New Alpine Plant Species Discovered in Arunachal Pradesh

 A group of scientists of three institutes have discovered a new species of alpine plant in the Tawang district of Arunachal Pradesh. The details were published in Biodiversitas: Journal of Biological Diversity.

About the New Alpine Plant Species

• The new species of plant belongs to the family of Himalayan sunflower.
• It has been named as Cremanthodium indicum.
• This species of plant generally flowers from July to August.
• It is endemic to the Penga-Teng Tso Lake of Tawang district.
• As per the IUCN Guideline, this alpine plant species has been listed as critically endangered.

Alpine Plants

The plants that grow in the alpine climate. Many of the plant species and taxon grow as a plant community in such alpine tundra including perennial grasses, forbs, sedges, mosses, cushion plants and lichens. These plants are adapted to harsh alpine climatic of environmental conditions such as dryness, low temperatures, wind, drought, ultraviolet radiation, poor nutritional soil and a short growing season.

Alpine climate

Typical weather for the regions that occurs above the tree line. It is also called as the mountain climate or highland climate.

Tree line

It is the edge of habitat at which trees are capable to grow. Tree line is found at high elevations and high latitudes. It the line beyond which the trees cannot tolerate environmental conditions like extreme snowpack, cold temperatures, or associated lack of moisture.

Tawang District

It is the smallest districts out of the 16 administrative districts of Arunachal Pradesh. It has a population of 49,977 which makes the state as eighth least populous district in India. This district is inhabited by the Monpa people.

NITI Aayog’s Draft National Policy on Migrant Workers

 The National Institution for Transforming India (NITI Aayog) recently published its draft national policy on migrant labours.

Highlights

• The policy was prepared in association with the working subgroup of officials and members of civil society.
• This draft policy is inspired by the rights-based approach which gain momentum during the return migration of around 10 million migrant workers from cities to their respective village during the Covid-19 pandemic and lockdown.

Facts regarding draft national migrant labour policy

• The draft migrant workers policy describes two approaches regarding the policy design.

1. The first approach focusses on cash transfers, special quotas, and reservations for the labours.
2. The other approach seeks to enhance the agency and capability of community. Thus, in turn removes any of the aspects coming in the way of natural ability of the individual to prosper.

• The policy further rejects the handout approach and opts for a rights-based framework.
• Policy also seeks to remove the restrictions on true agency and potential of the migrant workers.
• The policy was formulated with the goal of “not providing any temporary or permanent economic aids as well as the social aids”.
• The policy further maintains that, “Internal Migration should be considered as an integral part of the development and government’s policies should be formulated in such a way that it facilitates the migration”.

What was the need of new policy?

This draft policy was formulated in the light of flaws in the existing laws. A report of 2017 also stated that the migrant workers should be integrated with all other workers so as to overarch the exploitation of workers by contractors. Further, in India the size of the unorganised sector is huge so a comprehensive policy was required to provide them a social protection.

Current Affairs – February 25, 2021

 

India

There’s no link between deaths and Covid vaccination in India: NAEFI panel

The National Adverse Event Following Immunisation (NAEFI) committee has not found any link between the deaths and vaccination in the cases that it has investigated so far. Out of 39 total deaths, the NAEFI has reviewed 12 cases and has found that the deaths were “unrelated” with no link to the vaccine.

Vijay Sampla is new Chairman of National Commission for Scheduled Castes

BJP leader Vijay Sampla took over as Chairman of the National Commission for Scheduled Castes (NCSC) on February 24, 2021. Sampla has been the former Union Minister of State for Social Justice and Empowerment in 2014-19.

Union Cabinet approves a proposal to impose President’s Rule in Puducherry

The Union Cabinet on February 24, 2021 approved a proposal to impose President’s Rule in Puducherry, days after a Congress-led government in the union territory lost power during a vote of confidence. Announcing the Cabinet decision, Union Minister Prakash Javadekar told reporters that the decision was taken as no party claimed to form a government in Puducherry following the resignation of the chief minister there.

Prakash Javadekar uses Sanskrit for first time at UNSC on climate change

Prakash Javadekar, Union Minister of Environment, Forest and Climate Change on February 23, 2021 used Sanskrit for the first time in United Nations Security Council (UNSC) Debate on climate change. The Union Minister stated that India is the only country on track among the G20 nations to meet its climate change mitigation commitments.

Uttar Pradesh Prohibition of Unlawful Conversion of Religion Bill passed

The Uttar Pradesh Legislative Assembly on February 23, 2021 passed by voice vote a bill aimed at curbing religious conversions by fraudulent or any other undue means, including through marriage. The Uttar Pradesh Prohibition of Unlawful Conversion of Religion Bill, 2021 seeks to replace the ordinance promulgated in November 2020 that provides for imprisonment up to 10 years and a maximum fine of Rs 50,000 for violators. Under the bill, a marriage will be declared “null and void” if the conversion is solely for that purpose, and those wishing to change their religion after marriage need to apply to the district magistrate.

Economy & Corporate

Cabinet approves Production Linked Incentive Scheme for pharmaceuticals

The Union Cabinet approved Production Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme for pharmaceuticals, and said the move will bring investments of ₹15,000 crore into the sector. The PLI scheme for pharma is expected to promote the production of high-value products in the country and increase the value addition in exports.

Cabinet approves Production Linked Incentive Scheme for IT Hardware

The Union Cabinet approved the Production Linked Incentive (PLI) Scheme for IT Hardware. The scheme proposes production linked incentive to boost domestic manufacturing and attract large investments in the value chain of IT Hardware. The Target Segments under the proposed Scheme include Laptops, Tablets, All-in-One PCs and Servers. The total cost of the proposed scheme is approximately Rs.7,350 crore over 4 years, which includes an incentive outlay of Rs.7,325 crore and administrative charges of Rs.25 crore.

Housing and Urban Affairs Ministry launches National Urban Digital Mission

The Housing and Urban Affairs Ministry on February 23, 2021 launched the National Urban Digital Mission, which was aimed at creating a shared digital infrastructure for cities. The Ministry also launched the India Urban Data Exchange, which was developed by the Smart Cities Mission and the Indian Institute of Science, Bengaluru. The open-source platform would allow data providers and users to share and access datasets regarding cities.

Fino Payments Bank elevated to the status of scheduled commercial bank by RBI

Fino Payments Bank on February 24, 2021 said it will be able to improve its business prospects further as the RBI has included it in the category of a scheduled commercial bank. The Reserve Bank on February 23 said it has included Fino Payments Bank in the Second Schedule of the Reserve Bank of India Act, 1934.

World

Indian among 12 winners of US International Anti-Corruption Champions Award

Anjali Bharadwaj, an Indian social activist working on issues of transparency and accountability, is one of the 12 “courageous” individuals named by the Biden administration for the newly-instituted International Anti-Corruption Champions Award. Bharadwaj (48) is the founder of the Satark Nagrik Sangathan (SNS) and is also a convener of the National Campaign for Peoples’ Right to Information.

Ghana becomes first country to get free Covid vaccines through COVAX scheme

Ghana became the first country on February 24, 2021 to receive a batch of free anti-coronavirus vaccine doses through the COVAX initiative, a vaccine-sharing scheme behind the inoculation drive in poorer countries. The World Health Organization (WHO), which leads COVAX together with Gavi the Vaccine Alliance and the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations, said the shipment of 600,000 AstraZeneca doses was the first step in immunizing the West African nation of 30 million.

Linda Thomas-Greenfield appointed US ambassador to the United Nations

The Senate has confirmed President Joe Biden’s choice to lead US diplomacy at the United Nations. Linda Thomas-Greenfield will serve as the United States ambassador to the United Nations. Senators voted 78-20 to confirm Thomas-Greenfield to the post, which will be a Cabinet-level position.

Sports

Sardar Patel Stadium in Ahmedabad renamed as Narendra Modi stadium

President Ram Nath Kovind on February 24, 2021 inaugurated the world’s largest cricket stadium that will have seating capacity of 1.32 lakh spectators in Ahmedabad, the refurbished Sardar Patel Stadium, which will now be known as Narendra Modi stadium. The President also performed the ground-breaking ceremony for a sports complex in the stadium, to be named Sardar Patel sports complex, for disciplines like football, hockey, basketball, kabbadi, boxing, and lawn tennis among others.

The disruptive social effects of Hindutva 2.0

 It is the electoral hegemony of the BJP which can deepen the sense of betrayal among those who feel short-changed by the side effects of Hindutva 2.0. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)’s victory in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections was a result of the transformation of three crucial Ms in Indian politics: Mandal, Mandir and Markets.

Almost two years later, the BJP seems to be sticking to the script, but its tactical manoeuvres, even though they have delivered in elections, are beginning to show their disruptive side effects, with the possibility of unrest. Three seemingly disparate events over the past week highlight this trend.

First, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, while campaigning in Assam, said that a Congress government, if elected, would not let the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) be implemented in Assam. Gandhi was silent on the National Register of Citizens (NRC). Politically, this makes sense. Assam has had a long and bloody ethnic conflict, which was rooted in Ahoms — the indigenous landed elite — protesting against the large-scale influx of Bengalis in the state. Decades of negotiations and judicial processes ultimately culminated in the decision to update NRC, which was aimed at detecting illegal migrants in the state. Because a large number of Bengalis in Assam — migrants or not — happen to be Muslims, it suited the BJP to appropriate the demand for NRC.

However, the outcome of the NRC process, which is reported to have excluded a large number of Hindu Bengalis, who are current and potential supporters of the BJP, created a challenge. This forced the BJP into rolling out CAA, a law which provides for granting of retrospective citizenship rights to non-Muslims from India’s neighbouring countries. If a large number of Bengali Hindus were to gain from the CAA route, it would leave the Ahoms with a feeling of betrayal, for they oppose immigrants, irrespective of religion. This is the constituency the Congress is seeking to tap, and the BJP is now seeking to reassure by putting CAA on hold.

Second, an Economic Times report said that the Justice Rohini Commission, examining the reorganisation of reservations for Other Backward Classes (OBCs), is likely to propose a segregation of the existing 27% reservations into four bands of two, six, nine and 10%. Immediately after that, Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar demanded that a caste census be conducted in the country.

The BJP’s success in the Hindi belt, especially Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, can be attributed to building a rainbow Hindu collation of upper castes and non-dominant OBCs. By championing a narrative that the politically dominant OBCs had usurped most of the benefits of reservation and that the Narendra Modi government will correct this historic injustice by creating sub-categories within OBC quota, the BJP aims to consolidate its base and marginalise traditional Mandal parties such as the Samajwadi Party and the Rashtriya Janata Dal.

But this approach has the potential to trigger an adverse side-effect. India does not have sub-caste wise population data. This means that whether or not the new categories of OBC reservation do justice to demographic weights of sub-castes will remain in the realm of speculation. This will create a fertile ground for disputes among various sub-castes who could perceive the new formula as an effective reduction in reservations. There is another possibility, linked to the demand of conducting a caste census, which can create an even bigger challenge. If a caste census shows that the actual population share of communities which are eligible for reservations exceeds 49.5%, there may well be demands to do away with the 50% cap on reservations — which has, in any case, been breached in recent times. Both of these have the potential to create large-scale social unrest.

And finally, facing a backlash in the traditional green revolution belt of Punjab, Haryana and western Uttar Pradesh (UP), and after having performed badly in the local body polls in Punjab, the BJP has begun an outreach programme among Jats. The community supported the BJP in the 2014 and 2017 elections in UP.

In one such outreach event at Soram village of Muzaffarnagar, violence erupted between the supporters of Cabinet minister and the BJP’s important Jat leader, Sanjeev Balyan, and local residents. Earlier, farm protest leaders have issued calls for social boycott of BJP leaders and collective punishment for those who fail to comply with these diktats. Given the maximalist positions which the protesting farmers have taken, such altercations are likely to increase. And since the BJP enjoys power in Haryana and UP, the possibility of the landed elite in these regions seeing the State as an agent of persecution cannot be ruled out.

None of these implies that the BJP will suffer electorally. It has a solid social coalition and is pitted against an emaciated opposition. However, it is exactly this electoral hegemony of the BJP which can deepen the sense of persecution/betrayal among those who feel short-changed by the side effects of Hindutva 2.0 strategy the BJP has unleashed. India’s history tells us that failure to seek grievance redressal through elections can push social groups into pursuing other methods, not all of which have subscribed to laws of the land. The BJP’s political dominance may, paradoxically in some ways, deepen social divisions.

By Roshan Kishore

Source: Hindustan Times, 24/02/21

Quote of the Day February 24, 2021

 

“What’s in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet.”
William Shakespeare

“नाम में क्या है? जिसे हम गुलाब कहते हैं उसे किसी और नाम से पुकारें तब भी वह उतनी ही अच्छी खुशबू देगा।”
विलियम शेक्सपियर

National Urban Digital Mission Launched

 The Central government has launched the ‘National Urban Digital Mission’ on February 23, 2021.

Highlights

• The National Urban Digital Mission was launched by the Union Housing & Urban Affairs Minister, Hardeep Singh Puri and Minister of Electronics & IT, Ravi Shankar Prasad.
• While launching the mission, the Union Housing and Urban Affairs Ministry (MoHUA) stated that, this mission will institutionalise the citizen-centric and ecosystem-driven approach for the urban governance and service delivery in cities by the year 2022. It will also be providing these service deliveries in all cities and towns by 2024.
• Initiatives like Smart-Code, India Urban Data Exchange (IUDX), Smart Cities 2.0 website, and Geospatial Management Information System (GMIS) were also launched at this virtual event.
• ”India Urban Data Exchange (IUDX)” initiative has been developed by the Smart Cities Mission in partnership with the Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bengaluru.

National Urban Digital Mission

• This mission was launched in order to create a digital infrastructure for all the cities in country.
• This mission will help in creating a shared digital infrastructure which in turn can be used to consolidate and cross-leverage the several digital initiatives of the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs.
• The mission will also enable the cities and towns to benefit from holistic and diverse forms of support with respect to the needs and local challenges of the towns and cities.

India Urban Data Exchange (IUDX)

It is an open-source software platform facilitating a secure and authenticated exchange of data across several data platforms, data producers, 3rd party applications and consumers. IUDX will provide full control to the data owners regarding the sharing of data. They could control as to what data needs to be exposed and to whom.

Smart Cities Mission

It is an urban renewal and retrofitting program that seeks to develop smart cities across India so as to make cities citizen friendly and sustainable. This mission is being implemented by Union Ministry of Urban Development in association with the respective state governments. It initially included 100 cities that will be completed in between 2019 and 2023.

Hyderabad- 2020 Tree City of the World

 The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the Arbor Day Foundation have recently recognized Hyderabad as a 2020 Tree City of World. Hyderabad was selected for the recognition following its commitment to grow and maintain the urban forests.

Highlights

• This recognition was a testament for city’s sustained and institutional efforts of planting, nurturing and celebrating trees.
• It also marks the development of the urban and peri-urban forestry actions, projects besides the strategic planning & commitment of building healthy city.
• Other cities which were recognised by the organisation includes 120 cities from across 63 countries. Most of the cities were from United States, United Kingdom, Australia and Canada.
• After this recognition, Hyderabad will join a network of like-minded cities who recognise the importance of trees.
• Hyderabad got the recognition in the second year of the program organised by the foundation.

UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO)

It is a specialized agency of United Nations. FAO leads the international efforts of defeating hunger and improving the nutrition security as well as the food security. The organisation was founded by UN in October 1945. It is headquartered in Rome, Italy. It has its regional and field offices around the 130 countries. FAO coordinate with the governments and development agencies to improve and develop the agriculture, fisheries, forestry, land resources and water resources.  It comprises of 197 member states. It organises a biennial conference representing each member country.

 Arbor Day Foundation

It is a not-for-profit conservation and education organization. The organisation was founded in the year 1972 by John Rosenow in Nebraska, United States. This organisation is the largest not-for-profit membership organization which is dedicated to tree planting. It works with the corporate mission of “inspiring people to plant, nurture, and celebrate the trees. Dan Lambe, is the current President of the foundation.