60 Days Plan: UPSC IAS Prelims 2019 – History and Current Affairs (Day 20)

• MODERATE PHASE OF STRUGGLE 1894-1906
• During this phase, Gandhi relied on sending petitions and memorials to the authorities in South Africa and in Britain
• Hoping that once the authorities were informed of the plight of Indians, they would take sincere steps to redress their grievances as the Indians were, after all, British subjects.
• To unite different sections of Indians, he set up Natal Indian Congress and started a paper ‘Indian opinion’.

• Phase of Passive Resistance or Satyagraha (1906-1914)
• The second phase, which began in 1906, was characterized by the use of the method of passive resistance or civil disobedience Gandhi named it Satyagraha
• A technique of demonstrating opposition to a government’s activities simply by not cooperating with them. It is particularly associated with Mahatma Gandhi
• Who opposed violent revolution in his own country’s fight for independence. ( Compare civil disobedience and nonviolent resistance.)

• SOCIETY LIKE UNTOUCHABILITY
• Apart from his fight against Britain, Mahatma Gandhi worked on a number of social issues in India. He launched campaigns to improve the lives of untouchables, or lower caste people.
• His efforts were important in the practice of Untouchability being ultimately discontinued. Gandhi strongly favoured emancipation of women.
• He opposed the practices of child marriage; oppression of widows; and purdah/burqa, which is women covering their faces in public.
• He was also successful in enlisting women in his campaigns, including salt tax campaign, anti-untouchability campaign and the peasant movement. This increased the participation of women in Indian public life.

• Non Cooperation Movement – 1920
• Second Round Table Conference -1931
• Quit India Movement Launched-1942
• Mutiny in Royal Indian Navy- 1946

• These initiatives in Champaran, Ahmedabad and Kheda marked Mahatma Gandhi out as a nationalist with a deep sympathy for the poor. At the same time, these were all localized struggles.
• Then, in 1919, the colonial rulers delivered into Mahatma Gandhi’s lap an issue from which he could construct a much wider movement.

• Movement began with Mahatma Gandhi renouncing the titles, given by the British
• Surrender of titles and honorary positions along with resignation of membership from the local bodies Boycott of elections held under the provisions of the 1919 Act
• Legislatures were boycotted, No leader of the Congress came forward to contest the elections for the Legislatures.
• Boycott of government functions, courts, government schools and colleges, & of foreign goods
• Establishment of national schools, colleges and private panchayat courts
• Popularizing swadeshi goods and khadi

• Hermann Kallenbach, a white farmer, was so impressed with the peaceful way of life at Phoenix that he offered, Gandhi his own big farm near Johannesburg to start another establishment.
• He suggested that all those who had lost their jobs and homes by their participation in the Satyagraha during the struggle for equal rights in South Africa could be settled there.
• The new establishment was named ‘Tolstoy Farm’, after the Great Russian writer whom Gandhi much admired. Here people who were different in nationality, religion, and color lived together like one family. They worked hard and shared the fruits of their labor.

• Mohammad Ali and his brother Maulana Shaukat Ali (Ali Brothers) joined with other Muslim leaders to form the All India Khilafat Committee.
• Its purpose was to pressure the British government to preserve the authority of the Ottoman Sultan as Caliph of Islam. The Khilafat Committee initiated a campaign of non-cooperation and the movement was formally launched.
• At a special session in Calcutta, the Congress approved a noncooperation programme till the Punjab and Khilafat wrongs were removed and swaraj was established.
• The Ali brothers were arrested for calling the Muslims to resign from the British Army as that was unreligious. Gandhi echoed and reiterated Ali brothers call and asked local Congress committees to pass similar resolutions to that effect.

• Gandhiji, not happy with the increasingly violent trend of the movement, immediately announced the withdrawal of the movement after the violence in Chauri Chaura Incident.
• The CWC (Congress Working Committee) met at Bardoli in February 1922 and resolved to stop all activity that led to breaking of law and to get down to constructive work.
• In March 1922 Gandhi was arrested and sentenced to six years in jail. He made the occasion memorable by a magnificent court speech.

• The Government was determined to suppress the mass agitation. It repeatedly lathi-charged and fired upon unarmed demonstrators at Bombay, Ahmadabad, Calcutta, Delhi and other cities. Gandhiji gave a call for a mighty hartal on 6 April 1919.
• The people responded with unprecedented enthusiasm. The Government decided to meet the popular protest with repression, particularly in Punjab.
• At this time was perpetrated one of the worst political crimes in modern history. An unarmed but large crowd had gathered on 13 April 1919 at Amritsar (in Punjab) in the Jallianwalla Bagh, to protest against the arrest of their popular leaders, Dr. Saifuddin Kitchlu and Dr. Satyapal.
• General Dyer, the military commander of Amritsar, decided to terrorize the people of Amritsar into complete submission. Jallianwala Bagh was a large open space which was enclosed on three sides by buildings and had only one exit.
• He surrounded the Bagh (garden) with his army unit, closed the exit with his troops, and then ordered his men to shoot into the trapped crowd with rifles and machine-guns. They fired till their ammunition was exhausted.

• Lord William Bentinck- Medical College and Hospital and College (1835)
• Lord Dalhousie- Engineering College was established at Roorke (1847)
• Richard Wellesley  -Fort William College at Calcutta(1800)

• Lord Rippon 1880-1884
• Age for the entry in Civil Service exam was raised to 21 years.
• First Factory act was passed during his time in 1881, it prohibited the child labour. Illbert Bill in 1883 was passed by him.
• Passed Local Self Government act in 1882.

• Lord Chelmsford 1916-1921
• August Declaration of 1917, after which the control over the Indian Government would be transferred to Indian people.
• Rowlett Act 1919 was passed Montague-Chelmsford reform was passed.
• Jallianwala Bagh Massacre 1919 took place during his time.
• Non- Cooperation and Khilafat movement took place.
• Women’s University was founded at Poona in 1919

• In April 1928, the “Independence of India League” was formed with Jawaharlal Nehru and Subhash Chandra Bose as Secretaries and S. Srinivasa Iyengar as President.
• Lahore Congress session was presided by Jawaharlal Nehru. On the midnight of December 31, 1929 and January 1, 1930, the deadline of the Nehru Committee report expired and Jawaharlal Nehru unfurled the Flag of India’s independence on the bank of River Ravi in Lahore.
• The Congress working committee met on January 2, 1930 and on that day it was decided that the January 26, 1930 should be observed as Poorna Swarajya Day, as on that day, a Poorna Swarajya pledge was drafted by Mahatma Gandhi.

• There should be a constitutional reconstruction.
• It would be a federal constitution.
• The provinces should be given full autonomy including law.
• The governor should have discretionary power to relate to internal security and administrative powers to protect the different communities.
• The number of members of provincial legislative council should be increased.
• Governor General should have complete power to appoint the members of the cabinet.
• The government of India should have complete control over the high court.

• The session started on 7 September 1931.
• The major difference between the first and the second conference was that the INC was participating in the second one. This was one of the results of the Gandhi-Irwin Pact.
• Another difference was that unlike the previous time, British PM Macdonald was heading not a Labour government, but a National government. The Labor Party had been toppled two weeks before in Britain.
• The British decided to grant a communal award for representing minorities in India by providing for separate electorates for minority communities. Gandhi was against this.
• In this conference, Gandhi and Ambedkar differed on the issue of separate electorates for the untouchables. Gandhi was against treating untouchables as separate from the Hindu community. This issue was resolved through the Poona Pact 1932.
• The second round table conference was deemed a failure because of the many disagreements among the participants. While the INC claimed to speak for the whole of the country, other participants and leaders of other parties contested this claim.

• Also known as the India August Movement or August Kranti.
• It was officially launched by the Indian National Congress (INC) led by Mahatma Gandhi on 9 August 1942.
• The movement gave the slogans ‘Quit India’ or ‘Bharat Chodo’. Gandhi gave the slogan to the people – ‘Do or die’.
• In line with the Congress ideology, it was supposed to be a peaceful non-violent movement aimed at urging the British to grant India independence.
• The Quit India Resolution was passed by the Congress Working Committee on 8 August 1942 in Bombay. Gandhi was named the movement’s leader.
• The resolution stated the provisions of the movement as:
  • Immediate end to British rule over India.
  • Declaration of the commitment of free India to defend itself against all kinds of imperialism and fascism.
  • Formation of a provisional government of India after British withdrawal.
  • Sanctioning a civil disobedience movement against British rule.

• For the first time, the British government acknowledged India’s right to be a dominion.
• Indians could frame their own Constitution.
• The proposal of giving freedom to the provinces to be a separate union turned out to be a model for the country’s partition in 1947.
• The right to cede from the Commonwealth indicated full sovereignty at a later stage.
• In the interim period, Indians were guaranteed a good share in the administration.
• The proposals were seen as too radical by the British and as too conservative by the INC who wanted complete independence.
• The Mission was rejected by the INC, the Muslim League and other Indian groups.

• Despite heavy-handed suppression by the government, the people were unfazed and continued their struggle.
• Even though the government said that independence could be granted only after the end of the war, the movement drove home the point that India could not be governed without the support of the Indians.
• The movement placed the demand for complete independence at the top agenda of the freedom movement.
• Public morale and anti-British sentiment were enhanced.

• Principle of Partition of India was accepted by the British Government
• Successor governments would be given dominion status.
• The Act made provision between two countries, India and Pakistan: 
• Division of British India into the two new and fully sovereign dominions of India and Pakistan, with effect from 15 August 1947;
• Partition of the provinces of Bengal and Punjab between the two new countries;
• establishment of the office of Governor-General in each of the two new countries, as representatives of the Crown;
•  conferral of complete legislative authority upon the respective Constituent Assemblies of the two new countries;
•  termination of British suzerainty over the princely states, with effect from 15 August 1947, and recognized the right of states to accede to either dominion
•  Abolition of the use of the title “Emperor of India” by the British monarch (this was subsequently executed by King George VI by royal proclamation on 22 June 1948).
•  For the division of joint property, etc. between the two new countries, including in particular the division of the armed forces.

Malampandaram – Kerala

Maldhari – Gujarat

Jatapus – Andhra Pradesh and Odisha

All are correctly matched.

The Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty (INF Treaty, formally Treaty Between the United States of America and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics on the Elimination of Their Intermediate-Range and Shorter-Range Missiles is an arms control treaty between the United States and the Soviet Union (and its successor state, the Russian Federation). U.S. President Ronald Reagan and Soviet General Secretary Mikhail Gorbachev signed the treaty on 8 December 1987. The United States Senate approved the treaty on 27 May 1988, and Reagan and Gorbachev ratified it on 1 June 1988.

President Donald Trump announced on 20 October 2018 that he was withdrawing the U.S. from the treaty, accusing Russia of non-compliance. The U.S. formally suspended the treaty on 1 February 2019, and Russia did so the on following day in response to the U.S. withdrawal.

Global Geoparks Network (GGN)

• It is a UNESCO assisted network established in 1998.
• Managed under the body’s Ecological and Earth Sciences Division, the GGN seeks the promotion and conservation of the planet’s geological heritage, as well as encourages the sustainable research and development by the concerned communities.
• List – http://www.unesco.org/new/en/natural-sciences/environment/earth-sciences/unesco-global-geoparks/list-of-unesco-global-geoparks/
• There is no Geopark in India as of now.
• An aspiring Global Geopark must have a dedicated website, a corporate identity, comprehensive management plan, protection plans, finance, and partnerships for it to be accepted.

The Palu-Koro Fault or Palu-Koro Fault System is a major active NNW-SSE trending left-lateral strike-slip fault zone on the island of Sulawesi in Indonesia. It caused the 2018 Sulawesi earthquake and tsunami.

The 2018 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine has been awarded jointly to two cancer immunotherapy researchers, James P. Allison, PhD, of The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, and Dr. Tasuku Honjo of Kyoto University in Japan.

Allison and Honjo were honored for their work on uncovering ways to activate the immune system to attack cancer, a breakthrough in developing new cancer treatments.

The discoveries of Honjo and Allison led to the development of several drugs which allow for the routine use of effective immunotherapy.

Both researchers are being recognized for their work in the 1990s. The two worked separately during their careers to show how certain proteins prevent immune cells called T cells from attacking other cells in the body.

Both the statements are correct.

Global Alliance of National Human Rights Institutions (GANHRI), a UN body based in Geneva, re-accredited India’s apex rights watchdog NHRC with the ‘A’ status in 2018. NHRC completed its 25 years too.

https://theprint.in/india/governance/nhrc-turns-25-and-thats-pretty-much-all-it-has-achieved/132716/

The number of small and marginal agricultural land holdings in the country (known as operational holdings) has registered a marginal increase in 2015-16 compared to 2010-11, according to the tenth agricultural census. This means that there are more people who now own smaller parcels of agricultural land.

In a positive development, the percentage of land holders who are women has increased from 12.79% in 2010-11 to 13.87% in 2015-16, with a corresponding increase of 1.2 percentage points in the operated area. “This shows that more and more females are participating in the management and operation of agricultural lands”

The Agriculture Census in India is conducted at five yearly intervals to collect data on structural aspects of operational holdings in the country. The Agriculture Census programme is carried out in three phases at five yearly intervals with cooperation of States/UTs. The Government of India provides a financial and administrative support as well as all technical guidance to States/UTs required for Census operations. In each State/UT a nucleus staff of the State Government, designated as State Agriculture Census Unit is responsible for coordinating the activities of Agriculture Census Programme at the State/UT level.

• The reference period for Agriculture Census is the Agricultural year (July-June).
• The first comprehensive Agriculture Census in the country was conducted with reference year 1970-71.
• So far, nine Agriculture Censuses have been conducted in the country.
• The current Agriculture Census with reference year 2015-16 is tenth in the series.

The small and marginal holdings taken together (0.00-2.00 ha) constituted 86.21% in 2015-16 against 84.97% in 2010-11 while their share in the operated area stood 47.34% in the current census as against 44.31% in 2010-11.

Semi-medium and Medium operational holdings (2.00-10.00 ha) in 2015-16 were only 13.22% with 43.61% operated area. The corresponding figures for 2010-11 census was 14.29% and 44.82%.

The large holdings (10.00 ha & above) were merely 0.57% of total number of holdings in 2015-16 and had a share of 9.04% in the operated area as against 0.71% and 10.59% respectively for 2010-11 census.

https://www.thehindu.com/sci-tech/agriculture/indian-farms-getting-smaller/article25113177.ece

On the occasion of Birth Anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi i.e. October 02, 2018, Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI), had launched a National Level Entrepreneurship Awareness Campaign, Udyam Abhilasha in 115 Aspirational Districts identified by NITI Aayog in 28 States and reaching to around 15,000 youth.

SIDBI will join to contribute to “the transformation mission” unleashed for these districts.  The campaign would be running parallelly from 3rd October to 8thOctober, 2018 across India.

The campaign would create and strengthen cadre of more than 800 trainers to provide entrepreneurship training to the aspiring youths across these districts thus encouraging them to enter the admired segment of entrepreneurs.

http://pib.nic.in/newsite/PrintRelease.aspx?relid=183911

All the statements are correct.

IndiaSkills, 2018, the country’s biggest skill competition recently concluded in Delhi. It was the second edition of the nationwide skill competition organised by the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship, Government of India.

It seeks to identify, recognise, promote and reward the best talents in various skills. It also working at recognising best talents of various trades and providing them with training to make them able to participate in 45th WorldSkills Competition at Kazan, Russia in 2019.

A number of Divayangs also participated in the competition and the winners will take part at the World level in Abilympics in China.

http://pib.nic.in/newsite/PrintRelease.aspx?relid=184009