ART AND CULTURE                                                                           

1. Chavang Kut Festival                                                                       

SOCIAL ISSUES                                                                                   

1. Bru refugees in Tripura continue to stage blockade over deaths in relief camp                                                                                      

POLITY AND GOVERNANCE                                                             

1. Government of India to Set Up & Strengthen AHTUs & WHDs in States Across the Country                                                                

ECONOMY                                                                                             

1. 8th Indo German Energy Forum (IGEF) 2019                                    

2. India’s unemployment rate has hit 3-year high                                   

3. Elephant bonds can bring back $500 billion stashed overseas            

SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY                                                          

1. ‘IndiGen' project                                                                               

DISASTER MANAGEMENT                                                                

1. SCO Joint Urban Earthquake Search & Rescue Exercise (SCOJTEX)-2019                                                                                               

ART AND CULTURE

Chavang Kut Festival

GS PAPER - 01 ART AND CULTURE  - Indian culture will cover the salient aspects of Art Forms, Literature and Architecture from ancient to modern times.

Context :

• Chavang Kut, the post-harvest festival of the Kuki-Chin-Mizo communities is being celebrated across North-Eastern states with traditional gaiety and enthusiasm.

Chavang Kut :

• Chavang Kut or Kut festival is one of the most celebrated festivals of Manipur.

  • It is also celebrated in Mizoram and Assam.

• The festival marks the Anglo-Kuki war centenary year.

• The festival is celebrated by the tribes of Kuki-Chin-Mizo communities.

• Chavang stands for ‘autumn’ and Kut mean ‘harvest’.

• The festival is observed to mark the end of the harvesting season and also to thank deities for a good harvest season.

• A beauty pageant competition is also organized during the festival. Further,folk dances and music are also performed to celebrate the festival.

                                                                                                                                                                   Source :- AIR

SOCIAL ISSUES

Bru refugees in Tripura continue to stage blockade over deaths in relief camp

GS PAPER - 01 SOCIAL ISSUES  - population and associated issues, poverty and developmental issues

Context :

• Bru refugees have begun a road blockade in Tripura demanding that the Ministry of Home Affairs(MHA) resume the supply of rations to refugee camps where displaced people are allegedly starving.

Bru :

• The Brus are also called Reangs.

• They are scattered across Assam, Mizoram and Tripura.

• In Mizoram,they inhabit small pockets of Mamit,Lunglei and Lawngtlai districts but the largest section is in Mamit bordering North Tripura.

• They are are one of the 21 scheduled tribes of the Indian state of Tripura.

• They speak the Reang dialect of Bru language which is of Tibeto Burmese origin and is locally referred to as Kau Bru.

• The Hojagiri folk dance of Reang sub tribe is well known all over the world.The most popular festival of reang tribes is Buisu.

Issue :

• In 1995, a clash broke out between Mizos and Brus which led to the demand by the Young Mizo Association that Brus be removed from the state’s electoral rolls contending that the tribe was not indigenous to Mizoram.

• This led to an armed movement by the Bru National Liberation Front which had killed a Mizo forest official in 1997.

• As a consequence,many Bru villages were burnt down which had led to the displacement of 40,000 bru people.Thousands of Brus fled to North Tripura where they were given shelter in relief camps.

• The people of the Reang tribe are set to be repatriated to Mizoram after a tripartite agreement was signed between the Centre, Tripura and Mizoram.

                                                                                                                                       Source :- Business Standard

POLITY AND GOVERNANCE

Government of India to Set Up & Strengthen AHTUs & WHDs in States Across the Country

GS PAPER - 02 GOVERNANCE - Government policies and interventions for development in various sectors and issues arising out of their design and implementation.

Context :

• The Empowered Committee (EC) under Nirbhaya Framework, appraised two proposals to develop systems for operationalization of Women Help Desks (WHDs) in police stations, for expansion of Anti-Human-Trafficking-Units (AHTUs) to all districts.

Setting up and strengthening Anti-Human Trafficking Units (AHTUs) :

• The EC considered and recommended the proposal for setting up AHTUs at cost of Rs. 100 crores for safety and security of women and girl victims of trafficking, with the condition that a proper monitoring and reporting mechanism should also be put in place.

• 100% cost of setting up of these AHTUs has been recommended to be borne by the Central Government under Nirbhaya Fund as per the MHA proposal.

• The EC has also suggested that psycho-social counselling and legal counselling and aid should also be made available through these AHTUs to the beneficiaries.

• The MHA has also been requested to ensure nomination of State level nodal officers for coordinating and monitoring the functioning of AHTUs and sharing their data with the EC and the Ministry of WCD.

Women Help Desks (WHDs) in Police Stations

• The EC considered favourably and recommended the proposal for setting up Women Help Desks in Police Stations in all States and UTs.

• This be funded 100% by the Central Government under Nirbhaya Fund.

• WHDs would be gender sensitive desks for grievance redressal of women through the policing system, as well as catalysts for improved community interaction of the police with focus on crime against women and children.

• They would also help create a conducive atmosphere for distressed women and girls to approach the police stations without any hesitation and fear.

• The EC has suggested that these Women Help Desks should preferably be headed by women police officer not below the rank of Head Constables, and preferably by women officers not below the ranks of JSI or ASI.

• Further, training, orientation and sensitization of both men and women police officials working at or in relation to WHDs at police stations, should also be taken up.

                                                                                                                                                             Source :- PIB

ECONOMY

8th Indo German Energy Forum (IGEF) 2019

GS PAPER - 03 ECONOMY - Important International institutions, agencies and fora- their structure, mandate. ; Infrastructure: Energy, Ports, Roads, Airports, Railways etc.

Context :

• The 8th meeting of the Indo – German Energy Forum concluded in New Delhi.

Indo - German Energy Forum :

• The Indo-German Energy Forum (IGEF) provides a dialogue platform for high-level policy makers, financial institutions, industry and research organizations to deepen and enhance the bilateral cooperation for the energy transition in Germany and India.

• Since its establishment in 2006, the Indo-German Energy Forum has successfully intensified Indo-German Cooperation in the areas of energy security, energy efficiency and renewable energies, investment in energy projects as well as collaborative research and development.

• The high-level steering committee, also called “Forum”, provides a platform for high-level policy makers and representatives from industry, associations, financial institutions and research organizations from both countries.

• The IGEF agenda is essentially defined by four Subgroups which convene on a regular basis and bring together experts from industry, research institutions and state authorities on a working level in India and Germany:

  • Subgroup I on Enhancement of Power Plants

  • Subgroup II on Renewable Energies

  • Subgroup III on Energy Efficiency

  • Subgroup IV on Green Energy Corridors

• In the 8th Indo German Energy Forum (IGEF) 2019, both the sides finalized the roadmap for future collaboration between the two countries which, inter-alia, include

  • Flexibilisation of existing coal fired power plants

  • Promoting niche markets for Solar Energy,

  • Promotion of energy efficiency in buildings through ECBC, building materials and credit lines for financing corresponding measures and RE evacuation through state-of-the-art intra-state.

  • Inter-state transmission grid infrastructure.

                                                                                                                                                                   Source :- PIB

India’s unemployment rate has hit 3-year high

GS PAPER - 03 ECONOMY - growth, development and employment.

Context :

• According to the Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE),India’s unemployment rate in the month of October,2019 has reached 8.5% which is the highest in over three years.

Key Highlights  :

• The urban unemployment rate for October 2019 stood at 8.9% slightly higher than the rural unemployment rate of 8.3%.

• Among States, Tripura and Haryana saw the highest unemployment levels of more than 20% while the lowest unemployment was in Tamil Nadu at 1.1%.

• Further,Rajas­than also saw its unemployment rate doubled between September and October 2019.

• The data is also similar with the findings of the latest Periodic Labour Force Survey which had estimated an unemployment rate of 6.1% between July 2017 and June 2018,the worst in 45 years.

India’s Employment Crisis :

• A working paper titled, 'India’s Employment Crisis' by researchers at the Centre for Sustainable Employment estimates that between 2011-12 and 2017-18, employment declined by an unprecedented nine million jobs (a 2% drop), with agricultural employment declining by 11.5%.

• The agricultural employment has declined by 11.5% while in the same period employment in the service sector increased by 13.4% and manufacturing employment dipped by 5.7%.

• The study also says that due to a decline of employment in agriculture and manufacturing and slow growth of construction jobs, the process of structural transformation which had gained momentum post 2004-5 has stalled since 2012.

• However,the only sector which sustained growth of jobs is services sector although the quality of jobs in this sector is mostly poor.Way Forward :

• To sustain the growth of income, improve the standard of living and to reduce poverty, employment opportunities in manufacturing and construction is necessary.

                                                                                                                        Source :- The Hindu

Elephant bonds can bring back $500 billion stashed overseas

GS PAPER - 03 ECONOMY - money-laundering and its prevention.

Context :

• A High Level Advisory Group on Trade Policy (HLAG) headed by Surjit S Bhalla has recently suggested the government to issue ‘Elephant Bonds’. This will help India to recover up to $500 billion of black money that is stashed overseas.

Elephant Bond :

• An Elephant Bond is a 25-year sovereign bond (a bond issued by a national government).
   

  • This bond is issued to those people who declare their previously undisclosed income and are then bound to invest 50% of that amount in these securities.

  • The fund gathered by the issuance of these bonds is utilized to finance infrastructure projects only.

• HLAG recommended these bonds in order to boost India’s growth by utilizing the collected money (via this mechanism) to fund infrastructure projects in the country.

• One of the key features of the proposed mechanism is that those disclosing their black money will receive immunity from all local laws including those under foreign exchange, black money laws, and taxation laws.
   

  • This would enable people to bring their offshore undisclosed wealth into India without fear of prosecution.

  • Tax amnesty is a limited-time opportunity for a specified group of taxpayers to pay a defined amount, in exchange for forgiveness of tax liability (including interests and penalties).

• The move is also expected to bring down the real interest rate. It will also strengthen the rupee.

                                                                                                               Source :- Indian Express

SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

‘IndiGen' project

GS PAPER - 03 SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY - Awareness in the fields of Bio Technology.

Context :

• The Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) has finished conducting “whole-genome sequence” of a 1,008 Indians as part of a programme called “IndiGen”.

What is a Genome?

• A genome is the DNA, or sequence of genes, in a cell.

• Most of the DNA is in the nucleus and intricately coiled into a structure called the chromosome. The rest is in the mitochondria, the cell’s powerhouse.

• Every human cell contains a pair of chromosomes, each of which has three billion base pairs or one of four molecules that pair in precise ways.

• The order of base pairs and varying lengths of these sequences constitute the “genes”, which are responsible for making amino acids, proteins and, thereby, everything that is necessary for the body to function.

• It is when these genes are altered or mutated that proteins sometimes do not function as intended, leading to disease.

What is Whole Genome sequencing?

• Sequencing a genome means deciphering the exact order of base pairs in an individual. This “deciphering” or reading of the genome is what sequencing is all about.

• It has been known that the portion of the genes responsible for making proteins — called the exome — occupies about 1% of the actual gene. Rather than sequence the whole gene, many geneticists rely on “exome maps” (that is the order of exomes necessary to make proteins).

• However, it has been established that the non-exome portions also affect the functioning of the genes and that, ideally, to know which genes of a person’s DNA are “mutated” the genome has to be mapped in its entirety.

Working of CSIR entreprises :

• While India, led by the CSIR, first sequenced an Indian genome in 2009, it is only now that the organisation’s laboratories have been able to scale up whole-genome sequencing and offer them to the public.

• Globally, many countries have undertaken genome sequencing of a sample of their citizens to determine unique genetic traits, susceptibility (and resilience) to disease. This is the first time that such a large sample of Indians will be recruited for a detailed study.

• Under “IndiGen”, the CSIR drafted about 1,000 youth from across India by organising camps in several colleges and educating attendees on genomics and the role of genes in disease. Some students and participants donated blood samples from where their DNA sequences were collected.

IndiGen project:

• The Programme funded by the Department of Biotechnology will sequence at least 10,000 Indian genomes.

• The CSIR’s “IndiGen” project, as it is called, selected the 1,000-odd from a pool of about 5,000 and sought to include representatives from every State and diverse ethnicities. Every person whose genomes are sequenced would be given a report.

• The project is and is also seen as a precursor to a much larger exercise involving other government departments to map a larger swathe of the population in the country.

• Anyone looking for a free mapping of their entire genome can sign up for “IndiGen”. Those who get their genes mapped will get a card and access to an app which will allow them and doctors to access information on whether they harbour gene variants that are reliably known to correlate with genomes with diseases.

• The driving motive of the project is to understand the extent of genetic variation in Indians and learn why some genes — linked to certain diseases based on publications in international literature — do not always translate into diseases.

• Once such knowledge is established, the CSIR expects to tie up with several pathology laboratories who can offer commercial gene testing services.

Significance :

• Genome sequencing can provide information on one’s susceptibility to disease.

  • Preventive or precautionary measures can be suggested bringing down avoidable mortality or health complications.

  •  It will help advise people on health risks that are manifest in their gene.

•  The Genome India project will aim to make predictive diagnostic markers available for some priority diseases such as cancer and other rare and genetic disorders.

• The participants would be informed if they carry gene variants that make them less responsive to certain classes of medicines.

  • For instance, having a certain gene makes some people less responsive to clopidogrel, a key drug that prevents strokes and heart attack. Hence suitable or more effective medicines can be prescribed.

• It will also help understand the variation and frequency of certain genes that are known to be linked to disease. Will help humans develop suitable treatments.

• Through the project, India wants to become part of the global endeavour to chart out the complex human genetic map.

                                                                                                                                                        Source :- The Hindu

DISASTER MANAGEMENT   

SCO Joint Urban Earthquake Search & Rescue Exercise (SCOJTEX)-2019

GS PAPER - 03 DISASTER MANAGEMENT - Disaster and disaster management.

Context :

• Union Minister of Home Affairs inaugurate the Shanghai Cooperation Organization Joint Exercise on Urban Earthquake Search & Rescue (SCOJtEx-2019).

SCO Urban Earthquake Search & Rescue Exercise (SCOJtEx.)-2019

• The National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) is hosting the exercise.

• The main aim to rehearse the disaster response mechanism, share knowledge, experience, technology & also for mutual coordination, etc.

• This exercise shall also provide an opportunity to enhance the coordination & co-operation involving multi-agency operations in an earthquake scenario.

• The participants of all 08 member countries namely China, India, Kazakhastan, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, Russia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan shall be participating in this exercise.

• The four day long simulation exercise shall be conducted as per the International Search & Rescue Advisory Group (INSARAG) methodology & guidelines.

• There will be a Joint Urban Earthquake Search & Rescue Exercise for Shanghai Cooperation Organization member states followed by the Shanghai Cooperation Organization experts meeting of Ministries responsible for Prevention and Elimination of Emergency Situation.

• The main focus of Shanghai Cooperation Organization Joint Exercise on Urban Earthquake Search & Rescue (SCOJtEx-2019) shall be to test the region’s preparedness and resilience towards effective activation of Inter- governmental interaction for immediate response.

INSARAG :---

• The International Search and Rescue Advisory Group (INSARAG) was established in 1991.

• This establishment followed the initiatives of the specialised international Urban Search and Rescue (USAR) teams who operated together in the Mexican earthquake of 1985 and the Armenian earthquake of 1988.

• The INSARAG’s primary purpose is to facilitate coordination between the various international USAR teams who make themselves available for deployment to countries experiencing devastating events of structural collapse due primarily to earthquakes.

• The group achieves such coordination through facilitating opportunities for communication between these groups ahead of such events.

• These meetings of teams have resulted in many practical agreements between them that have streamlined working together during actual disasters.

                                                                                                                     SOURCE :- PIB

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