sector, and empanelment of private sector consultancies.

    Steps for Strengthening Urban Planning Education System:

    • The Central universities and technical institutions in all the other States/UTs are encouraged to offer PG degree programmes (MTech Planning) to cater to the requirement of planners in the country.
    • The committee also recommends that all such institutions may synergize with Ministry of Rural Development, Ministry of Panchayati Raj and respective state rural development departments.

    Measures for Strengthening Human Resource and Match Demand–Supply:

    • The report recommends the constitution of a ‘National Council of Town and Country Planners’ as a statutory body.
    • Also, a ‘National Digital Platform of Town and Country Planners’ is suggested to be created within the National Urban Innovation Stack of MoHUA.
    • This portal will enable self-registration of all planners and evolve as a marketplace for potential employers and urban planners.

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  • How not to deal with recession

    Context

    The Centre is facing a serious financial crisis because of the exigencies created by the pandemic and its own policies. However, monetising assets and cutting down funds to states could aggravate the crisis.

    3 Policies aggravating the crisis

    1) NMP and disinvestment

    • Union Finance Minister, while announcing the National Monetisation Pipeline (NMP), said that asset monetisation is based on the philosophy of creation through monetisation and is aimed at “tapping private sector investment for new infrastructure creation”.
    • Loss of dividend: Disinvestment of profitable Navratna companies will result in a loss of dividend, a major source of income for the Centre.
    • Loss due to tax exemptions: Tax exemptions to the investors will take away another major share of income.
    • Central funds will be squeezed and this, in turn, will have a bearing on state finances.
    • NMP will seriously hurt the interests of the country.

    2) Cutting down funds to States

    • Kerala’s case: The state was getting about 3.92 per cent from the divisible pool in the 1970s and 1980s.
    • It came down to 2.66 per cent and 2.34 per cent in the awards of the 12th and 13th Finance Commissions.
    • The 14th Finance Commission award increased it to 2.45 (2.50) per cent.
    • Now, the 15th Finance Commission has reduced it to 1.92 per cent.
    • This arbitrary cut is a result of the adoption of certain new yardsticks by the commission without considering the state government’s views
    • The 15th Finance Commission’s special grant (RD grant) of Rs 19,800 crore for this year will no longer be available in the coming years.
    • Karnataka and many other states have also suffered because of the policy to reduce the divisible pool share.

    3) Tax exemptions and surcharge

    • Exemptions amounting to Rs 99,842.06 crore were extended to corporate houses in 2019-20.
    • Many taxes on goods were reduced because of electoral compulsions. This reduced central revenues.
    • Along with such tax exemptions, the increased use of cesses and surcharges is responsible for the shrinking of the shareable pool.
    • The shareable resources with the Centre was around Rs 6.8 lakh crore in 2019-20 which has come down to Rs 5.5 lakh crore in 2020-21.
    • All the cesses and surcharges that are not shared with states come to about 20 per cent of the total revenues of the Centre.
    • States have been demanding that this money should be shared with them, particularly while fighting a pandemic.
    • States complaining for resources does not augur well for cooperative federalism.

    Way forward

    • Developing basic infrastructure and the production sector is the only way to face an economic crisis.
    • That should not be done by selling or handing over public assets to private individuals and corporations.
    • We need massive public investment that will help people to form cooperatives and collectives in agriculture and industrial production.
    • Parliament, the National Development Council and the GST Council should discuss this unprecedented situation.

    Conclusion

    We need to find a way out collectively. Handing over the rights on public properties to private individuals will take the country back to the colonial era. This must not be allowed.

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