IAS UPSC Prelims and Mains Exam – 11th March 2020

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(PRELIMS + MAINS FOCUS)

Hindu Adoption

Part of: GS Prelims and GS-I- Society; GS-II- Polity

In News:

• Supreme Court has held that a Hindu adoption is not valid unless the man takes prior consent from his wife and that there is actual ceremony of adoption
• These two conditions were mandated in the Hindu Adoptions and Maintenance Act of 1956

Prelims Value Addition

• Central Adoption Resource Authority (CARA) is statutory body of Ministry of Women & Child Development
• It is established under Juvenile Justice Act, 2015.
• It is a nodal body for adoption of Indian children.
• It is mandated to monitor and regulate in-country and inter-country adoptions.
• It deals in orphan, abandoned or surrendered children.
• It deals with inter-country adoptions according to Hague Convention on Inter-country Adoption, 1993 ratified by India in 2003.

Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana(PMUY)

Part of: GS Prelims – Government Schemes and GS-III- Economy

In News:

• LPG scheme PM Ujjwala Yojana closed, but only 3 States have become kerosene-free
• PMUY is a scheme of the Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Gas for providing LPG connections to women from Below Poverty Line (BPL) households.
• Under the scheme, an adult woman member of a below poverty line family identified through the Socio-Economic Caste Census (SECC) is given a deposit-free LPG connection with financial assistance of Rs 1,600 per connection by the Centre.
• The Petroleum Ministry informed the Parliamentary committee on Petroleum that 
  • The government had met the target of eight crore LPG connections on September 7, 2019, 
  • The scheme was no longer running, and the present allocation ( ₹1,118 crore during 2020-21) was meant to meet the arrears in the reimbursement of expenditure
  • 97% LPG coverage nationwide– calculated by dividing the number of households — it stand at 2850.5 lakh as on February 1 this year — and the domestic LPG consumers, at 2772.2 lakh.
• The committee, therefore, recommended that the scheme be extended to poor households in urban and semi-urban slum areas

Sir Creek

Part of: GS Prelims and GS-II- Bilateral Relations

In News:

• Former Pakistan Minister recalls plan for Sir Creek pact
• Sir Creek is a 96 km (60 mi) tidal estuary in uninhabited marshlands of Indus river delta on the border of India and Pakistan 
• The Creek opens up in the Arabian Sea and roughly divides the Kutch region of Gujarat from the Sindh Province of Pakistan
• It was originally named Ban Ganga, but was later renamed after a British representative
• Sir Creek dispute between India & Pakistan lies in the interpretation of the maritime boundary line between Kutch and Sindh
• India claims that the boundary lies mid-channel according to international law and the Thalweg principle, while Pakistan claims that the boundary lies to the east of the creek
• Thalweg Principle states that river boundaries between two Countries may be divided by the mid-channel if the water-body is navigable

Daily Current Affairs IAS | UPSC Prelims and Mains Exam – 11th March 2020

Pic Source: India Today

Shared Economy

Part of: GS Prelims and GS-III- Economy

In News:

• Shared economy in India is estimated to be an about $2 billion industry by end of 2020
• In the sharing economy, individuals are said to rent or “share” things like their cars, homes and personal time to other individuals in a peer-to-peer fashion
• By making it easier to exchange resources on demand, the sharing economy increases efficiency. 

• In many circumstances, it allows participants to get by without owning valuable items, such as cars, while creating opportunities for others to extract value from idle possessions or talents.

• The sharing economy often involves some type of online platform that connects buyers and seller.
• The ‘shared economy’ includes segments such as co-working (Awfis, WeWork India), co-living (Stanza Living, OYO Life, Oxford Caps), shared mobility (Uber, Ola, Shuttl) and furniture rental (Furlenco, Rentomojo.)

Plants dissipate excess sunlight as heat

Part of: GS Prelims and GS-III- Science & Technology

In News:

• Photosynthesis is a life-sustaining process by which plants store solar energy as sugar molecules. 

• However, if sunlight (solar energy) is in excess, it can lead to leaves being dehydrated and damaged

• The excess solar energy is transferred from the pigment chlorophyll, which gives leaves their green colour, to other pigments called carotenoids. 
• The carotenoids then release the energy as heat
• The heat dissipation phenomenon occurs on a very fast time scale, in femtoseconds or quadrillionths of a second.
• The excess energy, if not released, leads to the creation of free radicals that can damage proteins and other important cellular molecules.

Government to Launch Mahua-based Alcoholic Drink

Part of: GS Prelims and GS-III- Economy

In News:

• Mahuwa (Madhuca indica) is a prominent forest tree in tribal areas of Bastar, Chhattisgarh and plays an important role in the rural economy. 
• The mahuwa flowers are a rich source of sugars and are said to contain vitamins, minerals and calcium. 
• The flowers are fermented and distilled yielding spirituous liquor also known as ‘country beer’
• The beverage – Called Mahua Nutribeverage – has a high nutritional value and relatively low alcohol content (5 %) 
• It has been developed by IIT-Delhi after two years of research in collaboration with TRIFED (Tribal Cooperative Marketing Development Federation of India).
• The marketing is being undertaken under the Tribal Affairs Ministry’s value-addition scheme called the Van Dhan Vikas Karyakram.

About Van Dhan Vikas Karyakram

• It is nation-wide programme for training tribal clusters to add value to their produce and sell it in a packaged format, aiming to increase their income manifold.
• The products marketed under the scheme include only those that need primary-level processing, including handicrafts, textiles, food items, jams and pulps, and jewellery
• Implementing Agency: TRIFED

Attukal Pongala

Part of: GS Prelims and GS-I- Culture

In News:

• The Attukal Pongala is a ten-day- long festival held in Attukal Temple, Thiruvananthapuram(Kerala) is the largest congregation of women for a festival in the world.

• Pongala, which means ‘to boil over’, is the ritual in which women prepare sweet payasam (a pudding made from rice, jaggery, coconut and plantains cooked together) and offer it to the Goddess or ‘Bhagavathy’. The ritual can only be performed by women

• The festival commences with the musical rendering of the story of the Goddess (Kannaki Charitam) that invokes the victory of Good over Evil, by the slaying of Pandyan King.
• Also known as “the Sabarimala of Women”.

(MAINS FOCUS)

Governance

Topic: General Studies 2:

• Government policies and interventions for development in various sectors and issues arising out of their design and implementation. 
• Issues relating to development and management of Social Sector/Services relating to Education

School education

Parliamentary Standing Committee on Human Resource Development in its latest report on budgetary grants for school education and literacy for 2020-21, has made the following observations:

• The allocation to the School Education and Literacy department has suffered a cut of 27.52%, amounting to Rs. 22,725 crore in the Budget Estimate for 2020-21, 
• Access to Electricity: Only 56.45% of government schools had electricity (for 2017-18) 
• In politically well-represented state of Uttar Pradesh, almost 70% of schools lacked electricity.
• Playground: Only 56.98% of schools had a playground (for 2017-18)
• Boundary Wall: Almost 40% of schools lacked a boundary wall (for 2017-18)
• Disability Friendly: Neglect of toilet construction for children with special needs
• Girl Toilets: Absence of toilets for girls in nearly one-third of secondary schools 
• Inadequate laboratories for higher secondary science students

Government Steps in Education Sector

• NDA government launched ‘100-day programme’ for education after coming to power for second term in 2019

• The 100 day programme focused in part on training of schoolteachers and opening of central schools. 

• Since Education is in Concurrent list Union government operates its own schemes and sponsors several school education programmes covering the States, notably Samagra Shiksha and the Mid Day Meal scheme.

Samagra Shiksha

• It is an overarching programme for the school education sector extending from pre-school to class 12
• It subsumes the three Schemes of 
  • Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA), 
  • Rashtriya Madhyamik Shiksha Abhiyan (RMSA) 
  • Teacher Education (TE).
• Objective: Improving school effectiveness measured in terms of equal opportunities for schooling and equitable learning outcomes.
• Major features of the scheme are

• • Holistic approach to education- Treat school education holistically as a continuum from Pre-school to Class 12

• • Administrative reform – Single and unified administrative structure leading to harmonized implementation.

• • Enhanced Funding for Education
  • Focus on Quality of Education – With emphasis on improvement of Learning Outcomes, capacity building of Teachers and utilizing technology. Outcome oriented allocation of resources
  • Focus on Digital Education – Support ‘Operation Digital Board’ in all secondary schools over a period of 5 years. Digital initiatives like Shala Kosh, Shagun, Shaala Saarthi to be strengthened. “DIKSHA”, digital portal for teachers to be used extensively for upgrading skills of teachers
  • Focus on Inclusion and reducing gender gap

• • Focus on Skill Development- Strengthening of vocational education at secondary level as an integral part of curriculum

• • Focus on Sports and Physical Education – Sports equipment will be provided to all schools under this component.

• • Focus on Regional Balance- Preference to Educationally Backward Blocks (EBBs), LWEs, Special Focus Districts (SFDs), Border areas and the 115 aspirational districts identified by Niti Aayog

Way Forward:

• Effective implementation of Samgra Shiksha Abhiyan

• Mission-mode approach to infrastructure ensuring that no school is left behind. 
• Solar power can be installed in schools and toilets built for all students in 100 days. 
• Community participation to ensure that the objectives are satisfactorily met
• Incentivizing State governments (Finance Commission Grants) to enhance expenditure on Schooling

Conclusion

• A public school system that guarantees universal access, good learning and all facilities has to be among the highest national priorities.

Connecting the dots

• ASER Report
• In India we have islands of Excellence in Higher Education System – Critically Analyse

(TEST YOUR KNOWLEDGE)

Model questions: (You can now post your answers in comment section)

Note: 

• Correct answers of today’s questions will be provided in next day’s DNA section. Kindly refer to it and update your answers. 

• Comments Up-voted by IASbaba are also the “correct answers”.

Q 1. Consider the following statements about Muhawa trees

1. It is a prominent forest tree in tribal areas of Bastar, Chhattisgarh 
2. The mahuwa flowers are a rich source of proteins and are said to contain vitamins, minerals and calcium. 

Which of the statement(s) given above is/are correct?

1. 1 only
2. 2 only
3. Both 1 and 2
4. Neither 1 nor 2

Q 2. Attukal Pongala is a festival that is predominantly celebrated in which State of India?

1. Karnataka
2. Kerala
3. Tamil Nadu
4. Andhra Pradesh

Q 3. Consider the following statements 

Assertion (A): Plants dissipate excess sunlight as heat

Reasoning (R): The excess energy, if not released, leads to the creation of free radicals that can damage proteins and other important cellular molecules of plant.

Select the correct answer from codes given below

1. Both A & R is correct and R is the correct explanation of A
2. Both A & R is correct but R is NOT the correct explanation of A 
3. A is correct but R is Incorrect
4. A is incorrect but R is correct

Q 4. Consider the following statements about Central Adoption Resource Authority (CARA)

1. It is a statutory body of Ministry of Home Affairs, established under Juvenile Justice Act, 2015
2. It deals with inter-country adoptions according to Hague Convention on Inter-country Adoption, 1993 ratified by India in 2003

Which of the statement(s) given above is/are correct?

1. 1 only
2. 2 only
3. Both 1 and 2
4. Neither 1 nor 2

Q 5. Thalweg Principle often seen in news is related to which field?

1. Estimation of Pollution in Artic region
2. Carbon Trading
3. Maritime Boundary determination
4. Voting power in IMF & World Bank

ANSWERS FOR 10 March 2020 TEST YOUR KNOWLEDGE (TYK)

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