All Mains Recommended Aspirants, here is the good news! Civilsdaily is providing a free compilation of the topic-wise data and statistics that will help you write better answers for Mains 2022 examination. If you have difficulty remembering facts, you can use this handbook as a revision material.
We all know how an aspirant can create a good impression and get the extra 2-4 marks in their papers when they write an introduction and conclusion with solid data. The statistics, reports & indices complied by Civilsdaily is based on the past 1-2 year survey and committee reports.
The topics range from Education, Employment, Labour & MSME’s , Infrastructure, Population and Security.
The Parliamentary Standing Committee on ICT has observed that Internet today is an indispensable part of everyday lives of citizens.
Hence, the government should explore the possibility of banning particular internet services, such as messengers like WhatsApp and social media websites, instead of putting in place blanket internet bans.
Internet shutdowns in India
Nowadays, India is widely considered to be a world leader in cutting off access to the Net.
Yet, there are no detailed official data on Internet shutdowns in India.
Taking a serious note of the situation, the Supreme Court has for the first time set the stage for challenging such suspension orders before courts.
It has directed the government to mandatorily publish all orders permitting Internet shutdowns. It has opened such decisions amenable to judicial review.
Recent statistics
India leads the global tally in suspension of internet services.
An internet tracker internetshudowns.in points out there have been 550 internet shutdowns in India since 2012, more than 50 per cent of which were imposed since 2019.
The longest shutdown, lasting for 552 days, was imposed in J&K from August 4, 2019 to February 6, 2020.
Mechanisms allowing Internet Shut-downs
[1] Temporary Suspension of Telecom Services Rule, 2017
Home Departments in the states are mostly the authorities that enforce shutdowns, drawing powers from The Temporary Suspension of Telecom Services (Public Emergency or Public Safety) Rules, 2017.
The decisions are reviewed by a state government review committee. The central government also has powers under this law, but has not used it.
[2] CrPC
Section 144 of the Code of Criminal Procedure has enabled many of the shutdowns in the recent past, especially until the time the telecom suspension Rules came into force in 2017.
[3] Telegraph Act, 1885
Less frequently used is The Indian Telegraph Act, 1885, whose Section 5(2) allows central and state governments to prevent the transmission of messaging during a public emergency or in the interest of public safety or in the interests of the sovereignty and integrity of India etc.
This act stipulates that only the Home Secretary of the Union or a state can pass an order, and that the order must include the reasons for the decision.
Under this the government has the power to block the transmission of messages during a public emergency or for public safety.
Need for Internet Shutdowns
Civil unrest: Internet serves as a medium for the transmission of information through pictures, videos and text that have the potential to cause civil unrest and exacerbate the law and order.
Fake news: Shutdowns in order to block the flow of information about government actions or to end communication among activists and prevent the spread of rumors and fake news.
Rumors: Shutdown helps prevent the “spreading of rumors and misinformation using social media platforms which can hinder peace and law and order”.
Preventive Response: Cutting off the Internet is both an early and preventive response to block restive groups to organize riots against the Government.
National Interest: The Internet cannot be independent of national sovereignty. Therefore, the necessary regulation of the internet is a reasonable choice of sovereign countries based on national interests.
Issues with the Kashmir Shutdown
Arbitrary: The Internet shutdown in Kashmir was is often alleged to be non-compliant with the Rules.
Unnecessary: The Rules require the suspension to be temporary; also, the orders did not provide reasons for the restrictions.
Discriminatory: Shutdowns in Kashmir often led to obstruction for essential services such as e-banking and hospitals.
Supreme Court Judgment on Internet Shutdowns
The court ordered the government to review its order, ruling that the freedom of speech and trade on the Internet is a fundamental right under Article 19.
Non-recognition of technology within the sphere of law is only a disservice to the inevitable.
The court said that because the Rules require the order to be in accordance with Section 5(2) of The Telegraph Act, the order must be during a “public emergency” or in the “interest of public safety”.
Also, the suspension must be “necessary” and “unavoidable”.
In furtherance of the same, the State must assess the existence of an alternate less intrusive remedy,” the court said.
Legal basis for Right to Internet
The access to the Internet is a right very similar to what the Supreme Court held with respect to the right to privacy in Justice K.S. Puttaswamy.
The Human Rights Council of the United Nations Resolution dated July 2, 2018, on the promotion, protection and enjoyment of human rights on the Internet, made important declarations.
It noted with concern the various forms of undue restriction on freedom of opinion and expression online, including where countries have manipulated or suppressed online expression in violation of international law.
Why is the Internet a necessity?
Information: While the Internet is certainly the main source of information and communication and access to social media, it is so much more than that.
Education: It is a mode of access to education for students who do courses and take exams online. Access to the Internet is important to facilitate the promotion and enjoyment of the right to education.
Livelihood: People working in the technology-based gig economy — like the thousands of delivery workers for depend on the Internet for their livelihoods.
Healthcare: It is also a mode to access to health care for those who avail of health services online.
Dysfunctions created by shutdowns
[1]Economic impact
While there is no proven benefit of closing down the internet, there are serious economic repercussions.
A report by the Brookings Institute adjudged India to have topped the list by incurring losses to the tune of $968 million in 2016 itself.
Over the past five years, some 16,000 hours of Internet shutdowns cost the economy a little over $3 billion, according to estimates in a report by the Indian Council for Research on International Economic Relations (ICRIER).
[2] Governance hurdles
In Sept. 2018, the Dept. of Telecommunication had acknowledged the adverse impact of a rising number of internet shutdowns that State governments are ordering.
The Govt. has embarked upon a programme to deliver services through mobile and internet apart from promoting a cashless economy.
Neither banking transactions using credit and debit cards nor internet banking can be done, which leads to hardships to common citizens.
Way Forward
Internet shutdowns should be used as the option of the last resort.
There exists no qualitative or quantitative evidence to show that internet shutdowns are effective tools to restore normalcy.
In fact, the internet itself can be used to resolve the problem.
For example, the Government can have verified sources to spread legitimate information across various mediums stating areas that are safe/affected the updated status of the situation, etc.
State interests like security are important because they are the prerequisites for us to exercise our freedoms. However, in pursuing this, the freedoms themselves cannot be suspended.
Therefore, the government needs to clearly lay down a comprehensive framework, stating the conditions behind such Internet shutdowns.
Conclusion
It is time that we recognize that the right to access to the Internet is indeed a fundamental right within our constitutional guarantees.
The Internet is pretty much a basic human right, even if not legally defined as such, for most parts of the world — without access to the virtual world, a very large number of vital human activities simply stops.
On December 19, Pakistan hosted a special session of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) to address the crisis in Afghanistan.
The humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan and how regional countries are responding to it
The humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan is peaking with no basic amenities available for its population and a harsh winter ahead.
While Pakistan hosted the OIC, India played host to foreign ministers of Central Asian states where Afghanistan topped the agenda as well.
All the attending countries — Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Kyrgyzstan — also OIC members, chose to prioritise deliberations with New Delhi.
Qatar’s growing influence in Afghanistan and implications for the region
Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and Pakistan were the only three countries that had officially recognised the previous Taliban government in 1996, until its fall in 2001.
Fast forward to the 2010s, and it was the small but rich state of Qatar that became the mediating force on Afghanistan.
Doha hosted the official Taliban political office from 2013 to allow negotiations with the U.S.
Qatar’s new role on Afghanistan gave it significant diplomatic and political visibility the world over.
In West Asia, Qatar’s growing influence was causing unease in the traditional power centres in Abu Dhabi and Riyadh, specifically on issues such as the Qatari leadership’s support for political Islam and organisations such as the Muslim Brotherhood.
Fundamental changes
Economic blockade: In 2017 the UAE and Saudi Arabia initiated an economic blockade against Doha in the hope of reigning the Kingdom in and disallowing it from pursuing its geopolitical designs that were challenging the long-held power status quos.
This four-year long impasse ended in 2021.
These four years created fundamental changes within the larger Arab Gulf construct.
Qatar mitigated risk and moved closer towards Turkey and Iran.
Today, both Qatar and Turkey are bidding to operate a landlocked Afghanistan’s airports under the Taliban regime.
For the Gulf specifically, Qatar’s punching-above-its-weight approach in geopolitics was also making it more powerful and influential with Washington D.C.
To mitigate this, the Saudis played a central role during the recent OIC special session.
They repaired their broken relationship with Pakistan.
Way forward for India
Over the past decade, India has recognised the importance of middle powers in the Arab Gulf to a fast-evolving global order, from fighting against terrorism to newer diplomacy challenges such as Afghanistan.
Conclusion
The Arab Gulf is poised to become an important player once again in Afghanistan under the shadow of the Taliban.
2021 surely sped by quickly for UPSC aspirants and now there’s only three more days left to welcome the new year. Every new year brings us new hopes, and every UPSC aspirant wishes that that they clear the exam that very year.
If you are appearing for UPSC-CSE 2022 exams, you might have completed your entire prelims and mains syllabus right now. So what are you going to be doing January onwards? How are you going to switch to a prelims focused approach till June?
Are you feeling low that you are unable to get the required cut-off marks in your test series. Worry not, for about 65% of the UPSC toppers have said that they scored below cut-off marks till December. But by June, they were able to boost their marks to get through the prelims hurdle. How did they do this?
Free Open to All Webinar by Civilsdaily Mentor Ranadheer Ravula
Our Civilsdaily mentor, Ranadheer sir will be providing a fool proof time-table on how to devote your time for the upcoming prelims exams from January onwards. This will include a month-by-month outlook as well.
Preparing ahead will help you stay focused, determined and consistent in your UPSC preparation as opposed to deciding impulsively. It takes a lot of efforts to plan the right schedule for the upcoming prelims exams. Sometimes, you will be second guessing and wondering what others are upto. Ranadheer sir will use his expertise to break down your preparation into phases.
Additionally he will speak about the 6 ways to find the right optional for you. The right optional is always subjective, however the process of finding out an optional that’s easy to understand (for you) and is a scoring subject (by UPSC standards) is objective.
Want to know how is the January month timetable? Then fill the form & register below
Key Takeaways of Free Live Webinar with Ranadheer Sir
1. How to revise 2 years of Prelims Current Affairs in the last 6 months?
2. How to go a day without studying yet take frequent breaks in a day?
3. Is it advisable to increase the number of study hours as the exam nears?
4. How to speed read all the books once again?
5. How many test series should one take before exams?
6. What are the 6 things to keep in mind before choosing an Optional that can change your fortunes?
7. What are the additional sources and books that can help you score above cut-off marks?
Webinar Details
Don’t miss the chance to get value addition inputs to score better in the examination! This webinar is absolutely free. All aspirants are welcome to attend.
Date – 31 December 2021 (Friday)
Time – 6:00 P.M.
Limited slots are available. Please register immediately.
The Government must make COVID-19 data including that for vaccine regulatory approvals and policy available.
Kay decisions
On December 25, the Prime Minister of India announced two key decisions.
Vaccination of children: All children in the 15-17 age bracket will be eligible to receive COVID-19 vaccines from January 3, 2022.
Third shot: All health-care workers, frontline workers and the people aged 60 years and above (with co-morbidities and on the advice of a medical doctor) can get a third shot, or ‘precaution dose’.
The eligibility for the precaution dose will be on the completion of nine months or 39 weeks after the second dose.
Teenage children whose birth year is 2007 or before will be eligible for COVID-19 vaccines.
Children will receive Covaxin, the reason being (according to the note) it is the only emergency use listed (EUL) World Health Organization vaccine available for use in this age group in India.
Issues with the decision
Lack of scientific evidence: The decision is said to be based on ‘advice of the scientific community’.
A few members of the National Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation (NTAGI) in India, have written or spoken publicly about not having enough scientific evidence to administer booster doses and vaccinate children in India.
Successive national and State-level sero-surveys have reported that a majority of children in India had got natural infection, while staying at home and thus developed antibodies.
The studies have shown that children rarely develop moderate to severe COVID-19 disease.
Targeted vaccination approach not adopted: Most public health and vaccine experts favour a ‘targeted vaccination approach’ by prioritising high-risk children for COVID-19 vaccination.
However, such an approach is likely to face an operational challenge in the identification of the eligible children.
Consultation cost: A majority of the elderly have one or other comorbidities. Of the 14 crore elderly population in India, an estimated 7 to 10 crore people could have co-morbidities.
If they have to seek advice from a physician, in order to get vaccinated, this essentially means that there would be up to 10 crore of medical consultations, which would come at a cost — all of which is avoidable.
Suggestions
Do away with prescription: The conditionality of comorbidities and the need for advice/prescription by a doctor for ‘the precaution shot’ in the elderly should be done away with.
Third dose to all immunocompromised adults: There is scientific evidence and consensus on administering the third dose for immunocompromised adults.
The Indian government should urgently consider administering a third dose for all immunocompromised adults, irrespective of age.
Third dose on a different vaccine platform: Studies have found that a heterologous prime-boost approach — third shot on a different vaccine platform — is a better approach.
Identify policy questions: Various pending policy questions on COVID-19 vaccine need to be identified urgently.
The technical expert should be given complete access to COVID-19 data for analysis and to find answers to those scientific and policy questions.
Vaccine supply and stock management: Vaccination for teenage children, exclusively with Covaxin (which means 15 crore doses for this sub-group) has other implications.
Covaxin will also be needed for people coming for their first shot, returning for their second shot, and then for their ‘precaution dose’ if a third shot of the same vaccine is allowed.
Focus on primary vaccination: The precaution dose and vaccination for children should not divert attention from the task of primary vaccination, which continues to be an unfinished task in India; 46 crore doses are still needed for the first and second shots.
Make data public: It is time the Union and State governments in India make COVID-19 data — this includes clinical outcomes, testing, genomic sequencing as well as vaccination — available in the public domain.
This would help in formulating and updating COVID-19 policy and strategies and also assess the impact of ‘precaution dose’ as well as vaccination of children.
Conclusion
The Indian government urgently needs to make COVID-19 data available, including the one used for regulatory approvals of vaccines and for vaccine policy decisions. This will bring transparency in decision making and increase the trust of the citizen in the process.
2021 surely sped by quickly for UPSC aspirants and now there’s only three more days left to welcome the new year. Every new year brings us new hopes, and every UPSC aspirant wishes that that they clear the exam that very year.
If you are appearing for UPSC-CSE 2022 exams, you might have completed your entire prelims and mains syllabus right now. So what are you going to be doing January onwards? How are you going to switch to a prelims focused approach till June?
Are you feeling low that you are unable to get the required cut-off marks in your test series. Worry not, for about 65% of the UPSC toppers have said that they scored below cut-off marks till December. But by June, they were able to boost their marks to get through the prelims hurdle. How did they do this?
Free Open to All Webinar by Civilsdaily Mentor Ranadheer Ravula
Our Civilsdaily mentor, Ranadheer sir will be providing a fool proof time-table on how to devote your time for the upcoming prelims exams from January onwards. This will include a month-by-month outlook as well.
Preparing ahead will help you stay focused, determined and consistent in your UPSC preparation as opposed to deciding impulsively. It takes a lot of efforts to plan the right schedule for the upcoming prelims exams. Sometimes, you will be second guessing and wondering what others are upto. Ranadheer sir will use his expertise to break down your preparation into phases.
Additionally he will speak about the 6 ways to find the right optional for you. The right optional is always subjective, however the process of finding out an optional that’s easy to understand (for you) and is a scoring subject (by UPSC standards) is objective.
Want to know how is the January month timetable? Then fill the form & register below
Key Takeaways of Free Live Webinar with Ranadheer Sir
1. How to revise 2 years of Prelims Current Affairs in the last 6 months?
2. How to go a day without studying yet take frequent breaks in a day?
3. Is it advisable to increase the number of study hours as the exam nears?
4. How to speed read all the books once again?
5. How many test series should one take before exams?
6. What are the 6 things to keep in mind before choosing an Optional that can change your fortunes?
7. What are the additional sources and books that can help you score above cut-off marks?
Webinar Details
Don’t miss the chance to get value addition inputs to score better in the examination! This webinar is absolutely free. All aspirants are welcome to attend.
Date – 31 December 2021 (Friday)
Time – 6:00 P.M.
Limited slots are available. Please register immediately.
At least two Supreme Court judges have in the past few months openly expressed the need to “Indianize” the legal system.
What is the news?
This week, Justice S. Abdul Nazeer underscored the need to embrace the great legal traditions as per Manu, Kautilya, Katyayana, Brihaspati, Narada, Parashara, Yajnavalkya and other legal giants of ancient India.
Continued neglect of their great knowledge and adherence to alien colonial legal system is detrimental to the goals of our Constitution and against our national interests, he said.
He emphasized the need for Indianization of the legal system to decolonize the Indian legal system.
He concluded that this colonial legal system is not suitable for the Indian population.
Background of the case
Then CJI P.N. Bhagwati in the M.C. Mehta Case way back in 1986 has said that-
We cannot allow our judicial thinking to be constricted by reference to the law as it prevails in England or for the matter of that in any other foreign country.
We no longer need the crutches of a foreign legal order.
We are certainly prepared to receive light from whatever source it comes from, but we have to build up our own jurisprudence.
Indianization of Judiciary
Last month, CJI N.V. Ramana called for the “Indianization” of the legal system to provide greater access to justice to the poor as the “need of the hour”.
CJI emphasized this as an adaptation to the practical realities of our society and localize our justice delivery systems.
For example, parties from a rural place fighting a family dispute are usually made to feel out of place in the court, the CJI clarified.
Major suggestions by CJI:
(A) Simplification
The simplification of justice delivery should be our pressing concern.
It is crucial to make justice delivery more transparent, accessible and effective.
Procedural barriers often undermine access to justice.
The Chief Justice said both judges and lawyers have to create an environment which is comforting for the litigants and other stakeholders.
(B) Alternate dispute mechanisms
The CJI said alternate dispute mechanisms like mediation and conciliation would go a long way in reducing pendency, unnecessary litigation and save resources.
Major suggestions by CJI:
(A) Simplification
The simplification of justice delivery should be our pressing concern.
It is crucial to make justice delivery more transparent, accessible and effective.
Procedural barriers often undermine access to justice.
The Chief Justice said both judges and lawyers have to create an environment that is comforting for the litigants and other stakeholders.
(B) Alternate dispute mechanisms
The CJI said alternate dispute mechanisms like mediation and conciliation would go a long way in reducing pendency, unnecessary litigation and save resources.
Recent moves of Indianization
Supreme Court judgments show that the Indian legal system had made an early start at consciously getting rid of the “crutches” of colonial influence.
(1) General principles laid by the SC
The evolution of laws in India has been through legislation and the binding precedents of the Supreme Court under Article 141 of the Constitution.
Article 142 of the Constitution of India deals with the Enforcement of decrees and orders of the Supreme Court.
(2) Public Interest Litigation
The public interest litigation mechanism is truly Indian.
(3) Reference to Indian texts
Several judgments since the 1980s refer to the works of Manu and Kautilya.
In the privacy judgment, Justice S.A. Bobde (retired), referred to how “even in the ancient and religious texts of India, a well-developed sense of privacy is evident”.
He mentions that Kautilya’s “Arthashastra prohibits entry into another’s house, without the owner’s consent”.
Issues with Ancient Texts
In the Sabarimala Case, the court pointed to the Manusmriti to observe that in these “ancient religious texts and customs, menstruating women have been considered as polluting the surroundings”.
It went on to hold that practices that legitimize menstrual taboos, due to notions of purity and pollution, limit the ability of menstruating women to attain the freedom of movement and the right of entry to places of worship.
Way forward
It is time for courts to wake up from their colonial stupor and face the practical realities of Indian society.
Rules and procedures of justice delivery should be made simple.
The ordinary, poor, and rural Indian should not be scared of judges or the courts.
The Securities & Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has approved amendments to a slew of regulations to tighten the Initial Public Offering (IPO) process and norms governing the utilization of IPO proceeds by promoters.
What is an IPO?
Every company needs money to grow and expand.
They do this by borrowing or by issuing shares.
If the company decides to opt for the second route of issuing shares, it must invite public investors to buy its shares.
This is its first public invitation in the stock market and is called the Initial Public Offering (IPO).
What does it mean for investors to buy shares?
When one buys such shares, he/she makes an IPO investment.
He/she gets ownership in the company, proportionate to the value of your shares.
These shares then get listed on the stock exchange.
The stock exchange is where you can sell your existing shares in the company or buy more.
How does an IPO work?
The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) regulates the entire process of investment via an IPO in India.
A company intending to issue shares through IPOs first registers with SEBI.
SEBI scrutinizes the documents submitted, and only then approves them.
Who can hold IPOs?
It could be a new, young company or an old company that decides to be listed on an exchange and hence goes public.
What are the recent regulations?
In its board meeting, SEBI approved conditions for sale of shares by significant shareholders in the Offer-For-Sale (OFS) process via an IPO and has extended the lock-in period for anchor investors to 90 days.
Shares offered for sale by shareholders with more than 20% of pre-issue shareholding of the issuer, should not exceed 50% of their holding.
If they hold less than 20%, then the offer for sale should not exceed 10% of their holding of the issue.
These changes are as per proposals recommended by SEBI’s Primary Market Advisory Committee.
Maharashtra Governor and the incumbent government are locked in a tussle over the election of the Speaker of the Assembly. The Governor has not given his consent to the election program decided by the Cabinet.
Election of Speakers to the Assembly
Article 178 of the Constitution provides for every Legislative Assembly to choose two members of the Assembly to be respectively Speaker and Deputy Speaker.
The Constitution does not specify the process of holding these elections; that is left to the state legislatures.
It also does not set a timeframe other than to say the elections should be held “as soon as maybe”.
Some states lay down timeframes
In Haryana, the election of the Speaker must be held as soon as possible after the Assembly election, and the Deputy Speaker must be elected within another seven days.
In UP, the Speaker’s election is required to be held within 15 days if the post falls vacant during the term of the Assembly.
The date for the Speaker’s election is notified by the Governor.
A crucial case in Maharashtra
As per Rule 6 of the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly Rules, “The Governor shall fix a date for the holding of the election and the Secretary shall send to every member notice of the date so fixed.”
A former Secretary of the state Assembly said the election of the Speaker can take place only after the Governor fixes the date for it.
What are the recent amendments?
The govt has moved a motion in the Assembly seeking amendments to Rules 6 (election of Assembly Speaker) and 7 (election of Deputy Assembly Speaker) by voice vote instead of a secret ballot.
The amendments excluded the words “holding of the election” and included the words “to elect the Speaker on the recommendation of the Chief Minister” in Rule 6 of Maharashtra Assembly Rules.
What are the objections to these amendments?
The Opposition accused the govt of running the “most insecure government” that does not trust its MLAs and fears there would be cross-voting in the election of the Speaker.
It argued that the Rules cannot be amended in the absence of the Speaker.
What is the government’s position?
The government has argued that the amendments are in line with the Rules that are in practice in Lok Sabha, the Upper House of the state legislature, and in the Assemblies of several others states.
It has also been said that the amendments would put an end to horse trading.
What is the way ahead?
The govt can explore legal options to see whether the election of the Speaker could be held without the consent of the Governor.
However, the situation is very odd.
While Rule 6 mandates that the Governor should fix the date for the election, the amendment says that the Governor should fix the date on the advice on the CM.
The Archaeological Survey of India is working on a preliminary roadmap to safely remove sand from the interiors of Odisha’s Sun Temple, which was filled up by the British 118 years ago to prevent it from collapsing.
Konark Sun Temple
Konark Sun Temple is a 13th-century CE Sun temple at Konark about 36 kilometres northeast from Puri on the coastline of Odisha, India.
The temple is attributed to king Narasinga Deva I of the Eastern Ganga Dynasty about 1250 CE.
Declared a UNESCO world heritage site in 1984 it remains a major pilgrimage site for Hindus, who gather here every year for the Chandrabhaga Mela around the month of February.
Its architecture
Dedicated to the Hindu Sun God Surya, what remains of the temple complex has the appearance of a 100-foot (30 m) high chariot with immense wheels and horses, all carved from stone.
Its architecture has all the defining elements of the Kalinga architecture – it includes Shikhara (crown), Jagmohana (audience hall), Natmandir (dance hall), and Vimana (tower).
Also called the Surya Devalaya, it is a classic illustration of the Odisha style of Architecture or Kalinga Architecture.
Once over 200 feet (61 m) high, much of the temple is now in ruins, in particular the large shikara tower over the sanctuary; at one time this rose much higher than the mandapa that remains.
The structures and elements that have survived are famed for their intricate artwork, iconography, and themes, including erotic kama and mithuna scenes.
The Jagamohan is the only structure that is fully intact now.
Earlier restoration efforts
It had been filled with sand and sealed by the British authorities in 1903 in order to stabilize the structure, a/c to ASI.
The sand filled in over 100 years ago had settled, leading to a gap of about 17 feet.
An application seeking a Geographical Indication (GI) tag for the Arunachal Pradesh Apatani textile product has been filed by a firm.
Apatani textile
The Apatani weave comes from the Apatani tribe of Arunachal Pradesh living at Ziro, the headquarters of lower Subansiri district.
The woven fabric of this tribe is known for its geometric and zigzag patterns and also for its angular designs.
The community weaves its own textiles for various occasions, including rituals and cultural festivals.
The tribe predominantly weaves shawls known as jig-jiro and jilan or jackets called supuntarii.
The traditional handloom of this tribe is a type of loin loom, which is called Chichin, and is similar to the traditional handloom of the Nyishi tribe.
What makes it special?
The people here use different leaves and plant resources for organic dying the cotton yarns in their traditional ways.
Only women folk are engaged in weaving.
Answer this PYQ in the comment box:
Q.Which of the following has/have been accorded ‘Geographical Indication’ status?
Banaras Brocades and Sarees
Rajasthani Daal-Bati-Churma
Tirupathi Laddu
Select the correct answer using the code given below:
(a) 1 only
(b) 2 and 3 only
(c) 1 and 3 only
(d) 1, 2 and 3
Post your answers here.
About Geographical Indication
A GI is a sign used on products that have a specific geographical origin and possess qualities or a reputation that are due to that origin.
Nodal Agency: Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT), Ministry of Commerce and Industry
India, as a member of the World Trade Organization (WTO), enacted the Geographical Indications of Goods (Registration and Protection) Act, 1999 w.e.f. September 2003.
GIs have been defined under Article 22 (1) of the WTO Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) Agreement.
GI is granted for a term of 10 years in India. As of today, more than 300 GI tags has been allocated so far in India (*Wikipedia).
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2021 surely sped by quickly for UPSC aspirants and now there’s only three more days left to welcome the new year. Every new year brings us new hopes, and every UPSC aspirant wishes that that they clear the exam that very year.
If you are appearing for UPSC-CSE 2022 exams, you might have completed your entire prelims and mains syllabus right now. So what are you going to be doing January onwards? How are you going to switch to a prelims focused approach till June?
Are you feeling low that you are unable to get the required cut-off marks in your test series. Worry not, for about 65% of the UPSC toppers have said that they scored below cut-off marks till December. But by June, they were able to boost their marks to get through the prelims hurdle. How did they do this?
Free Open to All Webinar by Civilsdaily Mentor Ranadheer Ravula
Our Civilsdaily mentor, Ranadheer sir will be providing a fool proof time-table on how to devote your time for the upcoming prelims exams from January onwards. This will include a month-by-month outlook as well.
Preparing ahead will help you stay focused, determined and consistent in your UPSC preparation as opposed to deciding impulsively. It takes a lot of efforts to plan the right schedule for the upcoming prelims exams. Sometimes, you will be second guessing and wondering what others are upto. Ranadheer sir will use his expertise to break down your preparation into phases.
Additionally he will speak about the 6 ways to find the right optional for you. The right optional is always subjective, however the process of finding out an optional that’s easy to understand (for you) and is a scoring subject (by UPSC standards) is objective.
Want to know how is the January month timetable? Then fill the form & register below
Key Takeaways of Free Live Webinar with Ranadheer Sir
1. How to revise 2 years of Prelims Current Affairs in the last 6 months?
2. How to go a day without studying yet take frequent breaks in a day?
3. Is it advisable to increase the number of study hours as the exam nears?
4. How to speed read all the books once again?
5. How many test series should one take before exams?
6. What are the 6 things to keep in mind before choosing an Optional that can change your fortunes?
7. What are the additional sources and books that can help you score above cut-off marks?
Webinar Details
Don’t miss the chance to get value addition inputs to score better in the examination! This webinar is absolutely free. All aspirants are welcome to attend.
Date – 31 December 2021 (Friday)
Time – 6:00 P.M.
Limited slots are available. Please register immediately.
Introduction: describe the office of the Speaker of Lok Sabha in short.
Issue: Recently, the Speaker’s role has become a reason for conflict between the opposition and ruling parties for alleged partisanship.
Role of the Speaker: Explain how Speaker plays a crucial role in issues such as money bill, maintaining the decorum in assembly, passing of critical motions like censure motion and no-confidence motion etc
Problems with the current system: Explain how the current system of appointing the Speaker from the ruling party without any procedure is hampering its role and leads to the subjective interpretation of issues rather than objectivity needed in a parliamentary democracy.
In conclusion, suggestions should be made, about how this post can be made more impartial along-with the benefits of doing so.
All Mains Recommended Aspirants, here is the good news! Civilsdaily is providing a free compilation of the topic-wise data and statistics that will help you write better answers for Mains 2022 examination. If you have difficulty remembering facts, you can use this handbook as a revision material.
We all know how an aspirant can create a good impression and get the extra 2-4 marks in their papers when they write an introduction and conclusion with solid data. The statistics, reports & indices complied by Civilsdaily is based on the past 1-2 year survey and committee reports.
The topics range from Education, Employment, Labour & MSME’s , Infrastructure, Population and Security.
Are you finding Current Affairs for UPSC-CSE to be a time-consuming affair? Do you either spend the entire day reading only current affairs or skip reading it for many days? Is there a lack of clarity while answering current affairs questions? Do you want to know the right approach to prepare for UPSC-CSE Current affairs without wasting time on trial and error? Then it’s time you filled the Samanvaya form for free 1-on-1 counselling session with an experienced faculty from Civilsdaily!
Current Affairs for UPSC-CSE doesn’t only test an aspirant’s basic understanding, but their ability to critically analyze and remember certain very important details. It requires you to do match the following — you need to match the topic in your UPSC syllabus with the current affairs as you read. For example, India has placed an anti-dumping duty recently on China to protect it’s local manufacturers from cheap imports. This news is related to GS 3 Economics and comes under Foreign Trade topic.
But that’s not all. Current Affairs is the key component that you cannot do without in all the 3 stages of your UPSC-CSE preparation — Prelims, Mains and Interview. And the way you are supposed to prepare for current affairs under each stage varies. You have to remember facts for Prelims, understand the background, challenges and the solutions of current events for Mains and for Interview you should be able to drive meaningful discussions with your current affairs knowledge. Hence, simply reading a newspaper cannot help you ace current affairs for UPSC-CSE.
Unlike popular notion, importance of current affairs isn’t decreasing in UPSC-CSE papers. Rather, it’s become a part and parcel of every topic in the Core Subjects like Economy, Polity, Science and Environment. Let’s understand this with a question asked in UPSC-CSE Mains 2020 —
Which steps are required for constitutionalization of a commission? Do you think imparting constitutionality to the National Commission for Women would ensure greater gender justice and empowerment in India? Give reasons.
This question needs you to have current knowledge on government policies/interventions, constitutional and non-constitutional bodies, constitutional provisions and issues related to developmental and management of social sectors. That’s totally 4 topics for one answer!
Remembering current affairs indices for Prelims MCQs & using them to substantiate answers in Mains is crucial to get marks above cut-off.
Why Samanvaya for UPSC-CSE Current Affairs Preparation?
In UPSC 2020, Civilsdaily helped 80+ students secure ranks in their exams. In the top 100, every 3rd ranker was a Civilsdaily student.
A very recent success story would be Vishwa Shah, student of Civilsdaily Mentor, Sukanya Ma’am. Vishwa has cleared the GPSC exam to become the Deputy Superintendent of Police in Gujarat. He has penned a thank-you note yesterday. Heartiest Congratulations to Vishwa!
One of our other Civilsdaily Student, Shubham Nagargojecleared the exams in 2020 to become an IPS Officer. Shubham was gracious enough to let us know how he felt about Civilsdaily Samanvaya Guidance under Parth sir.
To know how all of them cleared the exam with our mentorship, visit the UnherdPodcast.
Now that results are announced for UPSC 2021 Prelims, out of 15 out of 25 students of Santhosh Gupta sir have been recommended to Mains. One such student, Rahul expresses his gratitude and extends his appreciation.
Most of our Mentors like Sudhanshu sir, Sajal sir, Santhosh sir, Pravin sir, Parth Verma sir and Sukanya Ma’am were UPSC aspirants themselves and have attended UPSC Mains more than five times and UPSC Interview more than twice. Hence their mentorship is always a blend of the best test series, comprehensive notes and current affairs knowledge.
All of them dedicate their time weekly to give 1-on-1 mentorship to every student where they discuss last week’s performance and next week’s approach.
Be it Telegram, Whatsapp or Habitiat channels, they are always available and clear student’s doubts in a turnaround time of 24 Hours.
Why Civilsdaily Mentors are the GPS for Your UPSC-CSE Preparation
Remember there is always light at the end of the tunnel and if you want to get out of the tunnel you have to follow the direction of the light! Our mentors’ give you direction which is divided into daily modules. All you have to do is study and complete them on time.
As every year passes by, we don’t get confident by the previous years’ performance and become laidback. Instead, we become more hungry to convert all our students into toppers.
How are Current Civilsdaily Students Gearing up for UPSC-CSE 2022?
Initially, our Civilsdaily student Smriti wasn’t confident about Prelims when she began her preparation. Though she had joined Civilsdaily in 2020, she started studying for UPSC-CSE back in 2019. At that time, Smriti had enrolled in multiple institutes. Though, most of these institutes had promised a personal mentor, she was unable to get in touch with them on a daily basis. Also those mentors never scheduled test-series on a weekly basis. Hence, despite preparing for a year, Smriti had scored only 35 marks out of 200 in her first test series by Civilsdaily.
She then started writing 20-25 test series over the course of UAP 2021 and in her last test, her scores have drastically improved. She now scores in the range of 130-135 marks in prelims’ and 110+ in mains’ papers.
In Smriti’s own words she describes her Samanvaya Mentorship Experience to be —
“Our parents provide us financial and emotional support, friends provide us moral support and the right mentor gives you logistic and logical support for UPSC. There are days when I felt I won’t be able to compete against lakhs of aspirants. That’s when my mentor, Ravi sir reminded me of my improvement and encouraged me that I can crack it with the same consistency. We need someone, who tells us we are performing well especially when we cannot see that ourselves. The mentorship at Civilsdaily helped me become mentally stronger as a person. In other institutes, mentors are allotted only for doubt resolution. But at Civilsdaily, I am getting end-to-end mentorship via value added notes, classes, test series and detailed evaluation.”
Similarly our another Civilsdaily student, Ashishsums up his Samanvaya experience with Civilsdaily mentor,Pravin Sir, “Because of Pravin sir’s support, I am able to understand a topic in lesser time.”
This is how Pravin sir evaluates Ashish’s Mains Test Series every week. After every test series evaluation, Pravin sir schedules a 1 hour call to discuss how Ashish can improve his marks and the sources he can refer for key topics.
It’s Your Turn Get the Free 40 Min Counselling Session By a CD Mentor
At the core of Samanvaya lies the fact that each one of you will have a unique journey while preparing for the exam. Some will get through on the first attempt without much effort while others will take both more time and more effort.
We want to understand you better to help you optimize your journey so you can focus on the right things and not waste time on the wrong ones. We are asking you to tap into the valuable experiences of mentors who underwent the same grind and realize the pitfalls and understand the shortcuts to make it.
In the first counselling session, we will understand your weaknesses. Over 80% of students who claimed to have revised NCERTs twice were unable to answer basic questions. Many were not comfortable with at least 1 GS subject and Optional. Many struggled with ‘What went wrong’ after 2-3 years of hard work. Our mentors will provide free preliminary assignments so that we can assess your preparedness and suggest accurate strategies. We then help you to stick to one plan or strategy throughout your preparation.
