National Current Affairs – UPSC/KAS Exams- 15th January 2019
UDAN (Ude Desh ka Aam Nagarik) III
Topic: Government Policies
IN NEWS: The Union Ministry of Civil Aviation will shortly award new regional connectivity routes under UDAN (Ude Desh ka Aam Nagarik) III.
More on the Topic:
- UDAN (‘Ude Desh ka Aam Naagrik’) is a first-of-its-kind scheme globally to stimulate regional connectivity through a market-based mechanism.
- The scheme aims to develop unserved and under served
- Besides, a major reason for the poor regional air connectivity in India is that airlines do not find it lucrative to operate from small cities. The government has tried to address this concern by an adroit combination of subsidies and fare caps.
- Under it, airlines will have complete freedom to enter into code sharing with larger airlines for connectivity and they will be exempted from various airport charges.
- Airlines will have exclusive rights for three years to fly on a particular regional route.
- On these routes for regional flights Airfares will be capped at 2500 rupees for an hour’s flight.
- Central and State governments and airport operators will provide a financial stimulus in the form of concessions to airlines
- The mechanism of Viability Gap Funding (VGF) will be provided to interested airlines to kick-off operations from such airports so that the passenger fares are kept affordable
- Government will provide subsidy to airlines for first three years of operations when they will have exclusive flying rights on the selected routes.
- Once the market in these routes gets jump started, it will operate on a commercial basis as per market forces of supply and demand.
Pros of the scheme
- It could lead to development of smaller cities as faster air connectivity will attract infrastructure & investment
- It could ease passenger pressure from Railways & Roads.
- It may provide major boost to Tourism industry in India
- Smaller Airlines could successfully compete with bigger airlines.
- Moreover, of the 35 crore middle class citizens, only 8 cr people fly. Capping of fares, enhancing connectivity will lead to an increase in the number of citizens who can fly and can take some burden off railways
- It will give impetus to India’s ambition of becoming third largest aviation market by 2020
Model Mains Question: UDAAN is a game changer for India’s aviation market. Comment
Source: The Hindu
Water desalination plants harm environment: UN
Topic: Environment and Ecology
IN NEWS: A UN backed study said that Almost 16,000 desalination plants worldwide produce bigger-than-expected flows of highly salty waste water and toxic chemicals that are damaging the environment.
More on the Topic:
- Desalination plants pump out 142 million cubic metres of salty brine every day, 50% more than previous estimates, to produce 95 million cubic metres of fresh water
- About 55% of the brine is produced in desalination plants processing seawater in Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar.
- The hyper-salty water is mostly pumped into the sea and, over a year, would be enough to cover the U.S. state of Florida with 1 foot of brine, it said of the fast-growing and energy-intensive technology that benefits many arid regions.
- Brine, water comprising about 5% salt, often includes toxins such as chlorine and copper used in desalination. By contrast, global sea water is about 3.5% salt.
Harmful Effects:
- Waste chemicals “accumulate in the environment and can have toxic effects in fish.
- Brine can cut levels of oxygen in seawater near desalination plants with “profound impacts” on shellfish, crabs and other creatures on the seabed, leading to “ecological effects observable throughout the food chain”.
Source:The Hindu
36 years on, devadasi custom still prevalent
Topic: Social Justice
In news: More than thirty-six years after the Karnataka Devadasis (Prohibition of Dedication) Act of 1982 was passed, the State government is yet to issue the rules for administering the law. Meanwhile the practice of dedicating young girls to temples as an offering to appease the gods persists not just in Karnataka, but has also spread to neighbouring Goa.
More on the Topic:
- Two new studies on the devadasi practice by the National Law School of India University (NLSIU), Bengaluru, and the Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS) in Mumbai, paint a grim picture of the apathetic approach of the legislature and enforcement agencies to crack down on the practice, particularly prevalent among oppressed communities of north Karnataka.
- A disturbing aspect revealed by the new studies is that special children, with physical or mental disabilities, are more vulnerable to be dedicated as devadasis — nearly one in five (or 19%) of the devadasis that were part of the NLSIU study exhibited such disabilities.
- The NLS researchers found that girls from socio-economically marginalised communities continued to be victims of the custom, and thereafter were forced into the commercial sex racket.
- The TISS study buttresses the point by stressing that the devadasi system continues to receive customary sanction from families and communities.
The Ignorance:
- Despite sufficient evidence of the prevalence of the practice and its link to sexual exploitation, recent legislations such as the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act 2012, and Juvenile Justice (JJ) Act of 2015 have not made any reference to it as a form of sexual exploitation of children, the NLSIU’s Centre for Child and the Law noted in its report.
- Dedicated children are also not explicitly recognised as children in need of care and protection under JJ Act, despite the involvement of family and relatives in their sexual exploitation.
- India’s extant immoral trafficking prevention law or the proposed Trafficking of Persons (Prevention, Protection and Rehabilitation) Bill 2018, also do not recognise these dedicated girls as victims of trafficking for sexual purposes.
Way Ahead:
- The State’s failure to enhance livelihood sources for weaker sections of society fuels the continuation of the practice, the studies underline. More inclusive socio-economic development apart, NLSUI has mooted a legislative overhaul and a more pro-active role from State agencies.
Source: The Hindu
Preventing student suicides
Topic: Social Issues
In news: The end of 2018 brought with it some deeply unsettling cases of student suicides. The deaths of 49 students in Navodaya Vidyalaya schools in the last five years, and of three students preparing for the IIT entrance examinations in Kota in a span of four days, brings the issue of youth suicides to the fore again. More youths are taking their lives due to the fear of failing in examinations, constant flak from teachers, bullying from peers, family pressure and a loss of a sense of a decent future.
More on the Topic:
- The rising number of these cases provokes a serious discussion on the way in which outcomes of education are perceived in India. The instrumental value of education in India is its potential in generating socio-economic and cultural capital through a promise of decent job opportunities in the future.
- But the education system has not been successful in generating enough job options. For instance, the International Labour Organisation’s World Employment and Social Outlook Trends Report of 2018 says that in 2019, the job status of nearly 77% of Indian workers would be vulnerable and that 18.9 million people would be unemployed.
- With their job future being so bleak, students are put under constant pressure to perform. They have failed to learn to enjoy the process of education. Instead, the constant pressure and stress has generated social antipathy and detachment among them.
- Sociologist Emile Durkheim had famously hypothesised that suicides are a result of not just psychological or emotional factors but social factors as well. With a loss of community and other social bonds, students in schools, colleges and coaching centres end up taking their lives.
Government Intervention:
- The framework for implementation of the Rashtriya Madhyamik Shiksha Abhiyan (RMSA) recognises the role of guidance and counselling services to students.
- In 2018, the government approved an integrated school education scheme subsuming the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan, the RMSA, and Teacher Education from April 1, 2018 to March 31, 2020.
- However, without any significant rise in budgetary allocations for education, it is likely that there would be cuts in “non-productive” areas of education such as guidance and counselling.
Way Forward:
- The deep-rooted causes must be addressed. The government must undertake a comprehensive study on the reasons behind these suicides.
- The curriculum should be designed in ways that stress the importance of mental exercises and meditation.
- The Delhi government’s initiative on the ‘Happiness Curriculum’ may be a step in the right direction.
- With regards to higher education, 12 measures were suggested by the Justice Roopanwal Commission. One of them stressed on making Equal Opportunity Cells with an anti-discrimination officer functional in universities and colleges.
- Finally, it is high time we seek to reinvent our educational ecosystem in ways that impregnate new meanings, new ideas of living, and renewed possibilities that could transform a life of precarity into a life worth living.
Source: The Hindu
USTTAD (Upgrading the Skills & Training in Traditional Arts/Crafts for Development) scheme
Topic: Government Initiatives
In News: Finance Minister Arun Jaitley recently inaugurated Hunar Haat organised by Minority Affairs Ministry at State Emporium Complex in New Delhi. Hunar Haats are organised by Ministry of Minority Affairs under USTTAD (Upgrading the Skills & Training in Traditional Arts/Crafts for Development) scheme.
About Hunar Haat:
- Hunar Haats have become a successful mission to provide employment and income generation opportunities with platforms for marketing the products of master artisans, craftsmen and culinary experts belonging to the minority communities.
- It envisages at boosting the skill of craftsmen, weavers and artisans who are already engaged in the traditional ancestral work.
About USTTAD Scheme:
- It envisages boosting the skill of craftsmen, weavers and artisans who are already engaged in the traditional ancestral work.
- Under the scheme, assistance will be provided to traditional artisans to sell their products in order to make them more compatible with modern markets.
- It is fully funded by Union Government
- Applicable for all areas in India
Source: The Hindu
Trishna Gas Project
Topic: Environment and Ecology
In news: The National Wildlife Board has given its approval for the Trishna Gas project of ONGC which falls in the Trishna Wildlife Sanctuary in the Gomati district of Tripura.
More on the Topic:
- The Trishna Wildlife Sanctuary was established in 1988. The vegetation covers four broad categories of tropical semi-evergreen forest, the east Himalayan lower Bhanar sal, Moist mixed deciduous forest and the Savanah woodland.
- Indian Gaur (Bison) is an attraction of this sanctuary. Apart from it, there are varieties of Birds, Deers, Hollock Gibbon, Golden Langur, Capped Langur, Pheasant and many other animals and reptiles.
Source: The Hindu
Asian Waterbird Census (AWC)
Topic: Environment and Ecology
In news: A waterbird survey conducted in the Upper Kuttanad region of Kerala has recorded 16,767 birds of 47 continental and local species. The survey, conducted as part of the annual Asian Waterbird Census, has spotted three new species — Greater flamingo, Grey-headed lapwing, and Blue-cheeked bee-eater.
More on the Topic:
- Asian Waterbird Census is an annual event in which thousands of volunteers across Asia and Australasia count waterbirds in the wetlands of their country. This event happens every January. This event is coordinated by wetlands International and forms part of global waterbird monitoring programme called the International Waterbird Census (IWC).
- Asian Waterbird Census (AWC) was started in the year 1987. Its main focus is to monitor the status of waterbirds and the wetlands. AWC also aims to create public awareness on various issues concerning wetlands and waterbird conservation. Each year the census is carried out as a voluntary activity.
- In India, the AWC is annually coordinated by the Bombay Natural history Society (BNHS) and Wetlands International.
Source: The Hindu
