CURRENT BULLETIN - DECEMBER 2019 December Polity Current ...€¦ · 4/5/2020 · Bengal,...

CURRENT BULLETIN - DECEMBER 2019

1

December Polity Current AffairsCitizenship (Amendment) bill, 2019Context : Parliament passed the Citizenship

(Amendment) Bill 2019 and the Bill seeks togrant Indian Citizenship to persons belongingto Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, Jain, Parsi andChristian communities who have migrated toIndia after facing persecution on grounds ofreligion in Pakistan, Afghanistan andBangladesh.

Description: The bill aims at providing Indian citizenship

to 6 minority communities from Bangladesh,Pakistan and Afghanistan. The communitiesare Hindu, Christian, Sikhs, Buddhist and Jain.

In India, citizenship is regulated by theCitizenship Act, 1955. The Act specifies thatcitizenship may be acquired in India throughfive methods – by birth in India, by descent,through registration, by naturalisation, andby incorporation of territory into India.

The Act seeks to amend the Citizenship Act,1955 to make Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, Jain,Parsi, and Christian illegal migrants from Af-ghanistan, Bangladesh, and Pakistan, eligiblefor citizenship of India. In other words, theAct intends to make it easier for non-Muslimimmigrants from India’s three Muslim-major-ity neighbours to become citizens of India.

What is Citizenship? Citizenship defines the relationship be-

tween the nation and the people who consti-tute the nation.

It confers upon an individual certain rightssuch as protection by the state, right to vote

and right to hold certain public offices, amongothers, in return for the fulfilment of certainduties/obligations owed by the individual tothe state

The cut-off date for citizenship is December31, 2014, which means the applicant shouldhave entered India on or before that date.

At present, it is mandatory for a person tostay here for at least 11 years to get citizen-ship of India. The bill will reduce this periodto six years. It will enable people from thesecommunities to get Indian citizenship in sixyears. It will make some amendments to theCitizenship Act 1955 to provide legal aid forcitizenship.


2

The bill has not included Muslim community.Accordingly, this is violation of Article 14 thatlegalizes equality before law. The articlestates that the government shall show nodiscrimination on grounds of religion, caste,race, sex or birth.

After Independence, not once buttwice, India conceded that the minorities inits neighbourhood is its responsibility.

First, immediately after Partition and againduring the Indira-Mujib Pact in 1972 when In-dia had agreed to absorb over 1.2 million refu-gees. It is a historical fact that on both occa-sions, it was only the Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhistsand Christians who had come over to Indianside.

Exception The Act adds that the provisions on citizen-

ship for illegal migrants will not apply to thetribal areas of Assam, Meghalaya, Mizoram,and Tripura, as included in the Sixth Sched-ule of the Constitution.These tribal areas in-clude Karbi Anglong (in Assam), Garo Hills (inMeghalaya), Chakma District (in Mizoram),and Tripura Tribal Areas District.It will also notapply to the areas under the Inner Line Per-mit under the Bengal Eastern Frontier Regu-lation, 1873.The Inner Line Permit regulatesthe visit of Indians to Arunachal Pradesh,Mizoram, and Nagaland.

Issues surrounding CAA CAA does not consider Jews and atheists.

They have been left out of the Act. The basis of clubbing Afghanistan, Pakistan,

and Bangladesh together and thereby exclud-ing other (neighbouring) countries is unclear.

A common history is not a ground as Afghani-stan was never a part of British India and wasalways a separate country. Being a neighbour,geographically, is no ground too as Afghani-stan does not share an actual land border withIndia.

Countries such as Nepal, Bhutan, andMyanmar, which share a land border withIndia, have been excluded.

The above reasoning fails with respectto Bhutan, which is a neighbour and constitu-tionally a religious state with the official reli-gion being Vajrayana Buddhism.

Non-Buddhist missionary activity is limited,construction of non-Buddhist religious build-ings is prohibited and the celebration of somenon-Buddhist religious festivals is curtailed.Yet, Bhutan has been excluded from the list.

National Public Procurement ConclaveContext: Ministry of Commerce and Industry

inaugurated the 3rd edition of National PublicProcurement Conclave (NPPC) in New Delhi.

The two-day conclave was organizedby Government e-Marketplace (GeM) inassociation with Confederation of IndianIndustry (CII).

Description: NPCC brings together a host of Buyers, Sellers

and stalwarts of industry with massiveopportunities in Public Procurement sector.It offers opportunities to interact with morethan 800 buyers/sellers across sectors alongwith over 400+ Public Procurement Managersfrom different public sector undertaking(PSU) and Governments Departments acrossdifferent states.

It will provide an opportunity for industry,academia and Government organizations tointeract and also serve as a platform forsellers on GeM to showcase their productsand services.

The key features of the conclave are paneldiscussions on role of MSMEs, Startups andwomen in public procurement. GeM is acomplete online marketplace that allows allsellers to register themselves and transacton the platform.

GeM promotes inclusiveness and ease ofdoing business with the Government. It is atransparent online marketplace that not onlyspeeds up public procurement but alsoensures substantial savings for theGovernment.


3

Santhali used in Rajya Sabha for the first timeContext: ‘Santhali’ reverberated in Rajya Sabha for the

first time in 67 years since its inception. MPSrimati Sarojni Hembram from Odisha raisedthe matter of public importance during thezero hour. .

Description: Santhali language was included in the

Schedule 8 of the constitution through the92nd Constitutional Amendment act, 2003.Along with the language, 3 other languageswere included namely Maithili, Bodo, Dori.

Santali was a mainly oral language until thedevelopment of Ol Chiki by and it RaghunathMurmu in 1925. Ol Chiki is alphabetic, sharingnone of the syllabic properties of the otherIndic scripts, and is now widely used to writeSantali in India.

The language is predominantly spoken bythe North Mundari Group of theAustroasiatic-Munda family.

The language is spoken in parts of WestBengal, Jharkhand, Assam, Odisha and alsoin Nepal and Bangladesh. The Ol Chiki scriptfor the language was created by RaghunathMurmu in 1925.

Dialects of Santali include Kamari-Santali,Karmali (Khole), Lohari-Santali, Mahali,Manjhi, Paharia.

The Santals are the third largest tribal groupin India. They are called Horhopon ko (Sonsof Man), Hor Ko or Manjhi.

Santali is spoken by over seven millionpeople across India, Bangladesh, Bhutan,and Nepal.

They are classified as Scheduled Tribes in thestates of Jharkhand, Odisha and West Bengalbut not in Assam.

In 1855, they protested widely for theirmistreatment by the landlords, traders andmoney lenders. It was called the SantalRebellion

Fast track courts by Law Ministry Context: The Law Ministry has come up with a proposal

to set up “special” fast track courts across In-dia to try rape cases as part of a larger schemeto strengthen infrastructure for better inves-tigation and swift prosecution in such cases.

After receiving the data, law ministry hasdrawn comprehensive plans to fast trackdisposal of pending rape cases within a year.The plan is to set up fast track courts to hastenthe process.

Description: The new scheme is part of an ordinance re-

cently promulgated to allow courts to awardthe death penalty to those convicted of rap-ing children aged up to 12 years.

The Criminal Laws (Amendment) Ordinanceamended the IPC, the CrPC, the Evidence Actand the Protection of Children from SexualOffences Act.

While bringing out the ordinance, the gov-ernment had decided to frame a scheme toset up an “appropriate” number of fast trackcourts to try rape cases in the states.

The scheme will include components includ-ing strengthening of the physical infrastruc-ture and prosecution machinery, provision ofthe required number of judicial officers forlower courts, additional posts of public pros-ecutors, dedicated investigators and specialforensic kits

The aim of the fast track courts is to disposethe cases within 1 year. So far there are1,66,882 cases that are registered as rape


4

cases and 1,60,989 cases registered underPocso Act.

The data from the High Courts across thecountry say that more than 96% of rape trialsregistered under POCSO (Protection ofChildren from Sexual Offences Act) arepending.

The government of India is also planning topropose similar fast track courts under the15th Finance Commission (2020-25).

New fast-track courts will be set up to dealwith such cases and special forensic kits forrape cases will be given to all police stationsand hospitals in the long term, according tothe Criminal Law (Amendment) Ordinance.

It stipulates stringent punishment for perpe-trators of rape, particularly of girls below 16and 12 years. The death sentence has beenprovided for rapists of girls under 12 years.

The minimum punishment in the case of rapeof women has been increased from a rigor-ous imprisonment of seven years to 10 years,extendable to life imprisonment.

The law ministry will set up more than 1,000fast track court to complete the pending cases.The data from the HC says that there are

around 389 districts all over the country wherethe number of cases under POCSO act ex-ceeded 100.

The Ministry had earlier directed state gov-ernments and union territories to set up fasttrack courts for POCSO cases.

About POSCO: POCSO act mandates that the investigation

of cases registered under the act has to becompleted within a time span of 2 months.

Protection of children by the state is guaran-teed to Indian citizens by an expansive read-ing of Article 21 of the Indian constitution,and also mandated India’s status as signatoryto the UN Convention on the Rights of theChild.

Maharashtra with highest employable talent:India Skills Report

Context: About 46.21 per cent students were found

employable or ready to take up jobs in 2019,compared with 33 per cent in 2014, and 47.38per cent in 2018, according to the India SkillsReport 2019-20.

Description: The India Skills Report was released jointly

by the CII (Confederation of Indian Industry),AICTE (All India Council for TechnicalEducation), UNDP (United NationsDevelopment Programme) and AIU(Association of Indian University).

The report provides employability of citizensin the country across the states and the reportalso ranked the cities based on the availabilityof employment.

The report pointed out that “the mostemployable candidates as per the courseswere MBA Students at 54 per cent as against40 per cent in the last two years. B Pharm,Polytechnic, B Com and BA courses, on theother hand, saw an improvement inemployability which is increased by morethan 15 per cent.”


5

The female employability witnessed anupward trend at 47 per cent this year from 38per cent in 2017 and 46 per cent in 2018.

Among the States, Maharashtra followed byTamil Nadu and Uttar Pradesh were rankedamong the top three in terms of employabil-ity. While Mumbai followed by Hyderabadwere ranked the top two employable cities.

India’s Vision: Prime Minister Modi’s vision of India

becoming a $5 trillion economy requiresincreasing the per-capita income of Indianswhich can happen only when people getemployment, which consequently demandsthe skills and useful talent.

To achieve that, along with the universitiesand colleges in India, various emerging start-ups are already using innovativetechnologies to facilitate skill up-gradation,job creation, internships and workforcemanagement on their platforms.

Fastags Project: Govt launches Pilot Project

Context: To ensure the benefits of FASTag beyond

tolling, the Union Ministry of Road Transportand Highways (MoRTH) has launched a pilotproject for using FASTags for parking purposesat Airporta.

Conceptualised as FASTag 2.0, the tag wouldcover parking payments, fuel payments, etc.After the success of project in Hyderabad, itwill be launched at Delhi airport.

Description: FASTag is a simple to use, reloadable tag which

enables automatic deduction of toll chargesand lets you pass through the toll plazawithout stopping for the cash transaction.

FASTag is linked to a prepaid account fromwhich the applicable toll amount is deducted.The tag employs Radio-frequencyIdentification (RFID) technology and isaffixed on the vehicle’s windscreen after thetag account is active. FASTag is a perfectsolution for a hassle free trip on nationalhighways.


6

The FASTag 2.0 has many exciting use casessuch as Fuel Payments, Enforcement (E-challan) payments, Access Management atoffices & residence.

The GST council has also mandated FASTagfor all commercial vehicles which would begenerating an E-way bill from 1 April, 2020.This integration will be a big boost to GSTN(Goods and Services Tax Network) as it wouldhelp in identifying leakages with respect tonon-issuance/ miss reporting of E-way bill.

About National Electronic Toll Collection(FASTag) programme It is the flagship initiative of Union Ministry

of Road Transport and Highways. It has beenimplemented on pan India basis acrossNational Highway toll plazas. The programmehas given a major fillip to digital Indiainitiative by converting cash toll paymentsto electronic and has thus enhancedtransparency in entire tolling ecosystem.

Government has recently mandated todeclare all lanes of fee plazas on NationalHighways as ‘FASTag lanes’. This has seen amuch wider adoption of FASTags both in termsof new tag sales as well as higher transactionsat the toll plazas.

BenefitsSaves Fuel and Time FASTag is read by the tag reader at the plaza

and the toll amount is deducted automati-cally, when the vehicle approaches the tollplaza.

The vehicle with FASTag doesn’t need to stopat the toll plaza for the cash transaction.

SMS alerts for transactions Customer will receive SMS alerts on his reg-

istered mobile numbers for all the transac-tions done in his tag account.

Online recharge Customer may recharge his tag account online

through, Credit Card/ Debit Card/ NEFT/ RTGSor Net Banking toll pass and no need to carrycash where Customer doesn’t need to worryabout carrying cash for the toll payments.

Project Gandhi EncyclopediaContext: The Ministry of Culture approved Rs 2.95

crores financial assistance for thedevelopment of Gandhi Pedia ‘GandhiEncyclopedia’ for promotion of appropriateGandhian philosophy.

The project is to be implemented by NationalCouncil of Science Museums, Kolkata.

Description: Ministry of Culture has approved a project

for development of Gandhi Paedia byNational Council of Science Museums,Kolkata for promotion of appropriateGandhian philosophy and thoughts throughsocial media platforms under 150th birthanniversary of Mahatma Gandhi commemo-ration.

National Council of Science Museums National Council of Science Museums

(NCSM) is an autonomous organisationunder Indian Ministry of Culture.

It is the largest chain of science centers ormuseums under a single administrative um-brella in the world. There are 24 own sciencecenters or museums and one R & D labora-tory and Training centre of NCSM, located indifferent states in India.

The first science museum called the Birla In-dustrial and Technological Museum was builtin May 2, 1959.

Functioning under the Ministry of Culture(and drawing its funding primarily from it),the NCSM has been built to co-ordinate allinformal science communication activities inthe museum space in the country.

Inner Line Permit regime to Dimapurdistrict : NagalandContext: The Nagaland government has extended

Inner Line Permit (ILP) regime to Dimapurdistrict. Dimapur was the only district that wasnot under ILP regime unlike the rest ofNagaland, which came into being in 1963.


7

The ILP regime was also extended toneighbouring Manipur with President RamNath Kovind signing the order in this effect.

Description: Dimapur, the commercial hub of the state,

was the only district that was not under theILP regime unlike the rest of Nagaland, whichcame into being in 1963.

In exercise of the powers conferred underSection 2 of the Bengal Eastern Frontier Regu-lation, 1873, and in the interest of the public,the Governor of Nagaland is pleased to ex-tend the Inner Line to cover the entire Dis-trict of Dimapur.

All non-indigenous people who have en-tered the district after November 21, 1979,will have to obtain ILP within 90 days fromDecember 9. It said that those who havesettled or have entered before November 21,1979, and have been staying continuously,will be exempted from the ILP regime alongwith his/her direct descendants.

Any non-indigenous person passing throughthe district as a transit passenger and havinga valid ticket will not be required to obtainInner Line Permit.

To visit the ILP-regime states, outsiders, in-cluding people from other states of the coun-try, need to take permission. There are alsoprotections for the locals with regards tolands, jobs and other facilities.

Besides Nagaland and Manipur, the ILP re-gime is also applicable to Arunachal Pradeshand Mizoram.

Inner Line Permit : The main objective of the ILP system is to

prevent the settlement of other Indian na-tionals in these states to protect the indig-enous population.

Under the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution,autonomous councils and districts were cre-ated in certain tribal areas in Assam,Meghalaya, and Tripura. The autonomouscouncils and districts enjoy certain executiveand legislative powers.

Namami Gange Project Context: PM Modi reviewed the Namami Gange

Project and chaired the first meeting ofNational Ganga Council with the UnionMinisters.

Description: Highlighting the Indian government’s slow

progress on water-related works, a parlia-mentary panel in its latest report has ex-pressed disappointment over the pace of flag-ship projects like Namami Gange programmeand urged the Jal Shakti (water) ministry tostep up its performance on groundwater man-agement, aquifer mapping and other water-related activities.

Parliamentary Standing Committee: In its latest report, a parliamentary standing

committee has expressed its displeasureover the slow pace of work on the Gangacleaning programme.

The parliamentary panel also pulled up thewater resources ministry for poor perfor-mance on groundwater management, espe-cially when the groundwater levels are fastdepleting and several areas are facing watershortage.

The panel report also urges the governmentto step up its activities on other promisedwater related works like aquifer mapping,dam rehabilitation and safety and riverinterlinking.

The most polluted stretch of the Gangesfrom Gaumukh to Gangasagar lies in Kanpur.The sewage treatment in Kanpur wasinadequate with only 150-175 MLD (millionlitres per day) of sewage being treated andthe rest of untreated sewage discharged intothe river directly.

The Sisamau Nala channel that was closedrecently discharged 140 MLD of sewage.There are around 400 leather tanningindustries in and around the city dischargingunregulated discharges into the river.


8

Namami Gange project was approved by theCabinet in 2015 with an allocation of Rs. 20,000crore (Rs. 200 billion) to be spent till the year2020, noted the panel report whilehighlighting the slow pace andunderutilisation of funds allocated for theproject.

The first meeting of the council was aimedat reinforcing the importance of a ‘Ganga-centric’ approach in all departments of theconcerned states as well as relevant centralministries.

The committee urged the water resourcesministry to constitute an expert panel foridentifying the “specific locations/regionswhere the problem of depleting thegroundwater level” persists as well as where

it is increasing and using technology for realtime data collection.

Aquifer mapping for sustainablemanagement of groundwater, underimplementation during the 12th Plan (2012-2017), was another issue for which the panelpulled up the Jal Shakti ministry, specificallyfor reducing the prescribed area for mapping.

The panel report pointed out that theministry was to undertake the mapping ofaquifers across 2.3 million (23 lakh) squarekilometres by 2020 which was subsequentlyrevised to 1.29 million (12.9 lakh) squarekilometres by 2020 a decrease of 44 percent.

The Council has planned to launch organicfarming on the banks of the river. This isbecause, besides industrial and sewerage


9

pollution, agricultural run off is a majorpollution in the river.

The council has planned to encouragefarmers in sustainable agricultural practicessuch as planting of fruit trees, zero budgetfarming and building plant nurseries on thebanks of the river.

National Ganga Council The National Ganga Council will be overall

responsible for the superintendence,direction, development and control of RiverGanga and the entire River Basin (includingfinancial and administrative matters) for theprotection, prevention, control andabatement of environmental pollution inRiver Ganga and its rejuvenation to its naturaland pristine condition and to ensurecontinuous adequate flow of water in theRiver Ganga and for matters connected therewith.

The jurisdiction of the National GangaCouncil shall extend to the States comprisingRiver Ganga Basin, namely, Himachal Pradesh,Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh,Bihar, Rajasthan, Uttarakhand, West Bengal,Jharkhand, Haryana, and the National CapitalTerritory of Delhi and such other States,having major tributaries of the River Gangaas the National Council for Rejuvenation,Protection and Management of River Gangamay decide for the purpose of effectiveabatement of pollution and rejuvenation,protection and management of the RiverGanga.

National Ganga Council Composition1. Prime Minister will be the ex-officio Chair-

person for the council2. Union Minister for Water Resources, River De-

velopment and Ganga Rejuvenation will bethe ex-officio Vice-Chairperson.

3. The ex-officio members of the council: UnionMinister for Environment, Forests and ClimateChange, Finance, Urban Development, RuralDevelopment, Power, Science and Technol-

ogy, Drinking Water and Sanitation, Tourism,Shipping

4. Vice Chairman of NITI Aayog 5. Chief Ministers of Bihar, Jharkhand,

Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal

Secretary to Ministry of Water Resources,River Development and Ganga Rejuvenationwill be The Director General of National Mis-sion for Clean Ganga will serve as the ex-offi-cio Member Secretary.

New law of Andhra Pradesh: Disha Act Context: The Andhra Pradesh Legislative Assembly has

recently passed the Andhra Pradesh DishaBill, 2019 i.e Andhra Pradesh Criminal Law(Amendment) Act 2019.

The bill provides for awarding deathsentence for offences of rape and gangrapeand expediting trials of such cases to within21 days.

Description: The Act envisages the completion of

investigation in seven days and trial in 14working days, where there is adequateconclusive evidence, and reducing the totaljudgment time to 21 days from the existingfour months.

The AP Disha Act also prescribes lifeimprisonment for other sexual offencesagainst children and includes Section 354 Fand 354 G in IPC.

Disha is the name given to the veterinarianwho was raped and murdered in Hyderabadwhich sparked an outrage across country.

Recently, Delhi Commission of Women ChiefSwati Maliwal has written a letter to PrimeMinister Narendra Modi demandingimmediate implementation of Disha Bill inentire country.


10

In cases of harassment of women throughsocial or digital media, the Act states twoyears imprisonment for the first convictionand four years for second and subsequentconvictions. For this, a new Section 354 E willbe added in IPC, 1860.

The Act also prescribes, death penalty forrape crimes where there is adequateconclusive evidence, and this provision isgiven by amending Section 376 of IndianPenal Code (IPC), 1860.

It also prescribes life imprisonment for othersexual offences against children and for thispurpose includes Section 354 F and 354 G inIPC.

The government of India has launched aNational Registry of Sexual offenders but thedatabase is not digitized and is not accessibleto the public. In the Andhra Pradesh DishaAct, 2019, the Andhra Pradesh governmentwill establish, operate and maintain a registerin electronic form, to be called the ‘Women& Children Offenders Registry’.

Stringent punishment for sexualoffences against children The state government will also establish

exclusive special courts in each district toensure speedy trial.

These courts will exclusively deal with casesof offences against women and childrenincluding rape, sexual harassment, acidattacks social media harassment of women,stalking, voyeurism and all cases underProtection of Children from Sexual Offences(POCSO) Act, 2012.

The government will appoint a special publicprosecutor for each exclusive special court.The government will constitute special policeteams at district level to be called DistrictSpecial Police Team. It will be headed by DSPfor investigation of offences related towomen and children


11

National Broadband MissionContext : Centre Government launched the National

Broadband Mission (NBM) to providebroadband access to all villages by 2022which is part of government’s NationalDigital Communications Policy, 2018.

Description: The vision of the NBM is to fast track growth

of digital communications infrastructure,bridge the digital divide, facilitate digitalempowerment and inclusion and provideaffordable and universal access of broadbandfor all.

Objectives:Broadband access to all villages by 2022 Facilitate universal and equitable access to

broadband services for across the country andespecially in rural and remote areas

Laying of incremental 30 lakhs route km ofOptical Fiber Cable and increase in towerdensity from 0.42 to 1.0 tower per thousandof population by 2024

Significantly improve quality of services formobile and internet

Develop innovative implementation modelsfor Right of Way (RoW) and to work withStates/UTs for having consistent policies per-taining to expansion of digital infrastructureincluding for RoW approvals required for lay-ing of OFC

Develop a Broadband Readiness Index (BRI)to measure the availability of digital commu-nications infrastructure and conducive policyecosystem within a State/UT.

Creation of a digital fiber map of the DigitalCommunications network and infrastructure,including Optical Fiber Cables and Towers,across the country

Investment from stakeholders of USD 100 bil-lion (Rs 7 Lakh Crore) including Rs 70,000 crorefrom Universal Service Obligation Fund(USOF)

Address policy and regulatory changes re-quired to accelerate the expansion and cre-ation of digital infrastructure and services

Work with all stakeholders including the con-cerned Ministries / Departments/ Agencies,and Ministry of Finance, for enabling invest-ments for the Mission

100 Hunar Haats in next 5 years: G.O.I Context: The Hunar Haats aims to increase

employment opportunities to craftsmen,artisans and culinary experts and also toincrease their market exposure where theMinistry of Minority Affairs will organizemore than 100 Hunar Haat in the next fiveyears.

Description: The Ministry will organize Hunar Haats in

Chennai, Delhi, Kolakata, Bengaluru,Lucknow, Patna, Dehradun and Indore. Theministry has also sanctioned to set up morethan 100 Hunar hubs in different parts of thecountry.

Training will be provided to master artisans,craftsmen and traditional culinary expertsaccording to modern needs in these “HunarHubs”.

The Ministry in its report said that more than65,000 artisans and craftsmen have beenemployed through Hunar Haats in the last 2years.

Indian Handicrafts have great recognition ininternational market. US and EU are the majordestinations that account to 65% of export ofIndian handicrafts.

China is a new buyer and other countrieswhere Indian crafts have great marketincludes Israel, Uruguay, Columbia and chile.

In 2019, India exported 128 billion rupeesworth handicrafts and last year, it stood at118 billion rupees and the increase is 9%.

“Hunar Haat”, to be organised in 2019 and2020 will be based on the theme of “Ek BharatShresth Bharat”.

National Farmers Day Context: India celebrates National Farmers Day on

23rd December to commemorate the birth


12

anniversary of the 5th Prime Minister of India,Choudhary Charan Singh.

Government in 2001 had decided to observe23rd December every year as Kisan Diwas ashe was a farmer ’s leader and he hadintroduced many policies to improve the livesof the Indian farmers.

Description: Kisan Diwas is being celebrated in several

parts of the country in order to promoteimportance of farmers in the society.

It also aims at establishing the fact thatoverall social and economic development ofthe country depends on the farmers. The dayis widely celebrated in states such as UP,Haryana, Punjab and MP.

On this day, seminars and programmes forthe farmers are being organized at divisional,district and block levels.

Krishi Jagran will also observe and celebratethe K isan Diwas in a massive way. Theorganization that brings magazines in 12languages with 23 editions is dedicated tothe services of the Farmer, who became thePrime Minister of the country.

National Population Register Context: The Union Government has approved Rs.

3,941.35 crore for updation of National Popu-lation Register.

What is NPR? The NPR is a register of the usual residents

of the country. It contains informationcollected at the local (village/sub-town),subdistrict, district, state and national levelunder provisions of the Citizenship Act, 1955and the Citizenship (Registration of Citizensand Issue of National Identity Cards) Rules,2003.

NPR was first done in 2010 and was laterupdated in 2015 when it was linked with theAadhar.

WHO IS USUAL RESIDENT OF INDIA? A usual resident is defined, for the purposes

of the NPR, as a person who has resided in alocal area for the past six months or more, ora person who intends to reside in that areafor the next six months.

The law compulsorily seeks to register everycitizen of India and issue a national identitycard.

WHO WILL CONDUCT NPR? The process of updating NPR will be carried

out under the aegis of the Registrar Generaland ex-Officio Census Commissioner, India.

HOW IS NPR DIFFERENT THAN CENSUS ? The process of NPR and Census will begin

simultaneously, the two databases are notsame. The decennial census is the largestsingle source of a variety of statisticalinformation on different characteristics ofthe people of India.

While NPR only contains demographicinformation, more details are required forcensus like information on demography,economic activity, literacy and education, andhousing and household amenities besidesothers.

The census is the basis for reviewing thecountry ’s progress in the past decade,monitoring the ongoing schemes of thegovernment and plan for the future.

The census provides detailed and authenticinformation on demography, economicactivity, literacy and education, housing andhousehold amenities, urbanisation, fertility


13

and mortality, scheduled castes andscheduled tribes, language, religion,migration, disability besides others.

HOW IS NPR DIFFERENT THAN NRC National Population Register is a database

of people living in India, citizens or not, butNational Register of Citizens is a database ofIndian citizens. The NRC process demandsproof of citizenship from the respondents.

WHAT IS THE USE OF NPR NPR data helps identify the demographics

of actual residents who will be directbeneficiaries of any schemes launched in thearea.

For example, a majority of permanentresidents of an industrial town in Gujarat maybe Gujarati speaking, but the majority ofcurrent residents may consist of Hinduspeaking people from various parts of thecountry.

The NPR data will help government designand adapt schemes like Ayushman Bharat,Jandhan Yojna, or medium of instruction inschools as per the current demographics, thusmaking the schemes more effective.

SDG India Index & Dashboard 2019–20:NITI Aayog Context: NITI Aayog, the policy think tank of

Government launched the second edition ofSustainable Development Goals (SDG) IndiaIndex and Dashboard 2019–20.

Description: The first edition of SDG India Index was

launched in December 2018. It was the firsttool developed by any large country tomonitor progress towards achieving SDGs atsub-national level.

In 2020, the world enters the final decadefor achieving the SDGs—the ‘Decade forAction’.

The Intergovernmental Panel on ClimateChange tells us that we have 12 years left tosave the planet from the worst effects of

climate change. So, the time to act is now.The SDG India Index 2.0 and the dashboardenables India to both track and encourageaccelerated progress to meet the SDGs acrossall its States and Union Territories

NITI Aayog has the mandate of overseeingadoption as well as monitoring of SDGs inIndia, at the national and sub-national level.

Index and Dashboard 2019 documents theprogress made by India’s States and UnionTerritories (UTs) towards implementing the2030 SDG targets.

Achievements: India’s composite score has improved from

57 in 2018 to 60 in 2019, thereby showingnoticeable progress. The maximum gainsbeen made in Goals 6 (clean water andsanitation), 9 (industry, innovation, andinfrastructure) and 7 (affordable and cleanenergy).

All three states that were in the ‘Aspirant’category (with score/s in the range of 0–49)—Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Assam—havegraduated to the ‘Performer’ category (50–64).

Five states—Andhra Pradesh, Telangana,Karnataka, Goa, and Sikkim—moved up fromthe ‘Performer’ category to the ‘FrontRunner’ category (65–99).

Kerala achieved the first rank in thecomposite SDG Index with a score of 70,followed by Himachal Pradesh at 69.

Index has been developed by Union Ministryof Statistics and Programme Implementation(MoSPI) in collaboration with United Nationsin India, and Global Green Growth Institute.

Index and Dashboard 2019 covers 16 out of17 SDGs and a qualitative assessment on Goal17 which marks an improvement over 2018Index, which covered only 13 goals.

On the basis of progress made, the Indexranks all States and UTs on 100 indicatorsdrawn from MoSPI’s National IndicatorFramework, comprising of 306 indicators.


14

NITI Aayog has the twin mandate to overseethe implementation of SDGs in the countryand promote competitive and cooperativefederalism among States and UTs.

The SDG India Index acts as a bridge betweenthese mandates, aligning the SDGs with theHon’ble Prime Minister’s clarion call of SabkaSaath, Sabka Vikas, Sabka Vishwas, whichembodies the five Ps of the global SDG move-ment: people, planet, prosperity, partnershipand peace.

CURRENT BULLETIN - DECEMBER 2019 December Polity Current ...€¦ · 4/5/2020 · Bengal,...

Documents

Transcript of CURRENT BULLETIN - DECEMBER 2019 December Polity Current ...€¦ · 4/5/2020 · Bengal,...