Daily CURRENT AFFAIRS

Daily Current Affair - UPSC/KAS Exams - 20th Oct 2021

What is in news : Opposition is mounting against the proposed amendments to the Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980, with environmentalists and activists arguing that it will lead to further degradation of forests, especially in ecologically sensitive areas such as the Western Ghats.

Details :

• Ministry for Environment, Forests and Climate Change (MoEFCC) published the proposed amendments to the Forest (Conservation) Act recently and invited objections and suggestions from the state government as well as the general public within 15 days
• Why the amendment : To make it easier to divert forest for non-forest use.
• Will change this ambiguity as this often results in a lot of resentment and resistance from the private entities. The forest clearances usually take several years which result in a delay in infrastructural development.

Concerns:

• Private land in forest areas : Considering any private area as forest would restrict the right of an individual to use his/her own land for any non-forestry activity. Many a time, the proposed change in land use is not considered by the government even under the provisions of the Act. Even if the same is allowed, the owner has to provide equivalent non-forest land and other compensatory levies, for use of his own land for intended non-forestry purpose.
• This has further led to the development of a tendency to keep most private land devoid of vegetation even the land has scope for planting activities, a consultation paper on the proposed amendments said. It also speaks of strong resentment in the Ministry of Railways, the Ministry of Road, Transport and Highways, etc. over the right of way.
• The Western Ghats already has many non-forest activities and many wildlife corridors have already been cut off. If you are amending existing Acts on top of this in the name of development, forest areas will reduce further. Without requiring permission, you are handing over the advantage to those who want to open more forest areas and this will lead to more conflicts

POLITY & GOVERNANCE

What is in news : Election Commission of India halts the Dalit Bandhu scheme in Huzurabad Assembly constituency citing the October 30 byelection.

POWERS OF ELECTION COMMISSION OF INDIA

• Act appropriately according to its volition when there arises a surprise situation, in relation to the conduct of an election, on which already enacted laws are silent. Article 324, which gives this power to the ECI, is a plenary provision, enabling it to enact necessary provisions for dealing with a previously unknown state of affair. This power is available, unless and until the existing parliamentary laws are not transgressed.
• Determine whether a registered political party is in the status of National party or Regional party.
• Setting limit on expenses of poll. This limit is revised from time to time. This power is given with a view to secure fair elections by curbing the undue advantage, which may be gained by wealthy candidates.
• Seek information from candidates regarding expenses made during election. In order to exercise this power the commission appoints officers from Indian Revenue Service designated as Expenditure Observers, who will have a check on the individual account of election expenditure.
• Publish all particulars of a candidate, which are relevant to the election.
• Forbid circulation of publication of voting trends like opinion polls or exit polls.
• Decriminalize politics by putting lifetime ban on convicted politicians, thereby preventing those from criminal background to contest in elections. This has been envisaged in Articles 102 and 191 of the Indian Constitution along with sections 7(b), 8 to 10-A of the Representation of People Act, 1956.
• Under certain circumstances has the power to postpone the date of election

Rights of Election Commission of India:

• Decide the schedule of elections.
• Article 324 of the Indian Constitution explicitly provides the right to maintain electoral rolls to the ECI.
• ECI only will allot symbols to political parties. Some symbols are identified as reserved while others as free. The reserved symbols will be allotted only to candidates who belong to a recognized political party while free symbols are available to other candidates. The Supreme Court has held that, ECI will be the adjudicating authority and will act as a tribunal in relation to disputes regarding symbols.
• direct re-polls. Article 324 confers on the ECI, the powers to countermand a poll because of hooliganism and breakdown of law and order at the time of polling or counting of votes within 10 days from the last date of filing the returns.
• After a sitting member of the Parliament or State Legislature has been found guilty of malpractices during election by the Supreme Court or High Court, the ECI has the right to give opinion as to whether such person should be disqualified or not.
• By virtue of Articles 103 and 192 of the Indian Constitution, the ECI has the right to give opinion to the President and Governor respectively on matters relating to disqualification of sitting members of Parliament and State Legislature.
• remove or reduce the period of disqualification of any member of legislature from contesting elections according to law existing at that time.
• quasi-judicial function of settling merger disputes between political parties. The commission is a tribunal in such cases and appeal against any of its order will lie before Supreme Court under Article 136 of the Constitution of India.

ABOUT DALIT BANDHU SCHEME

Dalit Bandhu scheme is a flagship programme introduced by the government of Telangana. It is a welfare scheme that aims at empowering and promoting the welfare of Dalits in the state.

What is in news : The British Museum in London will display an ancient object called the Nebra Sky Disc, which is thought to be the world’s oldest concrete depiction of stars.

What is it :  About 3,600 years ago, the disc was ritually buried along with two swords, axes, two spiral arm-rings and one bronze chisel near Nebra in Germany. The burial of these objects is thought to be made as a dedication to gods.

Other Details :

• Even so, while the exact purpose of the disc cannot be determined, hypotheses about its existence have imagined it as an astronomical clock, a work of art and a religious symbol.
• The disc has a value of about $11 million and is thought by some to be one part of a pair, with the other part still out there, waiting to be discovered.
• When the disc was buried it had already been in use for over 200 years.
• Further, while the raw materials to make the disc were imported from as far as Cornwall in England, the knowledge required to create the object was “entirely local” and was drawn from observing the heavens from atop the Mittelberg mountain, which is near the modern village of Nebra.
• Depicts the world’s oldest representation of “specific astronomical phenomenon” had five phases over its history. In the first phase, the disc illustrated the night sky with 32 gold stars, including the Pleiades, a hold orb representing the sun or a full moon and a crescent moon. This illustration served as a reminder of when it was necessary to synchronise the lunar and solar years by inserting a leap month.

How and when was the Nebra Sky Disc discovered?

The bronze disc was discovered a little more than two decades ago. In 1999, the discovery was made by treasure hunters using a metal detector in Nebra, a town in Germany. This excavation was illegal and it was about four years later that the disc was recovered from a black market raid in Switzerland. An article in Art Net notes that the looters who had found it told the authorities that they had dug it out from a hilltop near the town of Nebra. The object, which has a diameter of about 30 cm was found along with some other bronze-age weapons.

What is in news : Bhaskarabda to be added to official calendar of Assam

Details :

• Uses a lunisolar system based on moon phases, solar year
• Era counted from the date of the ascension of a seventh century local ruler, will be added to Saka and Gregorian eras in the official calendar of the Assam Government.
• Began when Bhaskaravarman was crowned ruler of the Kamrupa kingdom. He was a contemporary and political ally of northern Indian ruler Harshavardhana.
• It was decided to have a theme-based calendar every year. The themes, could be wildlife, plants, culture, cuisine and other aspects of Assam.
• Unlike Gregorian, where a day starts at midnight, the Assamese calendar begins and ends at sunrise over 24 hours. While the Gregorian goes by the solar cycle, the Saka and Bhaskarabda eras use a lunisolar system based on both the phases of the moon and the solar year.
• The gap between Bhaskarabda and Gregorian is 593 years.

MAHARSHI VALMIKI

What is in news : Valmiki Jayanti celebrated

About :

• Considered as the Adi Kavi
• First poet of the Sanskrit language
• Great sage and author of the epic Ramayana.
• Celebrated on Ashwin Purnima as per the Hindu lunar calendar.
• Also known as Pragat Diwas
• Was a contemporary of Lord Sri Rama
• Lord Rama met Valmiki during his period of exile and interacted with him.
• Valmiki provided shelter to Devi Sita in his hermitage when Lord Rama banished her. In his hermitage, Kusha and Luv, the twin sons of Lord Rama were born.
• Valmiki taught Ramayana to both twins.
• In his early life, Maharishi Valmiki was a highway dacoit whose name was Ratnakar. He used to rob people after killing them. It is said that Sage Narad Muni transformed Ratnakar and became a great devotee of Lord Rama.
• Narad Muni advised Ratnakar to perform great penance by reciting the Mantra of Rama Nama.

What is in news : IMF unveiled its 2nd World Economic Outlook (WEO)

Details :

• Released twice a year
• Based on a wide set of assumptions about a host of parameters — such as the international price of crude oil — and set the benchmark for all economies to compare one another with.

MAIN TAKEAWAYS

• Global economic recovery momentum had weakened a tad, thanks largely to the pandemic-induced supply disruptions.
• More than just the marginal headline numbers for global growth, it is the increasing inequality among nations that IMF was most concerned about.
• Aggregate output for the advanced economy group is expected to regain its pre-pandemic trend path in 2022 and exceed it by 0.9 per cent in 2024.
• By contrast, aggregate output for the emerging market and developing economy group (excluding China) is expected to remain 5.5 per cent below the pre-pandemic forecast in 2024, resulting in a larger setback to improvements in their living standards

What does this mean for India

• India’s growth rate hasn’t been tweaked for the worse
• Several high-frequency indicators have suggested that India’s economic recovery is gaining ground.
• On employment — that the recovery in unemployment is lagging the recovery in output (or GDP) — matters immensely for India.
• According to the data available with the Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE), the total number of employed people in the Indian economy as of May-August 2021 was 394 million — 11 million below the level set in May-August 2019
• Projections of an employment recovery lagging behind output recovery could mean large swathes of the population being excluded from the GDP growth and its benefits. Lack of adequate employment levels would drag down overall demand and thus stifle India’s growth momentum.

By : London-based Economist Impact and is sponsored by Corteva Agriscience.

Details :

• Measures the underlying drivers of food security in 113 countries, based on the factors of affordability, availability, quality and safety, and natural resources and resilience. It considers 58 unique food security indicators including income and economic inequality – calling attention to systemic gaps and actions needed to accelerate progress toward United Nations Sustainable Development Goal of Zero Hunger by 2030.
• India is ranked at 71st position in the Global Food Security (GFS) Index 2021 of 113 countries, but the country lags behind its neighbours Pakistan and Sri Lanka in terms food affordability.
• Pakistan (with 52.6 points) scored better than India (50.2 points) in the category of food affordability. Sri Lanka was even better with 62.9 points in this category on the GFS Index 2021
• Ireland, Australia, the UK, Finland, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Canada, Japan, France and the US shared the top rank with the overall GFS score in the range of 77.8 and 80 points on the index.

India, Israel, the United Arab Emirates and the United States have decided to launch a new quadrilateral economic forum