PERIYAR IAS CURRENT AFFAIRS 20-MARCH-2018
Project:
What is it? The ‘Adopt a Heritage Scheme’ of
Ministry of Tourism was launched on World Tourism Day i.e. 27th September, 2017. This project is a key initiative of Ministry of
Tourism in close collaboration with Ministry of Culture and Archeological
Survey of India (ASI), to
develop the heritage sites / monuments and making them tourist-friendly to
enhance the tourism potential and their cultural importance in a planned and
phased manner.
How it works? The project plans to entrust heritage
sites/monuments and other tourist sites to private sector companies, public
sector companies and individuals for the development of tourist amenities. The
project aims to develop synergy among all partners.
Monument Mitras: Successful bidders selected for
adopting heritage sites / monuments by the Oversight and Vision Committee shall
be called as Monument Mitras. The basic and advanced amenities of the tourist
destinations would be provided by them. They would also look after the
operations and the maintenance of the amenities. The ‘Monument Mitras’ would
associate pride with their CSR activities.
What’s important?
§ For Prelims: Adopt a Heritage, Monument
Mitras and World Tourism Day.
§ For Mains: Need for conservation of heritage
sites.
Sources:
pib.
Topic: Indian culture will cover the salient
aspects of Art Forms, Literature and Architecture from ancient to modern times.
Karnataka govt clears minority status
for Lingayats
Context: The Karnataka government has decided to
declare Lingayats as a religious minority and include the Veerashaivas who
follow Basavanna as a group within the community. The state government will,
now, recommend to the Centre that the community be granted religious minority
status.
Background:
The
community has been demanding status of a separate religion for a long time. One
part of the community demands the minority status for both Veerashaiva and
Lingayats considering them the same, while another wants it only for the
Lingayats as it considers Veershaivas to be Hindus.
Karnataka State Minorities Commission had
formed a seven-member committee, headed by retired high court Judge HN
Nagamohan Das on
the issue. The Nagamohan committee has recommended minority status for only the
Lingayats and has kept Veershaivas out.
Who are Lingayats?
Lingayats
are followers of 12th-century social reformer Basavanna and his vachana
(verses) philosophy. Their beliefs, practices and faith are different.
Veerashaivas worship Lord Shiva, the one mentioned in Hindu mythology. However,
the Shiva that Basavanna referred to in his vachanas (verses) is not the Hindu
god Shiva but the ishtalinga (formless God), which people of the community wear
around their neck.
Who are Veerashaivas?
Veerashaivas
are a sub-sect of Lingayats and ardent followers of Lord Shiva. They preceded
Basavanna, the founder of Lingayatism. Veerashaivism has its roots in the Vedas
and Agamas, and Veerashaivas do not worship any god other than Shiva; they can
be found spread across Karnataka, Kerala, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh and
Telangana.
Who is Basavanna?
Basavanna
was a 12th-century social reformer. The revolution that Basavanna led came
years after the Buddha. It was Basavanna and his contemporary Sharanas who
launched a very strong spiritual, social and religious rebellion against Brahminical
hegemony. Basavanna had declared that “work is worship”. He gave women equal
status in his movement through the vachanas (verses). In order to take the
social movement closer to the people, Basavanna and all the other Sharanas
voiced their concerns in simple Kannada vachanas so that even lay people could
comprehend them.
What’s important?
§ For Prelims: Minority status.
§ For Mains: Need for minority status- issues
and challenges.
Sources:
the hindu.
Paper 2:
Topic: Comparison of the Indian constitutional
scheme with that of other countries.
Russian Presidential Elections
Context: Vladimir Putin has won another term as
Russia’s president.
President of Russia:
This is
the highest office in the country, with the holder being the head of state and
the Supreme Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces.
Two key powers which allow the President a
far-reaching political influence are their right to determine the country’s
foreign policy stance and their right to nominate candidates for most official
state positions, such as
for the Constitutional Court, the Supreme Court, and the Federation Council –
the upper house of the Parliament.
Electoral System:
Russian Presidential elections take place
every six years in a two-round electoral system. During the first round, an absolute
majority is required to win. If no candidate gets 50%+1 of the votes, a second
round is held exactly three weeks later between the two candidates with the
most votes.
Who can contest?
According
to the Constitution, any Russian citizen who is more than 35, has permanently
resided in Russia for the 10 years leading up to the election, and has
committed no serious crime can run for Presidency.
§ However, individuals running as independents
or with the backing of a political party which is not represented in the State
Duma, the lower house of the Parliament, face an additional obstacle.
§ Those with the backing of a political party
have to collect 100.000 signatures in support of their candidacy, while for
independents that number goes up to 300.000. Moreover, there is a ban on more
than two consecutive terms in office, although Presidents are free to run again
for a further third and fourth time after sitting out once full electoral term.
Sources:
the hindu.
Topic: Issues relating to development and
management of Social Sector/Services relating to Health, Education, Human
Resources.
‘SATHE’ program
Context: NITI Aayog has released comprehensive
roadmaps and detailed timelines for its initiative ‘Sustainable Action for
Transforming Human Capital in Education (SATH-E)’.
Key facts:
§ These roadmaps, which operate between
2018 to 2020, lay out
detailed interventions which will be taken by the three participating States- Jharkand,
Madhya Pradesh and Odisha –
aiming to become ‘Role Model States’ in school education.
§ These roadmaps present the first-of-its-kind,
customized, action-oriented programmes, outlining interventions at the
individual, district and State level, it said.
§ The roadmaps were jointly prepared by NITI
Aayog, the three States and the knowledge partners of the SATH Initiatives, the
Boston Consulting Group (BCG) and Piramal Foundation For Education Leadership
(PFEL).
About SATHE Program:
What is it? SATH-E has been envisaged as a
programme which aims to transform elementary and secondary school education
across the selected states. SATH-E roadmap refers to a time-bound, goal-driven
exercise that will reach its logical culmination by the end of the academic
year 2020.
Implementation: The SATH-E initiative in based on
formal agreements with the States and will be funded through a cost-sharing
mechanism between NITI Aayog and the participating states. The Boston
Consulting Group (BCG) and Piramal Foundation for Education Leadership (PFEL)
were chosen as knowledge partners for the project facilitating review, data
collection and implementation.
Significance: SATH-E aims to create role model States
for education and mainstream ‘islands of excellence’ across the country to
facilitate qualitative and quantitative transformation of learning
outcomes. Marrying technology with need-based, data-driven assessment and
a ‘giving it what it takes’ approach – be it innovation, incubation, external
third party funding and Public- Private- Philanthropic Partnership (PPPP)
experimentation – SATH-E puts the States in the driver’s seat to transform
education at scale.
What’s important?
For
Prelims and Mains: SATHE and its significance.
Sources:
pib.
Topic: Welfare schemes for vulnerable sections of
the population by the Centre and States and the performance of these schemes;
mechanisms, laws, institutions and bodies constituted for the protection and
betterment of these vulnerable sections.
Tribal Diaries
Context: The Ministry of Tribal Affairs has
developed an android based mobile application called Tribal Diaries.
About the application:
§ It has been developed for internal monitoring
and for connecting with officers/officials concerned with implementation of
schemes / programmes for tribal development.
§ The application is for accredited users. This
application provides an opportunity for visual feedback in terms of
photographs, videos, uploading reports of official tours / inspections and
sharing of best practices etc.
§ The application is being extensively used to
get an overview of the Ekalavya Model Residential Schools (EMRSs) funded by the
Ministry of Tribal Affairs.
Eklavya Model Residential Schools (EMRS):
Eklavya
Model Residential School Scheme was started in 1998 and first school was
started in the year 2000 in Maharashtra. EMRSs have been functioning as
institutions of excellence for tribal students.
§ As per existing EMRS Guidelines of 2010, at
least one EMRS is to be set up in each Integrated Tribal Development Agency
(ITDA) / Integrated Tribal Development Project (ITDP) having 50% ST population
in the area.
§ The capital cost for setting up the school
complex, including hostels and staff quarters etc. has been earmarked at Rs. 12
crore with a provision to go up to Rs.16 crore in hill areas, deserts and
islands. Recurring cost during the first year for these schools would be Rs.
42000/-per child, with a provision of raising it by 10% every second year to
compensate for inflation etc.
What’s
important?
For
Prelims: Tribal diaries, Ekalvya Model schools.
For Mains:
Need for empowerment of tribals.
Sources:
pib.
Topic: Welfare schemes for vulnerable sections
of the population by the Centre and States and the performance of these
schemes; mechanisms, laws, institutions and bodies constituted for the
protection and betterment of these vulnerable sections.
Scheme for construction workers
Context: The Supreme Court has directed the
Centre to frame a model scheme before September 30 to address the issues of
education, health, social security and pension for construction workers, saying
they build not just infrastructure, but also the nation.
What has the court said?
§ Frame a scheme to ensure workers receive
proper education, health, social security, old age, disability pension and
other benefits necessary to live a dignified life.
§ All state governments and union territories
should constitute an expert committee and bring out statutory rules within six
months.
Concerns:
§ The Centre and states are not addressing the
plight of construction workers despite Parliament framing Building and Other
Construction Workers (Regulation of Employment and Conditions of Service) Act
in 1996 for levy and collection of 1% cess on cost of construction.
§ Around Rs 37,400 crore have been collected
from cess over the years but only about Rs 9,500 crore have been utilised and
Rs 28,000 crore remain unutilised.
Building and Other Construction Workers
(Regulation of Employment and Conditions of Service) Act:
BOCW Act
is a welfare legislation intended and enacted for the benefit of the
unorganised sector of building and construction workers. It has a strong
flavour of social justice and is a serious attempt by Parliament to ensure that
building and construction workers are not exploited because of their poverty
and their children do not suffer their fate in terms of education, healthy
living and whatever it takes to live a life of dignity.
Way ahead:
It is
quite clear that insofar as the rights of construction workers are concerned,
that vulnerable section of the society has been badly let down by the governance
structure. Unless there is effective and full compliance of the provisions,
thousands of beneficiaries will be denied what is constitutionally and
statutorily due to them.
What’s
important?
For Mains:
Protection of vulnerable groups of the society- need, challenges and solutions.
Sources:
the hindu.
Topic: India and its neighbourhood- relations.
RITES
Context: Indian Railways recently handed over 18
microprocessor controlled Indian locomotives to Myanma Railways. They are
supplied by RITES and manufactured by Diesel Locomotive Works, Varanasi, India.
About RITES:
RITES
is a Public Sector
Enterprise under the Ministry of Railways. It is
the export arm of the railways undertaking various projects worldwide.
§ RITES has engaged in the supply of Railway
rolling stock (locomotives, coaches, wagons, permanent way maintenance
vehicles), maintenance of railway infrastructure, technical studies, training
of Myanmar Railway officials.
Sources:
pib.
Facts for Prelims:
Varuna-18:
Context:
The Indo-French joint naval exercise, “Varuna-18”, has commenced in the Arabian
Sea off the Goa coast.
About
Varuna: The Indian Navy and the French Navy have been conducting naval
exercises since 1983. These exercises were christened as “Varuna” in 2001. The
last edition of the exercise was conducted off the French coast in April last
year.
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