60 Days Plan: UPSC IAS Prelims 2019 – History and Current Affairs (Day 8)

Explanation

• Young Bengal Movement: 1809
• Prarthana Samaj: 1867
• Arya Samaj: 1875
• Ramakrishna Mission: 1897

Explanation

• Pandit Iswar Chandra Vidyasagar was both a scholar and a reformer, was associated with widow remarriage.
• Soon a powerful movement in favor of widow remarriage was started. At last, after prolonged struggle the Widow Remarriage Act was passed in 1856. 
• He was a renowned Sanskrit scholar and became the Principal of the Sanskrit College in 1851. Vidyasagar contributed enormously to the growth of the Bengali language and contributed to the evolution of the modern prose style in Bengali
• The Sanskrit College conferred on him the title of ‘Vidyasagar’ because of his profound knowledge of Sanskrit.
• By admitting non-Brahmin students to the Sanskrit College, he dealt a severe blow to the prevalent caste system.
• Vidyasagar made the people aware of the social problems and thus helped the growth of nationalism in India.

Explanation

• Jyotiba Phule belonging to a low caste from Maharashtra and being aware of the degraded position of the untouchables and non-Brahmins, he waged a life-long struggle against upper caste domination and Brahminical supremacy through his Satyashodhak Samaj (1873). 
• Phule along with his wife savitribai phule founded the first women’s school at Bhide Wada in Pune in 1848.
• She noticed the plight of women who after falling prey to sexual exploitation, and becoming pregnant, either committed suicide or killed the newborn due to fear of banishment by the society.
• To cater to such women she opened a care center for pregnant rape victims and helped deliver their children. The care center was called “Balhatya Pratibandhak Griha” (Infanticide prohibition house). 

Explanation

• The Aligarh Movement was started by Sir Syed Ahmad Khan (1817-98) for the social and educational advancement of the Muslims in India.
• He fought against the medieval backwardness and advocated a rational approach towards religion. In 1862, he founded the Scientific Society to translate English books on science and other subjects into Urdu.
• He also started an English- Urdu journal through which he spread the ideas of social reform through his initiative was established the Mohammedean Oriental College which later developed into the Aligarh Muslim University.
• It helped to develop a modern outlook among its students. This intellectual movement is called the Aligarh Movement. As a social reformer, Syed Ahmad khan campaigned against the purdah system, polygamy and the Muslim system of divorce.
• He emphasized the need for removing irrational social customs while retaining the essence of Islam and encouraging a rational interpretation of the Koran.

Explanation

• In the southern parts of the country Kandukuri Veeresalingam (1848-1919) pioneered the movement in support of widow remarriage and girls education in Andhra. 
• Veda Samaj founded in Madras in 1864 advocated discarding of caste distinctions and promotion of widow remarriage and women’s education.
• It condemned the superstitions and rituals of orthodox Hinduism and propagated belief in one supreme God.
• Chembeti Sridharalu Naidu was the most popular leader of the Veda Samaj. He translated books of the Veda Samaj in Tamil and Telugu.
• An important movement particularly significant for the emancipation of the so-called backward and oppressed sections of Indian society was started by Shree Narayana Guru (1854-1928) in Kerala.
• In 1903 he founded the Shree Narayana Dharma Paripalana Yogam (SNDP) to carry on the work of social reform. Shree Narayana Guru considered differences based on caste and religion as meaningless and advocated what he called ‘One Caste, one Religion and one God for all’.

Explanation

• Annie Besant made the movement very popular in India. It represented both Indian and international character.
• The society under Besant concentrated on the revival of Hinduism and its ancient ideas. In order to provide Hindu religious instruction, she founded the Central Hindu School at Varanasi which was later developed into the Banaras Hindu University by Madanmohan Malaviya.
• Annie Besant fought for the causes she thought were right, such as, women’s rights, secularism, birth control, Fabian socialism and workers’ rights.
• She also became involved in Indian freedom movement. Along with the Lokmanya Tilak in 1916, she founded Home Rule League which advocated self-rule by Indians. She became the President of Indian National Congress in 1917.
• She was the first woman to hold that post. She started a newspaper, “New India”, criticized British rule and was jailed for sedition. She worked hard on the campaign for India’s independence and has created various letters and articles demanding the independence of India.
• The society conducted researches on Hindu religious thoughts, translated and published Hindu scriptures which helped the process of intellectual awakening of India.
• The Theosophical Society established the greatness of the Hindu metaphysical doctrines and created a national pride in the minds of educated Indian youths, which gave birth to the modern concept of nationalism.

Explanation

• Ram Mohan Roy is unanimously considered as first ‘modern men’, pioneer of socio-religious and political reform movements in modern India. Known as the “father of the Indian Renaissance”, Ram Mohan Roy was a great patriot, scholar humanist and linguist.
• He was moved by deep love for the country and worked throughout his life for the social, religious, intellectual and political regeneration of the Indians. 
• Deeply moved by the plight of his brother’s widow, who had been forced to commit Sati, he was determined to uproot this social practice.
• In 1814, Roy founded the short-lived Atmiya-Sabha (Friendly Society) to propagate his doctrines of monotheistic Hinduism this led him to challenge other unfair social and religious practices prevalent at that time.
• He founded Brahmo Samaj in 1828, intended to bring socio-religious and intellectual reforms. He was the first person to take an initiative to challenge the practice of Sati and it soon became his life-long crusade.
• He mobilized public opinion and cited the scriptures to show that this practice had no sanction in Hindu religion. In the process he faced displeasure and enmity of orthodox Hindus. In his efforts he was supported by the then Governor General of India, Sir William Bentinck.
• A law was passed in 1829 making Sati illegal and punishable. He also made efforts to advocate widow re-marriage and condemned child marriage.
• He represented a synthesis of the Eastern and the Western thoughts. He advocated the importance of Vedas in reforming religion and upheld the fundamental unity among all religions. But he never acknowledged that Vedas are infallible.
• He held that all the principal ancient texts of the Hindus preached Monotheism (worship of one God) and opposed Polytheism (belief in more than one God). He was given the title of Raja by the Mughal Emperor.

Explanation

• Political-religious Movements – Fakir Uprising, Sanyasi Uprising, Pagal Panthis, Wahabi Movement, Faraizi Movement, Kuka Movement and Moplah Rebellions
• Movement by deposed rulers and Zamindars– Velu Thampi and Polygar Rebellions
• Movements by the dependents of the deposed ruler- Ramosi Uprising, Gadkari Revolt and Sawantwadi Revolt
• Tribal Movements Santhal Rebellion, Khond uprising, Munda uprising, Koya Rebellion Rampa Rebellion and Chenchu tribal Movements

Explanation

• An Islamic revivalist movement founded by Syed Ahmed of Rai Bareilly (Uttarpradesh), who was inspired by the teachings of Abdul Wahab (1703-87) of Saudi Arabia and Shah WaliUllah of Delhi. Syed Ahmed condemned the western influence on Islam and advocated a return to pure Islam and society.
• Syed Ahmed was declared as Imam (desired leader) and a countrywide organizationwith and elaborate secret code for its working under spiritual vice-regents(khalifas) was set up, and Sithana in north-western tribal belt was chosen as a base for operations.
• In India, its important centre was at patna though it had its missions in Hyderabad, Madras, Bengal, UP and Bombay. Since the Dar-Ul-Harb (the land of kafirs) was to be converted into Dar-Ul-Islam (theland of islam), a Zehad was declared against the Sikh kingdom of Punjab.
• After the defeat of the Sikh ruler and incorporation of the Punjab into East India Company’s dominion in 1849, the British dominion in India became the sole target of the Wahabi’s attacks.

Explanation

• In 1808-09, VeluThampi, the Dewan of Travancore, rose up in rebellion against the British attempt to remove him from the Dewanship and the heavy burden imposed on the state through the Subsidiary Alliance System.
• In one of the ensuing skirmishes VeluThampi was injured and died in the forest. However, even though dead, he was publicly hanged as an example to the fate of those who rose against the British.

Explanation

• Ramosi Uprising: 1822, 1825-26
• Sawantwadi Revolt: 1844
• Gadkari Revolt: 1844
• Santhal Rebellion: 1854

Explanation

• The Bhilswere concentrated in the hill ranges of Khandesh in the previous Maratha territory. British occupation of this region in 1818 brought in, the outsiders and accompanying dislocations in their community life.
• A general Bhil insurrection in 1817-19 was crushed by the British Military forces and though some conciliatory measures were taken to pacify them.
• They again revolted under the leadership of SevaRam in 1825 and the situation remained unsettled until 1831 when the Ramosi Leader UmajiRaje of Purandhar was finally captured and executed. Minor revolts again took place in 1836 and 1846 as well.
• The Bhils’ local rivals for power, theKolis of Ahmednagar district, also challenged the British in 1829, but were quickly subdued by a large army contingent.
• The seeds of rebellion however persisted, to erupt again in 1844-46, when a local Koli leader successfully defied the British government for two years.

Explanation

The overall contribution of Brahmo Samaj may be summed thus

• It denounced polytheism and idol worship.
• It discarded faith in divine incarnations.
• It denied that any scripture could enjoy the status of ultimate authority transcending human reason and conscience.
• It took no definite stand on the doctrine of karma and transmigration of soul and left it to individual Brahmos to believe either way.
• It criticized the caste system.

Explanation

• Eastern India- BrahmoSamaj, TattvabodhiniSabha, BrahmoSamaj of India, Young Bengal Movement, PrarthanaSamaj.
• WesternIndia- Student’s Library and Scientific Society, Paramhansa Mandalis, Satyashodhak Samaj, Servants of India Society.
• Southern India- SNDP Movement, VokkaligaSangha, Justice Movement, Temple Entry Movement, Self-respect Movement.
• Pan India-  Ramkrishna Movement, AryaSamaj, Theosophical Movement

Explanation

• In 1873-74, the Poona Sarvajanik Sabha (Poona Public Society), led by Mahadev Govind Ranade, who organized a successful campaign among the peasants, as well as at Poona and Bombay against the land revenue settlement of 1867.
• The Servants of India Society was formed in Pune, Maharashtra, on June 12, 1905 by Gopal Krishna Gokhale, who left the Deccan Education Society to form this association.
• This agitation had generated a mentality of resistance among the peasants which contributed to the rise of peasant protest in 1875. The Sabha as well as many of the nationalist newspapers also supported the Deccan Agriculturists‘Relief Bill. Under its impact, a large number of peasants refused to pay the enhanced revenue.

Explanation

• Peasants were moved by strong notions of legitimacy, of what was justifiable and what was not. That is why they did not fight for land ownership or against landlordism but against eviction and undue enhancement of rent.
• Peasants did not object to paying interest on the sums he had borrowed; he hit back against fraud and chicanery by the moneylender and when the latter went against tradition in depriving him of his land.
• They did not deny the state‘s right to collect a tax on land but objected when the level of taxation overstepped all traditional bounds.
• They did not object to the foreign planter becoming his zamindar but resisted the planter when he took away his freedom to decide what crops to grow and refused to pay him a proper price for his crop.

Explanation

• Statement 1 is not correct: Swami Dayanand Saraswati favoured the study of western sciences as they deal with the problems of men in real world instead of following traditional beliefs.
• Statement 2 is not correct: Vedas were considered as infalliable by the institution, whereas Swami Dayanand Saraswati believed that selfish and ignorant priests had perverted Hindu religion with the aid of Puranas, which were full of false teachings.

Explanation

• Vasudev Balwant Phadke, an educated clerk, raised a Ramosi peasant force of about 50 in Maharashtra during 1879, and organized social banditry on a significant scale.
• The Kuka Revolt in Punjab was led by Baba Ram Singh and had elements of a messianic movement. It was crushed when 49 of the rebels were blown up by cannon in 1872.
• Displaced peasants and demobilized soldiers of Bengal led by religious monks and dispossessed zamindars were the first to rise up in the Sanyasi rebellion, made famous by Bankim Chandra Chatterjee in his novel Anand Math, that lasted from 1763 to 1800.

Explanation

• H.P Blavatsky was one of the founder of Theosophical Society in the United State of America in 1875.He was not associated with Home Rule League.
• Annie Besant and Tilak both had set up home rule leagues. She was joined by Arundale, C.P. Ramaswamy Aiyar, and B.P. Wadia, Jawaharlal Nehru in Allahabad and B. Chakravarti and J. Banerjea in Calcutta joined the Home Rule League.

Explanation

• The nineteenth century witnessed a cultural-ideological struggle against the backward elements of traditional culture, on the one hand, and the fast hegemonizing colonial culture and ideology on the other.
• Although religious reformation was a major concern of these movements, none of them were exclusively religious in character. Strongly humanist in inspiration, the idea of otherworldliness and salvation were not a part of their agenda; instead their attention was focused on worldly existence.
• Two important intellectual criteria which informed the reform movements were rationalism and religious universalism. Social relevance was judged by a rationalist critique. It is difficult to match the uncompromising rationalism of the early Raja Rammohan Roy or Akshay Kumar Dutt..
• If the reform movements had totally rejected tradition, Indian society would have easily undergone a process of westernization. But the reformers were aiming at modernization rather than westernization. A blind initiation of western cultural norms was never an integral part of reform.

Ilkal Saree – Karnataka

Bathukamma saree – Telangana

Arani Silk Saree – Tamil Nadu

News: Computer scientists and a student team from the IIT- Madras have developed a industry-standard microprocessors (RISECREEK).

About

• It can be adapted by others, as the design is open source
• It can meet the demands of defence and strategic equipment such as NAVIC (Indian Regional Navigation Satellite) and Internet of Things (IoT) electronics.
• The initial batch of 300 chips named RISECREEK, produced under Project Shakti.
• Project Shakti started in 2014 as an IIT-M initiative.

Justice A.S. Anand Committee was constituted to study all the issues of Mullaperiyar Dam.

Mullaperiyar Dam

• It is a masonry gravity dam on the Periyar River in Kerala
• The dispute between Kerala and Tamil Nadu states is because of the control and safety of the dam and the validity and fairness of the lease agreement.

Nauradehi Wildlife Sanctuary

• It is the largest wildlife sanctuary of Madhya Pradesh
• It is a potential site for the Cheetah Reintroduction in India
• It was found to be the most suitable area for the cheetahs as its forests are not very dense to restrict the fast movement of the animal. The prey base for cheetahs is also in abundance at the sanctuary
• It sits astride two major river basins of India, namely the Narmada, flowing west to the Arabian Sea and the Ganges, flowing east to the Bay of Bengal.
• Three-fourths of the wildlife sanctuary falls in the basin of Ganges tributary, the Yamuna River, of which the Ken River is a tributary, and one fourth of the sanctuary falls in the Naramada basin.
• The north flowing Kopra River, Bamner River, Vyarma River and Bearma River, which are tributaries of the Ken River, are the major rivers of this protected area.
• Indian wolf is the keystone species of Nauradehi Wildlife Sanctuary
• The flora consists of central Indian Monsoon forests, which include tropical dry deciduous forest.

Salta – Argentina

Port Louis – Mauritius

Aktau – Kazakhstan

Maram Naga belongs to Manipur

Development of Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups

There are 75 Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups (PVTGs) notified as on date in the country.  The criteria followed for determination of PVTGs are as under:

• A pre-agriculture level of technology;
• A stagnant or declining population;
• Extremely low literacy; and
• A subsistence level of economy.

Development of PVTGs:

• Covers the 75 identified PVTGs among Scheduled Tribes in 18 States/ UT of Andaman & Nicobar Islands.  
• It is a flexible scheme and covers funding for activities like housing, land distribution, land development, agricultural development, animal husbandry, construction of link roads, and installation of non-conventional sources of energy for lighting purpose, social security including Janshree Beema Yojana or any other innovative activity meant for the comprehensive socio-economic development of PVTGs.  
• Priority is also assigned to PVTGs under the schemes of Special Central Assistance (SCA) to Tribal Sub-Scheme (TSS), Grants under Article 275(1) of the Constitution, Grants-in-aid to Voluntary Organisations working for the welfare of Schedule Tribes and Strengthening of Education among ST Girls in Low Literacy Districts.

Source:

Yojana & Kurukshetra- August 2018

https://tribal.nic.in/DivisionsFiles/SwLPVTGs.pdf

Innovation Cell and Atal Ranking of Institutions on Innovation Achievements (ARIIA) launched by Ministry of Human Resource Development (M/o HRD) to foster culture of innovation in Higher Education Institutions.

MHRD Innovation Cell (MIC)

Innovation cell is MHRD’s initiative established at AICTE with a purpose to systematically foster the culture of Innovation in all Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) across the country. The primary mandate of Innovation Cell is to encourage, inspire and nurture young students by exposing them to new ideas and processes resulting in innovative activities in their formative years fostered through Network of Innovation clubs in Higher Educational Institutions.

Major Programs

• Network of Innovation Clubs (NIC)
• Atal Ranking of Institutions on Innovation Achievements (ARIIA)
• Smart India Hackathon (SIH) 2019
• National Student Startup Policy (NSSP)

Do you know?

AICTE’s Student Start-up Policy:

• AICTE crafted its Student Start-up Policy and was launched on 16th November 2016 at the hands of Honourable President of India.
• This policy is designed for the AICTE approved Institutions in accordance with Govt of India’s “Start-up India” Action plan, that was launched on 16th January 2016.
• AICTE’s Student Start up policy intends to guide AICTE approved institutions to promote student driven innovations and start-ups.
• The policy aims at identifying the innovative and entrepreneurial potential of students and transforming them into start-up entrepreneurs.
• This can be done by developing an ideal entrepreneurial ecosystem and promoting strong inter-institutional partnerships among technical institutions, other ecosystem enablers, different stakeholders, programs, market and society.

Source: https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/new-ranking-based-on-innovation/article24823285.ece

Chandka Elephant Sanctuary is a wildlife reserve located in the south fringe of Cuttack in Odisha.

The Balukhand-Konark Wildlife Sanctuary is a wildlife sanctuary located in Odisha.

Source: https://www.downtoearth.org.in/blog/wildlife-and-biodiversity/pronking-in-ganjam-61351

The Pacific nation of Vanuatu is one of the world’s most “linguistically-dense” countries.

Located in Eastern Melanesia, the archipelago nation is home to rich biodiversity, which is encoded in the vocabulary of its many hundreds of languages.

That is, local communities have words for different species of plant and animal life that have yet to be classified by researchers. This reality led the Bronx Botanical Gardens to partner with communities in Vanuatu—an instance of linguistic diversity fueling the scientific method.

Source: https://www.downtoearth.org.in/blog/environment/resurrecting-babel-61436

Source: https://www.downtoearth.org.in/blog/energy/biodiesel-in-india-the-jatropha-fiasco-61321