Daily CURRENT AFFAIRS

Karnataka Chief Minister told the Centre that the state is opposed to the implementation of the Kasturirangan Committee report on Western Ghats.

Recommendations of the committee

• Instead of the total area of Western Ghats, only 37% (i.e. 60,000 sq. km.) of the total area be brought under ESA
• A complete ban on mining, quarrying and sand mining in ESA.
• Distinguished between cultural (58% occupied in the Western Ghats by it like human settlements, agricultural fields and plantations) and natural landscape (90% of it should come under ESA according to the committee).
• Current mining areas in the ESA should be phased out within the next five years, or at the time of expiry of mining lease, whichever is earlier.
• No thermal power be allowed and hydropower projects are allowed only after detailed study.
• Red industries i.e. which are highly polluting be strictly banned in these areas.
• Made several pro-farmer recommendations, including the exclusion of inhabited regions and plantations from the purview of ecologically sensitive areas (ESAs).
• Said 123 villages fall under the ESA purview.

Chief Justice Ramana suggests one central agency- National Judicial Infrastructure Corporation, with a degree of autonomy, for overseeing infrastructure development of subordinate courts in India

STATUS OF THE JUDICIAL INFRASTRUCTURE

Chief Justice of India’s office conducted an all-India survey to know the status of the Judicial Infrastructure in Trial Courts.

According to the survey

• Only 27% of courtrooms in the subordinate judiciary have computers on judges’ dias
• 10% of courts that do not have access to proper internet facilities
• 22% of trial court complexes do not have any toilet facilities for women
• 16% don’t have such a facility for men either
• There are 620 court complexes that still operate from rented premises
• Only 54% of the total complexes have basic medical facilities.

Reason behind judicial infrastructure lag

• To develop judicial infrastructure, funds are extended by the central government and states under the Centrally-Sponsored Scheme for Development of Judiciary Infrastructure which began in 1993.
• Under the scheme, the ratio of fund sharing between the Centre and state is 60:40 for all states except those in the Northeast and the Himalayan region where it is 90:10.
• However, states do not come forward with their share of funds and consequently, money allocated under the scheme is often left unspent with them and lapses.
• Of a total of ₹981.98 crore sanctioned in 2019-20 under the Centrally Sponsored Scheme (CSS) to the States and Union Territories for development of infrastructure in the courts, only ₹84.9 crore was utilised by a combined five States, rendering the remaining 91.36% funds unused.
• This underutilisation of funds is not an anomaly induced by the COVID-19 pandemic. The issue has been plaguing the Indian judiciary for nearly three decades when the CSS was introduced in 1993-94.

Event to commemorate 100 years of Public accounts committee celebrated

ABOUT PAC

• Oldest Parliamentary Committee
• First constituted in 1921.
• Constituted by Parliament each year for examination of
• Accounts showing the appropriation of sums granted by Parliament for expenditure of Government of India
• Annual Finance Accounts of Government of India
• Such other accounts laid before Parliament as the Committee may deem fit such as accounts of autonomous and semi-autonomous bodies (except those of Public Undertakings and Government Companies which come under the purview of the Committee on Public Undertakings).
• Structure -  22 Members, 15 Members are elected by Lok Sabha and 7 Members of the Rajya Sabha are associated with it.
• Speaker is empowered to appoint the Chairman of the Committee from amongst its Members.
• Function
  • Examines the three audit reports of CAG submitted to President viz. audit report on appropriation accounts, audit report on finance accounts and audit report on public undertakings.
  • Examines the appropriation accounts and the finance accounts of the Union government and any other accounts laid before the Lok Sabha. While doing this examination, it tries to ensure that money disbursed to various ministries was used for the purpose for which it was given; and this money was used as per rules and regulations.
  • Examines the accounts of the public service corporations {except those public undertakings which have been allotted to committee on public undertakings}, and other such bodies whose accounts are audited by CAG.

Anganwadi

• Means a "courtyard shelter"
• A government-sponsored child-care and mother-care development programmes
• At the village level
• Caters to children in the 0-6 age group.
• Started by the Indian government in 1975 as part of the Integrated Child Development Services program

SERVICES PROVIDED BY ANGANWADI

Supplementary Nutrition:

• Nutrition component varies from state to state
• Usually consists of a hot meal cooked
• Based on a mix of pulses, cereals, oil, vegetable, sugar, iodized salt, etc
• Sometimes “take-home rations” are provided for children under the age of three years.

Growth Monitoring and Promotion:

• Children under three years of age are weighed once a month, to keep a check on their health and nutrition status.
• Elder children are weighed once a quarter.
• Growth charts are kept to detect growths with the passage of time.

Nutrition and Health Education:

• Help women with age group 15-45 years to look after their own health and nutrition needs, as well as those of their children and families
• Imparted through counselling sessions, home visits and demonstrations
• Covers issues such as infant feeding, family planning, sanitation, utilization of health services, etc.
• Surveys by IDinsight across five States in November 2018 and November 2019 found that anganwadi workers were a primary source of nutrition information for families.

Immunization:

• Children under six are immunized against polio, DPT (diphtheria, pertussis, tetanus), measles, and tuberculosis, while pregnant women are immunized against tetanus.
• Joint responsibility of ICDS and the Health Department
• Main role of the Anganwadi worker is to assist health staff (such as the ANM) to maintain records, motivate the parents, and organize immunization sessions.

Health Services:

• Health services are provided
• Health checkups of children under six, ante-natal care of expectant mothers, post-natal care of nursing mothers, recording of weight, management of undernutrition and treatment of minor ailments.

Referral Services:

• Attempts to link sick or undernourished children
• Those with disabilities and other children requiring medical attention with the public health care system, also come under it.
• Cases are referred by the Anganwadi worker to the medical officers of the Primary Health Centres (PHCs).

Pre-School Education (PSE):

• Provide a learning environment for children under the age group of 3-6 years, and early care and stimulation for children under the age of three.
• Provided through the medium of “play” to promote the social, emotional, cognitive, physical and aesthetic development of the child as well as to prepare him/her for primary schooling.

CHALLENGES OF COVID

• Even as anganwadis resumed services, the closure has impacted their ability to serve as childcare centres.
• According to National Family Health Service (NFHS)-5 data, in 2019-20, less than 15% of five-year-olds attended any pre-primary school at all.
• A recent study estimates that the time women spend on unpaid work may have increased by 30% during the pandemic. In our COVID-19 rural household surveys across eight States, 58% of women cited home-schooling as the biggest contributor to increase in unpaid work. Sending younger children to anganwadis will free up women’s time, including for economic activities.
• Early childhood, the period from birth to five years of age, is a crucial developmental window. As platforms for early childhood education and nutrition support, anganwadis can play an important role for children to achieve their potential. The National Education Policy, 2020, places anganwadis at the centre of the push to universalise access to early childhood care and education (ECCE).
• Last week, the government proposed a phased rollout of ECCE programme across all anganwadis, covering one-fifth each year, starting from 2021-22.Despite being the primary information-source on nutrition, anganwadi workers can lack key knowledge – as found by studies from Delhi and Bihar. Anganwadi workers often do not have the support or training to provide ECCE.
• Surveys we conducted in 2018-19 found that among mothers listed with anganwadi workers, knowledge about key health behaviour such as complementary feeding and handwashing was low, at 54% and 49%.
• Administrative responsibilities take up significant time, and core services like pre-school education are deprioritised.
• A typical worker spends an estimated 10% of their time — 28 minutes per day — on pre-school education, compared to the recommended daily 120 minutes.
• Often lack adequate infrastructure. NITI Aayog found that only 59% of anganwadis had adequate seating for children and workers, and more than half were unhygienic.
• Issues worsen in an urban context, with the utilisation of early childcare services at anganwadis at only 28%, compared to 42% for rural areas, according to NFHS-4 data.

WAY FORWARD

• Prioritise interventions with a demonstrated history of success, and evaluate new ones.  Example: Studies in Odisha and Andhra Pradesh (and globally) have found that home visits, where volunteers work with children and caregivers, significantly improved cognition, language, motor development and nutritional intake while also reducing stunting.
• Recent initiatives around home-based newborn and young child care are promising, but they need to extend beyond the first few months of a child’s life, with seamless coordination with anganwadi workers.
• Many States will have to improve career incentives and remuneration for anganwadi workers. One way to ensure they have more time is to hire additional workers at anganwadis. A recent study in Tamil Nadu found that an additional worker devoted to pre-school education led to cost effective gains in both learning and nutrition.
• Policymakers have tried linking anganwadis and primary schools to strengthen convergence, as well as expanding the duration of daycare at anganwadis. Reaching out to women during pregnancy can increase the likelihood that their children use ICDS services – as tried in Tamil Nadu. In order to boost coverage as they reopen, large scale enrolment drives, that worked in Gujarat, may help mobilise eligible children.
• As the world’s largest provider of early childhood services, anganwadis perform a crucial role in contributing to life outcomes of children across India. To improve these outcomes, we need to invest more significantly in anganwadis, and roll out proven innovative interventions.

Buoyed by the success of its innovative Project RE-HAB (Reducing Elephant-Human Attacks using Bees) in Karnataka, Khadi and Village Industries Commission (KVIC) has now replicated the project in Assam.

ABOUT THE PROJECT

• “Bee-fences” are created by setting up bee boxes in the passage ways of elephants to block their entrance to human territories.
• Boxes are connected with a string so that when elephants attempt to pass through, a tug or pull causes the bees to swarm the elephant herds and dissuade them from progressing further
• Cost-effective way of reducing human-wild conflicts without causing any harm to the animals
• Scientifically recorded that elephants are annoyed by the honey bees.
• Elephants also fear that the bee swarms can bite their sensitive inner side of the trunk and eyes. The collective buzz of the bees is annoying to elephants that force them to return.

A copy of the Bhagavad Gita, a Parker pen, a Gandhi topi (cap) and a tulsi mala are some of the personal effects of former Prime Minister Morarji Desai that will make their way to the Museum of Prime Ministers, New Delhi

ABOUT MORARJI DESAI

• Born on 29 February 1896 in the village of Bhadeli Gujarat.
• Graduated from Wilson Civil Service, Bombay in 1918
• Served as deputy collector for 12 years.

Freedom struggle

• In Civil Disobedience Movement - resigned from government service
• In 1931 - became a member of the All India Congress Committee
• Arrested during CDM & Quit India Movement .

Political life

• 1952 - Chief Minister of Bombay .
• 1956 - Became Union Cabinet as Minister of Commerce and
• 1958 - given the charge of Finance Department
• Resigned from the Union Cabinet in the year 1963 under the Kamaraj Plan ( Proposed that all the senior leaders of the Congress should resign from their posts and devote all their energies to the revival of the Congress)
• Lal Bahadur Shastri persuaded him to become the chairman of the Administrative Reforms Commission set up to restructure the administrative system.
• Arrested on 26 June 1975 during the declaration of emergency
• Started an indefinite hunger strike to support the Navnirman movement of Gujarat (socio-political movement against the economic crisis and corruption in public life which was started in the year 1974 by the students and middle class people of Gujarat)
• Unanimously elected as the leader of the Janata Party in Parliament and on March 24, 1977, he was sworn in as the Prime Minister of India.

IDEOLOGY

Against inequality

• Believed that unless poor people living in villages and towns are able to live normal lives, socialism has no meaning.
• Took concrete steps to implement this thinking by enacting progressive laws towards resolving the difficulties of farmers and tenants.

Supporting austerity

• Implemented his thinking in matters related to economic planning and financial administration
• Increased revenue, reduced wastage and promoted austerity in government expenditure on administration
• Kept the fiscal deficit at a very low level by applying financial discipline. He tried to control the wasteful expenditure by the upper classes of the society by controlling it.

President of India pays floral tributes to  R. Venkataraman on his birth anniversary

ABOUT

• Indian lawyer, Indian independence activist and politician who served as a Union Minister and as the eighth president of India
• Born in Rajamadam village in Tanjore district, Madras Presidency
• Studied law in Loyolla college , Madras
• Enrolled in the Madras High Court in 1935 and in the Supreme Court in 1951
• Active participation in the Indian National Congress's celebrated resistance to the British Government, the Quit India Movement of 1942, resulted in his detention
• Interest in the law continued during this period
• In 1946, when the transfer of power from British to Indian hands was imminent, the Government of India included him in the panel of lawyers sent to Malaya and Singapore to defend Indian nationals charged with offences of collaboration during the Japanese occupation of those two places.
• Served as Secretary of the Madras Provincial Bar Federation, Minister of Industries (1967), Minister of Defence (1980)
• Was to serve as Vice-President of India and then as a President of India starting 1987, where he worked with four prime ministers, and appointed three of them: V P Singh, Chandra Shekhar and P V Narasimha Rao, during his five-year term, which saw the advent of coalition politics in India.

December 6 is observed every year all over India as Mahaparinirvan Din, the death anniversary of Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar.

ABOUT DR AMBEDKAR

• Popularly known as Baba Saheb / ‘Father of the Indian Constitution’
• Jurist and an economist
• Born into a caste that was considered untouchable
• Faced many injustices and discrimination in society
• Born in Mhow in the Central Provinces (modern-day Madhya Pradesh) to a Marathi family with roots in the Ambadawe town of Ratnagiri, Maharashtra.
• Brilliant student and had doctoral degrees in economics from Columbia University and the London School of Economics.
• Against the caste-based discriminations in society and advocated for the Dalits to organise and demand their rights.
• Promoted the education of Dalits and made representations to the government in various capacities in this regard.
• Part of the Bombay Presidency Committee that worked with the Simon Commission in 1925.
• Established the Bahishkrit Hitakarini Sabha to promote education and socio-economic improvements among the Dalits.
• Started magazines like Mooknayak, Equality Janta and Bahishkrit Bharat.
• In 1927 - launched active agitation against untouchability
• Organised and agitated for the right of Dalits to enter temples and to draw water from public water resources
• Condemned Hindu scriptures that he thought propagated caste discrimination.
• Advocated separate electorates for the ‘Depressed Classes’, the term with which Dalits were called at that time
• In disagreement with Mahatma Gandhi at that time since Gandhi was against any sort of reservation in the electorates.
• When the British government announced the ‘Communal Award’ in 1932, Gandhi went on a fast in Yerwada Jail. An agreement was signed between Gandhi and Ambedkar in the jail whereby it was agreed to give reserved seats to the depressed classes within the general electorate. This was called the Poona Pact.
• Founded the Independent Labour Party (later transformed into the Scheduled Castes Federation) in 1936 and contested in 1937 from Bombay to the Central Legislative Assembly. He also contested from Bombay (north-central) after independence in the country’s first general elections. But he lost both times.
• Worked as Minister of Labour in the Viceroy’s Executive Council. After independence, Ambedkar became the first Law Minister in 1947 under the Congress-led government. Resigned due to differences with Jawaharlal Nehru on the Hindu Code Bill.
• Appointed to the Rajya Sabha in 1952 and remained a member till his death.
• Advocated a free economy with a stable Rupee
• Mooted birth control for economic development
• Emphasised equal rights for women.
• A few months before he died, he converted to Buddhism in a public ceremony in Nagpur and with him, lakhs of Dalits converted to Buddhism.
• Books - The Annihilation of Caste, Pakistan or the Partition of India, The Buddha and his Dhamma, The Evolution of Provincial Finance in British India, Administration and Finance of the East India Company, etc.
• Died of ill health in 1956 in Delhi
• Was cremated according to Buddhist rites in Dadar and a memorial is constructed there. The place is called Chaitya Bhoomi.

Russia wins Davis Cup after 15 years

ABOUT

• Called the World Cup of Tennis
• International team event in men’s tennis
• Women’s equivalent of Davis Cup is Billie Jean King Cup
• Conducted by the International Tennis Federation
• First held in 1900 as a challenge between US and Britain
• Most successful countries -  USA, Australia, New Zealand

India finalises cooperation plan to revive Covid-hit Sri Lanka economy

WHAT IS THE PLAN

• New Delhi and Colombo have agreed on a four-pronged cooperation package comprising urgent food and health security, energy security, currency swap and Indian investments.
• “Four pillars” for short- and medium-term cooperation:
  • Urgent food and health security package that would envisage an extension of a line of credit to cover the import of food, medicines and other essential items from India to Sri Lanka
  • Energy security package that would include a line of credit to cover the import of fuel from India, and early modernisation of the Trincomalee Tank Farm
  • Offer of a currency swap to help Sri Lanka address its balance of payment issues
  • Facilitation of Indian investments in different sectors that would contribute to growth and expand employment
• Identified ways and means through which the existing bilateral economic relationship between the two countries could be further broadened and deepened
• Agreed that modalities to implement these objectives would be finalised within a mutually agreed timeline.

• The Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) is in charge of 204 lakes here, of which only 20 lakes are free from any encroachments, data released by the civic body itself revealed
• Rescuers in Indonesia raced to find survivors in villages blanketed by molten ash on Sunday after the eruption of Mount Semeru killed at least 14 persons and left dozens injured.
• A well-organised Argentina defeated six-time champion Germany 4-2 and won the title after a 16-year gap in the men’s Junior hockey World Cup at the Kalinga Stadium .
• Veteran journalist Vinod Dua passes away. He was a pioneer in broadcast journalism with stints in Doordarshan and NDTV.
• 11th Edition of Exercise EKUVERIN between India & Maldives will be conducted at Kadhdhoo Island, Maldives from 06 to 19 December 2021.
• PM condoles the passing away of former Andhra Pradesh CM Shri K. Rosaiah