Government tells Supreme Court that they cannot force couples into family planning.
The
Centre told the Supreme Court on Saturday that it was against coercing couples
into having a “certain number of children” in a bid to curb population
explosion.
In
fact, the government said that 2001-2011 witnessed sharpest decline in decadal
growth rate among Indians in 100 years.
“The
Family Welfare Programme in India is voluntary in nature, which enables couples
to decide the size of their family and adopt the family planning methods, best
suited to them, according to their choice, without any compulsion,” the Union
Ministry of Health and Family Welfare said in an affidavit.
India
was a signatory to the Programme of Action (POA) of the International
Conference on Population and Development, 1994, which was unequivocally against
coercion in family planning.
Only 12.9% Indian women hold agricultural land.
Lakshadweep
and Meghalaya are the best among all the 35 states and Union Territories at
providing land rights to women; Punjab and West Bengal are the worst, according
to an index created by the Bhubaneswar-based Centre for Land Governance, an arm
of consultancy firm NR Management Consultants.
The
index was prepared using the data on women’s operational holdings from the
agriculture census of 2011, the share of adult women owning farm land from the
Indian Human Development Survey of 2011-12.
The
share of women-headed households owning land from the Socio-economic Caste
Census of 2011, and the share of women owning house and/or land (alone or
jointly) from the National Family Health Survey of 2015-16.
The
index ranks states in terms of women holding land rights in percentage points.
On average, 12.9% of Indian women hold land.
In
the southern states, 15.4% of women hold land, and in the northeast, 14.1%.
Despite such low figures, these states outperform the northern states (9.8%),
and the eastern states (9.2%).
Tharu Tribals .
Uttar
Pradesh government has working to connect Tharu villages in the districts of
Balrampur, Bahraich, Lakhimpur and Pilibhit bordering Nepal, with the home stay
scheme of the UP Forest Department.
•
The word tharu is believed to be derived from sthavir, meaning followers of
Theravada Buddhism. The community belongs to the Terai lowlands, amid the
Shivaliks or lower Himalayas.
•
Terai is a region of northern India and southern Nepal running parallel to the
lower ranges of the Himalayas.
•
The Tharus live in both India and Nepal. In the Indian terai, they live mostly
in Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, and Bihar.
•
They are scheduled tribe in the states of Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh and Bihar.
Most of them are forest dwellers, and some practice agriculture.
•
They speak various dialects of Tharu, a language of the Indo-Aryan subgroup,
and variants of Hindi, Urdu, and Awadhi.
•
Tharus worship Lord Shiva as Mahadev, and call their supreme being “Narayan”,
who they believe is the provider of sunshine, rain, and harvests.
•
Tharu women have stronger property rights than is allowed to women in
mainstream North Indian Hindu custom.
•
Standard items on the Tharu plate are bagiya or dhikri – which is a steamed
dish of rice flour that is eaten with chutney or curry – and ghonghi, an edible
snail that is cooked in a curry made of coriander, chili, garlic, and onion.
About Theravada Buddhism:
•
It is strongest in Sri Lanka, Cambodia, Thailand, Laos and Myanmar. It is
sometimes called 'Southern Buddhism'.
•
The name means 'the doctrine of the elders' - the elders being the senior
Buddhist monks.
•
This school of Buddhism believes that it has remained closest to the original
teachings of the Buddha. However, it does not over-emphasise the status of
these teachings in a fundamentalist way - they are seen as tools to help people
understand the truth, and not as having merit of their own.
•
It emphasizes attaining self-liberation through one's own efforts. The follower
is expected to "abstain from all kinds of evil, to accumulate all that is
good and to purify their mind".
•
The ideal of Theravada Buddhism is the arhat, or perfected saint, who attains
enlightenment as a result of his own efforts.
•
The Meditation is one of the main tools by which a Theravada Buddhist
transforms themselves, and so a monk spends a great deal of time in meditation.
Mount Everest.
Nepal
and China jointly announced the new height of Mount Everest as 8,848.86 meters.
•
Mount Everest or Sagarmatha, Earth’s highest mountain above sea level, is
located in the Himalayas between China and Nepal -– the border between them
running across its summit point.
•
Its current official elevation – 8,848.86m – places it more than 200m above the
world’s second-highest mountain, K2, which is 8,611m tall and located in
Pakistan Administered Kashmir.
•
Considered an elite climbing destination, Everest was first scaled in 1953 by
the Indian-Nepalese Tenzing Norgay and New Zealander Edmund Hillary.
Everest’s First Survey:
•
The mission to measure the world’s highest peak was taken up on a serious note
in 1847 and culminated with the finding of a team led by Andrew Waugh of the
Royal Surveyor General of India.
•
The team discovered that ‘Peak 15’ — as Mt Everest was referred to then — was
the highest mountain, contrary to the then-prevailing belief that Mt Kanchenjunga
(8,582 m) was the highest peak in the world.
•
Another belief, prevailing even today, is that 8,840 m is not the height that
was actually determined by the 19th-century team.
•
That survey, based on trigonometric calculations, is known as the Great
Trigonometric
Survey of India.
Why
is the Height being Revised?
•
The height of the summit, however, is known to change because of tectonic
activity, such as the 2015 Nepal Earthquake.
•
Its measurement over the decades has also depended on who was surveying.
•
Another debate is whether the height should
•
be based on the highest rock point or the Highest Snow Point.
Dr.
Carolina Araujo, Mathematician from Brazil, received the 2020 award for her
work in algebraic geometry.
Prize
is given annually since 2005 to a researcher from a developing country who is
less than 45 years of age.
Srinivasa
Ramanujan was Indian mathematician who made spectacular contributions to
elliptic functions, continued fractions, infinite series, and analytical theory
of numbers.
Award
has been instituted by Department of Science and Technology (DST) in memory of
Srinivasa Ramanujan.
India records one of lowest daily Covid cases in 7 days.
India
has recorded one of the lowest daily cases and daily deaths due to Coronavirus
disease (Covid-19) per million population in the past seven days, shows
government data.
Union
health ministry noted, “India reported one of the lowest cases per million
population in the world (158) in the last 7 days; much lower than many other
countries of the Western Hemisphere”.
New
cases reported per million population in the world in the past seven days were
553. France reported 1,252 cases, Russia had 1,330, Brazil reported 1,387, United
Kingdom with 1,753, Italy had 1,934, and USA reported 4,310 Covid-19 cases per
million population during the same period.
When
compared globally, India recorded one of the lowest new case fatalities per
million population in the past seven days (2), according to the government
data.
The
world reported ten new deaths due to Covid-19 per million population during the
past seven days. With 75 deaths, Italy has reported maximum Covid-19 deaths,
followed by USA (49 deaths), France and UK with 43 deaths each, 26 deaths in
Russia, and 23 deaths reported from Brazil.
India’s
active caseload currently has fallen to 3.62% of the total cases.
In
Cuba, a country under an authoritarian communist regime for more than six
decades, a campaign by artists and activists demanding greater freedom of
expression is fast grabbing the limelight.
The
Movement to San Isidro, or the San Isidro Movement (MSI), started two years ago
to protest state censorship of artistic works, and has now become a platform
for Cuban dissidents both within and outside the Caribbean nation.
What is Cuba’s San Isidro Movement
(MSI)?
The
movement started in September 2018, when the Cuban government sought to enforce
Decree 349, a law that would have given powers to the nation’s Culture Ministry
to restrict cultural activity it did not approve of.
To
protest against the decree, artists, poets, journalists and activists gathered
in San Isidro, a Black-majority locality that is among Havana’s poorest yet
most culturally active wards, and which also forms part of the Old Havana
UNESCO World Heritage Site.
What
gave crucial firepower to the movement was a landmark 2015 deal between Cuba
and the US, one of whose provisions stipulated that the Cuban regime should
allow its people greater internet freedoms in exchange for opening bilateral
relations with Washington.
Thus,
the protesters managed to connect and amplify their message over the internet
with relative ease, in a country where the government controls all modes of communication,
and where no political opposition has been permitted.
UAE launches inoculation using Chinese drugs giant
Sinopharm’s vaccine.
The
United Arab Emirates has launched Covid-19 vaccinations in the capital Abu
Dhabi.
It
is approved the jab by Chinese drugs giant Sinopharm. The wealthy Gulf nation
is one of the first countries to start widespread inoculation, after Britain
became the first to roll out a campaign using a vaccine by US pharmaceutical
giant Pfizer and its German partner BioNTech.
Gulf
countries UAE and Bahrain, where third-phase trials of the Sinopharm vaccine
were carried out, have both officially registered it for public use after it
was previously approved for emergency use for frontline health workers.
Residents
in the capital can book an appointment through the Abu Dhabi Health Services
(SEHA) hotline.
Sinopharm
-- which uses an inactive form of the novel coronavirus -- is administered in
two doses, 21 days apart, according to SEHA.
The
UAE has so far recorded more than 184,000 novel coronavirus cases, including
617 deaths.
China
has four vaccines, including Sinopharm, in the final stages of development and
is well advanced with mass human testing in a number of countries, including
Brazil, the UAE and Turkey.
Pratas Islands.
Recently,
experts are increasingly warning of a possible Chinese attack to capture the
Pratas Islands.
Pratas
Islands also known as Dongsha Islands have emerged as anew flashpoint in South
China Sea (SCS).
Islands
are located in the northern part of SCS underjurisdiction of Taiwan.
If
China controlled the Pratas Islands, the islands could functionas a gatekeeper
to monitor U.S. and other countries‘ships andaircraft entering the South China
Sea from the Pacific Ocean.
India, Uzbekistan ink 9 pacts .
India
and Uzbekistan signed nine agreements to further broadbase cooperation in an
array of areas even as they vowed to combat the threat of terrorism by
“destroying” terrorist safe-havens, networks and funding channels. At a virtual
summit, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Uzbek President ShavkatMirziyoyev
extensively deliberated on expanding overall bilateral ties, and agreed to step
up efforts for an early conclusion of a bilateral investment treaty.
In
another news, many doctors at several hospitals in the national capital,
including AIIMS, sported black ribbons in support of the protest call of the
IMA against the Centre’s move allowing post graduate practitioners of Ayurveda
to be trained in performing surgical procedures.
IFSCA notifies International Financial Services Centres
Authority (Banking) .
In
the Union Budget 2020, Finance Minister had announced for setting up an
International Bullion Exchange at the International Financial Services Centre
in GIFT City, Gandhinagar, Gujarat.
The
Government of India had notified the bullion spot delivery contract and bullion
depository receipt (with bullion as underlying) as Financial Products and
related services as Financial Services under the International Financial
Services Centres Authority (IFSCA) Act, 2019.
IFSCA
has been entrusted with the responsibility of operationalization of this
Exchange.
In
this regard, International Financial Services Centres Authority (Bullion
Exchange) Regulations 2020 were approved by the Authority in its meeting held
on October 27,2020.
The
said regulations have been notified and published in the Gazette of India on
December 11, 2020.
The
regulations inter alia cover the Bullion Exchange, Clearing Corporation,
Depository and Vaults.
The
regulations are divided into the 16 chapters. First half of the regulation
deals with the Exchange and Clearing Corporations while the second half
pertains to the Vaults and Depositories and related provisions.
Special Assistance to States for Capital Expenditure
scheme.
All
the states except Tamil Nadu have availed benefits of the newly announced
scheme for “Special Assistance to States for Capital Expenditure”.
The scheme was announced by the Finance Minister on 12th October as a part of the Aatmanirbhar Bharat package.
The
Scheme is aimed at boosting capital expenditure by the State Governments who
are facing a difficult financial environment this year due to the shortfall in
tax revenue arising from the COVID 19 pandemic.
Capital
Expenditure has a higher multiplier effect, enhancing the future productive
capacity of the economy, and results in a higher rate of economic growth.
Therefore,
despite the adverse financial position of the Central Government, it was
decided to extend a special assistance to the State Governments in respect of
capital expenditure in 2020-21.
The
Scheme has got a very positive response from the State Governments. So far,
capital expenditure proposals of over 9,879 crore rupees of 27 States have been
approved by the Finance Ministry.
Project Loon .
Google
has a subsidiary called Project Loon, which comprises of helium-filled balloons
that aim to deliver internet access to remote parts of the world.
These
high-altitude balloons are found in the stratosphere and create aerial wireless
networks.
It
is a network of stratospheric balloons designed to bring Internetconnectivity
to rural and remote communities’ worldwide. It is a project under a Google
subsidiary.
Huge
helium filled balloons are launched at altitudes of 20 km above theearth, above
the zone where airplanes fly.
The
balloons can then act as cell towers to receive and transmit signals.
Recently,
Loon seta new record for the longest stratospheric flight by staying inair for
312 days.
Recently
the astronomers have shown their interest on a strange exoplanet, orbiting a
double-star 336 light years away.
HD106906
bhints about our own mysterious Planet Nine that because of oddball behaviour
of the planet, — if it exists.
What is this exoplanet, and what is
Planet Nine?
This
exoplanet is not a new discovery: It appears in archival images taken by the
Hubble Space Telescope in 2004.
In
our solar system Planet Nine is an elusive, distant planet. Although it has not
been found yet, it has been predicted by a series of studies over the last few
years, and has been described by astronomers as “hiding in plain sight”. If it
exists, Planet Nine is 10 times as massive as Earth.
Why is Planet Nine believed to
exist?
These
predictions arise from the peculiar behaviour and alignment of various objects
in the Solar System.
Astronomers
believe all this is happening under the influence of Planet Nine. Some of the
objects in this region have been found to be very peculiarly aligned, and
Planet Nine is likely responsible for this, according to a paper published in
2016 by Konstantin Batygin and Michael Brown of the California University of
Technology.
Then
in 2018, astronomers reported the peculiar behaviour of another object in the
Solar System, called 2015 BP519.
The
object orbits our Sun — but at an extreme tilt (54°) when compared to the
orbits of Earth and the other seven planets. Simulations showed that the
influence of Planet Nine (if it exists) would explain this tilt. Without Planet
Nine, the tilt would be unexplained.
Why is the new exoplanet being
compared with Planet Nine?
Both planets (assuming Planet Nine is real) reside far out in their respective stellar systems. Both orbit their respective stars at an extreme tilt. And both are massive enough to influence the behaviour of other objects in their respective regions.
All
that said, HD106906 b presents a more extreme case in these respects. While
Planet Nine is assumed to be 10 times as massive as Earth, HD106906 b is 11 times
the mass of Jupiter.
HD106906
b is unusually far away from its pair of host stars — over 730 times the
distance that earth is from the sun. That makes its orbit extremely long —
15,000 years.
Its
binary star is relatively young at 15 million years, compared to our Sun which
is 4.6 billion years old.
Emission Gap Report 2020 .
Recently,
United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP)’s Emissions Gap Report 2020 has
been Published Recently.
About Record High GreenHouse Gas
(GHG) Emissions:
•
Global GHG emissions continued to grow for the third consecutive year in 2019,
reaching a record high of 52.4 Gigatonne carbon equivalent (GtCO2e) without
including land use changes (LUC).
•
There is some indication that the Growth in Global GHG Emissions is slowing.
•
The report from UNEP measures the gap between anticipated emissions and levels
consistent with the Paris Agreement goals of limiting global warming this
century to well below 2°C and pursuing 1.5°C.
•
GHG emissions are declining in Organisation of Economic Cooperation and
Development
(OECD)
economies and increasing in non-OECD economies.
Carbon Emission:
• The carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions (from fossil fuels and carbonates) dominate total
GHG
emissions. It reached a Record 38.0 GtCO2 in 2019.
Increasing Forest Fires:
•
Global GHG emissions have grown 1.4% per year on average, with a more rapid
increase of
2.6%
in 2019 due to a large increase in vegetation forest fires.
•
G20 countries account for bulk of emissions:
•
Over the last decade, the top four emitters (China, the United States of
America, EU27+UK and India) have contributed to 55% of the total GHG emissions
without LUC.
•
The top seven emitters (including the Russian Federation, Japan and
international transport) have contributed to 65%, with G20 Members Accounting
for 78%.
•
The Ranking of Countries changes when Considering per capita emissions.
On Consumption-based Emissions:
•
There is a general tendency that rich countries have higher consumption-based
emissions (emissions allocated to the country where goods are purchased and
consumed, rather than where they are produced) than territorial-based
emissions, as they typically have cleaner production, relatively more services
and more imports of primary and secondary products.
•
Both emission types have declined at similar rates.
Impacts caused by Pandemic:
•
CO2 emissions could decrease by about 7% in 2020 compared with 2019 emission
levels, with a smaller drop expected in GHG emissions as non-CO2 is likely to
be less affected.
•
The resulting atmospheric concentrations of GHGs such as methane (CH4) and
nitrous oxide (N2O) continued to increase in both 2019 and 2020.
•
Sector reporting the lowest dip in emission due to pandemic:
Issues and Possible Solutions:
•
The world is still heading for a temperature rise in excess of 3°C this
century.
•
The levels of ambition in the Paris Agreement still must be roughly tripled for
the 2°C pathway and increased at least fivefold for the 1.5°C Pathway.
•
Rise of 3°C in global temperatures could cause catastrophic weather-related
events around the world.
•
UN Experts believe the way to avoid it is encourage green recovery for
countries facing Covid-induced economic slumps.
•
A green recovery involves investment in zero emissions tech and infrastructure,
reducing fossil fuel subsidies, stopping new coal plants, and promoting
nature-based solutions, according to the UN.
•
Such actions could cut 25% of predicted emissions by 2030, and gives the planet
a 66% chance of keeping warming below the 2°mark that the Paris pact had set as
a long term goal.
•
United Nations Environment Programme
•
It is a leading global environmental authority established on 5th June 1972.
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