Daily CURRENT AFFAIRS

Daily Current Affair - UPSC/KAS Exams - 5th Feb 2022

NEWS

Karnataka’s tableau has been adjudged as the second best among 12 states and Union territories which participated in the Republic Day parade on January 26

 ABOUT

WHAT WAS SHOWCASED - Karnataka: The Cradle of Traditional Handicrafts

HOW WAS THE SELECTION DONE - The general public were invited to vote for the best marching contingents and best tableaux in the popular choice category through the MyGov platform

WHAT WAS SEEN –

• From skillfully made pots, carefully sculpted sandalwood miniatures to hand-woven sarees
• A massive Asiatic elephant sculpted out of Mysuru rosewood with ivory inlay carvings
• Eye-catching Bidriware, bronze statues and lacquerware toys from  Channapatna
• Kamaladevi Chhatopadhyay, the acclaimed freedom fighter from Karnataka, who is also hailed as the 'mother of traditional handicrafts in India'.  She is seen offering 'baagina' that includes a sandal box, peacock shaped lamp pots, banana fibre bags from Sandur among others.
• The coastal traditions of the state also find a place on the tableau in the form of Yakshagana models and bronze face masks used in 'bhootha aradhane' (devil worship).  The tableau has been designed by a team of 100 artists led by art director Shashidhar Adapa.

NEWS

Total PM10 emission load for Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) will reach around 28,000 tonnes per year by 2024, a 15% increase from the 2019 levels under the business-as-usual scenario (BAU), says a new study conducted by the Center for Study of Science, Technology and Policy (CSTEP).

DETAILS

CSTEP released  two studies – ’Emission Inventory and Pollution Reduction Strategies for Bengaluru’ and ‘Identification of Polluting Sources for Bengaluru – Source Apportionment Study’ -- that were undertaken under the aegis of the Karnataka State Pollution Control Board (KSPCB). 

 WHAT DID IT SAY -

• Transportation and road dust as the biggest contributors to air pollution in Bengaluru.
• Annual mean ± standard deviation of
  • PM2.5 mass concentration for Bengaluru is less than the annual permissible limit specified by the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB)
  • PM10 mass concentration is around 1.3 times higher than the CPCB limit.
• Transportation sector emissions contribute the most to PM2.5 pollution, while soil dust is the top contributor for PM10.
• Researchers recommended a multipronged approach to control particulate matter emissions.
• THE REPORT
  • Encouraged the deployment of electric vehicles with charging stations at regular distances along with the proper implementation of the vehicle-scrapping policy.
  • Highlighted the need for regular servicing of public transport vehicles, such as shared autos, buses, and heavy vehicles (dumper trucks, trolleys), to curb pollution.
  • Recommended vacuum sweeping of dust from paved roads, laying end-to-end pavements and covering barren areas on the roadside with green cover, and studying the efficacy of mechanical sweepers before deploying them.
  • Recommended keeping construction material fully covered while in transit to tackle construction dust.
• CSTEP added that if the key recommendations from these studies are implemented, Bengaluru can see possible concentration reductions of 26.5%, 13.5%, and 9.6% for high, medium, and low-emission reduction scenarios (measures clubbed with varying levels of compliance), respectively, for both PM10 and PM2.5 by 2024.

 BACKGROUND

After six students were banned from entering a college in Karnataka’s Udupi district for wearing a hijab last month, the row over whether educational institutions can impose a strict dress code that could interfere with rights of students has spilled to other colleges in the state.

WHAT IS THERE IN CONSTITUTION

Article 25(1) of the Constitution

• Guarantees the “freedom of conscience and the right freely to profess, practise and propagate religion”.
• Guarantees a negative liberty — which means that the state shall ensure that there is no interference or obstacle to exercise this freedom.
• State can restrict the right for grounds of public order, decency, morality, health and other state interests.

In 1954, the Supreme Court held in the Shirur Mutt case that the term “religion” will cover all rituals and practices “integral” to a religion. The test to determine what is integral is termed the “essential religious practices” test.

ESSENTIAL RELIGIOUS PRACTICES TEST

• What constitutes the essential part of a religion is primarily to be ascertained with reference to the doctrines of that religion itself
• A judicial determination of religious practices, has often been criticised by legal experts as it pushes the court to delve into theological spaces
• In criticism of the test, scholars agree that it is better for the court to prohibit religious practices for public order rather than determine what is so essential to a religion that it needs to be protected.
• In several instances, the court has applied the test to keep certain practices out. In a 2004 ruling, the Supreme Court held that the Ananda Marga sect had no fundamental right to perform Tandava dance in public streets, since it did not constitute an essential religious practice of the sect.
• While these issues are largely understood to be community-based, there are instances in which the court has applied the test to individual freedoms as well.
• For example, in 2016, a three-judge Bench of the Supreme Court upheld the discharge of a Muslim airman from the Indian Air Force for keeping a beard. Justices T S Thakur, D Y Chandrachud and L Nageswara Rao distinguished the case of a Muslim airman from that of Sikhs who are allowed to keep a beard.
• Regulation 425 of the Armed Force Regulations, 1964, prohibits the growth of hair by Armed Forces personnel, except for “personnel whose religion prohibits the cutting of hair or shaving of face”. The court essentially held that keeping a beard was not an essential part of Islamic practices.

HOW HAVE COURTS RULED SO FAR ON THE ISSUE OF A HIJAB

Two set of rulings of the Kerala High Court, particularly on the right of Muslim women to dress according to the tenets of Islam, throw up conflicting answers.

In 2015, at least two petitions were filed before the Kerala High Court challenging the prescription of dress code for All India Pre-Medical Entrance which prescribed wearing “light clothes with half sleeves not having big buttons, brooch/badge, flower, etc. with Salwar/Trouser” and “slippers and not shoes”.

Admitting the argument of the Central Board of School Education (CBSE) that the rule was only to ensure that candidates would not use unfair methods by concealing objects within clothes, the Kerala HC directed the CBSE to put in place additional measures for checking students who “intend to wear a dress according to their religious custom, but contrary to the dress code”.

In Amna Bint Basheer v Central Board of Secondary Education (2016), the Kerala HC examined the issue more closely. Justice P B Suresh Kumar, who allowed the plea by the student, held that the practice of wearing a hijab constitutes an essential religious practice but did not quash the CBSE rule. The court once again allowed for the “additional measures” and safeguards put in place the previous year.

But both these cases involve restrictions placed on the freedom of religion for a specific purpose — to ensure a fair examination process — and the CBSE had cited a resource crunch to check every candidate if they allowed autonomy in choosing their dress.

However, on the issue of a uniform prescribed by a school, another Bench ruled differently in Fathima Tasneem v State of Kerala (2018). A single Bench of the Kerala HC held that collective rights of an institution would be given primacy over individual rights of the petitioner. The case involved two girls, aged 12 and 8, represented by their father who wanted his daughters to wear the headscarf as well as a full-sleeved shirt. The school that refused to allow the headscarf is owned and managed by the Congregation of the Carmelites of Mary Immaculate (CMI) under CMI St Joseph Province.

 NEWS

Neighbours of a golden langur habitat in western Assam’s Kakoijana Reserve Forest have opposed a move by the State government to upgrade it to a wildlife sanctuary.

ABOUT KAKOIJANA RESERVE FOREST

• Covers an area of 17.24 km²
• Declared as a Reserved Forest in 29th April 1966
• Covered with mixed wood subtropical moist deciduous forests with teak plantations, scattered bamboo groves and miscellaneous species.
• Has been a special significance as a wildlife habitat of the Golden langur (trachypithecus geel).
• Only habitat for this species outside its range of reported distribution in Manas Tiger Reserve
• Habitat of highly rare and endangered species such as Binuturong, Indian pangoline and Python.
• Other species - Leopard, Civet, Jungle Cat, Mongoose, Barking Deer, Flying Squirrel and Monitor Lizard.
• Home to a wide variety of woodland bird species.

GOLDEN LANGUR

Scientific Name: Trachypithecus geei.

Distribution: Limited to Assam, India and neighboring Bhutan where they live year-round.

Habitat: Occupy moist evergreen and tropical deciduous forests as well as some riverine areas and savannas in Assam and Bhutan.

Colour: Their hair ranges from dark golden to creamy buff and their faces are black and hairless except for a long pale beard. It has been noted that their fur changes colors according to the seasons.

Food Habits: Golden langurs are both folivores and frugivores. Their diets consist of ripe and unripe fruits, young and mature leaves, leaf buds, flower buds, seeds, twigs, and flowers. Although they eat a variety of food, they mostly prefer to eat young leaves.

Conservation Status: In 2003, they were considered endangered by the IUCN Red List, and listed as Appendix I on the CITES website.

Threats: The main reason for low numbers of golden langurs is because of their localized habitat and the rapid loss of this habitat due to deforestation.

 NEWS

February 4th 2021 marks hundred years of the Chauri Chaura incident that had led to Mahatma Gandhi calling off the Non-cooperation Movement.

DETAILS

WHAT IS CHAURI CHAURA - Town in Gorakhpur district that derives its name from two villages

WHAT HAPPEN ON FEBRUARY 4 1921 -  Large crowd of peasants set on fire the police station in Chauri Chaura, killing 22 policemen.

THE STORY

• On August 1, 1920, the movement was launched against the government, which involved a boycott of foreign goods, refusing to assist a ruler who misrules.
• February 4, 1922:
  • Congregation of volunteers in the town: The volunteers took out a procession to the local police station, and to picket the nearby Mundera bazaar.
  • The police warning: The procession ignored warning shots fired in the air by police. The police then fired into the crowd, killing three people and injuring many others.
  • A volcano of anger erupts: Heavy brick batting by the crowd forced the policemen to flee inside the thana. The crowd proceeded to douse the building with kerosene and to set it on fire.
  • The incident led to the killing of 22 policemen and left many others injured. The volunteers saw the incident as a sign of the arrival of “Gandhi raj”.

AFTERMATH

• Gandhi was deeply disturbed by the incident and condemned the crime of the policemen’s killing.
• A Chauri Chaura Support Fund was set up to demonstrate genuine sympathy and seek prayashchit (atonement).
• Gandhi decided to stop the Non-Cooperation Movement, which had been tainted by unforgivable violence and on February 12, 1922, the satyagraha was formally suspended.
• Suspension of the movement had made leaders like Motilal Nehru, C R Das, Jawaharlal Nehru and Subhas Bose angry towards Gandhi’s decision.
• For his unshakeable faith in non-violence, Gandhi said that he would suffer every humiliation, every torture, absolute ostracism and death itself to prevent the movement from becoming violent.

Nimhans informed that it aims to set up the T-MANAS (Tele-Mental Health Assistance and Nationally Actionable Plan through States) initiative as a 24×7 facility in all states and Union territories. Its vision is to provide immediate mental health interventions for people in mental distress, particularly those in remote and under-served areas of the country.