Daily CURRENT AFFAIRS

Daily Current Affair - UPSC/KAS Exams - 7th June 2021

POINTS TO BE NOTED

• The tram as a viable transport mode for the city first figured in a ‘Call to Action’ document submitted to the Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation (BMTC) and the Directorate of Urban Land Transport (DULT). Drafted by Sathya Sankaran, the document defined it as a public transport mode that used rolling stock either as a single tramcar or multiple units coupled together.
• First suggested in 2015 for the Outer Ring Road and arterial corridors crossing the city, a tram system could potentially start with a pilot linking the gaps within the city’s original Central Business District (CBD).
• Back in 2015, over 390 tram systems were in operation worldwide. “The tram can be a worthwhile addition to the metro and commuter rail being planned for the city,” Sankaran had suggested.
• World’s densest tram network is in Melbourne. The system had a rectangular grid network within the city proper, combining a fleet of old and new age trams.
• It was clear the trams could be neatly integrated into a city’s road system without much infrastructural investments. Besides the coaches and tram stops, the system mandates a corridor that can be shared with BMTC buses. Trackless trams simplify it even further.
• Fitted with rubber wheels, trackless trams run on existing streets. They are powered either by overhead cables or batteries recharged quickly at the stations or end of the line. Sharing the space with other vehicles on the road, they stop at intersections and move at a comfortable pace.
• Sustainable mobility experts say this could be an option even on narrow, congested roads. That would make it even more viable on wider streets such as MG Road, Cubbon Road, Residency Road, Richmond Road, Ambedkar Veedhi and Queen’s Road.
• Scheduled at regular intervals, the electric-powered tram service could connect shopping hubs such as Commercial Street with Cubbon Park, Visvesvaraya Science and Technological Museum, Jawaharlal Nehru Planetarium and heritage centres of old Bengaluru. This could be integrated into a plan to pedestrianise shopping hubs, negating the need for parking areas for personal vehicles.
• Significantly less expensive since it negates the need to lay separate tracks, less disruptive and eco-friendly.
• Once the pilot within the CBD is found viable, there is scope to extend it to areas not served by the metro
• Extension would mean the tram morphing into a clear mobility option. But before scaling up, the pilot tram network could be a link between the old and new, the city’s old Pete areas, the Cantonment localities and the new, glitzy shopping zones.
• Set up in 1902, the Kolkata tram system is currently Asia’s oldest operating tramway.
• From a peak of 37 lines in the 1960s, it is now down to six lines due to financial issues, poor maintenance and a perception that it is outdated. A new-age Bengaluru tram could change that perception.

WHAT

• It defines sedition as an offence committed when "any person by words, either spoken or written, or by signs, or by visible representation, or otherwise, brings or attempts to bring into hatred or contempt, or excites or attempts to excite disaffection towards the government established by law in India".
• Disaffection includes disloyalty and all feelings of enmity. However, comments without exciting or attempting to excite hatred, contempt or disaffection, will not constitute an offence under this section.
• Punishment for the Offence of Sedition:
• Sedition is a non-bailable offence. Punishment under the Section 124A ranges from imprisonment up to three years to a life term, to which fine may be added.
• A person charged under this law is barred from a government job.
• They have to live without their passport and must produce themselves in the court at all times as and when required.

KEDARNATH CASE

• In 1962, the SC decided on the constitutionality of Section 124A in Kedar Nath Singh vs State of Bihar.
• It upheld the constitutionality of sedition, but limited its application to “acts involving intention or tendency to create disorder, or disturbance of law and order, or incitement to violence”.
• It distinguished these from “very strong speech” or the use of “vigorous words” strongly critical of the government.

HISTORY TO SEDITION

• Section 124A was inserted in 1870 by an amendment introduced by Sir James Stephen when it felt the need for a specific section to deal with the offence.
• It was one of the many draconian laws enacted to stifle any voices of dissent at that time.
• British used Sedition law to convict and sentence freedom fighters. First ever sedition law was applied on Jogendra Chandra Bose for his publications against Age of consent bill in newspaper Bangobasi in year 1891
• It was also used to prosecute Bal Gangadhar Tilak in 1897.
• Mahatama Gandhi, too, was later tried for sedition for his articles in Young India.

REPORTS AND INDICES

What : Ministry of Human Resources and development recently released PERFORMANCE GRADING INDEX

What is the purpose of the Index?

• To identify the areas of deficiency in each state’s school education system so that targeted interventions can be made at every level from pedagogy to teacher training
• Encourages States and UTs to adopt certain practices like online recruitment and transfer of teachers, electronic attendance of students & teachers etc.

What are the main features of the Index?

• The Index will grade all States and UTs.

• It will be online and all grading will be generated by the software as was done during the pilot project with 10 indicators under Sarva Shiksha Abhiyaan (SSA).
• It has 70 indicators divided into two categories namely :

• Outcome, with four domains, viz Learning Outcomes, Access Outcomes, Infrastructure and Facilities Outcomes.
• the second category is about Governance processes which covers attendance, teacher adequacy, administrative adequacy, training, accountability and transparency.

• The total weightage of all indicators is 1000 points: Each indicator has been given either 20 or 10 points based on the priority in terms of educational development.
• The grading system also envisages the third party verification by international organisations such as UNICEF etc.

How is PGI related to NITI Aayog’s School Education Quality Index (SEQI)?

• SEQI will be subset of PGI, and NITI Aayog will use 33 indicators out of 70 indicators of PGI.
• Department of School Education and Learning, MHRD will provide the relevant data under PGI to the NITI Aayog for SEQI.
• States and UTs will therefore not provide any data separately to NITI Aayog for SEQI.
• The NITI Aayog can assign different weightages to the indicators under SEQI.

2019-20 Rankings

• Punjab, Tamil Nadu and Kerala have all scored higher than 90%
• Gujarat dropped from second to eighth rank in the index, while Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh are the only States which have seen actual regression in scores over this period.
• Punjab recorded the highest score of almost 929 out of a possible 1,000, showing a huge jump from 769 last year. The State topped the charts in terms of equity, infrastructure and governance, and shared the top spot in the domain of access with Kerala.
• In fact, Punjab overtook the Union Territory of Chandigarh, which topped both previous editions of the index, but has now slid to second place with a score of 912.
• Tamil Nadu also overtook Kerala, with a score of 906, largely driven by improvements in the State’s educational governance and management, as well as in terms of infrastructure and facilities.
• Gujarat, which had the second highest score in the previous edition, dropped to eighth place. It regressed in the key domain of access, which measures enrolment of students in school and the ability to keep them from dropping out as well as mainstreaming out-of-school students. Its progress in other areas also did not keep pace with other States.
• Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh saw a glaring drop in their scores, pushing both States to an overall performance that was worse than in the previous edition. The new Union Territory of Ladakh was included separately for the first time in this edition, and had the lowest score of just 545.

About Raimona National Park

This national park

• Is located in Gossaigaon subdivision of Kokrajhar district under BTR.

• Is a part of contiguous forest patch having an area of 422 km2
• Covers northern part of notified Ripu Reserve Forest which is the westernmost buffer to Manas Tiger Reserve. Park is home to golden langur, tigers, Asian elephants, clouded leopards, wild buffalo, Indian gaur, hornbill, spotted deer, 170 species of birds, 150 species of butterflies and 380 varieties of plants & orchids.

What are National Parks?

• Areas that are set by the government to conserve the natural environment.”
• Has more restrictions as compared to a wildlife sanctuary.
• Boundaries are fixed and defined.

What is allowed and what is not allowed inside National Parks:

• Here, no human activity is allowed.
• Grazing of livestock and private tenurial rights are not permitted here.
• Species mentioned in the Schedules of the Wildlife Act are not allowed to be hunted or captured.
• No person shall destroy, remove, or exploit any wildlife from a National Park or destroy or damage the habitat of any wild animal or deprive any wild animal of its habitat within a national park.
• They cannot be downgraded to the status of a ‘sanctuary’.

Declaration of National Parks: National parks can be declared both by the Central Government and State governments. No alteration of the boundaries of a national park shall be made except on a resolution passed by the State Legislature.

What : ICAR-IISR has developed crop specific designer micronutrient foliar formulations for major spices (black pepper, ginger, turmeric, and cardamom) to overcome micronutrient deficiencies and to meet the physiological and metabolic requirements of spice crops.

What is the news: The Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR)-Indian Institute of Spices Research (IISR) has received a patent for black pepper micronutrient foliar formulation.

Other details :

• The micronutrient mixture for black pepper has been designed to fulfil the requirements of the black pepper crop by maintaining optimal ratio of secondary micronutrients like magnesium, zinc and boron in the leaf.
• The crop-specific micronutrient formulation is recommended for black pepper as a foliar spray during spike initiation with the onset of the monsoon and afterwards at monthly intervals.
• The application of black pepper micronutrient mixture enhances the quality of the produce even as contributing to the health of vines through balanced nutrition. Over the years, the technology has reached farmers in around 10% of the cropped area

CULTURE

What is the news : Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) has found three caves in Buddhist Caves Complex in Nasik, Maharashtra.

Details :

• Newly discovered caves are being discovered about two centuries after the British military officer documented Tri-Rashmi Buddhist caves, which is also called as Pandav Leni, on a hill in Nashik.
• Antiquity of caves is yet to be established. They may have been dwellings of Buddhist monks.
• Archaeologists believe, these caves could be older than Trirashmi caves.
• The new caves are about 70-80 feet above the existing complex and have been carved out of a steep hill. They look like monks’ dwellings and older than the current complex.

About Pandavleni caves

Pandavleni caves were earlier called as ‘Trirashmi caves’. These caves are a group of 25 caves, carved out of Tri-Rashmi Hill between 2nd century BC and 6th century AD. Vihara and the Chaitya are the main caves among 25 caves. Complex of the cave was documented in 1823 by Captain James Delamaine. It is an ASI protected site and a famous tourist destination.

What is the news : A Konkani and Hindi version of the film, titled Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Shivrajyabhishek Divas, was released on social media by Goa Government on the occasion of the anniversary of Maratha king’s coronation day.

Events portrayed in film :

• A royal tax was imposed by the “traitorous” landlords in Pernem, Bicholim, Maneri and Sattari in North Goa to oppress the locals, after which they “betrayed the land and the state” and sought refuge with the Portuguese
• in 1677, the Portuguese Governor, Conde De San Vincent, had given an “open warning to Hindus” that said that “if you want to live in Bardez (in North Goa), you will either have to abandon your religion or leave Bardez”. This, the film, says was not acceptable to Shivaji, who attacked Colvale Fort with 5,000 soldiers, after which the Portuguese surrendered in three days. The film says that Shivaji was the first Indian king to defeat the Portuguese.
• Portuguese destroying the famous Saptakoteshwar temple in Goa. The temple, the film says, was a symbol of the glory of the Kadamba dynasty of Goa. Rebuilt in 1668, the temple in Bicholim was the heritage of Goa’s past
• role of Shivaji’s son Sambhaji and after him, his brother Rajaram and Sambhaji’s Shahu in taking Shivaji’s legacy forward. It speaks of Goans holding high positions in the Maratha court.

What is the news : Finance Ministers from the Group of Seven (G7) nations have reached a landmark agreement in London setting a global minimum corporate tax rate.

Aim :

• To counter tax avoidance through measures to make companies pay in the countries where they do business.

• In principle to ratify a global minimum corporate tax rate to counter the possibility of countries undercutting each other to attract investments.

Countries involved:  US, the UK, Germany, France, Canada, Italy and Japan

Decisions taken :

• Force multinationals to pay taxes where they operate
• The agreement commits states to a global minimum corporate tax rate of 15% to avoid countries undercutting each other
• Reaching an equitable solution on the allocation of taxing rights, with market countries awarded taxing rights on at least 20% of profit exceeding a 10% margin for the largest and most profitable multinational enterprises.

• Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) in collaboration with Microsoft to introduce coding and data science in school curriculum.
• Lieutenant Governor of Ladakh, RK Mathur, launched the YounTab scheme for students. Under the scheme, about 12,300 tablets were distributed among them in Leh.
• Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, launched E-100 pilot project on the occasion of World Environment Day in Pune.This ambitious project was launched with the aim of setting up a network for production and distribution of ethanol in India.Prime Minister also launched ‘Report of the Expert Committee on Road Map for ethanol blending in India 2020-2025’. It was released in line with the theme of World Environment Day- “promotion of biofuels for a better environment”.
• Kerala government has launched ‘Knowledge Economy Mission’ to boost job prospects in the state by supporting knowledge workers.Project will be launched to bring ongoing efforts of providing employment to educated people and support ‘knowledge workers’ under a single programme. A plan will be made to provide basic facilities and social security system for knowledge workers who are working close to their homes and interacting with employers. For implementation and funding purposes, ‘knowledge economy fund’ will be created.
• An analysis of more than one million SARS-CoV-2 genome sequences has led to the identification of a new variant that, over the past weeks, has been spreading mostly in Mexico but has also been found in Europe. Biotechnologists of the University of Bologna have published their paper in the Journal of Medical Virology, describing the new variant, whose scientific name is T478K.
• As per Geological Disaster Technology Research and Development Centre, Indonesia’s Merapi volcano erupted four times with lava spreading to 1,500 metres from crater. Most Active Volcano Merapi is considered as Indonesia’s most active volcano. It erupted four times and experienced 43 avalanche earthquakes. Mountain was belching thick white smokes as high as 50 meters above .
• The National Medicinal Plant Board (NMPS) and the National Botanical Research Institute(CSIR-NBRI) signed an MoU  for extending joint collaborative efforts to boost the cultivation and production of medicinal plants and herbs in India.
• National Thermal Power Corporation Limited of India, has become a signatory of UN Global Compact’s CEO Water Mandate. CEO Water Mandate is a UN Global Compact initiative which demonstrate commitment and efforts of companies to enhance their water and sanitation agendas in line with Sustainable Development Goals. It has been designed to assist companies in developing, implementing and disclosing comprehensive water strategies and policies. It provides a platform for companies to link with like-minded businesses, public authorities, UN agencies, civil society organizations etc. NTPC Limited is Indian government owned electricity board engaged in business of generation of electricity and allied activities. NTPC was incorporated under Companies Act 1956 and is working under Ministry of Power. Headquarters of NTPC is located at New Delhi.
• World Sustainable Development Summit 2021 was held under theme “Redefining our common future: Safe & Secure Environment for All”. The summit aims to provide long-term solutions to benefit of global community by assembling different stakeholders on single platform. It is conducted by The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI)

• ANTHROPOMETRY - It is the scientific study of the measurements and proportions of the human body.
• Metabolic markers - Metabolic markers considered were fasting plasma concentrations of glucose, insulin, triglyceride, cholesterol, and HDL cholesterol, as well as the cholesterolHDL cholesterol ratio and the triglycerideHDL cholesterol ratio.