Daily CURRENT AFFAIRS

Daily Current Affair - UPSC/KAS Exams - 18th Dec 2021

NEWS

The National Green Tribunal (NGT) has constituted a seven-member joint committee to look into alleged violations of buffer zone and solid waste management guidelines at Chandapura lake in Anekal taluk of Bengaluru Urban district.

DETAILS

• NGT took suo motu cognizance
• Panel includes - Bengaluru District Magistrate officials from the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), Karnataka State Pollution Control Board (KSPCB), Indian Institute of Science (IISc), State Environment Impact Assessment Authority (SEIAA), National Wetland Authority and the State Wetland Authority.
• Nodal agency for coordination and compliance will be the CPCB and the KSPCB
• Committee has been directed to undertake visits to the site and interact with the stakeholders to ascertain compliance to environmental norms and will be free to coordinate with the concerned authorities and take assistance from any individual/institution.

ISSUE

• Rapid encroachments
• Industrial effluents choking the lake
• Industrial effluents from the Kachanayakanahalli lake upstream drains into the Chandapura lake without being treated
• Lake also receives untreated sewage from Chandapura town through stormwater drains
• construction activities have taken up nearly two acres of the water body

ABOUT THE LAKE

• Built during the Chola dynasty to meet the drinking and domestic requirements of the local settlers
• The lake is spread over total 24.27 acres

SOCIAL ISSUES

CONTEXT

• Union Cabinet passed a proposal to raise the legal age of marriage for women from 18 to 21 years — the same as men.
• It  is based on recommendations submitted to Niti Aayog in December 2020 by the Centre’s task force, headed by Jaya Jaitly, which was constituted to examine “matters pertaining to age of motherhood, imperatives of lowering MMR (Maternal Mortality Rate), improvement of nutritional levels and related issues”.

WHY IS THERE A MINIMUM AGE OF MARRIAGE?

• Essentially outlaw child marriages and prevent the abuse of minors.
• Personal laws of various religions that deal with marriage have their own standards, often reflecting custom.
• For Hindus, The Hindu Marriage Act, 1955 sets 18 years as the minimum age for the bride and 21 years as the minimum age for the groom. In Islam, the marriage of a minor who has attained puberty is considered valid.
• The Special Marriage Act, 1954 and the Prohibition of Child Marriage Act, 2006 also prescribe 18 and 21 years as the minimum age of consent for marriage for women and men, respectively.
• For the new age of marriage to be implemented, these laws are expected to be amended.

WHY RE-EXAMINE THE AGE OF MARRIAGE?

• Decided to re-examine the age of marriage for women for a number of reasons, including gender-neutrality.
• An early age of marriage, and consequent early pregnancies, also have impacts on nutritional levels of mothers and their children, and their overall health and mental wellbeing.
• It also has an impact on Infant Mortality Rate and Maternal Mortality Rate, and the empowerment of women who are cut off from access to education and livelihood after an early marriage.
• The recently released National Family Health Survey (NFHS) revealed that child marriage has come down marginally from 27 per cent in 2015-16 to 23 per cent in 2019-20 in the country, but the government has been pushing to bring this down further.
• Women’s age of marriage was increased from 15 years to 18 years in 1978, by amending the erstwhile Sharda Act of 1929. As India progresses further, opportunities open up for women to pursue higher education and careers.
• There are imperatives of lowering MMR as well as improvement of nutrition levels. Entire issue about the age of a girl entering motherhood needs to be seen in this light

JAYA JAITLY COMMITTEE

In June 2020, the Ministry for Women and Child Development set up a task force to look into the correlation between the age of marriage with issues of women’s nutrition, prevalence of anemia, IMR, MMR and other social indices.

The committee was to look at the feasibility of increasing the age of marriage and its implication on women and child health, as well as how to increase access to education for women. The committee was to also recommend a timeline by which the government could roll out the implementation of the policy, as well as the amendments that would need to be made in existing laws in order for this to happen.

The committee has recommended

• Age of marriage be increased to 21 years, on the basis of feedback they received from young adults from 16 universities across the country. Over 15 NGOs were also engaged to reach out to young adults in far-flung areas and marginalised communities.
• Asked the government to look into increasing access to schools and colleges for girls, including their transportation to these institutes from far-flung areas. Skill and business training has also been recommended, as has sex education in schools.
• Deliveries must come first, as, unless they are implemented and women are empowered, the law will not be as effective.
• Awareness campaign be undertaken on a massive scale on the increase in age of marriage, and to encourage social acceptance of the new legislation, which they have said would be far more effective than coercive measures.

CRITICISMS

• A legislation would push a large portion of the population into illegal marriages.
• Even with the legal age of marriage for women being kept at 18 years, child marriages continue in India and a decrease in such marriages has not been because of the existing law but because of increase in girl’s education and employment opportunities.
• Law would end up being coercive, and in particular negatively impact marginalised communities, such as the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribes, making them law-breakers.

NEWS

The Joint Committee of Parliament recommendations on the Personal Data Protection Bill are in some aspects very similar to global standards such as European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation, but differs in aspects such as jail terms

DETAILS

HISTORY ART AND CULTURE

NEWS

President of India inaugurated the reconstructed Ramna Kali temple in Ramna, a part of the Bangladeshi capital Dhaka

DETAILS

• The historic Ramna Kali temple is a symbol of the spiritual and cultural bonding among the people of India and Bangladesh
• In the 17th century, Dhaka was a provincial capital of the Mughal Empire, and an important trading centre.
• The history of the area called Ramna (‘lawn’ in Persian) can be traced back to the early 1600s, when it was occupied by high officials of the Mughals. There was a Mughal garden, open green spaces, and garden houses. After Dhaka passed under British rule in 1858, the “jungle of Ramna” was cleared, and a race course and boulevard were built for the pleasure of the Raj elite.
• The temple in the area, dedicated to the Goddess Kali, is believed to have been built during the Mughal period. The temple was around 400 years old, even though it is difficult to pinpoint a year in which it was built.
• It was built by a certain Haricharan Giri who was a mahant in the temple
• Second oldest Hindu temple in Bangladesh, the Dhakeshwari Temple being the oldest
• Gained prominence in the early 20th century when the renowned saint Ma Anandamayi built her ashram in its precincts. Anandamayi was popularly addressed as “Shahbag-er ma
• Temple was destroyed by Pakistani forces during their Operation Searchlight in March 1971, the brutal crackdown that led to the genocide and the Bangladesh War of Liberation

NEWS

Bhutan confers its highest civilian award , Ngadag Pel gi Khorlo on PM of India

INDO-BHUTAN BILATERAL RELATIONSHIP

IN THE HISTORY

• Bhutan came under the British suzerainty in 1865. It signed the ‘Treaty of Punakha’ with the British in 1910, which set the stage for any future contact between the two countries after the British left the subcontinent.
• After India’s independence in 1947, standstill agreements with Sikkim, Nepal and Tibet were signed to continue existing relations until new agreements were made.
• India’s and Bhutan had a Political Officer based in Sikkim. This continued until 1948 and was revised later
• The basic framework of India- Bhutan bilateral relations was the Treaty of Friendship and Cooperation signed in 1949 between the two countries.
• Diplomatic relations between India and Bhutan were established in 1968 with the establishment of a special office of India in Thimphu.
• India and Bhutan shares a 699 Kilometers border and a deep religion-cultural links. Buddhism and deepening traditional ties between people in both nations with Guru Padmasambhava playing an influential role
• The Golden Jubilee of the establishment of formal diplomatic relations between India and Bhutan was been celebrated in the year 2018.
• India and  Bhutan share  traditionally  warm  and  friendly relationship  which  is  relatively  trouble  free  when compared  with  other  South  Asian
• The two countries have always shared a unique and organic relationship which is often termed as a ‘sacred bond’, largely sustained by regular high level visits and dialogues between the neighbors.
• Bhutan has been central to India’s two major policies – the ‘Neighborhood First Policy’ and the ‘Act-East Policy’.

BHUTAN’S SIGNIFICANCE TO INDIA

Bhutan

• Shares border with four Indian States: Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, West Bengal and Sikkim.
• Serves as a buffer between India and China.
• Provides a market for Indian commodities and is a destination for Indian investment along with providing boost to the trade between two countries.
• Rich source of hydropower which can fulfill India’s need of resources.
• If unstable ,  can provide a safe haven to anti-India activities and anti-India militant groups.
• Has never played the China card against India unlike Nepal which always threatens for the same.
• Has repeatedly turned down Chinese ‘package deal’ offers making bigger territorial concessions to Bhutan in return for the smaller Doklam area (remaining sensitive to India’s security concerns in the area).
• Effort to drive out ULFA rebels was of a great significance.
• Happiness index which is adopted by India (Madhya Pradesh) also is a great initiative learnt from Bhutanese.

AREAS OF COOPERATION

• Areas - security, border management, trade, transit, economic, hydro-power, development cooperation, water resources.
• India has pledged to assist Bhutan in developing at least 10,000 MWs of hydropower and import the surplus electricity to India by 2020.
• Inauguration of the 720 MW Mangdechhu hydropower plant which is of great significance for both the countries.
• Open borders, close alignment and consultation on foreign policy, and regular, open communications on all strategic issues are the hallmark of the relationship that has maintained its consistency for the past many decades.
• Bhutan’s unequivocal support to India on strategic issues has meant a lot to India on the international stage and at the United Nations.
• India is Bhutan's largest trading partner. Major exports from India to Bhutan are mineral products, machinery and mechanical appliances, electrical equipments etc. whereas major items of import from Bhutan are electricity, ferrosilicon, Portland cement etc.
• Both of them also share other multilateral forums such as BBIN (Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, and Nepal), BIMSTEC.

SNIPPETS

• BLADE India launches helicopter service from Bengaluru to Coorg, Kabini. It is a US based company
• The Tamil Nadu Government declared the Tamil Thai Vaazhthu, penned by ‘Manonmaniam’ Sundaranar, the State song of Tamil Nadu.
• IFSCA has set up a committee of experts to examine and recommend measures to create such a framework for transfer of stressed loans from domestic lenders to permitted financial institutions in IFSC. Shri G. Padmanabhan, Former Executive Director, Reserve Bank of India, shall be chairing the committee which will also include representative from Law firm and other market participants possessing expertise in Banking and Legal issues.
• India- Vietnam signs “Letter of Intent” for enhanced cooperation in the Postal Sector