Current Affairs- March 9, 2023

 

INDIA

• Election Commission will host the 3rd International Conference on the theme ‘Inclusive Elections and Elections Integrity’.
• India pavilion at ‘Middle east energy 2023’ showcases electrical equipment and other power devices.
• Ministry of Information and Broadcasting inaugurated a multimedia exhibition on the theme of ‘Women Empowerment’ on the occasion of Women’s Day.
• Governor R.N. Ravi returns Tamil Nadu Prohibition of Online Gambling and Regulation of Online Games Bill, that bans online gambling.
• Indian Navy’s major Operational level exercise TROPEX 2023, conducted across the expanse of IOR culminated in the Arabian Sea.

ECONOMY & CORPORATE

• Government says that Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002 will apply to trade in cryptocurrencies or virtual assets.
• Centre directs NAFED, NCCF for immediate intervention in market for purchase of red onion.
• Maharashtra economic survey reveals 6.8% growth in State; highest growth of 10.2 percent was projected in agricultural and allied sector.
• SEBI: Investors must link PAN to Aadhaar by March 31

WORLD

• Colombia has opened military service to women for the first time in 25 years.
• Arun Subramanian becomes first Indian-American to be Judge of Manhattan Federal District Court in New York
• At least 18 people killed and over 100 people were injured in an explosion in Bangladesh capital Dhaka
• Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese arrived on a two-day visit to Gujarat.
• UN: Afghanistan is world’s most repressive country for women.

SPORTS

• BWF German Open: India’s Lakshya Sen, Tasnim Mir lose in first round

‘Dhara: An Ode to Indian Knowledge Systems’ Initiative

 The Ministry of Culture’s flagship initiative, “Dhara: An Ode to Indian Knowledge Systems,” has completed its first year. During this year, 10 successful conferences were organized on various themes highlighting India’s civilizational achievements. The program aims to promote and revive multiple domains of Indian knowledge systems by creating public awareness, stakeholder participation, and a framework for their promotion. A key execution partner for this series is the Indian Knowledge Systems Division of the Ministry of Education. It is a part of the Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav.

First series of DHARA

The first series of the initiative is to be dedicated to the contributions made by our ancestors in the field of mathematics. According to the Culture Ministry, the mathematics field in the country has a long history starting from the invention of Zero. Some of the texts to be highlighted in the series are SULBA SUTRAS and CHANDA SASTRA.

Bringing back lost glory

The Suba Sutra is one of the oldest texts and dates back to 800 BCE. The Pythagoras theorem was actually invented by India as per Sulba Sutra. Pythagoras invented it very late and took the credit. Through these events, India is trying to spread the message that our history is deep-rooted. And we have been the best in every field since ancient times.

Chanda Sastra

It is one of the six major parts of the Vedas. This was the centre of the composition of Vedas. Sanskrit pronunciations have mathematical calculations involved. Every syllable in the Sanskrit hymns has a fixed rhythm.  How long should the word be pronounced? And every verse has a fixed number of syllables. Basically, the Chanda Dastra was full of maths that dealt with the calculations in Vedic hymns. Scholars learnt Chanda Sastra first before learning the Vedic hymns!

Way Forward

The next phase of Dhara will focus on the metallurgical, agricultural, and ancient economic traditions of India. Each conference focuses on historicity, diversity, and innovative methodologies to bring them to national consciousness, promoting academic research, and empowering the youth.

What is Structural Transformation?

 Structural transformation in economics is the shift in labour force from agriculture to high-productivity sectors like manufacturing and modern services. It is a compositional shift caused by the transfer of surplus labour from the farms to better-paying sectors. It is expected to result in increased productivity and higher incomes.

Why is Structural Transformation in News?

The recently released annual Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS) report for 2021-22 shows that the farm sector still employs a significant proportion of the labour force in India, at 45.5%. Although this figure has decreased slightly from 46.5% in 2020-21, it is still higher than the 2018-19 low of 42.5%. This indicates that the economic disruptions caused by the pandemic, which led to a migration back to the farms, have not yet been fully resolved. Notably, the structural transformation has been slowing down since 2011-12.

What is the Structural Transformation that occurred in India in 1991?

Liberalization, Privatization, and Globalization. This structural transformation was brought in under the New Economic Policy that was launched in 1991. Mr PV Narasimha Rao was the then PM and Dr Manmohan Singh was the then Finance Minister. The main aim of this structural transformation was to make India more market-oriented, reduce the inflation rate, increase the growth rate of the economy, increase the flow of economic goods in the country, etc.

What was the Structural Transformation that occurred in India during the Colonial period?

Industrialization and Urbanization. There was a movement of people. For instance, people in present-day Jharkhand moved to work in tea plantations in Assam. During the colonial period, industrialization in some parts of the country led to deindustrialization in other parts. Cities like Surat and Masulipatnam declined. And cities like Bombay and Madras grew. The Structural transformation during the colonial period brought in huge changes. These changes were predominantly witnessed in production systems, the density of settlements, and technology. And a major change was seen in the way of life of the people.

Cheating eye: Editorial on challenges involving online education

 The ethical crisis — parents are complicit in helping their wards to cheat — is, of course, a manifestation of the spirit of unhealthy competition that is the bane of modernity

There seems to be an element of permanence about online education. In higher education, the enrolment for online education grew by 170% between 2021 and 2022 and by 41.7% for open and distance learning. But this medium comes with attendant — emerging — challenges. For instance, the mental and physical health of teachers has deteriorated with the rise of the digital classroom. Initially, teachers ill-equipped to handle technology found it difficult to use online platforms like Zoom and Google Meet to impart knowledge while keeping their students engaged. More recently, a study published in the peer-reviewed journal, PLOS One, has revealed that a staggering 55% of teachers who were forced to work online for more than six hours a day suffered physical discomforts such as headaches, eye strain, back pain and neck pain. A majority of the respondents also admitted that they experienced a range of mental health conditions, including anxiety, mood swings, along with feelings of restlessness, hopelessness, and loneliness. These, however, are not the only problems associated with online education. Almost two-thirds of the teachers administering tests are reported to be sceptical about the quality of the answer scripts owing to the adoption of dishonest means by examinees. The culture of cheating in academia is, admittedly, not new. What is worrying though is that traditional deterrents — invigilation, for instance — are proving to be ineffective in the online mode. In fact, students have come up with ingenious means to escape scrutiny, taking refuge in the excuse of poor connectivity during online tests to dodge measures taken by invigilators like asking examinees to install a mirror behind them while the test is on. 

This only goes to show that the erosion of ethics remains persistent even as education evolves. The ethical crisis — parents are complicit in helping their wards to cheat — is, of course, a manifestation of the spirit of unhealthy competition that is the bane of modernity. If traditional deterrents are not working in the online system, pedagogical and evaluation techniques need to change. Instead of being asked to memorise facts and spill them onto the answer sheet, students should be taught to think critically and apply that subjective knowledge in their examination. This would not only discourage learners from adopting unfair means — the latter would become redundant — but also sharpen their analytical skills, which are mandatory for education and future employment.

Source: The Telegraph, 8/03/23

Concern over north Indian workers in Tamil Nadu: What the numbers say about India’s migrants

 

A possible exodus of migrant workers from Tamil Nadu has raised concern after videos showed purported attacks on Hindi-speaking men. Here’s what is known about India’s inter-state migration numbers.

Manufacturers in Tamil Nadu have expressed concern over the possibility of North Indian workers leaving the state after videos — rejected as fake by the government — purportedly showing Hindi-speaking men being assaulted, created panic among migrants. Almost a million migrants are estimated to work in Tamil Nadu, and industry bodies fear the state’s industrial and manufacturing sector would be severely impacted by an exodus. The large scale reverse migration of workers to their home states during the Covid-19 lockdown three years ago had seriously disrupted economic activity.

The government data on migration within the country is not comprehensive and, in many cases, old. The 2011 census reported the number of internal migrants in India at 45.36 crore, making up 37% of the country’s population. This number included both inter-state migrants and migrants within each state. The annual net migrant flows amounted to about 1 per cent of the working age population.

As per the 2011 census, India’s workforce was 48.2 crore strong. This figure is estimated to have exceeded 50 crore in 2016 — the Economic Survey that year pegged the size of the migrant workforce at roughly 20 per cent of the population, or more than 10 crore individuals.

District-wise migration data in the Economic Survey for 2016-17 showed that the highest influx of migrants within the country was in city-districts such as Gurugram, Delhi, and Mumbai; along with Gautam Budh Nagar (Uttar Pradesh); Indore and Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh); Bengaluru (Karnataka); and Thiruvallur, Chennai, Kancheepuram, Erode, and Coimbatore (Tamil Nadu).

The highest outward movement of migrant workers was from Muzaffarnagar, Bijnor, Moradabad, Rampur, Kaushambi, Faizabad, and 33 other districts of Uttar Pradesh; Uttarkashi, Chamoli, Rudra Prayag, Tehri Garhwal, Pauri Garhwal, Pithoragarh, Bageshwar, Almora, and Champawat in Uttarakhand; Churu, Jhunjhunu, and Pali in Rajasthan; Darbhanga, Gopalganj, Siwan, Saran, Sheikhpura, Bhojpur, Buxar, and Jehanabad in Bihar; Dhanbad, Lohardaga, and Gumla in Jharkhand; and Ratnagiri and Sindhudurg in Maharashtra.

As per the Report of the Working Group on Migration, 2017 under the Ministry of Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation, 17 districts accounted for the top 25% of India’s total male out-migration. Ten of these districts are in UP, six in Bihar, and one in Odisha. (See map above)

“Relatively less developed states such as Bihar and Uttar Pradesh have high net out-migration. Relatively more developed states take positive CMM (Cohort-based Migration Metric) values reflecting net immigration: Goa, Delhi, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Karnataka. The largest recipient was the Delhi region, which accounted for more than half of migration in 2015-16, while Uttar Pradesh and Bihar taken together account for half of total out-migrants. Maharashtra, Goa and Tamil Nadu had major net in-migration, while Jharkhand and Madhya Pradesh had major net out-migration,” the Economic Survey said.

More recent numbers

A report, ‘Migration in India 2020-21’, released by the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation in June 2022 had collated some numbers for temporary visitors and migrants. As per the report, 0.7 per cent of the country’s population was recorded as a ‘temporary visitor’ across households during the July 2020-June 2021 period after the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic in March 2020.

While temporary visitors were defined as those who arrived in households after March 2020 and stayed continuously for a period of 15 days or more but less than 6 months, ‘migrants’ were defined as those for whom the last usual place of residence any time in the past is different from the present place of enumeration.

Over 84 per cent of these 0.7 per cent temporary visitors moved places for reasons linked to the pandemic, ranging from loss of job/ closure of unit/ lack of employment opportunities, migration of earning member, closure of educational institutions and health-related reasons, and meeting family/ relatives/ friends, it showed.

A total 48.9 per cent of temporary visitors moved to meet family/ relatives/ friends between July 2020 and June 2021, while 15.7 per cent of such temporary visitors moved for health-related reasons, and 12.2 per cent due to loss of job/ closure of unit/ lack of employment opportunities.

The all-India migration rate was 28.9 per cent for July 2020-June 2021, with a 26.5 per cent migration rate in rural areas and 34.9 per cent in urban areas.

Females recorded a higher share of migration rate of 47.9 per cent; 48 per cent in rural and 47.8 per cent in urban areas. Migration rate for males was 10.7 per cent, with 5.9 per cent in rural and 22.5 per cent in urban areas.

Among females, the highest level of migration rate was seen at 86.8 per cent for marriage, while 49.6 per cent of the males migrated in search of employment, to take up better employment/ business/ proximity to place of work, or loss of job/ closure of unit/ lack of employment opportunities.

Written by Aanchal Magazine

Source: Indian Express, 7/03/23

Quote of the Day March 6, 2023

 

“What we are seeking so frantically elsewhere may turn out to be the horse we have been riding all along.”
Harvey Cox

“हम जिस चीज़ की तलाश कहीं और कर रहे होते हैं वह हो सकता है कि हमारे पास ही हो।”
हारवी कॉक्स

Current Affairs-March 4, 2023

 

INDIA

• Supreme Court ruled that high-power committee consisting of Prime Minister, Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha, and Chief Justice of India must pick Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) and Election Commissioners (ECs).
• India scores 74.4 in World Bank index on the life cycle of a working woman
• Conrad K.Sangma to form govt. in Meghalaya; Neiphiu Rio will lead Nagaland
• Reliance Industries to invest in 10 GW solar energy capacity in Andhra Pradesh
• Apple partners with environmental NGO Frank Water to support improved water, sanitation, and hygiene in India.
• Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) is developing a research policy and governance cell.

ECONOMY & CORPORATE

• RBI slaps Amazon Pay (India) with ₹3.06 crore penalty for violation of norms
• India’s service activity expanded at its fastest pace in 12 years in February: PMI Data.
• iPhone Maker Foxconn to Invest Up To USD 1 Bn in Karnataka.

WORLD

• South Korea and the US to hold the ‘Freedom Shield’ and ‘Warrior Shield’ joint exercises, the largest in 5 years.
• Belarus jails Nobel-winning rights activist Ales Bialiatski for 10 years.
• Quad Foreign Ministers issues statement referring to Ukraine conflict and the situation in the South and East China Seas.
• Bola Ahmed Tinubu wins the Presidential elections in Nigeria

SPORTS

• First-ever Women’s Premier League to begin in Navi Mumbai
• Youth Affairs & Sports Minister Anurag Thakur to launch Yuva Utsava – India@2047
• Hockey India appoints South African Craig Fulton as new Chief Coach of Indian men’s hockey team
• Tennis: Daniil Medvedev stormed into the final of Dubai Open defeating Novak Djokovic.