Quote of the Day January 3, 2022

 

“The way I see it, if you want the rainbow, you gotta put up with the rain.”
Dolly Parton

“मेरा दृष्टिकोण तो यह है कि आप इंद्रधनुष चाहते हैं तो आपको वर्षा सहन करनी ही होगी।”
डॉली पार्टन

Current Affairs-January 3, 2022

 

INDIA

– Centre sticks to Rs. 8 lakh annual income criteria for reservation to Economically Weaker Section (EWS) candidates

– SC-appointed panel urges citizens with Pegasus-infected devices to contact it by Jan 7

– Parliamentary panel on marriage age raising bill from 18 to 21 years headed by BJP leader Vinay Sahasrabuddhe

ECONOMY & CORPORATE

– Public sector banks perceived as risky, merged ones even more, says RBI

– India appeals against WTO dispute panel ruling on sugar export subsidies

– ATF (aviation turbine fuel) price hiked by 2.75%, commercial LPG rates cut by Rs 102.5

– NTPC plans to acquire 5% equity in Power Exchange of India Ltd (PXIL)

WORLD

– Pakistan: Pilgrims pray at renovated century-old temple of Maharaja Paramhans Ji in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province

– Sudan’s PM Abdalla Hamdok announces resignation amid political deadlock

– Richard Leakey, Kenyan conservationist who campaigned against ivory trade, dies at 77

SPORTS

– Maxime Vachier-Lagrave of France wins world blitz chess title in Warsaw, Poland; world rapid chess title won by Nodirbek Abdusattorov of Uzbekistan

– PM lays foundation stone of Major Dhyan Chand Sports University in Meerut

– Government releases draft national air sports policy

– Russia’s Ekaterina Reyngold wins women’s singles title at $25,000 ITF tennis in Mumbai

Current Affairs- January 2, 2022

 

INDIA

– Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan launches ‘Padhe Bharat’, a 100-days reading campaign

– Uttarakhand: CM Pushkar Singh Dhami launches Free Mobile Tablet scheme for class 10 and 12 students of state government schools

– J&K: 12 killed, 15 injured in stampede at Vaishno Devi shrine

– Haryana: 4 people killed following a landslip at Dadam mining site in Bhiwani district

– India supplies five lakh COVID vaccine doses to Afghanistan

– India, Pakistan exchange lists of civilian prisoners, fishermen in their custody

– India, Pakistan exchange list of nuclear installations and facilities

ECONOMY & CORPORATE

– PM releases 10th instalment of financial benefit under Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi (PM-KISAN) scheme

– FCRA registration of 6,000 NGOs ceases to operate from January 1

– Food aggregators like Swiggy, Zomato to collect 5% GST beginning Jan 1

WORLD

– China opens embassy in Nicaragua after nation breaks ties with Taiwan

– American TV actress Betty White dies at 99

Current Affairs- January 1, 2022

 

INDIA

– SMILE (Support for Marginalised Individuals for Livelihood and Enterprise) scheme for rehabilitation of persons engaged in begging to be launched soon: Union Social Justice and Empowerment Ministry

– VS Pathania takes over as Chief of Indian Coast Guard

– Home Ministry extends validity of FCRA registration of NGOs by 3 months till March 31

– Govt approves 19th tranche of electoral bonds; sale opens on Jan 1

– China says Arunachal Pradesh ‘inherent part’ of its territory; calls it South Tibet

– IAF chief holds talks with top military brass of South Korea

– IAF chief Air Chief Marshal VR Chaudhari holds talks with top military brass of South Korea

– Madhya Pradesh gets drinking water supply schemes worth Rs 15,381.72 crore

ECONOMY & CORPORATE

– Foreign exchange reserves decrease by $587 million to $635.08 billion for the week ended Dec 24

– GST Council decides to retain status quo on GST rate on textile to 5%

– India’s current account slips into deficit in Q2, CAD now at 1.3% of GDP

– PPF, NSC, other post office schemes interest rates remain unchanged for March 31, 2022 quarter

– Vinay Kumar Tripathi appointed as new chairman, CEO of Railway Board

– Sri Lanka agrees to extend lease of strategic WWII oil tank farm to India for 50 years

– Core sectors output slows in Nov to 3.1% month-on-month: Govt data

– Shares of CMS Info Systems settle with over 10% gains in debut trade

WORLD

– World’s population is projected to be 7.8 billion people on New Year’s Day 2022; grew by 74 million over past year: US Census Bureau

– US: Hundreds of homes destroyed in Colorado state as wildfires spread

– Russia test-fires 10 new Tsirkon (Zircon) hypersonic cruise missiles

SPORTS

– Cricket: India beat Sri Lanka by 9 wickets to win U-19 Asia Cup title in Dubai

Gujarat to host international education conference with focus on NEP 2020 on Jan 5-6

 

Panellists in different sessions will hold discussions on "holistic education" and "internationalization of education," and technical sessions will be held on research and innovation, skill development, employment etc,

A two-day international conference of academic institutions will be organised here on January 5-6 in the run-up to the 10th Vibrant Gujarat Global Summit, with a focus on the implementation of the National Education Policy, 2020.

The conference will aim to “effectively clarify the way to strengthen the relationship of industries, academia and students by explaining the roadmap for National Education Policy, 2020,” Gujarat Education Minister Jitu Vaghani said.

Speaking to reporters at Science City in Ahmedabad, where the conference will be organized, Vaghani said around 120 panel speakers, including 40 from abroad, will share their experiences across 21 different sessions.

Gujarat is all set to adopt the NEP 2020, and leading experts and delegates from the education sector, research institutes, professionals, and educationists will throw light on its role in primary, secondary, higher and technical education, he said, adding that academic institutions of international repute will provide a platform to realise the vision of the new policy.

“Australia, Canada, Norway, UK and France will join as partner countries for the international conference. The British Council, the Australia India Business Exchange, Institute of International Education etc have joined as international participants,” Vaghani said.

“Central organizations like the NITI Aayog, Skill India, National Skill Development Corporation, University Grants Commission, All India Council for Technical Education, National Council of Educational Research and Training, and National Board of Accreditation have joined as well,” he added.

He said the conference will also focus on skill development and entrepreneurship, while the impact of COVID-19 on school education, challenges, and how to overcome them will be discussed. There would be a session on the Indian knowledge system as well as a unique session on Sanskrit, he said.

“The conference will build a strong link between national and international educational institutions, and the interdisciplinary discussions to be held there will include the exchange of knowledge among participants on approaches, methods and tools for the implementation of NEP, 2020,” said a release on the event.

Panellists in different sessions will hold discussions on “holistic education” and “internationalization of education,” and technical sessions will be held on research and innovation, skill development, employment etc, the release added.

Vice-Chancellors of universities from India and abroad will share their experiences on skill development and entrepreneurship, and discussions will be held on the country’s roadmap to achieve global ranking as well as research and innovation, it added.

Source: Indian Express, 3/01/22

Explained: China’s border law and India

 

China’s new law on land borders has come into effect from the new year. While some feel India should worry about its border areas, others note that China’s actions have been aggressive even without it.

China’s new law on land borders, passed on October 23, came into effect on January 1. This has happened at a time when the border standoff in eastern Ladakh remains unresolved, when China has renamed several places in Arunachal Pradesh as part of its claim on the Indian state, and when the Chinese Embassy in Delhi has written to Indian MPs, including a minister, who had attended a dinner reception hosted by the Tibetan Parliament-in-exile.

What is the new law?

The Standing Committee of China’s National People’s Congress passed the law for the “protection and exploitation of the country’s land border areas”.

State media Xinhua reported that under the law, “the sovereignty and territorial integrity of… China are sacred and inviolable”, and the state needs to “take measures to safeguard territorial integrity and land boundaries and guard against and combat any act that undermines [these]”.

It mandates the state to take measures “to strengthen border defence, support economic and social development as well as opening-up in border areas, improve public services and infrastructure in such areas, encourage and support people’s life and work there, and promote coordination between border defence and social, economic development in border areas”. This means that it is encouraging the development of villages for civilians in the border areas.

However, the law also asks the state to follow the principles of “equality, mutual trust, and friendly consultation, handle land border related-affairs with neighbouring countries through negotiations to properly resolve disputes and longstanding border issues”, Xinhua reported.

The law lays down four conditions under which the state can impose emergency measures, including border shutdown.

Why did China bring it?

Shuxian Luo, a post-doctoral fellow at the Washington DC-based John L Thornton China Centre of the Brookings Institute, wrote in November that several factors may have led to China’s move.

First, she said, “this law reflects Beijing’s renewed concerns over the security of its land border while it confronts a slew of unsettled disputes on its maritime front… the confrontations on the Sino-Indian borders in recent years may have reminded Beijing that as a classic land-sea power China must always ready itself to cope with threats in both the continental and maritime domains”.

The Covid-19 pandemic “also underscores the imperative for Beijing to exert greater control over its somewhat porous land border”. Also, the law “reflects Beijing’s thinly-veiled worries about the stability of its hinterland bordering Central Asia” as the withdrawal of the US forces and Taliban takeover “aggravated Beijing’s concerns that Afghanistan… may become a hotbed for terrorism and extremism that could spread to Xinjiang”.

She believes domestic politics too may have been a contributing factor, bolstering President Xi Jinping’s standing in the lead-up to the 20th Party Congress later this year when he would secure a third term.

Does it concern India?

Although the law is not meant specifically for India, it is bound to have some impact. China and India share a disputed 3,488-km boundary, the third longest among China’s 22,457-km land boundaries with 14 countries, after the borders with Mongolia and Russia. Besides India, Bhutan (477 km) is the only other country with which China has a disputed land border.

There is a growing suspicion that China may have been stalling further negotiations on the standoff in eastern Ladakh for this new law to come into force. The Corps Commanders last met in October. India had hoped that China would agree to disengage from Patrolling Point 15 in Hot Springs, which it did not. The meeting did not even result in a joint statement, as had been happening for most earlier meetings. The date for the round meeting is still awaited, amid concerns that the Chinese delegation can use the new law to try to bolster their existing positions.

Apart from PP15, China is blocking Indian troops from accessing its traditional patrolling limits—PP10, PP11, PP11A, PP12 and PP13—in Depsang Plains. Also, certain “so-called civilians” have pitched tents on the Indian side of the Line of Actual Control in Demchok and are refusing to vacate it.

Another sticking point could be that the new law prohibits construction of permanent infrastructure close to the border without China’s permission. Both, India and China have been building new roads, bridges and other facilities faster since the standoff began; in fact, China had objected to India’s workers even before.

What impact can it have on India-China relations?

The view is still divided. Much depends on China’s actions, regardless of the new law.

Some experts feel the new law will make China dig its heels in, on the ongoing standoff as well as for resolution of the larger boundary issue. Others feel the new law is only a tool China government will use if it wants, as its actions have been aggressive even before this law.

The Brookings article in November said “Beijing appears to be signaling determination to resolve the border disputes on its preferred terms. The law sets an overall tone of resolve upfront.”

Gautam Bambawale, who was India’s ambassador to China in 2017-18 and has dealt with Beijing for much longer, had told The Indian Express earlier that the law only “states the obvious” as “every country is in the business of protecting its territorial integrity… The big question is what is your territory, and there we don’t agree with each other”. He said that with their actions in eastern Ladakh, “the Chinese are clearly indicating that they are tired of trying to resolve the boundary or the LAC through negotiations; they’re indicating they’ll do it through use of force.”

In an issue brief for the think tank Centre for Land Warfare Studies in December, the recently retired Army Major General Ashok Kumar wrote that the new law is the “latest attempt by China to unilaterally delineate and demarcate territorial boundaries with India and Bhutan”.  The law has “huge implications for India… This problem requires a whole-of -nation solution more than a purely military solution… in conjunction with accelerated construction of 624 ‘Xiaokong’ villages along and inside the disputed land boundaries with India, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has created conditions for a ‘militarised solution’ to the boundary issue.”

What are these villages, and what is the relation to the new law?

China has been building “well-off” border defence villages across the LAC in all sectors, which the new law encourages. President Xi visited a village in Tibet near the border with Arunachal Pradesh last July.

In October, even before the law was announced, Eastern Army Commander Lt Gen Manoj Pande, who is responsible for the 1,346-km LAC from Sikkim to Arunachal Pradesh, had said: “According to their own policy or strategy, model villages have come up near the border… for us, it is a matter of concern, how they can make dual civil and military use of these facilities and villages.”

Former Northern Army Commander Lt Gen D S Hooda had told The Indian Express earlier: “If you [China] start having settled population on the other side, creeping across what we [India] feel is our border, at some stage later, whenever, when you start discussing the border between the two sides, they will say we [China] have settled population in this area.”

Bambawale, however, said China has been doing this anyway: “The law is not a necessary condition to be able to do that.”

Written by Krishn Kaushik 

Source: Indian Express, 3/01/22

Who was Archbishop Desmond Tutu?

 

Deshmond Tutu was one of the driving forces behind the movement to end racial segregation and discrimination by the white minority government in South Africa from 1948 till the year 1991.

Archbishop Desmond Tutu, the social activist and Nobel laureate who helped end apartheid in South Africa, died at the age of 90 on Sunday.

Tutu was diagnosed with prostate cancer in the late 1990s and in recent years he was hospitalised on several occasions to treat infections related to his cancer treatment.

South Africa President Cyril Ramaphosa called Tutu’s death as “another chapter of bereavement in our nation’s farewell to a generation of outstanding South Africans who have bequeathed us a liberated South Africa.

Who was Desmond Tutu?

Deshmond Tutu was one of the driving forces behind the movement to end racial segregation and discrimination by the white minority government in South Africa from 1948 till the year 1991.

He is regarded as a contemporary of anti-apartheid icon Nelson Mandela, and became the face of the moment outside the country.

He spearheaded grassroot campaigns around the world that fought against apartheid. Cultural and economic boycotts were often methods adopted in these campaigns. He emerged as a key figure in the movement in the mid-1970’s and has become a household name across the globe.

Tutu has politically stayed away from the African National Congress(ANC), that was at the forefront of South Africa’s liberation movement and refused to back its armed movement.

Nobel Prize

Deshmond Tutu was awarded the Nobel prize in 1984 for his role in the struggle to abolish the apartheid system. The prize highlighted the non-violent manner in which he fought against the system.

Tutu has been regarded as an outspoken human rights activist who highlighted and spoke out on a range of issues around the world including climate change, Israel-Palestine conflict, among others.

Recently, he also condemned President Jacob Zuma over allegations of corruption surrounding a $23 million security upgrade to his home.

Early Life

Before joining the anti-apathied movement, Tutu worked as a teacher and recalled how the system of educating blacks infuriated him. He quit teaching in 1957 to join the church and was ordained as a priest in 1961. He also studied at St. Peter’s Theological College in Johannesburg and King’s College London.He was named as the first Black Archbishop of Cape Town in 1986, becoming the head of the Anglican Church, South Africa’s fourth largest and retained that position until 1996.

Tutu was asked to chair the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) after the nation’s first free election in 1994.

Source: Indian Express, 26/12/21