Daily CURRENT AFFAIRS

Daily Current Affair - UPSC/KAS Exams - 5th July 2021

What is in news : A campaign to include Tulu in the Eighth Schedule of the Constitution was triggered in social media , after several politicians and language activists tweeted with the hashtag ‘#TuluTo8thSchedule’.

TULU LANGUAGE

• Tulu is a Dravidian language spoken mainly in two coastal districts Dakshina Kannada and Udupi of Karnataka and Kasaragod district of Kerala.
• As per the 2011 Census report, there are 18,46,427 Tulu-speaking people in India. Some scholars suggest Tulu is among the earliest Dravidian languages with a history of 2000 years.
• Robert Caldwell (1814-1891), in his book, A Comparative Grammar of the Dravidian or South-Indian Family of Languages, called Tulu “one of the most highly developed languages of the Dravidian family”.

Language and Constitution

• Article 29 of the Constitution provides that a section of citizens having a distinct language, script or culture have the right to conserve the same.
• The Eighth Schedule to the Constitution of India lists the official languages of the Republic of India.
• As per Articles 344(1) and 351 of the Indian Constitution, the eighth schedule includes the recognition of 22 languages.

What happens when a language is added to eighth schedule

• It will become mandatory for the government to spare the efforts to develop the scheduled language so that it grows and evolves into an effective means of communication.
• A scheduled language will come to be considered as an official language of the nation.
• When included in the eighth schedule, Sahitya Academy will start recognizing the language and the books of the language will be translated in other languages recognized in India.
• MPs and MLAs can start converse in this language in state assemblies and parliament.
• Candidates will be able to write the competitive exams like Civil Services Exams conducted in the All India level in a scheduled language.
• Including a language under schedule eight will place it on equal footing with other official languages which will provide equal status and opportunity to the said language.

By : Khadi and Village Industries Commission

Why : Reducing desertification and providing livelihood and multi-disciplinary rural industry support

Details :

• Aim is to Create bamboo-based green patches in arid and semi-arid land zones
• first of its kind exercise in India which was launched from the tribal village NichlaMandwa in Udaipur, Rajasthan.
• 5000 saplings of special bamboo species – BambusaTulda and BambusaPolymorpha specially brought from Assam – have been planted over 25 bigha (16 acres approx) of vacant arid Gram Panchayat land. KVIC has thus created a 'World record of planting the highest number of bamboo saplings on a single day at one location.
• The initiative has been launched as part of KVIC’s “Khadi Bamboo Festival” to celebrate 75 years of independence “Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav”. KVIC is set to replicate the Project at Village Dholera in Ahmedabad district in Gujarat and Leh-Ladakh region by August this year.

What is in news : The Centre’s NIPUN mission to ensure that every Class 3 child has foundational literacy and numeracy,  within five years will be rolled out on Monday. Although the National Education Policy had included a 2025 deadline to achieve the goal, the Centre has pushed back the target date to 2026-27, given that COVID-19 has already disrupted two academic years

DETAILS :

• The School Education Department says no additional funding is being allocated for the National Initiative for Proficiency in Reading with Understanding and Numeracy (NIPUN Bharat). Instead, money is being allocated from the flagship Samagra Shiksha scheme, which actually saw a 20% drop in its budget this year.
• The vision of NIPUN Bharat Mission is to create an enabling environment to ensure universal acquisition of foundational literacy and numeracy, so that every child achieves the desired learning competencies in reading, writing and numeracy by the end of Grade 3, by 2026-27
• NIPUN Bharat is likely to emphasise goal setting and accountability for State governments, and provide guidelines for teacher training, assessment and the creation of printed resources, according to people who helped develop the mission.
• Samagra Shiksha is an umbrella scheme, and this year it has been revised. According to that revision, a provision has been kept for FLN (foundational literacy and numeracy)

What is in news : India joins G20-OECD Tax Framework deal.

Details :

• India and majority members of OECD and G20 Inclusive Framework on Base Erosion & Profit Shifting adopted a high-level statement that outlines a consensus solution in a bid to address tax challenges that are arising from digitalisation of economy.
• This proposed solution comprises of two components:
  • First pillar is about reallocation of additional profit share to market jurisdictions and
  • Second pillar comprises of minimum tax and subject to tax rules.
• However, some significant issues like share of profit allocation and scope of subject to tax rules are open and need to be addressed.
• Technical details of proposal will be worked out soon and a consensus agreement will come by October 2021.

Benefits for India

• Reallocate a part of super normal profits of largest and most profitable and multinational groups in market countries like India.
• India gets its fair share of corporate tax on earnings from market it provides to MNEs
• Global Min tax rule will ensure that countries like India gets massive market for MNEs without providing tax safe harbor. This development has the potential to significantly contain practice of treaty shopping.

Treaty Shopping: In treaty shopping, companies or individuals attempt to indirectly access benefits of tax treaty between two jurisdictions without being resident any of those jurisdictions.

What is in news : Agriculture and Farmers Welfare Minister has launched the Crop Insurance Awareness Campaign for Fasal Bima Yojana.

Details :This campaign aims to bring stories of beneficiary farmers through videos and photo stories on social media. Stories of those farmers would be shared who have not only benefited from this scheme but helped entire farming community through their thought-leadership.

Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY)

PMFBY

• Was launched on February, 18 2016
• Formulated in line with One Nation–One Scheme theme
• Replaced two schemes namely, National Agricultural Insurance Scheme (NAIS) and Modified National Agricultural Insurance Scheme (MNAIS).
• Reducing premium burden on farmers and ensuring early settlement of crop assurance claim for full insured sum.
• Covers all Food & Oilseeds crops along with Annual Commercial or Horticultural Crops for which past yield data is available.

What is it:

• Grandmaster title was awarded to chess players by world chess organization, FIDE. Grandmaster is the highest title that a chess player can attain, apart from World Champion.
• This title is generally held for life once it is achieved. Title of Grandmaster, along with FIDE titles of International Master (IM) and FIDE Master (FM), is open to all players irrespective of gender. Majority of grandmasters are men.
• However, a number of women have also achieved this GM title. Since 2000, most of top 10 women have held GM title. Woman Grandmaster title is awarded only to women with lower requirements.

What is in news : Abhimanyu Mishra has become the youngest ever Grandmaster.He achieved this title at just 12 years.

What is in news : Filmmaker Karan Johar recently announced his decision to produce the biopic of Sir Chettur Sankaran Nair, an acclaimed lawyer and judge in the Madras High Court and one of the early builders of the Indian National Congress

About :

• Born in the year 1857 in Mankara village of Malabar’s Palakkad district
• Studied law in Presidency College , Madras
• Hired by Sir Horatio Shepherd who later became the Chief Justice of the Madras High Court
• Known for his defiant attitude
• When the 1908 Montague-Chelmsford reforms were being discussed, he wrote an article in the Contemporary Review criticising the English jury for being partial towards Englishmen
• Equally despised by the Brahmins in Madras
• In 1897 he became the youngest president of the INC in the history of the party till then, and the only Malayali to hold the post ever
• In 1902 Lord Curzon appointed him a member of the Raleigh University Commission. In 1904 he was appointed as Companion of the Indian Empire by the King-Emperor and in 1912 he was knighted
• By 1908 he was appointed as a permanent judge in the Madras High Court.
• In 1915 he became part of the Viceroy’s Council, put in charge of the education portfolio.
• In 1919, he played an important role in the expansion of provisions in the Montagu-Chelmsford reforms which introduced a system of dyarchy in the provinces and increased participation of Indians in the administration
• Resigned from the Viceroy’s Council in protest against massacre of Jallianwala Bagh
• Nair wrote ‘Gandhi and Anarchy’, which was published in 1922. In the book, Nair spelt out his critique of Gandhi’s methods, especially those of non-violence, civil disobedience and non-cooperation. He believed that any of these movements was destined to lead to riots and bloodshed. In the same book, he also accused O’Dwyer which led charges against him

• The Bannerghatta Biological Park (BBP) has now become the best elephant breeding zoo in the country, even amidst the pandemic-induced economic crisis.The jumbo-friendly ambience and proper nutritional care of the gentle giants by the BBP staffers has resulted in successful conceiving of elephants in recent times. Barring a couple of calves among the 14 female jumbos.
• The Karnataka government has shelved its plan to build an amusement park near the Manchanabele dam and has instead decided to develop tourism infrastructure in the area under the public-private partnership (PPP), making people pay for a glimpse of the scenic beauty of the reservoir and the valley.The dam built across river Arkavathi is located about 35 km from Bengaluru.
• Pushkar Singh Dhami was sworn in as the 11th Chief Minister of Uttrakhand. He is 45 and is youngest CM of the state.
• Denizens of Tirupati are opposing the move to extend the Garuda Varadhi, the elevated corridor project up to Alipiri, expressing concern over the loss of greenery. It is part of Tirupathi smart city
• Army chief General Manoj Naravane will inaugurate an Indian Army memorial in the Italian town of Cassino during an official visit to the U.K. and Italy from July 5 to 8.Italy has pushed for a central role for India in the European Union’s Indo-Pacific Initiative, which is congruent with India’s own vision for the region.
• Minister of MSME, Nitin Gadkari, announced on July 2, 2021 about revised guidelines for MSMEs which has included retail and wholesale trade under Micro, Small & Medium (MSME) Enterprises
• Union Government has extended superannuation age of IPO-bound LIC Chairman to up to 62 years. Key Points Superannuation age was extended by amending Life Insurance Corporation of India (Staff) Regulations, 1960. Changes made in rules will be called as “Life Insurance Corporation of India (Staff) Amendment Rules, 2021
• Union Commerce & Industry Minister Piyush Goyal and Minister of Information & Broadcasting Prakash Javadekar congratulated Invest India has been awarded world’s most innovative Promotion Agency 2021 by OCO Global.
• Flipkart has launched its new app called ‘Shopsy’ for online business
• Maana Patel has become the first female and only the third swimmer from India to qualify Tokyo Olympics 2021 ticket.

VOCABULARY

LIGHT RAIL TRANSIT (LRT) : It  is a form of passenger urban rail transit characterized by a combination of tram and metro features. While its rolling stock is more similar to a traditional tram, it operates at a higher capacity and speed, and often on an exclusive right-of-way. In many cities, light rail transit systems more closely resemble, and are therefore indistinguishable from, traditional underground or at-grade subways and heavy-rail metros.

DENIZEN : It is a person, animal, or plant that lives or is found in a particular place.