Daily CURRENT AFFAIRS

Daily Current Affair - UPSC/KAS Exams - 15th March 2022

NEWS

In a landmark judgment, the Karnataka High Court ruled that wearing of hijab by Muslim women is does not form essential religious practice in the Islamic faith and prescribing uniform is not a violation of fundamental rights guaranteed under Article 19(1)(a) and 25 of the Constitution

DETAILS

WHAT IS ESSENTIAL RELIGIOUS PRACTICE

• Those which are fundamental to the profession and propagation of the religion
• If taking away practice causes a substantial change in the religion
• Practices are protected in Article 25 (1)

WHAT IS ESSENTIAL RELIGIOUS PRACTICE TEST

• Doctrine evolved by the supreme court (SC) to protect essential religious practice
• The doctrine of “essentiality” was invented by a seven-judge Bench of the SC in the ‘Shirur Mutt’ case in 1954.
• The court held that the term “religion” will cover all rituals and practices “integral” to a religion, and took upon itself the responsibility of determining the essential and non-essential practices of a religion
• The Indian model of secularism also provides for state’s intervention in religion to ensure freedom of religion.
• When the exercise of religious practices came in conflict with other fundamental rights guaranteed under the constitution. The doctrine of essentiality was utilized to decide on the constitutionality of such practices.

PREVIOUS CASES

• In Sri Venkataramana Devaru vs State of Mysore case, 1958, the supreme court had to decide, whether restrictions on entry into temples for some sections, was an “essential part of the Hindu religion”. It held that such practices are unconstitutional and void, and opened the temples for all Hindus.
• In Ayodhya Case, the court held that offering prayers was an essential practice of Islam, but offering prayers in the mosque was not essential practice.
• In Sabarimala case, the SC lifted the ban that prevented women and girls between the age of 10 and 50 (mainly menstruating women) from entering the famous Ayyappa shrine. It held that the centuries-old Hindu religious practice was unconstitutional as it violated article 14.

IS JUDICIAL INTERVENTION NECCESARY

YES, as it Will

• Balance between fundamental rights
• Social justice during the practice of Right to freedom of religion
• Constitutional morality was given primacy over religious morality. To give freedom to people in a multicultural society, example SC struck down section 377
• That there will be primacy of rule of law rather than rule of religion
• In eliminating the possibility of conflict between different sections of society
• Protect the essential practices of religion from interference of state. 

It raises a major question, what constitutes an essential practice shall be decided by the judges or members of the community?

• There is no fixed parameter for deciding the essential practices, in some cases they have relied on religious texts to determine essentiality, in others on the empirical behaviour of followers, and in yet others, based on whether the practice existed at the time the religion originated.
• Constitutional law experts have argued that the essentiality/integrality doctrine lead the court into an area that is beyond its competence, and given judges the power to decide purely religious questions.
• The basic idea of the constitution was to create a progressive and just society, which makes higher judiciary duty bound to strike down social evils present in religious practices.
• But while exercising this doctrine the court should keep in mind that religion is also a crucial aspect of human development and social harmony. Hence excessive interference shall be avoided.

NEWS

As per recently released economic survey , State’s Total Fertility Rate falling faster than national trend

DETAILS

WHAT IS TOTAL FERTILITY RATE (TFR) - Refers to the total number of children born or likely to be born to a woman in her lifetime if she were subject to the prevailing rate of age-specific fertility in the population. TFR of about 2.1 children per woman is called Replacement-level fertility.

WHAT REPORT SAYS

• When the country’s TFR was 3.4 in 1992-93, Karnataka’s was 2.65It further dipped to 1.8 in 2015-16 and 1.7 in 2019-21 signifying that the fertility drop has not levelled off yet, according to observations made in the Karnataka Economic Survey 2021-22
• With the percentage of registration for both births and deaths increasing across India, the steep fertility decline is consistent
• Estimated births and gross of infant mortality deaths is stagnating for the last five years, and possibly declining. The total number of deaths in the country is also increasing.
• In Karnataka, the total number of births is reducing in line with fertility having dropped to 1.7 in 2019-21, and possibly 1.5 by 2030. It is very clear that the number of deaths is increasing quite dramatically. If the estimated births decrease by 1% every year — in 2030, the number of actual births could be 10.2 lakh
• India’s TFR has plummeted over three decades, and the Indian population is officially below replacement. Global consensus has placed the replacement rate for emerging economies at 2.3, and for the developed world at 2.1
• India’s latest TFR, according to National Family Health Survey - 5 (NFHS-5), is 2.0, coming under both replacement rates (of emerging economies and developed world), and officially signifying the country’s high population growth trajectory is over and the population will peak soon
• Karnataka and India is in the stage of reaping from India’s demographic dividend provided we develop a highly skilled and productive workforce and give them employment opportunities to keep the economic momentum going
• Karnataka’s TFR of 1.7 is closely following the trend in other progressive States, like Kerala, Telangana and Tamil Nadu. The declining TFR is a welcome trend till it reaches the replacement population level
• Reduction in TFR is largely due to women’s changing roles, expansion of women’s education, employment shifts, such as more women entering salaried jobs, advances in reproductive health,  decreasing child mortality and assurance of child survival

NEWS

Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change has proposed the rejuvenation of 13 major rivers across the country

WHAT IS PROPOSED

• Rivers identified in 24 states and two Union Territories
• Rejuvenated through “forestry interventions’’
• Identified rivers & tributaries – Jhelum has 24, Chenab has 17, Rabi has 6, Brahmaputra has 30, Mahanadi has 7 and Krishna has 13 etc
• Funded by the National Afforestation and Eco-development Board under the Ministry
• DPRs have been prepared by the Indian Council of Forestry Research and Education, Dehradun (ICFRE)
• Other issues which will be tackled through the project include reversal of desertification, the preservation of biodiversity and the protection of wildlife in these areas
• Largest outlay has been sanctioned for the Yamuna
• There are three major landscapes along the rivers – natural, agricultural and urban – and plans have been created specifically for these different landscapes including specific plans for each river
• Issues troubling rivers
  • Expansion of the road network
  • Construction of hydroelectric projects
  • Expansion of agriculture
  • Reduced water flow
  • Deforestation in the catchment area
  • Fragile ecology, bank and soil erosion
  • Siltation and shifting cultivation
    • These issues in turn affects agricultural productivity, livelihood security, public health and aquatic systems
• The different models of forestry plantations including timber species, medicinal plants, grasses, shrubs and fuel fodder and fruit trees are aimed to augment water, ground water recharge and contain erosion
• Site specific treatments in terms of soil and moisture conservation and plantations of grasses, herbs, forestry and horticultural trees have been proposed for treatment of prioritized sites in the riverscape supported by GIS techniques.
• Direct benefits from the project include an expected increase in cumulative forest cover by 7,417.36 sq km across 13 riverscapes, sequestering of 50 million tons CO 2 equivalent in 10-year-old plantations and 74.76 million tons CO 2 equivalent in 20-year-old plantations
• The proposed interventions in 13 riverscapes will help in ground water recharge of 1,889.89 million cubic meters annually and a reduction in sedimentation to the tune of 64,83,114 cubic meters.

WHAT IS REJENUVATION - River rejuvenation is the renewal of the erosive activity of the river

SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

NEWS

United States President approved a arms package for Ukraine, which would include U.S. made Man-Portable Air-Defence Systems (MANPADS).

WHAT ARE MANPADS?

• Man-Portable Air-Defence Systems
•  Short-range, lightweight and portable surface-to-air missiles
• Can be fired by individuals or small groups to destroy aircraft or helicopters
• Help shield troops from aerial attacks and are most effective in targeting low-flying aircrafts
• Can be shoulder-fired, launched from atop a ground-vehicle, fired from a tripod or stand, and from a helicopter or boat
• Weighing anywhere between 10 to 20 kilograms and not being longer than 1.8 metres
• Operating requires substantially less training
• Have passive or ‘fire and forget’ guidance systems, meaning that the operator is not required to guide the missile to its target, enabling them to run and relocate immediately after firing
• Stays locked-on to the targeted object, not requiring active guidance from the soldier
• Fitted with infrared (IR) seekers that identify and target the airborne vehicle through heat radiation being emitted by the latter
• Most common make of MANPADs is the U.S.-made Stinger missiles. Stinger’s Russian or Soviet-made counterparts are the Igla MANPADS, which also employ infrared

NEWS

ISRO successfully completed the ground test of the solid-fuel based booster stage (SS1) of its new Small Satellite Launch Vehicle (SSLV), completing the ground testing of all three stages of the launch vehicle

SMALL SATELLITE LAUNCH VEHICLE

• Smallest vehicle weighing only 110 tonnes
• Will only take 72 hours to integrate
• Can launch satellites weighing up to 500 kg into low-Earth orbit, whereas the tried-and-tested solar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) can launch satellites weighing up to 1000 kg.
• Is a three-stage, all-solid vehicle capable of launching up to 500-kilogram satellites into 500 km Low Earth Orbit (LEO) and 300 kg into Sun Synchronous Orbit (SSO).
• Suitable for simultaneously launching multiple microsatellites and supports multiple orbital drop-offs.
• key characteristics - low cost, low turnaround time, flexibility in accommodating multiple satellites, launch on-demand capability, minimal launch infrastructure requirements

• Karnataka Chief Minister announced in his budget that the tur dal grown in Kalaburagi and Yadgir districts will be sold in the brand name of ‘Bhima Pulse’. However it is questioned because the geographical indication (GI) recognition has been accorded to tur dal grown in Kalaburagi district only and not for all the pulses
• The State Government has decided to have year-long celebration of Shantaveri Gopala Gowda’s birth centenary and also present “The Best Farmer” and “Best Legislator” awards annually in his name. He is considered one of India's most important socialist leaders, and a pioneer of socialism in Karnataka
• An Artificial Intelligence and Robotics Technology Park (ARTPARK) was launched at the Indian Institute of Science (IISc) in Bengaluru. ARTPARK has been set up to effectively use technology, specifically AI and robotics, for the country’s betterment