Daily CURRENT AFFAIRS

Daily Current Affair - UPSC/KAS Exams - 29th Oct 2021

What is in news : Tourism Minister of Karnataka urges centre to develop Hampi under iconic tourist destination scheme

About Iconic Tourist Destination Scheme

• Central sector scheme for the development of identified iconic destinations in the country following a holistic approach.
• Objective - boost the tourism influx in India and serve as a model for other tourism sites.
• Nodal agency - Tourism Ministry
• Other ministries such as civil aviation, railways, etc. are also involved.

About Hampi

• UNESCO world heritage site.
• Part of the Mauryan Empire back in the third century BC.
• Capital city during the four different dynasties altogether in the Vijayanagar city that came into existence in the year 1336 AD. The Vijayanagara Empire reached unfathomable heights under the guidance of King Krishnadeva Raya of the Tuluva Dynasty.
• ‘Kishkindha Kaand’ in Ramayana has special significance concerning Hampi.
• Located near the Tungabhadra river.
• By 1500 CE, Hampi-Vijayanagara was the world’s second-largest medieval-era city after Beijing, and probably India’s richest at that time, attracting traders from Persia and Portugal.
• It has been described by UNESCO as an “austere, grandiose site” of more than 1,600 surviving remains of the last great Hindu kingdom in South India.

What is in news : Conservationists want Karnataka government to appoint full-time RFO at Bhimgad Wildlife Sanctuary

Issues :

• Bhimgad Wildlife Sanctuary
  • Is in Khanapur Taluk of Belagavi District,
  • Has not had a full time Range Forest Officer (RFO) for the last three months. Presently, the charge of Bhimgad Wildlife Range has been given to the RFO of adjoining Kanakumbi Territorial Range.
• Kanakumbi is situated at a distance of 55 km from Hemmadaga which is the headquarters of Bhimgad Wildlife Range. Kanakumbi Territorial Range itself is spread over 16,000 hectare and shares an interstate border with Karnataka, Goa and Maharashtra and hence, handling another range is definitely a challenging task for a single RFO

About Bhimgad Wildlife sanctuary

• Spread across 19,000 hectares
• Houses major flora and fauna.
• Animals found include tiger, leopard, dhole (wild dog), sloth bear, gaur, sambar, chital, muntjac, mouse deer, great Indian hornbill, king cobra
• Most importantly the critically endangered Wroughton’s free tailed bat.
• Connected with Mhadei Wildlife Sanctuary in Goa and Dandeli Wildlife Sanctuary in Karnataka.
• As per the All India Tiger Estimation carried out in the year 2018, there are five unique tigers in Bhimgad Wildlife Sanctuary.

What is in news : Enterotoxemia caused the death of 35 sheep in Shivamogga district recently

About :

• Enterotoxemia
  • Is a bacterial disease in sheep and goats.
  • Strains— Clostridium Perfringens — are found in low numbers in the gastrointestinal tract of all sheep and goats.
  • when the number of Clostridium Perfringens explode, toxin is released which results in death.
• Reasons behind triggering of the bacteria is the change of diet of the animal.
• Signs
  • The animals may abruptly go off of feed and become lethargic.
  • Affected animals may show signs of stomach pain, such as kicking at their belly, repeatedly laying down and getting up, laying on their sides, panting, and crying out.
  • Diarrhea may develop; in some cases, there is blood visible in the loose stool.
  • Animals may lose the ability to stand, lay on their sides, and extend their legs, with their head and neck extended back over their withers.
  • This posture is caused by the effects of the toxins on the brain.
  • Death commonly occurs within minutes to hours after this sign is seen.
• NOTE : Because enterotoxemia can progress so quickly, animals may be found dead with no previous signs of disease.
• Treatment
  • May not be successful in severe cases.
  • Veterinarians treat mild cases with analgesics, probiotics (gels or pastes with “good bacteria), oral electrolyte solutions, and antisera, which is a solution of concentrated antibodies that neutralize the toxins that these bacteria produce
  • Severe cases may require intravenous fluids, antibiotic therapy, and other types of supportive care, such as supplemental oxygen.
  • Prevention of enterotoxemia is far more likely to be successful than trying to treat the disease

What is in news : The Ministry of Women and Child Development has issued the notification for draft amendments to Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Model Rules, 2016, and invited feedback.

Proposed amendments

• Transfer of authority to district magistrates (DM) and additional district magistrates (ADM) in several cases – such as for adoption and overseeing childcare institutions and welfare of children in need of care, including children in conflict with law.
• DMs and ADMs will oversee actions taken with respect to child marriage cases in their respective districts and facilitate action for education and awareness regarding impact of child marriage on children. They are also to ensure supervision and support to girls and boys saved from child marriage
• Child Welfare Committee (CWC) will now furnish data relating to children declared legally free for adoption and cases pending for decision to DMs and online, in formats provided in adoption regulations, and also to the respective state adoption resource agencies with the assistance of district child protection units
• Functions of the court, including procedure for obtaining adoption order, have been transferred to DMs, and courts will no longer be involved in the process, under the draft amendments.
• Where the child has remained with a foster family for a minimum five years, other than in pre-adoption foster care, the foster family may now apply for adoption and will be given preference to adopt the child after she/he is declared legally free for adoption, and after registering in the Child Adoption Resource Information and Guidance System under procedures laid down in adoption regulations.
• Childcare institutions or specialised adoption agencies housing children who have been declared legally free for adoption are to submit reports to the DM concerned every month about the number of children declared legally free for adoption, as also their status. In cases where a specialised adoption agency falls within jurisdiction of two districts, it is required to submit its monthly report to DMs of both districts.

Early childhood education (ECE), also known as nursery education, is a branch of education theory that relates to the teaching of children (formally and informally) from birth up to the age of eight. Traditionally, this is up to the equivalent of third grade. ECE is described as an important period in child development.

IMPORTANCE

• Essential component of human development
• Leads to increased grade retention, increased high school graduation rates, and a significant reduction in special education placement.
• Learning things at a young age not only impacts the child individually, but also influences how they will interact within society as they mature and contribute.

BARRIERS AND CHALLENGES

• Children's learning potential and outcomes are negatively affected by exposure to violence, abuse and child labour. Thus, protecting young children from violence and exploitation is part of broad educational concerns.
• Due to difficulties and sensitivities around the issue of measuring and monitoring child protection violations and gaps in defining, collecting and analysing appropriate indicators, data coverage in this area is scant. However, proxy indicators can be used to assess the situation. For example, ratification of relevant international conventions indicates countries’ commitment to child protection.
• In both developed and developing countries, children of the poor and the disadvantaged remain the least served. This exclusion persists against the evidence that the added value of early childhood care and education services are higher for them than for their more affluent counterparts, even when such services are of modest quality.

ISSUES IN INDIA

• Crucial to the overall development of children
• Impacts on their learning and even earning capabilities throughout their lifetimes
• Issue - continuance of ECE delivery during the COVID-19 school closures, reminiscent of its status quo even prior to the novel coronavirus pandemic
• Those attending preschool are primarily enrolled in the nearly 14 lakh anganwadis spread across the country where ECE continues to suffer from low attendance and instructional time amid prioritisation of other early childhood development services in the anganwadi system
• Where ECE has continued during COVID-19 pre-school closures, access has reduced and the priority for ECE is low within households.

ROLE OF PARENTAL ENGAGEMENT

• Enabling parental engagement in ECE requires an understanding of barriers that usually prevent parents from meaningfully engaging in their child’s education.
• The socio-economic background of households determines access to preschools and the ability to invest in ECE.
• The pandemic has highlighted the glaring digital divide in the country, even in an urban context.
• Unless the state vows to provide devices and Internet access to all children, it is clear that complete reliance on technology is not an option.
• Even for those who are able to overcome the initial barrier of access, the ability to engage in ECE at home remains dependent on time and ability.
• Households that have limited means have little time to invest in educational activities in the home.
• In a study it was seen, with low-income households engaged in ECE in urban Maharashtra during COVID-19, we find that job and income losses led to further de-prioritisation of education, and the need to invest in educational and digital resources for its continuance during school closures.
• Even among households that are able to create the time for education, many parents lack the self-efficacy to support their child’s learning. Most parents lack knowledge of effective methods to facilitate learning within the home, and appropriate means of using technology for education.
• Parents in low-income households are additionally less likely to be able to access support to learn such methods.
• COVID-19 school closures made engagement of parents in their child’s education a further necessity.

EMPOWERING HOUSEHOLDS

• Efforts must be taken to empower households with time and resources so that they have the ability to prioritise ECE and are not forced to choose between their children’s education. The provision of non-educational support to low-income households to alleviate income and food insecurities might be just as crucial in aiding parents to invest in education.
• Collect information about teachers’ experiences (on suitable modes of engagement with parents and children, delivery logistics, constraints of parents, etc.) and on innovations they have developed to increase parental engagement during school closures.
• While teachers should remain at the centre of this effort we must also make sure they are not further overburdened, by providing adequate resources and institutional support.

OVERCOMING BARRIERS

• Crossing these barriers will become crucial as we move towards achieving universal and equitable ECE, as envisioned in the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020.
• Some of these are harder to address, such as internalising the importance of ECE among parents. This shift of mindset requires prolonged and committed state action, which at present does not reflect any such urgency.
• Other barriers, however, are easier to address if government operationalise support of the state, schools and teachers towards the goal of enabling parental engagement at home. The pandemic has created an opportunity where parents and teachers have increasingly recognised the crucial role of parents as partners in their child’s education.

A CASE STUDY

• In a  study conducted in urban Maharashtra, two ECE programmes — the E-paatshala programme in Balwadis run by Rocket Learning, and Akanksha schools in Mumbai and Pune were studied.
• For those who were able to access the programmes, we found that those participating in these programmes showed higher engagement levels associated with the alleviation of some of the barriers discussed above.
• What might have worked for E-paatshala was its design to use only materials available at home for educational activities. This minimised the need for parents to purchase any additional resources and ensured that it was relevant to the child’s environment and experiences. We found that programmes that were supporting parents’ financially — through provision of rations and devices for education — resulted in higher parental engagement in ECE.
• The study also highlighted that a more decentralised approach of identifying and alleviating these barriers to ECE, through teachers and school systems as the forerunners, goes a long way. Being the first point of contact with both the child and the parents, teachers are the most equipped to effectively engage with parents, address their challenges, and design adaptable and innovative modes of teaching and learning.

• The High Court of Karnataka on Thursday directed the Indian Institute of Science (IISc) to conduct tests of water samples from various locations in the limits of Mangaluru City Corporation and at the entry and exist points at Maravoor dam to ascertain the level of contamination caused due to mixing of leachate from the Pachchanady landfill site.
• On the invitation of the Chairman, Central Election Commission of Uzbekistan, (CEC-U), Chief Election Commissioner of India, Shri Sushil Chandra led a three member delegation to Uzbekistan in order to observe the conduct of Presidential elections held on October 24, 2021. This election, conducted under the new election code, was keenly watched by the international community.
• Indigenously built Indian Coast Guard Ship ‘Sarthak’ was commissioned and dedicated to the nation. ICGS Sarthak will be based at Porbandar in Gujarat and operate on India’s Western Seaboard under the Operational and Administrative Control of the Commander, Coast Guard Region (Northwest). .ICGS Sarthak is 4th in the series of five OPVs being built by Goa Shipyard Limited for the ICG. These OPVs are multi-mission platforms capable of undertaking concurrent operations. The 105-meter-long ship displacing 2,450 tons is propelled by two 9,100 kilowatt diesel engines designed to attain a maximum speed of 26 knots. The ship is fitted with state-of-the-art equipment, machinery, sensors and weapons which enables it to function as a command platform and undertake mandated Coast Guard charter of duties including search & rescue, combating maritime crimes and preserving & protecting the marine environment. Indian Coast Guard is a pioneer in inducting indigenous platforms and ICGS Sarthak is a glowing example of ‘Atmanirbhar Bharat’.