PERIYAR IAS CURRENT AFFAIRS 16-NOVEMBER-2017
opic: Modern Indian history from about the middle of the
eighteenth century until the present- significant events, personalities,
issues.
Birsa Munda
Context:
Birth anniversary of Birsa
Munda was observed on November 15th. In recognition of his impact
on the national movement, the state of Jharkhand was created on his birth
anniversary in 2000.
About Birsa Munda:
Who was he?
Bisra Munda was a folk hero and
a tribal freedom fighter hailing from the Munda tribe. He was a spearhead
behind the Millenarian movement that arose in the Bihar and Jharkhand belt in
the early 19th century under the British colonisation. He is also known as
‘Dharti Abba’ or the Earth Father.
Birsait:
Bisra wanted to reform the
tribal society and so, he urged them to let go of beliefs in witchcraft and
instead, stressed on the importance of prayer, staying away from alcohol,
having faith in God and observing a code of conduct. Based on these, he started
the faith of ‘Birsait’.
Achievements:
Bisra started a movement called
‘Ulgulan’, or ‘The Great Tumult’. His struggle against the exploitation and
discrimination against tribals led to a big hit against the British government
in the form of the Chotanagpur Tenancy Act being passed in 1908. The act
restricted the passing on of land from the tribal people to non-tribals.
Sources: pib.
Topic: Important Geophysical phenomena such as earthquakes,
Tsunami, Volcanic activity, cyclone etc., geographical features and their
location- changes in critical geographical features (including water-bodies and
ice-caps) and in flora and fauna and the effects of such changes.
Climate Change Performance
Index
Context:
Climate Change Performance
Index (CCPI) 2018 has been released by environmental organisation Germanwatch.
The report was made public on the sidelines of the UN Climate Change
negotiations (COP23) in Bonn.
About CCPI:
The Climate Change Performance
Index (CCPI) is an instrument covering 58 countries and supposed to enhance
transparency in international climate politics. Its aim is to encourage
political and social pressure on those countries which have, up to now, failed
to take ambitious actions on climate protection as well as to highlight
countries with best-practice climate policies.
On the basis of standardised
criteria, the index evaluates and compares the climate protection performance
of 58 countries that are, together, responsible for more than 90% of global
energy-related CO2 emissions. 80% of the evaluation is based on objective
indicators of emissions trend and emissions level. 20% of the index results are
built upon national and international climate policy assessments by more than
200 experts from the respective countries.
Performance of various
countries:
§ India is ranked 14th, an
improvement from its 20th position last year. China, with its high emissions
and growing energy use over the past five years, still ranks 41st.
§ The bottom three of the index
is formed by Korea (58), Iran (59) and Saudi Arabia (rank 60), all of which are
showing hardly any progress or ambition in reducing its emissions and energy
use.
Highlights of the report:
§ As per the report, fifty-six
countries and the EU are together responsible for about 90% of global
greenhouse gas emissions.
§ The report notes that global
energy transition is taking up speed but no country is doing enough. For this,
the countries have to strengthen targets and implementation.
§ The data show encouraging
growth in renewable energy, ever cheaper prices for solar and wind energy and
successes in saving energy in many countries. This was responsible for
stabilising global energy CO2 emissions in the last three years.
§ But progress is achieved much
too slow for a fully renewable energy based world economy in a few decades,
because growing oil and gas consumption is higher than the welcomed reduction
in coal use.
Sources: ET.
Paper 2:
Topic: Government policies and interventions for development in
various sectors and issues arising out of their design and implementation.
Rajasthan conversion Bill
Context:
The Religious Freedom Bill
passed by the Rajasthan Assembly in 2008, aimed at banning forcible religious
conversions, was returned by the Union government as it deviated from the
national policy. According to the Union Home Ministry, the Bill was sent back
for “further clarifications.”
About the Bill:
The Rajasthan Dharma
Swatantraya Vidheyak was passed by the Assembly in 2008.
Highlights of the Bill:
§ The legislation seeks to stop
conversions through use of “force or allurement or by fraudulent means”.
§ An offence under the Act is
cognizable and non-bailable. The punishment for violation of the provisions of
the Act can be a minimum two years simple imprisonment, which may be extended
up to five years and a fine of up to Rs.50000.
§ It also contains a clause for
cancellation of registration of organisations held guilty of abetting
conversions.
§ The Bill defined “conversion”
as “renouncing one’s own religion and adopting another” through “fraudulent
means” or any other “fraudulent contrivance.”
Sources: the hindu.
Topic: Bilateral, regional and global groupings and agreements
involving India and/or affecting India’s interests.
Bilateral Trade and Investment
Agreement (BTIA)
Context:
Senior officials of India and
European Union (EU) recently held discussions on the long-stalled free trade
pact, officially dubbed as Bilateral Trade and Investment Agreement (BTIA) and
expressed willingness to address issues in a time-bound manner.
Launched in June 2007, the
negotiations for the proposed BTIA have witnessed many hurdles with both sides
having major differences on key issues like intellectual property rights, duty
cut in automobile and spirits, and liberal visa regime.
Difference between the two
countries:
§ The two sides have to iron out
differences related to movement of professionals.
§ Besides demanding significant
duty cuts in automobiles, the EU wants tax reduction in wines, spirits and
dairy products, and a strong intellectual property regime.
§ On the other hand, India is
asking for ‘data secure nation’ status to be granted by the EU. The country is
among the nations not considered data secure by the EU. The matter is crucial
as it will have a bearing on Indian IT companies wanting market access.
About Broadbased Trade and
Investment Agreement (BTIA):
On 28th June 2007, India and
the EU began negotiations on a broad-based Bilateral Trade and Investment
Agreement (BTIA) in Brussels, Belgium. These negotiations are pursuant to the
commitment made by political leaders at the 7th India-EU Summit held in
Helsinki in October 2006 to move towards negotiations for a broad-based trade
and investment agreement on the basis of the report of India-EU High Level
Technical Group.
Need for a free trade
agreement: India and the EU expect to promote bilateral trade by
removing barriers to trade in goods and services and investment across all
sectors of the economy. Both parties believe that a comprehensive and ambitious
agreement that is consistent with WTO rules and principles would open new
markets and would expand opportunities for Indian and EU businesses.
The negotiations cover Trade in Goods, Trade in
Services, Investment, Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures, Technical Barriers
to Trade, Trade Remedies, Rules of Origin, Customs and Trade Facilitation,
Competition, Trade Defence, Government Procurement, Dispute Settlement,
Intellectual Property Rights & Geographical Indications, Sustainable
Development.
Sources: ET.
Topic: Effect of policies and politics of developed and developing
countries on India’s interests, Indian diaspora.
Zimbabwe crisis
Context:
The military in Zimbabwe has
launched a ‘coup’ on November 15, 2017, calling it a “bloodless correction” to
target “criminals” surrounding long-time leader Robert Mugabe.
Who is Robert Mugabe?
Robert Mugabe is the only
leader Zimbabwe had since it won freedom from British colonial rule in 1980. At
93, Mr. Mugabe is the world’s oldest head of state. His poor health has fueled
a bitter succession battle as potential replacements jockey for position. His
lengthy rule has been marked by brutal repression of dissent, mass emigration,
vote-rigging and economic collapse since land reforms in 2000.
What triggered the current
stand-off between military and the civilian government?
The current crisis stems from a
political shake-up earlier this month, but the roots of it go back much
further. On Nov. 6, Mugabe decided to fire Vice President Emmerson Mnangagwa.
The move caused unrest in the president’s ruling ZANU-PF party and the army.
Mnangagwa has support among the military and was seen as a potential successor
to Mugabe.
What happens next?
It’s unclear. There’s still a
ton of uncertainty about the military’s intentions. There has been no sign of
violence so far in the military action, and there have not been public
demonstrations either in favor of it or against it.
§ Foreign officials and regional
leaders have called for calm and the country to avoid conflict, saying they are
closely monitoring the situation. Embassies in Zimbabwe have issued statements
instructing their citizens in the country to shelter in place and monitor the
news for updates.
§ Although the situation is still
unfolding, there is a strong possibility that this is the beginning of the end
for Mugabe’s rule and his status as the world’s oldest serving president.
Sources: the hindu.
Topic: Important International institutions, agencies and fora,
their structure, mandate.
Bank of International
Settlement (BIS)
Context:
RBI Governor Urjit Patel has
been appointed to the Financial Stability Institute Advisory Board or the Bank
of International Settlement (BIS), a global financial organisation owned by
major central banks from across the world.
About the Financial Stability
Institute:
What is it?
The FSI was jointly created in
1998 by the BIS and the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision. Among other
mandates, the FSI seeks to promote cross- sectoral and cross-border supervisory
contacts and cooperation.
What it does?
The Financial Stability
Institute (FSI) of the BIS assists financial sector authorities worldwide in
strengthening their financial systems.
FSI advisory board:
The FSI Advisory Board was
originally created in 1998. The Advisory Board will provide strategic advice to
help the FSI continue to meet its mandate in a way that is responsive to the
changing needs of its key stakeholders around the world. To achieve this
objective, the Advisory Board will comprise a small but diverse group of
central bank Governors, heads of financial sector supervision and chairs of
standard-setting bodies and regional supervisory groups.
About BIS:
What is it?
The Bank for International
Settlements (BIS) is the world’s oldest international
financial organization. It was established in May 1930.
Location:
It is based in Basel,
Switzerland, with representative offices in Hong Kong and Mexico City.
Members:
It has 60 member central banks,
representing countries from around the world that together make up about 95% of
world GDP.
The mission of the BIS is to serve central banks
in their pursuit of monetary and financial stability, to foster international
cooperation in those areas and to act as a bank for central banks.
Sources: ET.
Paper 3:
Topic: infrastructure.
India’s first mega coastal
economic zone (CEZ)
Context:
The government has given the
go-ahead for setting up India’s first mega coastal economic zone (CEZ) at the
Jawaharlal Nehru Port in Maharashtra as part of a plan to develop 14 such
industrial clusters to spur manufacturing and generate jobs.
The plan envisages a total
investment of Rs 15,000 crore in the first phase and creation of more than 1.5
lakh jobs. The idea is to attract large firms interested in serving the export
markets as they would bring with them technology, capital, good management and
links to the world markets. This in turn would help create an ecosystem around
them in which productive small and medium firms would emerge and flourish.
Background:
The Union Cabinet had last year
approved setting up of 14 mega CEZs under the National Perspective Plan of the
Sagarmala Programme, with an aim to promote development of industrial clusters
around ports, encourage portled development, reduce logistics cost and time for
movement of cargo, enhance global competitiveness of India’s manufacturing sector
and create hubs of job creation.
About CEZs:
What are they?
CEZs are spatial economic
regions comprising a group of coastal districts or districts with a strong
linkage to ports in that region to tap into synergies with the planned
industrial corridor projects.
Significance of CEZs:
These zones are expected to
provide business-friendly ecosystem including ease of doing business, ease of
exporting and importing, swift decisions on applications for environmental
clearances, and speedy water and electricity connections.
Sources: ET.
Topic: pollution.
BS -VI Norms
Context:
Taking into account the serious
pollution levels in Delhi and adjoining areas, Petroleum Ministry in
consultation with Public Oil Marketing Companies has decided for preponement of
BS-VI grade auto fuels in NCT of Delhi w.e.f 01.04.2018 instead of 01.04.2020.
This measure is expected to help mitigate the problem of air pollution in NCT
of Delhi and surrounding areas.
About BS Norms:
What are they?
Introduced in the year 2000,
the Bharat norms are emission control standards put in place by the government
to keep a check on air pollution. Based on the European regulations (Euro
norms), these standards set specifications/limits for the release of air
pollutants from equipment using internal combustion engines, including
vehicles. Typically, the higher the stage, the more stringent the norms.
BS-VI Norms:
§ The particulate matter emission
in BS-V and BS-VI is same for diesel cars though it is 80% less than BS IV.
§ The nitrogen oxide (NOx) level
is, however, 55% less in BS-VI over BS-V which in itself is 28% lower than BS
IV.
§
The sulphur content in fuel norms for diesel and petrol under both
BS-V and -VI standards does not change at 10 ppm, though it is substantially
less than 50 mandated for both the fuels under BS-IV.
Way ahead:
Rolling out the BS VI standard
nationally, skipping BS V, has significant cost implications for fuel producers
and the auto-mobile industry, but its positive impact on public health would
more than compensate for the investment.
Sources: pib.
Facts for Prelims:
Cornelia Sorabji:
Context:
Google Doodle on November 15th paid tribute to Cornelia
Sorabji, the first woman to practice law in the country, on the occasion of her
151st birth anniversary.
Who was Cornelia Sorabji?
Cornelia Sorabji was the first
woman advocate of India. She created history by becoming first woman lawyer in
1924. She was the first woman permitted to attend Bombay University, where she
excelled. She then went on to become the first Indian woman to study law at
Oxford University in 1892.
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