Tuesday, October 03, 2023
Current Affairs- Today’s Headlines: October 3, 2023
INDIA
- Bihar government released the report of a caste survey conducted in the State; OBCs, EBCs comprise more than 63% of State’s population.
- Madras High Court rules that educational institutions run by religious and linguistic minorities need not follow the rule of reservation with respect to the SC, St and OBC Students.
- Tamil Nadu announces ₹25 lakh each as reward for nine ISRO scientists from the state.
- State of India’s Birds (SOIB) 2023 report: Nearly 110 species of birds recorded in Tamil Nadu are in a state of decline across the country.
- Kerala government will initiate a vaccination programme to prevent cervical cancer.
- Karnataka government is planning to set up a ‘Grama Nyayalaya’ (village court) in each panchayat for resolving disputes within its jurisdiction.
- Indian Air Force (IAF) placed two contracts with Bharat Dynamics Ltd. (BDL) for the indigenous Astra Beyond Visual Range (BVR) air-to-air Missile.
ECONOMY & CORPORATE
- The Gross GST revenue collected in the month of September is 1.62 lakh crore rupees.
- Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced the setting up of a National Turmeric Board.
- Pakistan’s inflation rises to 31.4% year-on-year amid high energy prices.
WORLD
- The 2023 Nobel Prize in Medicine was awarded to Hungarian biochemist Katalin Karikó and American physician-scientist Drew Weissman, who paved the way for mRNA COVID vaccines.
- World Health Organization (WHO) approves use of R21/Matrix-M malaria vaccine developed by the University of Oxford and the Serum Institute of India, using Novavax’s adjuvant technology.
- European Union pledges long-term support for Ukraine at Foreign Ministers’ meeting.
- U.S. and Philippines begin annual drills in disputed South China Sea.
SPORTS
- Asian Games: Parul Chaudhary wins silver behind world champion Winfred Mutile Yavi of Bahrain in 3000m steeple chase.
- Asian Games: Sutirtha Mukherjee and Ayhika Mukherjee win bronze in Table Tennis.
Katalin Karikó, Drew Weissman win Nobel Prize in Medicine for role in Covid-19 vaccines
Nobel Prize 2023 in Medicine: Katalin Karikó and Drew Weissman win Nobel for mRNA vaccine breakthroughs against COVID-19.
Nobel Prize 2023 in Medicine: Katalin Karikó and Drew Weissman were jointly awarded the 2023 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine on Monday for their groundbreaking contributions to the development of highly effective mRNA vaccines against COVID-19. The prestigious recognition underscores the critical role of their discoveries related to nucleoside base modifications in enabling the rapid creation of these vaccines during the pandemic.
The official statement said the transformative impact of the Nobel Laureates' findings on how mRNA interacts with the immune system, led to the unprecedented pace of vaccine development during one of the most significant health crises in recent history.
Vaccination triggers the formation of an immune response against specific pathogens, providing the body with a crucial defence mechanism in the face of future exposure.
Who is Katalin Karikó?
Katalin Karikó, born in 1955 in Szolnok, Hungary, earned her PhD from Szeged University in 1982. She conducted postdoctoral research at institutions including the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Temple University in Philadelphia, and the University of Health Science in Bethesda.
In 1989, she became an Assistant Professor at the University of Pennsylvania, later assuming leadership roles at BioNTech RNA Pharmaceuticals.
Since 2021, she has held the position of Professor at Szeged University and Adjunct Professor at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania.
Who is Drew Weissman?
Drew Weissman, born in 1959 in Lexington, Massachusetts, USA, obtained his MD and PhD degrees from Boston University in 1987. He underwent clinical training at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center at Harvard Medical School and completed postdoctoral research at the National Institutes of Health.
In 1997, Weissman established his research group at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, where he currently serves as the Roberts Family Professor in Vaccine Research and the Director of the Penn Institute for RNA Innovations.
What are Nobel Prizes?
These annual Nobel Prizes, spanning physics, chemistry, medicine, literature, and peace, originate from the will of Alfred Nobel, the Swedish dynamite inventor who passed away in 1896. In 1968, Sweden's central bank introduced the Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences. The Nobel laureates for these esteemed awards are unveiled in Stockholm throughout October, with the exception of the Peace Prize, which is determined by the Norwegian Nobel Committee in Oslo.
Source: Hindustan Times, 02/10/23
Bihar caste survey data released: A look at the complicated history of caste surveys
Every Census in independent India from 1951 to 2011 has published data on Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes, but not on other castes. Before that, every Census until 1931 had data on caste.
The Bihar government has released the results of its recently concluded survey of castes in the state, which reveals that Other Backward Classes (OBCs) and Extremely Backward Classes (EBCs) constitute more than 63% of the population of Bihar.
CM Nitish Kumar congratulated the entire team involved in the caste survey process and said: “Resolution on caste-based survey was passed in the Bihar legislature through consensus. Nine political parties had taken a call in the Bihar Assembly on the state government bearing expenses of the caste survey.
The survey has not only considered one’s caste but also one’s economic status, which would help us devise further policies and plans for the development of all classes.”
What kind of caste data is published in the Census?
Every Census in independent India from 1951 to 2011 has published data on Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes, but not on other castes. Before that, every Census until 1931 had data on caste.However, in 1941, caste-based data was collected but not published. M W M Yeats, the then Census Commissioner, said a note: “There would have been no all India caste table… The time is past for this enormous and costly table as part of the central undertaking…” This was during World War II.
In the absence of such a census, there is no proper estimate for the population of OBCs, various groups within the OBCs, and others. The Mandal Commission estimated the OBC population at 52%, some other estimates have been based on National Sample Survey data, and political parties make their own estimates in states and Lok Sabha and Assembly seats during elections.
How often has the demand for a caste census been made?
It comes up before almost every Census, as records of debates and questions raised in Parliament show. The demand usually comes from among those belonging to Other Backward Classes (OBC) and other deprived sections, while sections from the upper castes oppose the idea. This time, however, things have been quite different. With Census 2021 delayed several times, the Opposition parties have made the loudest cry for a caste census as they seem to have converged on “social justice” as their slogan and glue. Earlier this year, while campaigning in Karnataka, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi said the Narendra Modi government should reveal the data of the Socio-Economic and Caste Census (SECC) conducted under the UPA-II government. Moreover, he called for a caste census and for the removal of the 50% cap on SC/ST/OBC reservations.
In July 2021, Union Minister of State for Home Affairs Nityanand Rai said in response to a question in Lok Sabha: “The Government of India has decided as a matter of policy not to enumerate caste-wise population other than SCs and STs in Census.”
Before this statement, Nityanand Rai had told the Rajya Sabha in March 2021: “The Union of India after Independence, decided as a matter of policy not to enumerate caste-wise population other than SCs and STs.”
But on August 31, 2018, following a meeting chaired by then Home Minister Rajnath Singh that reviewed preparations for Census 2021, the Press Information Bureau stated in a statement: “It is also envisaged to collect data on OBC for the first time.”
When The Indian Express filed an RTI request asking for the minutes of the meeting, the Office of Registrar General of India (ORGI) responded: “Records of deliberations in ORGI prior to MHA (Ministry of Home Affairs) announcement on August 31, 2018, to collect data on OBC is not maintained. There was not issued any minutes of the meeting.”
Where did the UPA stand on this?
In 2010, then Law Minister Veerappa Moily wrote to then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh calling for the collection of caste/community data in Census 2011. On March 1, 2011, during a short-duration discussion in Lok Sabha, Home Minister P Chidambaram spoke of several “vexed questions”: “There is a Central list of OBCs and State-specific list of OBCs. Some States do not have a list of OBCs; some StateThe Registrar General has also pointed out that there are certain open-ended categories in the lists such as orphans and destitute children. Names of some castes are found in both the list of Scheduled Castes and the list of OBCs. Scheduled Castes converted to Christianity or Islam are also treated differently in different States. The status of a migrant from one State to another and the status of children of inter-caste marriage, in terms of caste classification, are also vexed questions.”
What happened to the SECC data, then?
With an approved cost of Rs 4,893.60 crore, the SECC was conducted by the Ministry of Rural Development in rural areas and the Ministry of Housing & Urban Poverty Alleviation in urban areas. The SECC data excluding caste data was finalised and published by the two ministries in 2016.s have a list of OBCs and a sub-set called Most Backward Classes.
The raw caste data was handed over to the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment, which formed an Expert Group under former NITI Aayog Vice-Chairperson Arvind Pangaria for classification and categorisation of data. It is not clear whether it submitted its report; no such report has been made public.
The report of a Parliamentary Committee on Rural Development presented to the Lok Sabha Speaker on August 31, 2016, noted about SECC: “The data has been examined and 98.87 per cent data on individuals’ caste and religion is error free. ORGI has noted the incidence of errors with respect to 1,34,77,030 individuals out of the total SECC population of 118,64,03,770. States have been advised to take corrective measures.”
What is the contrary view?
The RSS has not made any statements on a caste census in a while now, but has opposed the idea earlier. On May 24, 2010, when the debate on the subject had peaked ahead of Census 2011, then RSS sar-karyawah Suresh Bhaiyaji Joshi had said in a statement from Nagpur: “We are not against registering categories, but we oppose registering castes.” He had said a caste-based census is against the idea of a casteless society envisaged by leaders like Babasaheb Ambedkar in the Constitution and will weaken ongoing efforts to create social harmony.
Source: Indian Express, 3/10/23
Tuesday, September 26, 2023
Quote of the Day
“A life lived in fear is half lived.”
Anonymous
“डर में जीना आधा जीवित रहने जैसा है।”
अज्ञात
Current Affairs- September 24, 2023
INDIA
- Mobile Internet service was restored after 140 days of suspension in ethnic violence-hit Manipur.
- Agriculture scientist Swati Nayak became the third Indian agriculture scientist to win the prestigious Norman E. Borlaug Award for 2023.
- An online self-learning course in Indian Sign Language and a dictionary containing 10,000 ISL terms were launched on the International Day of Sign Languages.
- India achieves Sanitation milestone as 75% Villages are now ODF Plus under Swachh Bharat Mission – Grameen.
- 6th Edition of the ‘NeSDA – Way Forward Monthly Report for States/UTs’ were released.
- The National Health Authority (NHA) is organising ‘Arogya Manthan’ to celebrate 5 years of Ayushman Bharat PM-JAY and 2 years of Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission.
- The maiden edition of ‘Bharatiya Prakash Sthamb Utsav’ or Indian Lighthouse Festival was inaugurated in Panjim, Goa.
ECONOMY & CORPORATE
- PhonePe announced the launch of Indus Appstore developer platform, as a Made-in-India app store.
- I-T department asked taxpayers to respond to its intimation regarding outstanding demands of previous years.
- TATA Projects has been awarded a contract by Micron Technology to construct the semiconductor assembly and test plant in Sanand, Gujarat.
- TRAI has issued recommendations for bolstering telecom infrastructure in Northeast.
WORLD
- Over 300 leading Uighur intellectuals have been jailed since Xi Jinping came to power in 2013: Rights Groups.
- 95 million Pakistanis are under poverty and Poverty in Pakistan shot up to 39.4% as of last fiscal year says World Bank.
SPORTS
- The opening ceremony of the 19th Asian Games was organised at Hangzhou, China.
- Afghan women arrived for the first Asian Games since the Taliban regained control of Afghanistan.
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