Twin Success for Guided PINAKA

GS PAPER - 03 SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY - Achievement of Indians in science & technology; indigenization of technology and developing new technology.

Context :

★Defence Research and Defence Organisation (DRDO) successfully test fired two Guided Pinaka  from Pokhran ranges.

 

Pinaka :

★Pinaka rocket systems are developed by Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO).

★The rocket system was named after Pinaka, the bow of Lord Shiva.

★It was initially a 30 to 40 km range rocket. Its range was increased 70 to 80 km with Pinaka Mark II.

                                                                                                                                            Source :- PIB

SC may send plea challenging quota Bill to Constitution Bench

GS PAPER - 02 POLITY - Indian Constitution- historical underpinnings, evolution, features, amendments, significant provisions and basic structure.

Context :

★The Supreme on Monday said that it will consider on March 28 whether petitions challenging the 10 per cent reservation in jobs and educational institutions for the economically weaker sections of unreserved categories should be referred to a larger bench.

 

More about the news:

★The petition challenging the Constitution (103rd) Amendment Act contends that the law alters the “basic structure” of the Constitution.

★The PIL argues that the new quota law breaches the cap of 50% total reservation in jobs and education fixed by the top court in the M Nagaraj case in 2006.

★The petition cites a Supreme Court order by a nine-judge bench in 1992 Indra Sawhney case stating that economic backwardness cannot be the basis of reservation in jobs and education.

★It has been averred that the reservation under the Constitutional scheme is prescribed only on the basis of social and educational backwardness

★It further states that, “Such an Amendment is hence, vulnerable and ought to be struck down as it merely negates a binding judgement,”

★The amendment is also contended to be unsustainable as it confines the benefit of economic reservation only to general category candidates. Besides, as it imposes reservation in private unaided educational institutions, it stands contrary to the SC judgments in the TMA Pai and PA Inamdar cases.

 

Background :

The court had in January sought a response from the Centre while refusing to stay the executive order and subject the new appointments to the outcome of the case.

103 Constitutional Amendment Act : ★ The act seeks to provide for the advancement of “economically weaker sections” of citizens. ★ The reservation of up to 10% for “economically weaker sections” in educational institutions and public employment will be in addition to the existing reservation. ★ 103  Constitutional Amendment act - This amended two fundamental rights: ★ Article 15, which prohibits discrimination on the grounds of race, religion, caste, sex or place of birth. ★ Article 16 which prohibits discrimination in employment in government office. ★ It also makes a note of the Article 46, which asks the government to promote the educational and economic interests of the weaker sections of the society. ★ Provides reservation for ★ People who have an annual income of less than Rs.8 lakhs. ★ People who own less than five acres of farm land. ★ People who have a house lesser than 1,000 sq feet in a town (or 100 sq yard in a notified municipal area).

                                                                                                                                                                                   Source :- The Hindu

Wood snake, last seen in 1878, rediscovered by scientists

GS PAPER - 03 ENVIRONMENT - Conservation, environmental pollution and degradation, environmental impact assessment

Context :

★ The surveys, conducted over two years (2014-2016), were published in the Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society last month, states that - A species of wood snake that wasn’t seen for 140 years has resurfaced in a survey conducted by scientists in the Meghamalai Wildlife Sanctuary.

 

Wood Snake :

★The species, endemic to the Meghamalai forests and the Periyar Tiger Reserve landscape

★The snake is a ‘point endemic’ (found only in Meghamalai)

★The local population of wood snakes was last spotted and recorded by British military officer and naturalist Colonel Richard Henry Beddome in 1878, who went on to describe it as a new species, Xylophis indicus.

★The specimens he collected were deposited by the officer in the Natural History Museum, London, and labelled as being from “the dense heavy evergreen forests on the mountains at the south of the Cumbum valley, Madura.”

                                                                                                                                          Source :- The Hindu

Excavations shed light on early Harappan ritual

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 :

★Archaeological excavations undertaken by a group of researchers have shed light on the custom and burial rituals that were prevalent during the early Harappan phase.

★The team which camped in Khatiya village of Kutch unearthed several skeletal remains from a cemetery-like burial site where 26 graves out of the nearly 300-odd ones were excavated.

 

Key Findings :

Graves :

★ The rectangular graves, each of varying dimensions and assembled using stones, contained skeletons that were placed in a specific manner.

★ They were oriented east-west with the heads positioned on the eastern side.

★ Of the 26 graves that were excavated, the biggest was 6.9 metres long and the smallest 1.2 metres long.

★ Interestingly, the researchers found the mode of burial to be non-uniform.

★ Instances of primary burial and secondary burial (when the remains of the primary burial are exhumed and moved to another grave) were found.

★ The skeletal remains of human beings in most of them were found to be disintegrated.

★ The presence of animal skeletons along with those of humans were also recorded in a few graves.

★ The skeletal remains will be sent to various laboratories to run tests to understand the age, gender, circumstances that could have led to the death and the salient features of the respective DNA.

 

Other Arti - crafts :

★ Next to the legs on the western side, the archaeologists found earthen pots and pottery shards and other artifacts, including conch-shell bangles, beads made of stones and terracotta, numerous lithic tools and grinding stones.

★ The researchers claimed that the mud pots bore similarities with those that were unearthed from other Harappan sites in Kot Diji, Amri and Nal in Pakistan and Surkotada and Dhaneti in Kutch.

★ This gives evidences to the trade network that could have existed during the early phase of the Harappan civilization from 3300 BCE to 2600 BCE.

                                                                                                                                                                      Source :- The Hindu

India is world’s 2nd largest arms importer

GS PAPER - 03 SECURITY - Security challenges and their management in border areas; linkages of organized crime with terrorism Various Security forces and agencies and their mandate

Context :

★ According to the Trends in International Arms Transfers, 2018 report,released by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI). India's import of arms decreased by 24 per cent between 2009-2013 and 2014-2018.

 

Key Findings :

★ The five largest exporters in 2014-18 were the United States, Russia, France, Germany and China.

★ The five largest importers were Saudi Arabia, India, Egypt, Australia and Algeria.

★ Pakistan stood at the 11th position, accounting for 2.7% of all global imports. Its biggest source was China, from which 70% of arms were sourced, followed by the U.S. at 8.9% and, interestingly, Russia at 6%

 

India’s Stand :

★ According to the figures released by the report, India’s import of arms decreased by 24 per cent between 2009-2013 and 2014-2018.

★ This decline in India’s import is also partly due to delays in deliveries of arms produced under license from foreign suppliers, such as combat aircraft ordered from Russia in 2001 and submarines ordered from France in 2008.

★ Still, India was the world’s second largest importer of major arms in 2014-18 and accounted for 9.5 per cent of the global total.

★ Israel, the USA and France all increased their arms exports to India in 2014-18.

                                                                                                                                     Source :- The Hindu

‘India ranks 11th in gold holding’

GS PAPER  - 02 GOVERNANCE  

Context :

★ As per the latest report by the World Gold Council (WGC), India, is the world’s largest consumer of gold, has the 11th largest gold reserve, with the current holding pegged at 607 tonnes.

 

Highlights :

★India, which is the world’s largest consumer of gold, has the 11th largest gold reserve, with the current holding pegged at 607 tonnes.

★International Monetary Fund (IMF) is third on the list with total gold reserves of 2,814 tonnes.

★Top slot is occupied by the U.S., which boasts of gold reserves of 8,133.5 tonnes, followed by Germany with 3,369.7 tonnes.

★Among Asian countries, China and Japan have more reserves of the precious metal when compared to India.

★Pakistan, with its gold reserves of 64.6 tonnes, occupies the 45th position. 

World Gold Council : ★The World Gold Council is the market development organisation for the gold industry. ★Its main purpose is to stimulate and sustain demand for gold, provide industry leadership, and be the global authority on the gold market. ★The World Gold Council is an association whose members comprise the world’s leading gold mining companies. It helps to support its members to mine in a responsible way and developed the Conflict Free Gold Standard. ★Headquartered in the UK, they have offices in India, China, Singapore, Japan and the United States.

                                                                                                                                                                              Source :- The Hindu

Plastic in focus at UN environment forum

GS PAPER - 03 ENVIRONMENT - Conservation, environmental pollution and degradation, environmental impact assessment

Context :

★Thousands of delegates, business leaders and campaigners from around the world are in Nairobi for the five-day UN Environment Assembly, - set their sights on a pivotal deal to curb plastic waste, a source of long-term pollution and worsening contamination of the ocean’s food chain.

 

More about the news:

★The UN wants individual countries to sign up to "significantly" reduce plastic production, including a phasing out of single-use plastics by 2030

★a goal inspired by the 2015 Paris Agreement on voluntary reductions of carbon emissions.

★Right now, In the field of (plastic) pollution we don't have such agreements

★"This is the first time (we have) to convince member states to make international commitments."

 

Concerns :

★scientists have estimated, The world currently produces more than 300 million tonnes of plastics annually, and there are at least five trillion plastic pieces floating in our oceans.

★Microplastics have been found in the deepest sea trenches and high up Earth's tallest peaks, and plastic consumption is growing year-on-year.

                                                                                                                                     Source :- The Hindu

Arecanut gets its first GI tag for ‘Sirsi Supari’

GS PAPER - 03 ECONOMY - issues relating to intellectual property rights.

Context :

★Arecanut (also known as supari or betel nut) is the latest entrant in the list of agricultural produce with a GI (geographical indication) tag.

 

Sirsi Supari :

★Government of India, accorded a GI tag, ‘Sirsi Supari’, to arecanut grown in Sirsi, Siddapur and Yellapur taluks of Uttara Kannada district in Karnataka

★Sirsi Supari’ is medium sized and round in shape. It has a somewhat ash coloured hard seed

★The fruit of ‘Sirsi Supari’ turns from yellow to scarlet as it ripens, and consists of a thick fibrous pericarp (husk) that encloses this seed.

★ ‘Sirsi Supari’ is unique in taste from areca nuts grown in other parts of the country due to the differences in the chemical composition of different areca nuts.

         

GI Tags : ★A geographical indication (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. ★A geographical indication right enables those who have the right to use the indication to prevent its use by a third party whose product does not conform to the applicable standards. ★Darjeeling Tea was the first Indian product to get the geographical indication tag. In 2004, the famous beverage got the recognition.

                                                                                                                                                            Source :- Hindu Business Line

 

The flawed unit of academic quotas (Reservation in Universities) [ Editorial / Opinion ]

Gs Paper 1: Social issues - Social empowerment

Context :

★Much more needs to be done to improve faculty diversity on university campuses

 

Historical Background :

★The Parliament of India has sometimes had to resort to even constitutional amendments to overturn some court rulings that have the effect of protecting the interests of ‘general candidates’.

★The 77th constitutional amendment of 1995, which was recently extended to Kashmir, restored reservation in promotions as a nine-judge bench of the Supreme Court in Indra Sawhney (1992) while upholding Other Backward Classes reservation based on Mandal Commission recommendations had prohibited Scheduled Caste/Scheduled Tribe (SC/ST) reservation in promotions.

 

Perspective on Promotion :

★The 81st constitutional amendment was made to overturn the Supreme Court’s decision against the ‘carrying forward’ rule, which permitted the filling of unfilled reserved seats in subsequent years.

★Similarly, the 85th constitutional amendment was passed in 2001 to restore consequential seniority to promotee SC/ST employees as a ‘catch-up’ rule introduced by the court in Ajit Singh (1999) was causing hardship to SC/ST employees.

 

Ordinance by Govt. to restore the 200-point system :

★The ordinance seeks to bring back the older system of taking the entire college/university as the unit for implementing reservations (the so-called ‘200-point roster’), rather than the individual department (’13-point roster’ system), As prescribed by the Allahabad High Court in Vivekanand Tiwari (2017) which had relied on a number of other High Courts and a few apex court judgments such as Suresh Chandra Verma (1990), Dina Nath Shukla (1997) and K. Govindappa (2009).

 

Allahabad High Court ruling :

★The matter of Vivekanand Tiwari & Anr v Union of India and Ors (April 7, 2017) in Allahabad High Court dealt with the recruitment of teachers in Banaras Hindu University (BHU), a central educational institution.

★The petitioners sought cancellation of the recruitment drive and a fresh beginning, treating each department of the university as the unit for calculating the number of faculty posts reserved for SCs, STs and OBCs.

★At that time, the number of SC, ST, and OBC faculty positions were calculated by treating the university as a unit. Thus, all posts of the same grade (such as assistant professor) across departments in a university were grouped together to calculate the quota. This was in keeping with the directions of the University Grants Commission (UGC).

★The Division Bench of Justices Vikram Nath and Daya Shankar Tripathi upheld the petitioners’ plea and criticised the UGC for applying reservation in teaching jobs in a “blanket manner”. “If the University is taken as a ‘Unit’ for every level of teaching and applying the roster, it could result in some departments/subjects having all reserved candidates and some having only unreserved candidates. (This) would be discriminatory and unreasonable (and)… violative of Article 14 and 16,” the court said.

 

Article 335 :

★Article 335 categorically says that “claims” of SC/STs to posts in Centre and the States ‘shall’ be taken into consideration.

★As opposed to ‘may’ or ‘will’, the use of the word ‘shall’, in law, means mandatory.

★Judge devoted several additional pages to make out a case for the re-examination of the reservation policy by the government though there were no pleadings on this issue. He asked it to examine whether reservation at all is needed in university teaching posts.

 

university or department as a unit for reservation :

★The lecturers, readers and professors in a university have the same scale and allowances in their respective cadres, they cannot be clubbed together. Since there is no scope for interchangeability of posts in different disciplines, each single post in a particular discipline is be counted as a separate post.

★On the face of it this seems to be perfectly logical. But the reality of the working of our universities is different. Every university spends lot of time in deciding reservation and tries to balance the completive interests and needs of various departments.

★Even with the ‘university’ as the unit, in over 40 Central universities we have huge under-representation of SCs and STs especially at the level of professor and associate professor. If ‘department’ was allowed to be taken as a unit, these numbers would have been far less.

★In its review petition, the government did share with the Supreme Court the BHU’s example of the adverse effect of using ‘department’ as the unit.

★For example, there were 1,930 faculty posts on May 12, 2017. If the BHU were to implement reservation based on using ‘university’ as the unit of reservation, 289 posts would have had to be reserved for SCs, 143 for STs and 310 for OBCs. Under the new formula of using ‘department’ as the unit, the number of reserved positions would go down to 119 for SCs, 29 for STs and 220 for OBCs.

 

Impact :

★The implementation of the department-wise reservation policy would have had a disastrous effect on other universities as well.

★A study of 20 Central universities by the Central government has shown that reserved posts will come down from 2,662 to 1,241 in a year.

★The number of posts of professor would have reduced from 134 to just 4 for SCs; from 59 to zero for STs, and from 11 to zero for OBCs.

★But number of unreserved or general posts would have drastically increased, from 732 to 932. At the level of associate professor, for SCs it will have reduced from 264 to 48, for STs from 131 to 6, and for OBCS from 29 to 14.

★But here again the number of general posts would have increased from 732 to 932. In the case of assistant professor, the number of reserved posts would have reduced from 650 to 275 in STs, from 323 to 72 for SCs, and from 1,167 to 876 for OBCs. But the number of unreserved or general posts would have gone up from 2,316 to 3,233.

★Thus department-wise reservation was a sophisticated beginning of an end of reservation.

★Some experts take the view that if SC/ST candidates do not become professors, they cannot become vice-chancellors as only a professor with 10-year experience is eligible for this. In 2018, out of some 496 vice-chancellors of Central and State universities, there were just six SC, six ST and 48 OBC vice-chancellors.

 

Way Forward :

★we need to do more is to improve diversity on our campuses with more SCs, STs, OBCs, Muslims, persons with disabilities and sexual minorities being recruited as faculty as our campuses do not reflect social diversity despite the university being a unit for reservation.

★Let the score on the diversity index be a major criterion in giving grants to universities

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