Punjab’s sacrilege Bills

Paper 2 – Polity

Why You Should Know?

Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann called on Union Home Minister Amit Shah last week, seeking his intervention in getting the President’s assent on two sacrilege Bills passed by the erstwhile Panjab government in 2018.

In detail –

What are the sacrilege Bills?

• The Punjab Assembly had unanimously passed The Indian Penal Code (Punjab Amendment) Bill, 2018 and The Code of Criminal Procedure (Punjab Amendment) Bill 2018.
• which stipulate punishment upto life imprisonment for injury, damage or sacrilege to Guru Granth Sahib, Bhagwat Gita, Holy Quran and Holy Bible with the intention to hurt the religious feelings of the people.
• The Indian Penal Code (Punjab Amendment) Bill, 2018, seeks to amend the IPC by inserting Section 295AA.
• Under the existing Section 295 A [Deliberate and malicious acts, intended to outrage religious feelings of any class by insulting its religion or religious beliefs], a convict can be awarded a maximum of three years’ imprisonment with or without fine.

Why these Bills?

• In October 2015, the sacrilege of the Guru Granth Sahib took place in Bargari.
• The incident changed the political narrative in the state, putting the government on the defensive.
• It was felt that the quantum of punishment for sacrilege of holy books was inadequate under the existing laws.
• In March, 2016, the then government brought The Indian Penal Code (Punjab Amendment) Bill, 2016, and The Code of Criminal Procedure (Punjab Amendment) Bill, 2016, recommending life sentence for desecration of the Guru Granth Sahib.
• The Centre, however, returned the Bill, saying all religions needed to be treated equally as per the secular nature of the Constitution.
• Saying that the Guru Granth Sahib could not be singled out, the Centre asked the Punjab government to either withdraw the Bill or include all religions in the proposed amendment.
• Later, in August 2018, Captain Amarinder Singh’s government passed two Bills including holy scriptures of all faiths.

Why are the Bills still pending?

• There has been a debate that strict sacrilege laws can send wrong signals, emboldening hardliners and politicians to misuse the provisions and harass critics and opponents.
• The Centre has asked the state to reconsider these Bills.

Sources – IE

 

India-China Border Disputes

Paper 2 – International Relations

Why You Should Know?

India shares a long border with China known as LAC (Line of Acutal Control), which is often disputed.

In detail –

Origin of the border dispute with China

• After the communists took power in China, they pulled the country out of all international agreements and the so-called “unequal treaties” that had been imposed on it during its “century of humiliation”, and demanded a re-negotiation of all its borders.
• The border between China and India has never been delimited. In January 1960, the politburo of the Chinese Communist Party decided to open negotiations with India and reach an understanding through “mutual understanding and mutual concessions”.
• In April that year, China’s Premier Zhou Enlai and Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru agreed on a detailed examination of the claims by officials.
• Over the next two years, both sides sought to preserve their claims by posting troops along the border. In the 1962 war, the PLA quickly overpowered the Indian troops.

What is the Line of Actual Control (LAC)?

• The LAC separates Indian-controlled territory from Chinese-controlled territory.
• It is divided into three sectors:
• the Eastern Sector (Arunachal Pradesh and Sikkim),
• Middle Sector (Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh) and
• Western Sector (Ladakh).
• India and China do not agree on the LAC. India considers the LAC to be 3,488 km long; the Chinese consider it to be only around 2,000 km. There is the least disagreement in the Middle Sector.
• In the Eastern Sector, the alignment of the LAC is along the McMahon Line, which takes its name from Sir Henry McMahon, foreign secretary of British India, who drew the 890-km line as the border between British India and Tibet at the 1914 Simla Convention Between Great Britain, China, and Tibet.
• The line, drawn primarily on the highest watershed principle, marked out previously unclaimed/ undefined borders between Britain and Tibet, and included Tawang in the British empire.
• China disputes the high watershed principle, and some of the positions on the ground that follow.
• In November 1959, Premier Zhou wrote to Prime Minister Nehru saying the LAC was “the so-called McMahon Line in the east and the line upto which each side exercises actual control in the west”. But India rejected this.
• The LAC was discussed during Chinese Premier Li Peng’s 1991 visit to India, and India formally accepted the concept when Prime Minister P V Narasimha Rao paid a return visit to Beijing in 1993.
• The two sides signed the Agreement on the Maintenance of Peace and Tranquility along the Line of Actual Control; however, the reference to the LAC was unqualified to make it clear that it was not referring to the LAC of 1959 or 1962 but to the LAC at the time when the agreement was signed.

China’s so-called claim on Arunachal Pradesh

• China claims some 90,000 sq km of Arunachal Pradesh — the entire state — as its territory.
• It calls the area “Zangnan” in the Chinese language and makes repeated references to “South Tibet”.
• Chinese maps show Arunachal Pradesh as part of China, and sometimes parenthetically refer to it as “so-called Arunachal Pradesh”.
• China makes periodic efforts to underline this unilateral claim to Indian territory.
• As part of this strategy, it has tried to give Chinese names to places in Arunachal Pradesh — it published a list of six such names in 2017, and another 15 names in 2021.
• India has dismissed the Chinese “invention” of these names. Last year, the Ministry of External Affairs said in a statement, “Arunachal Pradesh has always been, and will always be, an integral part of India. Assigning invented names to places in Arunachal Pradesh does not alter this fact.”
• At the 1914 Simla Convention where the McMahon Line was drawn, China was represented by a plenipotentiary of the Republic of China, which had been declared in 1912 after the Qing dynasty was overthrown.
• (The present communist government came to power only in 1949, when the People’s Republic was proclaimed.) The Chinese representative did not consent to the Simla Convention, saying Tibet had no independent authority to enter into international agreements.

Source – IE

 

New Zealand’sNew Tobacco Bill

Paper 1 – Geography

Why You Should Know?

Recently New Zealand Parliament passed a legislation that will increase the legal age to buy tobacco products each year, with the aim of eventually stamping out smoking altogether.

In detail –

About the Bill

• The Smokefree Environments and Regulated Products (Smoked Tobacco) Amendment Bill bans the sale of tobacco to anyone born after 2008.
• Those found violating the provision will be fined up to NZ$150,000 (Rs 79 lakh approximately).
• This bill significantly limits the number of retailers able to sell smoked tobacco products; aims to prevent young people from taking up smoking by prohibiting the sale of smoked tobacco products to anyone born on or after 1 January 2009; and aims to make smoked tobacco products less appealing and addictive.
• The Bill, thus, limits the number of shops able to sell smoked tobacco products in the country to 600 from the 6,000 at present, and reduces the amount of nicotine allowed in such products.
• It also brings in other restrictions on tobacco products, such as limiting the number of shops allowed to sell them and the amount of nicotine allowed in cigarettes and other consumables.
• It comes into effect from 2023.

Smoking in New Zealand

• The rate of smoking in New Zealand is already very low, but there are disparities within communities.
• According to a health survey published by the government in November this year – 8.0% of adults were daily smokers in 2021/22, down from 9.4% the previous year and 16.4% in 2011/12.
• Smoking rates have declined for all ethnic groups except Pacific people, but large inequities remain.
• For example, daily smoking rates were as follows: Māori (19.9%), Pacific (18.2%), and European/Other (7.2%).
• The most marked inequities in smoking are by socioeconomic status.
• After adjusting for demographic differences, adults living in the most deprived areas are 4.3 times as likely as adults in the least deprived areas to be daily smokers.

Source – IE

Nuclear Fusion

Paper 3 –Science & Technology

Why Should You Know?

Recently Using powerful lasers to focus enormous energy on a miniature capsule half the size of a BB, scientists at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California started a reaction that produced about 1.5 times more energy than was contained in the light used to produce it.

In details –

What is nuclear fusion?

• Nuclear fusion is the process by which two light atomic nuclei combine to form a single heavier one while releasing massive amounts of energy.
• Fusion reactions take place in a state of matter called plasma — a hot, charged gas made of positive ions and free-moving electrons with unique properties distinct from solids, liquids or gases.
• The sun, along with all other stars, is powered by this reaction. To fuse in our sun, nuclei need to collide with each other at extremely high temperatures, around ten million degrees Celsius.
• The high temperature provides them with enough energy to overcome their mutual electrical repulsion.
• Once the nuclei come within a very close range of each other, the attractive nuclear force between them will outweigh the electrical repulsion and allow them to fuse.
• For this to happen, the nuclei must be confined within a small space to increase the chances of collision.
• In the sun, the extreme pressure produced by its immense gravity creates the conditions for fusion.

How valuable could this be?

• Fusion could generate four times more energy per kilogram of fuel than fission (used in nuclear power plants) and nearly four million times more energy than burning oil or coal.
• nuclear fusion offers the possibility of “basically unlimited” fuel if the technology can be made commercially viable.
• The elements needed are available in seawater.It’s also a process that doesn’t produce the radioactive waste of nuclear fission.

Efforts

• One way scientists have tried to recreate nuclear fusion involves what’s called a tokamak — a doughnut-shaped vacuum chamber that uses powerful magnets to turn fuel into a superheated plasma (between 150 million and 300 million degrees Celsius) where fusion may occur.
• The Livermore lab uses a different technique, with researchers firing a 192-beam laser at a small capsule filled with deuterium-tritium fuel.
• The lab reported that an August 2021 test produced 1.35 megajoules of fusion energy — about 70% of the energy fired at the target

Sources – IE

Kerala’s University Laws (amendment) Bill

Paper 2 –Government Policies

Why You Should Know?

Recently Kerala government has tabled University Laws (amendment) Bill in the State Assembly to amend laws relating to the governance of State universities and remove Governor Arif Mohammed Khan as the Chancellor of State universities.

In detail –

What is the University Laws (amendment) Bill?

• The proposed legislation will amend the statutes of 14 universities established by legislative Acts in Kerala and remove the Governor as the Chancellor of those universities.
• The Bill will supplant the Governor and give the government power to appoint eminent academicians as Chancellors of various universities, thus ending the Governor’s watchdog role in university administration.
• The Bill also provides provision to limit the term of the appointed chancellor to five years.
• However, it also says that the serving chancellor can be reappointed for another term.

Arguments against the bill

• The bill would give the State Government more leeway in appointing its own nominees as VCs of State Universities.
• This would mean a transfer of power over university administration from the Governor and the UGC to the State Government.
• While both the ruling front and the Opposition UDF seem united in stripping away the Governor’s Chancellorship, the opposition fears that the State Government would try to turn State universities into its fiefdom.
• UDF leaders claim that as Chancellors would be appointed by the Government, they would be indebted to the ruling front, thus leading to the erosion of Universities’ autonomy.

Suggested Solutions

• A probable solution to the tug-of-war between the Governor and the State government regarding the governance of State universities was put forward by the M. Anandakrishnan Committee set up by the Kerala State Higher Education Council in 2009 to review the Acts of Universities of Kerala.
• The committee, led by renowned academician Prof. Anandakrishnan who was then chairman of IIT Kanpur, had recommended that universities should have complete autonomy in academic and administrative matters.
• The committee suggested creating statutory structures that would distance the Governor [as Chancellor] and Minister for Higher Education [as Pro-Chancellor] from the day-to-day administration of the universities.
• It also recommended immediate incorporation of UGC Regulations, 2010 in the university Acts/Statutes/Regulations.
• Moreover, the Supreme Court decision to invalidate KTU VCs appointment and the Kerala High Court’s subsequent order to pull the plug on the appointment of the VC to the Kerala University of Fisheries and Ocean Studies suggest that Kerala needs to review the statutes governing individual universities in the State recognised under Section 12(B) of the UGC Act of 1956 and bring them in line with the UGC Regulations.

Sources –TH

Tramjatra

Paper 1–History

Why You Should Know?

Come February, Kolkata will witness an event that will celebrate 150 years of its iconic tram and renew hope that this non-polluting mode of transport does not become entirely extinct.

In detail –

• Tramjatra (tram’s journey) is a moving tram carnival that was started back in 1996 jointly by enthusiasts from Melbourne and Kolkata.
• At the time, Kolkata, the only Indian city where the tram still runs, was home to about two dozen routes.
• Today the number of routes that remain operational has shrunk to just two.

The 2023 event

• The 2023 event, therefore, will be more about impressing the West Bengal government to preserve the tram.
• Tramjatra is essentially an international collaboration of trammies, artists, environmentalists, and tram-loving communities. It will continue for around a week and will seek to educate people, particularly the younger generation, about climate change, air pollution, and sustainable development objectives with a focus on green mobility and Kolkata’s tram legacy.
• The theme of the 2023 Tramjatra will be Heritage, Clean Air and Green Mobility.
• For the celebrations, which will begin on February 24, the team intend to paint three trams.
• The first would look like one of the historic trams used in the early years.
• The second would emphasise the dangers posed by climate change and the necessity of sustainability.
• The third would depict a contemporary tram in a different region of the world.
• For five days, these festive trams will travel across the city, displaying artwork. Local youth will give musical and theatrical performances inside the moving trams.
• The event is to be supported by the West Bengal Transport Corporation and is also to be attended by 25 delegates from Germany.
• These would be the main four slogans for the Tramjatra: Love the Tram; Save the Earth; Tram is the Future of Kolkata; and Let’s Work Together to Stop Global Warming.
• team will publish a white paper stressing on the tram’s relevance as a mode of public transport in the city.
• It will include steps to ensure its long-term viability, including optimum revenue collection and upgradation of the system

Trams in Kolkata

• The tram system in the city of Kolkata, West Bengal, India, operated by West Bengal Transport Corporation (WBTC) after Calcutta Tramways Company (CTC) was dissolved, is the oldest existing tram network operating in India, and oldest operating tramway in Asia.
• Started in 1902, it is the second oldest electric tramway in India, the Madras electric street tramway being the first.
• The network initially had up to 37 lines in the 1960s, but has gradually reduced over the years with only six lines currently operating due to financial struggles, poor maintenance, low ridership, addition of road flyovers, expansion of the Kolkata Metro, slow tram speed and perceptions that the trams are outdated and occupy too much road space.
• Since January 2022, presently only two routes is running regulargly, and some irregular service is running as a very limited service.
• Due to these issues, there have been occasional talks of either shutting down the network permanently or lowering operations of the system.
• However, the system is also considered environmentally friendly and an icon of Kolkata, so there have also been recent efforts to sustain the system with newer trams.

Sources – TH

 

New GI Tags

Paper 3–Agriculture

Why You Should Know?

Famous Gamosa of Assam, TandurRedgram of Telangana, RaktseyKarpo Apricot of Ladakh, Alibag White Onion of Maharashtra get their GI tags.

In detail –

• India having a diverse culture is home to various arts and crafts mastered by many generations over the years.
• Adding to the present collection of GIs, 09 new items from various states of India such as Gamosa of Assam, TandurRedgram of Telangana, RaktseyKarpo Apricot of Ladakh, Alibag White Onion of Maharashtra etc. have been given the coveted GI Tags.
• With this the total number of GI Tags of India comes to 432. The top 5 states holding maximum number of GIs are Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh, Karnataka and Kerala.

Gamosa

• The Gamosa or Gamusa is an article of significance for the indigenous people of Assam, India.
• It is generally a white rectangular piece of cloth with primarily a red border on three sides and red woven motifs on the fourth (in addition to red, other colors are also used).
• Although cotton yarn is the most common material for making/weaving gamosas, there are special occasion ones made from Pat silk.

Usage

Though it may be used daily to wipe the body after a bath (an act of purification), the use is not restricted to this.

• It is used to cover the altar at the prayer hall or cover the scriptures. An object of reverence is never placed on the bare ground, but always on a gamusa.
• It is used by the farmer, fishermen or hunter as a waistcloth (tongali) or a loincloth (suriya) or Gamsa; a Bihu dancer wraps it around the head with a fluffy knot.
• It is hung around the neck at the prayer hall (naamghar) and was thrown over the shoulder in the past to signify social status.
• Guests are welcomed with the offering of a gamusa and tamul (betel nut) and elders are offered gamusas (referred to as bihuwaan in this case) during Bihu.

TandurRedgram

• Tandur Red Gram is a local variety of pigeon pea which is mainly grown in the rain-fed tract of the Tandur village of Telangana.
• The fertile deep black soil with huge deposits of Attapulgite clay mineral specifically in Tandur region along with huge limestone deposits contribute to the specific quality traits of Tandur Red Gram which contains about 22-24% protein, which is almost three times that of cereals.
• Its unique taste and lasting properties contribute to its demand.
• The GI tag will help increase demand for the processed Red Gram in international markets. Currently, around 63,500 families in the region are involved in the cultivation of Tandur Red Gram.

RaktseyKarpo Apricot

• RaktseyKarpo apricots of ladakh known for its pure organic sweetness.
• According to Defence Institute of High Altitude Research (DIHAR) RaktseyKarpo’s TSS (total soluble solids) at 37.9ºBrix is the highest reported in the world in fresh apricots till date.
• TSS is one of ways calculating sweetness, which is a commonly used quality index in many types of fruit.
• A higher ratio is indicative of higher and more acceptable fruit quality.
• For RaktseyKarpo, the TSS to acid ratio was 33:1, which is significantly higher than the figures reported from other parts of the world. On that basis, we say it is the sweetest in the world.

Alibag White Onion

• The Alibaug white onion is known as its unique sweet taste, no-tears factor, as well as its medicinal properties.
• The soil of Alibaug taluka has low sulphur content. The NABL-approved lab test report mentions low pungency, sweet taste, ‘no tear’ factor, low pyruvic acid, high protein, fat and fibre content, besides high antioxidant compounds (quercetin).

Sources – TH

 

“Kazind – 2022”

Paper 2 – International Relations

Why You Should Know?

The 6th Edition of Indo – Kazakhstan joint training exercise “KAZIND-22” is scheduled to be conducted at Umroi (Meghalaya) from 15 to 28 December 2022..

In detail –

• Joint annual training exercise with the Kazakhstan Army was instituted in 2016 as Exercise Prabal Dostyk, which was later upgraded to a company level exercise and renamed as Ex Kazind in 2018.
• Kazakhstan Army soldiers comprising of troops from the Regional Command, South and Indian Army soldiers from the 11 Gorkha Rifles will be participating in the exercise.

Objective

• Aim of the exercise is to build positive military relations, imbibe each other’s best practices and promote the ability to operate together while undertaking counter terrorist operations in semi urban / jungle scenario, under a UN peace enforcement mandate.

Significance

• This joint exercise will enable the two armies to train, plan and execute a series of combined tactical drills for neutralising of likely threats that may be encountered in UN peace keeping operations.
• The scope of this exercise involves a Command Post Exercise (CPX) at the Battalion level and Company level Field Training Exercise (FTX) on sub-conventional operations.
• During the exercise, participants will engage in variety of missions ranging from joint planning, joint tactical drills, basics of special arms skills, HADR and raiding a hostile target.
• “Exercise KAZIND” will enhance the level of defence cooperation between Indian Army and Kazakhstan Army which will further foster the bilateral relations between the two nations.

About Kazakhstan

• Kazakhstan, officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a transcontinental country located mainly in Central Asia and partly in Eastern Europe.
• It borders Russia to the north and west, China to the east, Kyrgyzstan to the southeast, Uzbekistan to the south, and Turkmenistan to the southwest, with a coastline along the Caspian Sea.
• Its capital is Astana, known as Nur-Sultan from 2019 to 2022.Almaty, Kazakhstan’s largest city, was the country’s capital until 1997.
• Kazakhstan is the world’s largest landlocked country, the largest and northernmost Muslim-majority country by land area, and the ninth-largest country in the world.

Sources – PIB

Eklavya Learning Management System (ELMS)

Paper 2 – Education

Why You Should Know?

National Education Society for Tribal Students (NESTS) collaborated with Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (CDAC) to develop an e-learning platform i.e., Eklavya Learning Management System (ELMS) to enable a comprehensive learning environment for students in EMRSs.

In detail –

About ELMS

• National Education Society for Tribal Students or “NESTS”, as an autonomous Society has been set up under the Ministry of Tribal Affairs to establish, endow, maintain, control and manage the schools and to do all acts and things necessary for or conducive to the promotion of Eklavya Model Residential School (EMRS).

Objective

EMRS are set up in the States/UTs under EMRS Scheme of MoTA, Govt. of India with the following objectives:

• In the context of trend of establishing quality residential schools for the promotion of education and also to ensure all round development of tribal students belonging to different areas, habitations and diversified environment throughout the country, the Eklavya Model Residential Schools (EMRSs), Eklavya Model Day Boarding Schools (EMDBS) and Centre of Excellence for Sports are being established for ST and PVTG students.
• The schools are aimed to provide quality upper primary, secondary and senior secondary level education to ST and PVTG students in tribal dominated areas, along with extra-curricular activities, to enable them to access the best opportunities in education and to bring them at par with the general population.

About ELMS-LMS

• The system will provide a tablet based comprehensive learning environment for students. EMRS-LMS will have any type of content like pdf, audio, video, online labs, etc.
• The students can access these study materials from the tablet using EMRS-LMS Android App.
• The study material / course content will be preloaded into the device initially.
• The EMRS-LMS App content will also periodically updated from EMRS-LMS Portal as needed on availability of internet connection.
• EMRS-LMS Android application will consist of teacher notes, NCERT/Stateboard textbooks/videos, and Online Lab Content. EMRS-LMS is also available in Hindi language.

Sources – PIB