Comprehensive Current affairs 31 August 2020

 Pulikkali Folk Art online this year.

 Pulikkali will be held online in Kerala this year due to Covid-19 pandemic.

• Pulikkali (Puli means Leopard/Tiger and Kali means Play in Malayalam) is a recreational street folk art performed on the fourth day of Onam celebrations.

• Onam is a Hindu rice harvest festival of Kerala celebrated to commemorate King Mahabali in the month of August– September.

• It is mainly practiced in Thrissur district of Kerala. Its main theme of this folk art is tiger hunting with participants playing the role of Tiger and Hunter.

• The Performers paint their bodies like tigers and hunters and dance on streets to the beats of traditional percussion instruments such as thakil, udukku and chenda.

It was introduced by Maharaja Rama Varma Sakthan Thampuran, the then Maharaja of Cochin. Another key event which takes place during Onam is Aranmula Boat Race, the oldest river boat festival in Kerala.

• It takes place at Aranmula in Pampa river, near a Sree Parthasarathy temple in Pathanamthitta district of Kerala.

• Some Other Art Forms of in Kerala are Ottam Thullalm, Talamaddale, Kalaripayattu, Kathakali, Mohiniyattam and Mudiyettu.

Government brings in Chunauti contest for promoting small town start ups.

➡India's Minister for Electronics and Information Technology has launched “Chunauti”- Next Generation Startup Challenge Contest to further boost startups and software products with special focus on Tier-II towns of the  country. 

➡The government has earmarked a budget of over 95  crore rupees over a period of three years for this programme. It aims at identifying around three hundred startups working in identified areas and providing them seed funds of upto 25 lakh rupees and other facilities.

➡Under this challenge the Ministry of Electronics and IT will invite startups in the areas of work including Edu Tech, Agri Tech and FinTech solutions for masses, Supply Chain and Logistic management, Infrastructure, Medical Healthcare as well as jobs and skilling.

Amnesty International orders Indian on human rights violation.

Recently, the Amnesty International (AI) India has demanded an independent

investigation into all of human rights violations by the police during the north-east Delhi riots.

• The riots broke out in Northeast Delhi between Anti-Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA),2019 and pro-CAA protestors, on 23rd February 2020. The violence took a communal turn and led to deaths, injuries and destruction of properties.

• AI put forward its views on issues in J&K and the role of Foreigners Tribunals in Assam

About Amnesty International (AI):

• It is an international Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO) founded in London (UK) in 1961. In 1977, it was awarded the Nobel Prize for Peace.

• It seeks to publicise violations by governments and other entities of rights recognized in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948), especially freedom of speech and of conscience and the right against torture.

• AI India is a part of the global human rights movement spearheaded by Amnesty International. It has its registered office in Bangalore (Karnataka).

India Recycles only 1% of its construction and Demolition Waste.

• As per a report by Centre for Science and Environment, India recycles just one per cent of its construction and demolition (C&D) waste.

• India generates an estimated 150 million tonnes of C&D waste every year.

• But the official recycling capacity is a meagre 6,500 tonnes per day — just about one per cent.

• 53 cities were expected to set up recycling facilities to recover material from C&D waste by 2017 — but only 13 cities have done that by 2020.

Concerns:

• The heaps of concrete, bricks and metal waste from construction were choking waterbodies, green areas and public spaces in Indian cities.

• Toxic dust particles from the debris pollute air and add to particulate matter (PM) pollution.

• It is opposite to National Clean Air Programme where cities have to reduce their particulate pollution by 20-30 per cent by 2024.

Initiatives for recycling C&D waste:

• The Bureau of Indian Standards has allowed use of concrete made from recycled material and processed C&D waste.

• The Construction and Demolition Waste Rules and Regulations, 2016 have mandated reuse of recycled material.

• Swachh Bharat Mission has recognised the need for C&D waste management.

• Ranking points for C&D waste management for Swachh Survekshan 2021 have been doubled to 100 points, divided equally between management infrastructure and waste processing efficiency.

• Cities will need to have a C&D waste collection system in place; notified charges for C&D services and segregation of waste in five streams.

• Under waste processing efficiency criteria, ranking points will be awarded based on the percentage of collected waste that is Processed and Reused.

Significance:

• The demand for Primary Building Material, Including Minerals, Stone, Sand, Iron ore, Aluminium and Timber, is growing at an Unprecedented Rate.

• A significant proportion of construction waste can be recycled and Reused and brought back to construction to substitute naturally sourced material.

• This can help reduce energy intensity and Environmental Footprints of Buildings and Infrastructure.

India ranks 72nd interms of global verage monthly wages.

India has been ranked a lowly 72nd among 106 countries in terms of the average wage per month, while Switzerland topped the chart, according to a global ranking of average wages prepared by Picodi.com.

With an average monthly wage of Rs 32,800 (USD 437), India has been ranked a lowly 72nd among 106 countries surveyed by Picodi.com, an international e-commerce platform which provides discount coupons.

Switzerland, where the average wage converted into rupees amounts to Rs 4,49,000 (USD 5,989), topped the ranking, while in Cuba the average wage is the lowest at Rs 2,700 (USD 36), it said.

When it comes to Asian countries, India ended up in the second part of the ranking (10th out of 16). It was outrun by countries such as South Korea (Rs 1,72,900), China (Rs 72,100), Malaysia (Rs 62,700), or Thailand (Rs 46,400).

The ultimate leaders among Asian countries were Singapore, Australia, and Hong Kong - the only countries with average wages higher than Rs 2,00,000, the report said.

UNSecretary General criticises India’s coal subsidies

➡United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Friday criticised India for subsidising fossil fuels and promoting coal auctions. Mr.Guterres was delivering the 19th Darbari Seth Lecture, organised by the Delhi-based The Energy Resources Institute (TERI).

➡The UN Secretary-General, however, commended several of India’s commitments to clean energy, including the initiative on the International Solar Alliance, plans for a World Solar Bank that would mobilise ₹70 trillion of investments in solar projects over the coming decade and, commitment to installing 500,000 MW of renewable energy by 2030.

➡Mr Guterres’ criticism of coal auctions at the event, which was presided over by External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar, is significant in the backdrop of Prime Minister NarendraModi’s launching of the auction of 41 coal blocks for commercial mining earlier this year as part of India’s Aatmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyaan.

Special Focus on mains :

States can have sub-groups among SCs/STs, says SC.

 A five-judge Bench of the Supreme Court recently held that States can sub-classify

Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes in the Central List to provide preferential treatment to the “weakest out of the weak”.

What did the Court said?

• The Constitution Bench led by Justice Arun Mishra said reservation has created inequalities within the reserved castes itself.

• There is a “caste struggle” within the reserved class as benefit of reservation is being usurped by a few, the court pointed out. The million-dollar question is how to trickle down the benefit to the bottom rung. It is clear that caste, occupation, and poverty are interwoven.

• The State cannot be deprived of the power to take care of the qualitative and quantitative difference between different classes to take ameliorative measures.

• With this, the Bench took a contrary view to a 2004 judgment delivered by another Coordinate Bench of five judges in the E.V. Chinnaiah case.

What was the Supreme Court Verdict in Previous Case?

• The Supreme Court of India in the case of E.V. Chinnaiah Vs. State of Andhra Pradesh (2004(9) SCALE) has held that the castes etc. specified as Scheduled Castes under Article 341 of the Constitution is a homogeneous group for the purpose of the Constitution.

The court said that the benefits of reservation are available to members of all such castes which have been specified as Scheduled Caste in relation to a State/Union Territory.

• This case deals with the issue that whether the schedule caste can further be sub-divided so that the benefit of reservation can reach to the outreach.

• The main part of the judgement of the Court is heavily relied upon the argument that when the groups are been notified by the President in the list under Article 341 of theConstitution, the same take the shape of a homogenous class and thus there cannot be any further classification of the class.

What Happens Now?

• Now with two numerically equal Benches of judges holding contrary viewpoints, the issue has been referred to a seven-judge Bench of the court.

• Justice Mishra’s judgment is significant as it fully endorses the push to extend the creamy layer concept to the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes.

• The judgment records that “once a mortgage always a mortgage” cannot be pressed into service for submitting that once a backward class of citizens, always such a backward class.

• “Citizens cannot be treated to be socially and educationally backward till perpetuity; those who have come up must be excluded like the creamy layer”.

What is the Constitutional Provision?

• The Central List of Scheduled Castes and Tribes is notified by the President under Articles 341 and 342 of the Constitution.

• The consent of the Parliament is required to exclude or include castes in the List. In short, States cannot unilaterally add or pull out castes from the List.

Way Forward:

• The sub-classifications within the Presidential/Central List does not amount to "tinkering" with it. No caste is excluded from the list. The States only give preference to weakest of the lot in a pragmatic manner based on statistical data.

• Preferential treatment to ensure even distribution of reservation benefits to the more backward is a facet of the right to equality.

• When reservation creates inequalities within the reserved castes itself, it is required to be taken care of by the State by making sub-classification so that State largesse does not concentrate in few hands and Equal Justice is Provided to all.

Q1.) Describe the functions of GST council. What is the issue of compensating states for the shortfall in their goods and services tax (GST) collections? Also discuss the necessary steps need to be taken in this regard.

Context:

It is beyond anyone’s imagination that the Government of India would invoke the “Force Majeure” clause against its own people.

Unfortunately, this has become reality at a time when every Indian State is massively burdened by the COVID-19 crisis and governance has been severely affected.

Finance Minister’s statement on Thursday that the financial crisis facing the States is a result of an “act of God” is symptomatic of the callousness with which the Modi government treats State governments.

This abdicationof responsibility strikes a cruel blow to the social contract that exists between the Government of India and State governments, who are equal representatives of the 1.3 billion citizens of India.

The Basis:

The Goods and Services Tax (GST) regime was built on the promise that if States faced revenue deficits after the GST’s introduction, the Centre would make good the loss in the first five years.

It was on the basis of this commitment that States extended their support to GST.

States sacrificed their constitutionally granted powers of taxation in the national interest. That allowed the Centre to announce the dawn of “one nation one tax” at the stroke of midnight in 2017.

When the GST compensation cess exceeded the amount that had to be paid to States, the Central government absorbed the surplus.

Now, the economy has slowed down dramatically and the resources raised are insufficient.

Instead of exploring other viable options, the Centre is orchestrating a charade and raising questions about whether it is legally accountable to pay compensation.

A reading of the Goods and Services Tax (Compensation to States) Act 2017 and the Constitution 101st Amendment answer these questions affirmatively. Alas, the government’s objective is to obfuscate.

It is one thing to say that there are no funds available but entirely another to assert that there is no commitment to pay compensation.

This commitment has a history that begins with United Progressive Alliance era when many BJP-ruled States strongly pitched for a compensation mechanism to be a part of the Constitution itself.

Paragraph 92 of the Standing Committee report shows that the Centre assured payment of compensation for a specified period, if there were such a loss.

Assurance made:

When the Modi government introduced the GST compensation cess, many States pointed out that proceeds from the cess may be inadequate to fund the losses faced by States after the rollout of GST.

Allaying these apprehensions, the central government made the assurance that it would provide funds to meet States’ deficits.

In the seventh meeting of the GST Council, the Chairman (then Finance Minister Arun Jaitley), observed that it was the constitutional commitment of the central government to provide cent per cent compensation.

This was reinforced in the eight meeting of the Council

In the tenth meeting, the Secretary of the GST Council stated that the central government could raise resources by other means for compensation and this could then be recouped by continuing the cess beyond five years.

Therefore, there was never any ambiguityin the minds of States that succour will be offered by the Centre.

States never expected to be disappointed so early. The central government has let them down by thrusting on them two options, both of which involve borrowing by States.

This is akin to asking States to mortgage their future to sustain the present.

Cooperative federalism has been transformed into coercivefederalism.

Centre is best placed:

The central government has the ability to raise resources through means that are not available to States.

Monetary measures are the monopoly of the central government. Even borrowing is more efficient and less expensive if it is undertaken by the Central government.

Over the last six years, the Centre has continually cornered resources that should have been shared with States.

The Fourteenth Finance Commission allotted 42% of central government tax revenues to States.

However, Accountability Initiative’s analysis of State Budgets shows that States received only 30%of central tax collections during the 2015-19 period.

The Centre raised an estimated ₹3,69,111 crore revenue through cesses and surcharges in 2019-20 alone. These are not shareable with States.

Similarly, cesses on petroleum products have resulted in the Centre receiving 60% of petroleum tax revenues, with only 40% going to States. In 2013-14, the ratio was 50-50.

Conclusion:

As equal representatives of the citizens of the federal republic of India, State governments expected the Centre to demonstrate empathy when they are bearing the bruntof the COVID-19 pandemic and lockdowns that were announced without consultation.

This is the most appropriate time to provide them relief through the Consolidated Fund of India.

Prime Minister proudly described GST as a ‘Good and Simple Tax’ which would usher in a glorious economic future for India.

Unfortunately, just three years later, the harsh reality is that States are staring at ‘grave and sordidtimes’ ahead.

Q.2) What are the key reasons behind adolescent pregnancy in India?  Suggest steps that can be taken to tackle the problem.

Context:

India’s crimes data recording system is not built to capture subtleties; hence we do not know what proportion of pregnancies in India start off without the consent of the woman.

Measuring and tracking matters of import is critical to individual, community as well as national well-being.

Parameters that are valuable:

What is valuable is measured frequently, at different life stages, and at disaggregated levels: birthweights; the heights and weights of our children when they enter school; school completion rates; perhaps the age, height and weight of a first-time pregnant woman; and most definitely, the number of women in the formal workforce who are on a par with men in terms of earning.

Underage marriage of girls must become history.

Ensuring secondary school completion of every child, especially girls in rural areas, has far-reaching impact, and needs to be pursued single-mindedly.

Provisioning separate, functional toilets and sanitary pads for girls, and teaching boys biology and gender differences (of their own and female) are key enablers to ensuring gender parity in school completion rates.

Teaching school-leaving girls and boys the notion of consent, and also the basics of contraception, will ensure that the start of every pregnancy will be a desired and happy one.

Births in the country:

Not every pregnancy ends up in a live birth — evocatively captured by the six-word allegedly Hemingway novel: “For sale: baby shoes, never worn”.

A desired pregnancy is to be supported by a fully functional health-care system, able to anticipate complications before time and facilitating a safe delivery.

Current stillbirth numbers in India are hard to pin down, but after accounting for background losses and abortions, there still remains a distressingly large number of still births, sometimes mis-recorded as early neonatal deaths.

Despite the trend towards nuclear families, pregnancies in India still are familial events — outcomes are eagerly anticipated by more than just the parents, and stillbirths are a rude end to many fond wishes.

A young, short and under-schooled woman is more likely to have a bad pregnancy outcome, or, a smaller than expected baby.

A birth weight is much more than a number — it is a complex outcome, telling of how well the woman and her family eats, her status among them, and also of any particular condition that the individual mother or newborn child has.

Tracking average birthweights by district and subdistrict on a regular basis is a fair proxy for food security, the status of women and the delivery of primary health care.

For a nation with plans to assign digital health IDs to everyone, this is not a tall ask — what is additionally required is the making of this moving average data live and visible to the people and their government.

It should also put to rest all debate about whether some Indians are born more equal than others.

Height-weight proportions:

A good start is a great advantage, but easily squanderedif subsequent growth and development are blightedby the lack of adequate nutrition, first exclusively from the mother’s breast, then through locally available weaning and complementary foods; and repeated bouts of vaccine preventable or easily treatable illnesses.

Parental hopes of a child growing up, going to school and becoming successful hit a major hurdle if the height-weight proportions at age five are not normal.

Ensuring this marker is recorded for every child who enters school will also allow for a correlation with birth weights at the district level — giving a better understanding of multi-dimensional property.

If India is to be truly taking advantage of its large birth cohort in the form of a demographic dividend, then the correlate of birthweight and five-year height-weight needs to be reviewed at the highest political levels regularly.

It reflects the physical and cognitive nurture of human capital that the country can bank on for its future.

Every child born in India is to be considered a ratna – a jewel and handled as such; some of them will go on to get the formal Bharat Ratna tag eventually.

Improved learning:

Schooling is a socio-economic and gender parity springboard if school completion rates show no gender, rural-urban or parental income divides.

Consequently, India may not only bring down its maternal mortality ratios but also improve neonatal and under five mortality rates, through delayed marriages and exercising of reproductive choices by its empowered young women.

Grading cognitively ill-equipped or ill-taught children on standardised tests is as much a waste of effort as letting large numbers of young people graduate through courses which are hopelessly out of sync with the expectations of the job interview board.

The recently unveiled new education policy seeks to remedy this. It will be a while before we can measure any of the talked about, and hopefully intended, outputs or impact of this policy.

Unimaginative teaching of anaemic children is a double whammy, partially addressed through protein rich mid-day meals.

Deworming, school toilets, sanitary pads and bicycles for girls are progressive policy steps in the right direction; adding remedial training and affirmative feedback for teachers will be transformative.

With better cognitive capacities and supportive environment, the stress of learning reduces, and outcomes improve.

Improved learning should translate into better completion rates at post-secondary and baccalaureate levels but need not necessarily correspond to universal, meaningful employment.

It is for the government and the corporate world to make opportunities and workplaces happen, irrespective of their gender.

Right economic stimuli, anticipating potential workplace disruptions, supporting reskilling and retraining, and decriminalising entrepreneurial failure will go a long way in eliminating work and livelihood-related anxieties making their way back home as domestic violence.

As a society, we need to understand and make leewayfor failure, and not stigmatise it, whether at school in early childhood, during miscarriages of pregnancies, or when career and business decisions go awry.

Stigma erodes self-worth and kills silently.

Timely data helps:

Together, these measurements will tell us far more about where we are, and where we as a nation will go.

The tools to get these measurements exist; we just have to see them in real time to be able to take corrective actions where needed.

Public health is about people, their continued well-being, and not just about controlling disease outbreaks.

Data helps; timely, disaggregated, multidimensional data helps immensely in ensuring collective well-being, physical, mental and social.

People are India’s greatest possession and will remain so for the conceivable future, provided they are in a state of well-being.

An ill-educated, anxious population is a tinderbox, capable of self-harm as well as being kindling for malice-driven mobilisation.

Addressing this requires a whole of life and whole of society approach, and measuring the outcomes that matter, regularly.

Conclusion:

Hopefully the 2017 edition of the national health policy and the new education policy unveiled last month will be the twin rails that India rides towards a true demographic dividend.