Behdienkhlam

Context: Behdienkhlam, one of the most colourful festivals of the State, was celebrated in the Jaintia Hills, Meghalaya.

About Behdienkhlam

• Behdienkhlam, a major festival of the people in the Jaintia Hills which is celebrated to invoke the gods for a bumper harvest and drive away plague, drew hundreds of people from all across the State and abroad
• During the festival, decorated and colourful raths were immersed in ‘Wah Ainar,’ a muddy pool. Thousands of followers belonging to the indigenous ‘Niamtre’ faith came to witness the festival.
• Prayers were offered to seek divine blessings for good harvests and sacrificial food was offered to the spirits of the ancestors.
• The festival revolves round wading of the evil that may have come upon the tribes and the evil is symbolized by demons.
• The house roofs are beaten with bamboo poles to make the surrounding free from the evils. This is done as Plague is a disease that affects these tribes much and is carried by rodents.
• The tribal men carrying large stripped beams reaches a place called Aitnar and sing to the tunes of flute and drums. It is thought that the day is very auspicious if it rains during the festivity. They also play a game called Dad-Lawakor which is a kind of football.

Payments Council of India (PCI)

Context: Payments Council of India (PCI), an apex body representing companies in payments and settlement system, has a new Chairman in Vishwas Patel.

About PCI

• The Payments Council of India was formed under the aegis of IAMAI in the year 2013 catering to the needs of the digital payment industry.
• The Council was formed inter-alia for the purposes of representing the various regulated non-banking payment industry players, to address and help resolve various industry level issues and barriers which require discussion and action.
• PCI works closely with the regulators i.e. Reserve Bank of India (RBI), Finance Ministry and any similar government, departments, bodies or Institution to make ‘India a less cash society’.
• The council works with all its members to promote payments industry growth and to support our national goal of ‘Cash to Less Cash Society’ and ‘Growth of Financial Inclusion’ which is also the Vision Shared by the RBI and Government of India.

Internet and Mobile Association of India [IAMAI]

• The Internet and Mobile Association of India [IAMAI] is a young and vibrant association with ambitions of representing the entire gamut of digital businesses in India.
• It was established in 2004 by the leading online publishers, but in the last 10 years has come to effectively address the challenges facing the digital and online industry including mobile content and services, online publishing, mobile advertising, online advertising, ecommerce and mobile & digital payments among others.
• Ten years after its establishment, the association is still the only professional industry body representing the online and mobile VAS industry in India.
• The association is registered under the Societies Act and is a recognized charitable institution in Maharashtra.

Khadi Institution Management and Information System (KIMIS)

Context: The Khadi and Village Industries Commission (KVIC), recently launched its first in-house single-umbrella e-marketing system named Khadi Institution Management and Information System (KIMIS).

KIMIS

• It can be accessed from anywhere pan-India for the purpose of sale and purchase of Khadi and Village Industries products.
• foolproof software, which may have cost millions of rupees if purchased from a third party.
• This software will give real-time data of sales and will also give the updated status of stocks of khadi bhawans and godowns, allowing better planning and control of inventory of the KVIC.
• 480 Khadi institutions and showrooms are linked with this billing software and it will be useful in raising demand and supply of goods in high demand.

Khadi and Village Industries Commission (KVIC)

The Khadi and Village Industries Commission (KVIC) is a statutory body established by an Act of Parliament.

Objectives

• The social objective of providing employment.
• The economic objective of producing saleable articles.
• The wider objective of creating self-reliance amongst the poor and building up of a strong rural community spirit.

Functions

The KVIC is charged with the planning, promotion, organisation and implementation of programs for the development of Khadi and other village industries in the rural areas in coordination with other agencies engaged in rural development wherever necessary.

National Commission for Scheduled Tribes

Context: Chairperson NCST Presents Special Report on “Indira Sagar Polavaram Project Affected Tribal People to President of India.

The report and recommendations are under Article 338A(5)(e) of the Constitution on the measures to be taken by the Government of Andhra Pradesh for the effective implementation of constitutional safeguards and other measures for the protection, welfare and socio-economic development of the Scheduled Tribes who are affected on account of Polavaram Irrigation Project, Andhra Pradesh.

Recommendations made in the Report are as follows

• The Commission, while interacting with affected Scheduled Tribe people was informed that in many cases, the alternative land given to them in lieu of the acquired land is not cultivable.
• Either it is rocky terrain or there is no water.
• The Commission, therefore, recommends that the state government should provide only land fit for agriculture to PDFs/PFs within the command area of Polavaram Irrigation Project with proper irrigation facilities.

• The Commission noted that many ST people without land holdings were also shifted.
• They were hitherto depending on minor forest produces for their livelihood.
• Now that they are shifted, they are deprived of their livelihood.
• The State Government needs to take care of them by providing alternative means of livelihood.

• When the Commission visited Iddikulakotta village, complaints were received stating that in that village, many newly constructed houses were destroyed due to flash flood and so far the destroyed houses have not been re-built.
• The Commission recommended that the destroyed houses should be re-built immediately to mitigate the sufferings of ST people.

• The compensation packages in respect of Polavaram Irrigation project need to be revised on suo-moto basis by the Government of Andhra Pradesh keeping in view the observations and modalities suggested by the Hon’ble Supreme Court of India in Special Leave Petition (SLP) NO.6933 of 2007 in the case of Mahanadi Coalfields Ltd Versus Mathias Oram and others.

• While awarding compensation in respect of tribal people, “land for land” policy should be followed to the maximum extent. In this regard, the ceiling of 2.5. acres of land should be waived in case of ST people, and they should be provided equal or at least 2.5 acres of land within the Command Area of the Polavaram Irrigation Project.

• In the resettlement colonies, focus/emphasis needs to be given for creation of social infrastructure like setting up of Colleges, University, Stadiums, Medical College on the pattern of AIIMs, Art and Music academies/centers, etc. in addition to their entitlement. The State Government should make adequate provision of land for creation of such infrastructure facilities through outright purchase, if necessary.

• The State Government should consider that the entire rehabilitation and resettlement work is undertaken through R&R Commissioner as single point responsibility as well as accountability for R&R, while the actual implementation can be undertaken by other line departments/agencies.

• The State Government must ensure that R&R work is completed and compensation paid to the project affected as well as project displaced families at least four months prior to submergence or commissioning of the project or their displacement, whichever is earlier.

• The State Government should consider developing an industrial estate/hub adjoining the resettlement area to provide employment and economic opportunities to the displaced families. Both the State Government as well as the Central Government should consider declaring this industrial estate as tax free with a tax holiday for 10 years.There should be a condition that only the displaced people from the Polavaram Irrigation Project will be given employment for non-managerial jobs in this industrial estate.

• The Commission apprehended that once the dam project is physically completed and affected people are shifted to new places, the concerned R&R officials will be transferred to new responsibilities and it is likely that the people rehabilitated will be left to their destiny and will have to fend to themselves without any supporting institutional mechanism.
• Commission, therefore, strongly recommends that there should be a dedicated team of R&R officials to be stationed in rehabilitation area to oversee the developmental activities and other welfare measures for a period of at least 5 years from completion of the project.

National Commission for Scheduled Tribes

On the 89th Amendment of the Constitution coming into force on 19 February 2004, the National Commission for Scheduled Tribes has been set up under Article 338A on bifurcation of erstwhile National Commission for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes.

Objective

To oversee the implementation of various safeguards provided to Scheduled Tribes under the Constitution.

Composition

• The Commission comprises a Chairperson, a Vice-Chairperson and three full-time Members (including one lady Member).
• The term of all the Members of the Commission is three years from the date of assumption of charge.

Functions

• To investigate and monitor all matters relating to the safeguards provided for the and Scheduled Tribes under the Constitution or under any other law for the time being in force or under any order of the Government and to evaluate the working of such safeguards;
• To inquire into specific complaints with respect to the deprivation of rights and safeguards of the Scheduled Tribes;
• To participate and advise in the planning process of socio-economic development of the Scheduled Tribes and to evaluate the progress of their development under the Union and any State;
• To present to the President, annually and at such other times as the Commission may deem fit, reports upon the working of those safeguards;
• To make in such reports, recommendations as to the measures that should be taken by the Union or any State for effective implementation of those safeguards and other measures for the protection, welfare and socio-economic development of the Scheduled Tribes, and
• To discharge such other functions in relation to the protection, welfare and development and advancement of the Scheduled Tribes as the President may, subject to the provisions of any law made by Parliament, by rule specify.

Bru community from Tripura to Mizoram

Context: In a major development, the Centre and the state governments of Tripura and Mizoram on 03rd July finally managed to sign an agreement for repatriation of thousands of people belonging to the Bru community from Tripura to Mizoram.

After more than two decades of living in the refugee camps in the Jampui Hills of Tripura, as many as 32,876 people belonging to 5,407 families will finally return to their home state following a tripartite agreement signed by the two state governments and the Centre.

“The central government will provide financial assistance for rehabilitation of Bru community members in Mizoram and address their issues of security, education, livelihood, etc. in consultation with the governments of Mizoram and Tripura,”

Issues

• In 1997, the murder of a Mizo forest guard at the Dampa Tiger Reserve in Mizoram’s Mamit district allegedly by Bru militants led to a violent backlash against the community, forcing several thousand people to flee to neighbouring Tripura.
• The Bru militancy was a reactionary movement against Mizo nationalist groups who had demanded in the mid-1990s that the Brus be left out of the state’s electoral rolls, contending that the tribe was not indigenous to Mizoram.