Rajasthan’s Gujjar quota faces a legal challenge                                                                                  

Kanyashree stipends are no shield against trafficking                                                                         

UNSC blacklists Osama’s son                                                                                                                  

SpaceX astronaut capsule launched on ISS test mission                                                                     

Indo-Pacific Regional Dialogue – 2019                                                                                                    

Rajasthan’s Gujjar quota faces a legal challenge

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

Context :

     ★ Two petitions have been filed in the Rajasthan high court challenging the bill granting 5% reservation in educational institutions and jobs to Gujjars and four other communities on the ground that it breaches the Supreme Court-mandated 50% ceiling on caste-based quotas.

Background :

     ★ The Rajasthan Assembly had passed the Rajasthan Backward Classes (Reservation of Seats in Educational Institutions in the State and of Appointments and Posts in Services under the State) (Amendment) Bill, 2019, on February 13 this year.

     ★ It provided Gujjars and four other communities (Lauhar,  Banjara, Rebari and Raika ) 5% reservation.

Petitioner Contention :

     ★ The reservation was granted based on proportionality of the population of Gujjars and the four other communities and not on the quantifiable data of backwardness in education and public employment.

     ★ whereas according to the Constitution, quota is not allowed on the basis of census.

     ★ The petitioner also claimed, constitutionally, quotas are allowed on the basis of educational and social backwardness, but this was not kept in mind while granteing additional reservations.

                                                                                                                                                            Source :- The Hindu

Kanyashree stipends are no shield against trafficking

GS PAPER -02 GOVERNANCE - mechanisms, laws, institutions and Bodies constituted for the protection and betterment of these vulnerable sections.

Context :

     ★ Experts and activists say the complex problem cannot be prevented merely by monetary handouts meant to retain girls in school

More about the news:

     ★ Experts working with the non-government organisations said trafficking is a complex problem and one scheme, which provides impetus to girls to remain in school, cannot put an end to trafficking.

     ★ Moreover, they also feel that under the  Kanyashree scheme Catetogy 1 (or ) K1 the benefit of Rs 750 annually is hardly a deterrent to trafficking.

     ★ Despite being beneficiaries of the scheme, which according to the State government has 56.09 lakh beneficiaries so far, Still young women were trafficked between 2016-18.

Kanyashree Prakalpa :

     ★ Kanyashree is an initiative taken by the Government of West Bengal to improve the life and the status of the girls by helping economically backward families with cash so that families do not arrange the marriage of their girl child before eighteen years because of economic problem.

     ★ The purpose of this initiative is to uplift those girls who are from poor families and thus can’t pursue higher studies due to tough economic conditions.

     ★ It has been given international recognition by the United Kingdoms Department of International Development and the UNICEF.

     ★ Launched in 2013, the Kanyashree scheme has two categories of benefits. Under the first category or K1 category, Rs 750 is paid annually to the girls in the age group of 13 to 18; under the K2 group, a one-time grant of Rs 25,000 is paid after a girl turns 18, provided that she was engaged in an academic or occupational pursuit and was unmarried.

                                                                                                                                        Source :- The Hindu

UNSC blacklists Osama’s son

GS PAPER - 02 INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS - Bilateral, regional and global groupings and agreements involving India and/or affecting India's interests

Context :

     ★ A UN security council committee added Hamza bin Laden, one of the sons of Osama bin Laden, to its list of terrorists, saying he is seen as the next leader of al Qaeda, the terrorist outfit founded by his father.

     ★ The United Nations Security Council's 1267 ISIS and Al-Qaeda Sanctions Committee listed 29-year old Hamza bin Laden in its list, a day after the United States announced a reward of up to one million dollars for information about him.

UNSC blacklisting of Osama bin Laden’s son :

     ★ The blacklisting of Hamza would mean that he is subjected to a travel ban, freezing of his assets along with an arms embargo.

     ★ When the UNSC Sanctions Committee freezes the assets of a targeted individual/entity, it is required that all United Nations member governments across the globe immediately freeze the funds, financial assets or any economic resources that come under direct or indirect ownership of the designated individual.

     ★ The travel ban against Hamza implies that his entry or transit in any of the countries that are UN members will be not be allowed in accordance with the travel sanctions. 

     ★ In adherence to the arms embargo that prevents Hamza from acquiring arms and ammunition, all member countries are directed to block the channels that might directly or indirectly facilitate the sale of arms to the Al Qaeda leader.

     ★ In addition to this, all member states are required to prevent the transfer of arms, ammunition, spare parts, and related paraphernalia to Hamza.

     ★ Non material support in the form of technical advice, assistance, logistic support, or training in relation to military activities to the designated terrorist by the citizens of UN member countries as well as via flag vessels or aircraft of these countries are also prohibited.

                                                                                                                                            Source :- The Hindu

SpaceX astronaut capsule launched on ISS test mission

GS PAPER - 03 SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY - Awareness in the fields of Space

Context :

     ★ SpaceX celebrated the successful launch of a new astronaut capsule on a week-long round trip to the International Space Station — a key step towards resuming manned space flights from U.S. soil after an eight-year break.

     ★ This time around, the only occupant on board SpaceX’s Crew Dragon capsule was a dummy named Ripley — but NASA plans to put two astronauts aboard in July, although that date could be delayed

More about the Mission :

    ★ The SpaceX company has launched a capsule designed to carry people from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

    ★ The mission is uncrewed for this flight, but if it goes well, the American space agency is likely to approve the system for regular astronaut use from later this year.

    ★ SpaceX founder Elon Musk said this could be the first step towards opening space travel to commercial customers.

    ★ The Dragon crew capsule is a variant on the ISS cargo freighter flown by SpaceX. Upgrades include life-support systems, obviously; and more powerful thrusters to push the vessel to safety if something goes wrong with a rocket during an ascent to orbit.

     ★ Not since the retirement of the shuttles in 2011 has the US been able to put humans in orbit. It has been paying to use Russian Soyuz vehicles instead.

                                                                                                                             Source :- The Hindu

Indo-Pacific Regional Dialogue – 2019

GS PAPER - 02 INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS - Bilateral, regional and global groupings and agreements involving India and/or affecting India's interests

Context :

     ★ In continuation of the process of engaging the global strategic community in an annual review of India’s opportunities and challenges in the Indo-Pacific region, the second edition of Indo-Pacific Regional Dialogue (IPRD) – 2019 will be held in March 2019

Indo-Pacific Regional Dialogue (IPRD) :

     ★ Dialogue will build upon the foundation laid by the inaugural edition and will examine five fresh themes:

     ★ Practical solutions for achieving cohesion in the region through maritime connectivity;

     ★ Measures to attain and maintain a free-and-open indo-pacific;

     ★ A regional approach to the region’s transition from a ‘brown’ to a ‘blue’ economy;

     ★ Opportunities and challenges arising from the maritime impact of ‘industry 4.0’; and

     ★ How the twin conceptualisations of ‘sagar’ and ‘sagarmala’ might best be made mutually-reinforcing on a regional level.

     ★ IPRD-2019 is likely to witness active participation of globally-renowned domain experts and policy-makers from thirteen countries of the Indo-Pacific — Australia, Bangladesh, Canada, China, Indonesia, Israel, Japan, Seychelles, Singapore, South Korea, Sri Lanka, the United Kingdom, and the United States of America.

Background :

     ★ The idea of an Indo-Pacific Regional Dialogue (IPRD) was first conceptualised and conducted in 2018, 

     ★ The apex level conference of the Indian Navy, organised by the National Maritime Foundation as the Navy’s Knowledge Partner.

     ★ The permanent theme of this annual dialogue is a review of India’s opportunities and challenges in the Indo-Pacific region.

     ★ Through this annual dialogue, the Indian Navy and the National Maritime Foundation, aim to provide a platform for substantive and insightful discussions pertaining to the geopolitical developments affecting the maritime domain of the Indo-Pacific, and provide policy-relevant inputs to the policy-makers and the public at large.

     ★ First edition dwelt upon four basic themes:

     ★ The growth, opportunities and vulnerabilities of maritime merchandise trade, including associated infrastructure such as ports and multi-modal connectivity, as seen from the very different perspectives of large and small littoral and island nations;

Regional connectivity-models;

     ★ Pan-regional challenges such as sustaining persistent surveillance at sea, the increasing digitisation of the maritime space, the dangers of cyber-malevolence that are already afflicting the maritime domain, etc.;

     ★ The role of Indian industry within both, the private and the public sectors, in enhancing holistic maritime-security.

                                                                                                                                                             Source :- PIB​

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