Daily CURRENT AFFAIRS

Daily Current Affair - UPSC/KAS Exams - 31nd Jan 2022

NEWS

30th National Commission for Women (NCW) Foundation Day was recently celebrated

DETAILS

• Statutory body
• Concerned with advising the government on all policy matters affecting women.
• Established on 31 January 1992 under the provisions of 1990 National Commission for Women Act.
• The first head of the commission was Jayanti Patnaik.
• Article 15 (3), Article 14 and Article 21 protect and safeguard women. They are more gender-neutral.
• Objectives
  • Represent the rights of women in India and to provide a voice for their issues and concerns.
  • The subjects of their campaigns have included dowry, politics, religion, equal representation for women in jobs, and the exploitation of women for labor.
• Composition of National Commission for Women
  • A Chairperson, committed to the cause of women, to be nominated by the Central Government.
  • five Members to be nominated by the Central Government from amongst persons of ability, integrity and standing who have had experience in law or legislation, trade unionism, management of an industry potential of women, women’s voluntary organizations (including women activist), administration, economic development, health, education or social welfare;
  • Provided that at least one Member each shall be from amongst persons belonging to the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes respectively;
• Powers of NCW
  • Provide consultation on all major policy matters that affect women.
  • Issuing summons for the examination of documents and the witnesses.
  • It has the power to make any public record.
  • Receiving evidence on affidavits
  • Discovery and production of documents
  • Summoning and enforcement
• Functions of the NCW
  • Presentation of reports: Table reports should be submitted to the Central Government every year. When the commission feels it’s appropriate. The reports upon the functioning and working of the safeguards.
  • Investigation and Examination: There should be proper investigation and examination made under the Constitution and other laws. This is related to the protection of the rights of women.
  • Review of laws: Constantly all laws are reviewed and scrutinized. And necessary amendments and alterations are made to meet the needs of the current world.
  • Cases of Violation: Ensure there is no violation against women and taking due care of such cases.
  • Suo Motu Notice: It takes care of complaints and also suo motu matters about the deprivation of rights of women. Implementation of laws favoring the welfare of women.
  • Evaluation: Assessing the development and the progress of the women community under the Center and State level.
  • Special studies and investigation: To understand the limitations in the system and curb it with strategic plans and mechanisms.

 CONTEXT - 74th anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi’s death

WHY DO WE CONTINUE TO READ GANDHI

• Contributions as an important figure of world history
• Was both an enigmatic and disturbing figure.
• Out-of-the-box thinker
• Open-minded soft reader of concepts and categories.
• Saw his place among the weakest and the poorest
• His notion of a just and truthful politics was that in such an environment, the weakest should have the same opportunities as the strongest
• Was a chief doubter of oppressive systems and a rebel against all forms of hidden and open authority.

AN EXAMPLE OF SIMPLICITY

• Great example of simplicity and transparency.
• Gandhi’s simplicity was reflected in his deeds and acts, but mostly in his mode of life.
• Had more joy and fulfilment in pursuing less in life than in pursuing more.
• The corporate mindset — that of being successful — which dominates all aspects of our lives, did not exist for him
• Gandhi, like Sisyphus, continues to roll the rock up to the top of the mountain. With Gandhi we are never confronted with absolute Truth. Gandhi is a perpetual truth seeker
• Being victorious through his effortful trials, his position remains ambiguous and disturbing.
• He challenged Indian history by asking lucid and limpid questions from it. As such, in practically all of Gandhi’s historical actions, there was moral or spiritual interrogation. He, therefore, led Indians to a historical and civilisational awareness that went as far as a spiritual conversion to non-violence. That is to say, the Gandhian maieutic completely reversed the relationship between a leader and his people.

PHILOSOPHY

• Like Socrates, Gandhi was a midwife of minds (Gandhi was very much influenced by Socrates and his method of thinking).
• Reversed the guiding values of Indian life.
• His philosophy was that of a spiritual exercise, accompanied by an active reflection on truth and a lively awareness of all walks of life.
• Believed that the true test of life for the individual can be summarised in two principles: self-discipline and self-restraint.
• Observed: “A self-indulgent man lives to eat; a self-restrained man eats to live.”
• Vision of community goes in the same direction and Gandhi gives ethical and political primacy to the two concepts of self-realisation and self-rule
• Aself-realised and self-conscious community is a society of citizens who reconcile the self-determination of the individual with the recognition of the shared values in the community.

POINT OF SELF-TRANSFORMATION

• Believed in the interrelated nature of human existence.
• Said democracy was neither representation nor elections, but the self-transformative nature of the citizens.
• Process of self-transformation should influence not only the inner life of the individual but also public life. So, what seems important is the upholding of the ethic of human action and solidarity is the advancement of that very ethic.
• Gandhi taught us is that solidarity is not just a promise of compassion; it is actually what we can call the wake of responsibility. Undoubtedly,
• Global responsibility is nothing but an overriding loyalty to mankind. It goes without saying that remembering Gandhi could be a way for us to be reminded of our global responsibilities and our loyalty to mankind

NEWS

U.S. planning sanctions on Nord Stream Pipeline

WHAT IS THE NORD STREAM PIPELINE

• Consists of two pipelines
• Nord Stream 1 was completed in 2011 and runs from Vyborg in Leningrad to Lubmin near Greifswald, Germany.
• Nord Stream 2 which runs from Ust-Luga in Leningrad to Lubmin was completed in September 2021 and has the capacity to handle 55 billion cubic meters of gas per year once it becomes operational.
• Twin pipelines together can transport a combined total of 110 billion cubic metres (bcm) of gas a year to Europe for at least 50 years.
• Crosses the Exclusive Economic Zones (EEZs) of several countries including Russia, Finland, Sweden, Denmark and Germany, and the territorial waters of Russia, Denmark, and Germany.
•  In Germany, the pipeline connects to the OPAL (Baltic Sea Pipeline) and NEL (North European Pipeline) which further connects to the European grid.

WHAT ARE THE OBJECTIONS TO THE PIPELINE

• Environmentalists argue that it does not fit in with German efforts to cut dependence on fossil fuels and fight climate change.
• Nord Stream 2 has not yet started operating because Germany says it does not comply with German law and has suspended its approval
• Project is also awaiting approval from the European Commission.
• Objection from the U.S - it will make Europe too dependent on Russia, increasing Russia’s influence in Europe.
• There is concern that Russia could use it as a geopolitical weapon.
• Ukraine has objected because it will lose around $2 billion in transit fees once the pipeline becomes operational. Countries like Poland and Belarus also stand to lose transit fees and hence oppose the pipeline as it will bypass existing pipelines running through them.