Press Information Bureau (PIB) IAS UPSC –9th August to 16th August, 2020

ARCHIVES

GS-1

78th anniversary of ‘Quit India Movement’

(Topic: Modern Indian history from about the middle of the eighteenth century until the present- significant events, personalities, issues; The Freedom Struggle – its various stages and important contributors /contributions from different parts of the country)

India’s fight against British rule is often seen as a long drawn battle developing since early 20th century, especially under the leadership of Gandhiji. At various phases, the movement saw itself gaining higher momentum, for instance the non-cooperation in 1920-22 and civil disobedience movement in 1930-32. However, the one call that moved India towards its ultimate freedom call was the rebel cry of the congress between early August 1942 and September 1944.

In July 1942, the Congress Working Committee met at Wardha and a resolution was passed which was termed The Wardha Resolution. It is also known as Quit India Resolution which demanded, “The British Rule in India must end immediately.” And it declared that free India “will assure the success by throwing his great resources in the struggle for freedom and against the aggression of Nazism, Facism and perialism”. Thus, Quit India was about enabling India’s greater participation in the war for peace and in the war of liberation from fascism and nascism. Quit India was a civil disobedience movement launched at the Bombay session of the All India Congress Committee (AICC) by Mahatma Gandhi on August 8, 1942, demanding an end to British rule in India. While message of quit India was loud and clear, the call of ‘do or die’ infused the masses with a life of its own.

Quit India is also called as India August Movement (August Kranti), People’s Movement and Leaderless movement.

Circumstances for the launch of the movement:

1. Failure of Cripps mission: Cripps mission was sent from Britain to negotiate with Indian leaders to support Britain in WW-2. Indian National congress has declared Purna Swaraj as final goal in Lahore session in 1928 and was not ready to concede on this. While British government was promising only dominion that too after war.
2. Escalation of Prices and food shortage: WW-2 has increase demand of goods which lead to escalation of prices. Food and other good were supplied to soldiers from India and common people have bear it repercussion in form of high prices. Public was more ready for mass based movement than our leaders.
3. Advancement of Japan: Japan was advancing toward India after subjugating South East Asia. Indian saw it as opportunities to over-throw the British.
4. The British saw the threat it posed and arrested all the major national leaders before the dawn of the day, the whole movement was carried out by the masses without the leaders.

Impact of the movement:

1. QIM demoralized British government to rule India. People participated without any guides and attacked the symbols of British authority. In many places self-rule local governments were established. This pressurized British government to accept demands of congress. So, the British lifted Ban on Congress and National leaders were released from prison.
2. Paved the way for constitutional proposal of the Cabinet Mission. Latter Constituent assembly was organized on the Mission’s recommendations.
3. Relent on INA Trails: The British were in favor to punish every participant on treason charges but due to QIM has forced the British to be relent on trial.

Knit India movement: Lack of sense of belonging to each other and unity of purpose and action had led to long subjugation and exploitation of India. Learning from this, all Indians need to be bound by the shared sense of Indianness while pursuing their respective cultural values and ethos. This is all about nourishing the spirit of nationalism. A perception of divided India would make us an easy target for others for fishing in troubled waters. A strong, unified and emotionally integrated India is the best defence against those casting an evil eye on us with questionable intentions. Therefore, there is a need to Knit India into one single fabric by ensuring equality of all and equal opportunities for all and noted that a divided and iniquitous society does not enable the fullest development of all Indians to their capacity.

Setting up of Tribal Freedom Fighters’ Museums

(Topic: The Freedom Struggle – its various stages and important contributors /contributions from different parts of the country)

Ministry of Tribal Affairs is developing “Tribal Freedom Fighters’ Museums” dedicated to the contributions of the Tribal people in India to the freedom struggle

• All the museums will have strong usage of technologies like Virtual Reality (VR), Augmented Reality (AR), 3D/7D holographic projections etc.
• These museums will trace the history along the trails, along which the tribal people in hills and forests fought for their right to live and will, therefore, combine ex situ display with in situ conservation, regeneration initiatives. 
• These will be museums, objects as well as ideas. These will demonstrate the way tribal struggles for protecting their custodial concerns for the biological and cultural diversity of the country, have helped in nation building.

History of freedom fighters in India has recorded scores of instances of unequal battles that became inevitable when imperialist forces came out with their quest for acquiring territories through the use of brute force, destroying the sovereignty and freedom of free people and bringing in the process a holocaust to the lives of innumerable men, women and children. It is a battle between the evil designs of expansionism and the powerful instinct of self-presentation. 

Tribals have resisted the British authority and other exploiters. For many centuries, tribals were isolated, scattered in forests. Each tribe has established its own socio cultural diversity. They launched movements against the British authority in their respective regions. Their agitations against the outsiders could be called anti-colonial. They revolted against them because of their exploitation in the form of encroachment on their land, eviction from their land, annulment of the traditional legal and social rights and customs, against enhancement of rent, for transfer of land to thetiller, abolition of feudal and semi-feudal form of ownership. 

On the whole, these movements had social and religious overtone. But they were directed against the issues related to their existence. Tribal Resistance Movement was an integral part of Freedom movement of India. In this historic struggle, the heroic role played by many distinguished tribal leaders like BirsaMunda, Rani Gaidinliu, LaxmanNaik, and Veer SurendraSai and many others.

The most dominant characteristic of the tribal resistance movement was that it was essentially an uprising against the foreign rulers and in that sense could be constructed to be the precursor of the national liberation movement which took a definite shape and gathered momentum under the inspiring leadership of Mahatma Gandhi. It is immaterial as to what were the compulsions or motivations behind this resistance movement; it is immaterial if the tribal revolutionaries had no formal education and training in staging armed rebellions and had no common leadership to guide and spur them to action. The unmistakable fact remains that they could no longer meekly submit to the intervention of the foreign rulers in their habitat, age old customs, rituals and cultural moors. They acted as the stooges of the imperial power and all their action and conduct were directed at uprooting the foundations of the foreign rule.

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Launch of the platform – Transparent Taxation – Honoring the Honest

(Topic: Government policies and interventions)

In news:

• “Transparent Taxation — Honouring the Honest” platform was launched recently.
• The platform provides faceless assessment, faceless appeal and a taxpayers’ charter.

Faceless Assessment:

• Under faceless assessment, the scrutiny of returns of a taxpayer will be done by a tax officer selected at random and not necessarily from the same jurisdiction. 
• This will do away the need for any face-to-face contact between the taxpayer and tax official, thereby reducing the chances of coercion and rent-seeking. 
• The move is expected to ease the compliance burden for assessees and reward the “honest taxpayer”, who plays a big role in nation-building. 
• A faceless tax system would give the taxpayer confidence on fairness and fearlessness. 
• It helps to maintain the privacy and confidentiality of income taxpayers.
• The assessment system seeks to eliminate corrupt practices by doing away with the territorial jurisdiction of income-tax offices.

Faceless appeal facility:

• This facility would be available to all citizens from September 25 (Deen Dayal Upadhyaya’s birth anniversary)

• A faceless appeal system would allow the taxpayer to appeal against a tax official’s decision without the need of making a physical representation.

Taxpayers’ charter

• The taxpayers’ charter was announced in the Union Budget for fiscal year 2020-21 by the Finance Minister. 
• The charter outlines the rights and duties of an honest taxpayer. 
• It also defines the commitment of the tax department and the expectations from the taxpayers.
• It is a step towards bringing together rights and duties of the taxpayer and fixing the government’s responsibilities towards the taxpayer

Do you know?

• All these above reforms are likely to empower citizens by ensuring time-bound services by the Income Tax Department.
• PM appealed to those not paying taxes, despite having the ability, to come forward and commit themselves to the cause of making the country self-reliant.

GS-3

Launch of financing facility of Rs. 1 Lakh Crore under Agriculture Infrastructure Fund

(Topic: Agriculture)

The scheme will support farmers, PACS, FPOs, Agri-entrepreneurs, etc. in building community farming assets and post-harvest agriculture infrastructure. These assets will enable farmers to get greater value for their produce as they will be able to store and sell at higher prices, reduce wastage, and increase processing and value addition.

India has a huge opportunity to invest in post-harvest management solutions like warehousing, cold chain, and food processing, and build a global presence in areas such as organic and fortified foods. 

This scheme provides a good opportunity for start-ups in agriculture to avail the benefits and scale their operations, thereby creating an ecosystem that reaches farmers in every corner of the country.

Agriculture Infrastructure Fund

The Agriculture Infrastructure Fund is a medium – long term debt financing facility for investment in viable projects for post-harvest management infrastructure and community farming assets through interest subvention and credit guarantee. 

• The duration of the scheme shall be from FY2020 to FY2029 (10 years). 
• Under the scheme, Rs. 1 Lakh Crore will be provided by banks and financial institutions as loans with interest subvention of 3% per annum and credit guarantee coverage under CGTMSE scheme for loans up to Rs. 2 Crore. 
• The beneficiaries will include farmers, PACS, Marketing Cooperative Societies, FPOs, SHGs, Joint Liability Groups (JLG), Multipurpose Cooperative Societies, Agri-entrepreneurs, Startups, and Central/State agency or Local Body sponsored Public-Private Partnership Projects.

PM-KISAN

The PM-KISAN scheme was launched in December 2018 to provide income support by way of a cash benefit to all landholding farmers (subject to certain exclusion criteria) to enable them to fulfill their agricultural requirements and support their families. 

• Under the scheme, the financial benefit of Rs.6000/- per year is provided to eligible beneficiary farmers in three equal installments.

Organic Farming in India

(Topic: Agriculture)

The growth story of organic farming is unfolding with increasing demand not only in India but also globally. In a world battered by the COVID pandemic, the demand for healthy and safe food is already showing an upward trend and hence this is an opportune moment to be captured for a win-win situation for our farmers, consumers and the environment.

• India ranks first in number of organic farmers and ninth in terms of area under organic farming. 
• Sikkim became the first State in the world to become fully organic and other States including Tripura and Uttarakhand have set similar targets. 
• North East India has traditionally been organic and the consumption of chemicals is far less than rest of the country. Similarly the tribal and island territories are being nurtured to continue their organic story.

With the aim of assisting farmers to adopt organic farming and improve remunerations due to premium prices, two dedicated programs namely Mission Organic Value Chain Development for North East Region (MOVCD) and Paramparagat Krishi Vikas Yojana (PKVY) were launched in 2015 to encourage chemical free farming.

• The major organic exports from India have been flax seeds, sesame, soybean, tea, medicinal plants, rice and pulses, which were instrumental in driving an increase of nearly 50% in organic exports in 2018-19, touching Rs 5151 crore. 
• Modest commencement of exports from Assam, Mizoram, Manipur and Nagaland to UK, USA, Swaziland and Italy have proved the potential by increasing volumes and expanding to new destinations as the demand for health foods increases.
• Certification is an important element of organic produce to instill customer confidence. Both PKVY and MOVCD are promoting certification under Participatory Guarantee System (PGS) and National Program for Organic Production (NPOP) respectively targeting domestic and exports markets.
• The concept of market led One district – One product is being encouraged, as also development of more clusters in the vicinity of bigger towns where the appetite for organics will be much more.

Natural farming is not a new concept in India, with farmers having tilled their land without the use of chemicals – largely relying on organic residues, cow dung, composts, etc since time immemorial. The philosophy underlying organic farming of integration of the elements – soil, water, microbes and ‘waste’ products, forestry and agriculture is the correct recipe for sustainable use of natural resources, which are coming under severe stress due to ever increasing requirement of food and feedstock for agri based industry. This is also in sync with the Sustainable Development Goal 2 targeting ‘end hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition and promote sustainable agriculture’.

World Biofuel day: 10th August

(Topic: Energy)

• Theme: Biofuels towards Atmanirbhar Bharat
• To create awareness about the importance of non-fossil fuels as an alternative to conventional fossil fuels and to highlight the various efforts made by the Government in the Biofuel sector
• This day also honors the research experiments by Sir Rudolf Diesel who ran an engine with peanut oil in the year 1893. His research experiment had predicted that vegetable oil is going to replace fossil fuels in the next century to fuel different mechanical engines.
• Three major areas- Ethanol, Bio-diesel and Biogas
• Benefits:
  • Reduction on import dependence
  • Ensuring a cleaner environment
  • Generating additional income for farmers
  • Employment generation
• Since, 2014, the Government of India has taken a number of initiatives to increase blending of biofuel:
  • Administrative price mechanism for ethanol
  • Simplifying the procurement procedures by OMCs
  • Amending the provisions of Industries (Development & Regulation) Act, 1951
  • Long term ethanol procurement policy
  • Ethanol distillation capacity addition
  • Enabling lignocellulosic route for ethanol procurement
• Under the Ethanol Blending Program, OMCs have procured 113.09 Crore litres of Biodiesel from 01.12.19 to 03.08.20. 
• Under the Biodiesel blending Program, OMCs have increased biodiesel procurement from 1.1 crore litres during 2015-16 to 10.6 crore litres during 2019-20.

Capturing the voice of the unreached in Science Technology and Innovation Policy (STIP)-2020

(Topic: Technology)

For the first time, India is recording the voice of the voiceless through community radio for the formulation of a science and technology policy.

The process of formulation of Science Technology and Innovation Policy (STIP)-2020 has been initiated by the Department of Science and Technology (DST), focusing on decentralization of policy design by making it a bottom-up and inclusive process.

This policy aims to realign priorities of the STI ecosystem as per the need of diverse scientific sectors, and the people-centric approach thus would align it with the changing aspirations of society for holistic socio-economic development of the nation. A participatory model with four interconnected tracks has been adopted to formulate this policy to capture the fundamental ethos of participatory democracy.

The policy formulation process, based on four interlinked tracks covering cover nearly 15,000 stakeholders, also involves inclusion of inputs through community radio. Accordingly, National Council for Science and Technology Communication (NCSTC), DST, has devised a unique way to capture the inputs of people for S&T through involvement of Community Radio Stations (CRS).

Himalayan Geothermal Springs release huge amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere

(Topic: Environment)

Carbon outflux from Earth’s interior to the exosphere through volcanic eruptions, fault zones, and geothermal systems contribute to the global carbon cycle that effects short and long term climate of the Earth. Himalaya hosts about 600 geothermal springs having varied temperature and chemical conditions. Their role in regional and global climate, as well as the process of tectonic driven gas emission, needs to be considered while estimating emissions to the carbon cycle and thereby to global warming.

• The Himalayan geothermal springs which cover about 10,000 square km in the Garhwal region of Himalaya, show a significant discharge of  Carbon dioxide(CO2) rich water.
• CO2 in these thermal springs are sourced from metamorphic decarbonation of carbonate rocks present deep in the Himalayan core along with magmatism and oxidation of graphite.
• Most of the geothermal water is dominated by evaporation followed by weathering of silicate rocks. Isotopic analyses further point towards a meteoric source for geothermal water.

Launch of Naval Innovation and Indigenisation Organisation (NIIO)

(Topic: Space)

The NIIO puts in place dedicated structures for the end users to interact with academia and industry towards fostering innovation and indigenisation for self-reliance in defence in keeping with the vision of Atmanirbhar Bharat.

The NIIO is a three-tiered organisation. 

• Naval Technology Acceleration Council (N-TAC) will bring together the twin aspects of innovation and indigenisation and provide apex level directives. 
• A working group under the N-TAC will implement the projects. 
• A Technology Development Acceleration Cell (TDAC) has also been created for induction of emerging disruptive technology in an accelerated time frame.

The Draft Defence Acquisition Policy 2020 (DAP 20) envisages Service Headquarters establishing an Innovation & Indigenisation Organisation within existing resources. Indian Navy already has a functional Directorate of Indigenisation (DoI) and the new structures created will build upon the ongoing indigenisation initiatives, as well as focus on innovation.

During the launch event, the Indian Navy signed Memorandums of Understanding (MoUs) with:-

1. Uttar Pradesh Expressway Industrial Development Authority (UPEIDA);
2. Raksha Shakti University (RSU), Gujarat;
3. Maker Village, Kochi; and
4. Society of Indian Defence Manufacturers (SIDM).

Prelims-oriented News

12th August: International Youth Day

The Unified Mobile Application for New-age Governance (UMANG) App: An EPFO member can raise claim, track claim and know the status of claim raised.

Krishi Megh: National Agricultural Research & Education System -Cloud Infrastructure and Services

• The Government of India-World Bank funded National Agricultural Higher Education Project is designed for strengthening the national agricultural education system in the country with the overall objective to provide more relevant and high-quality education to the agricultural university students that is in tune with the New Education Policy – 2020. 
• There is a need to save and preserve the important research-based data in a prompt digitized form to enable its access anywhere in any corner of the country and the world. 
• Krishi Megh is a step forward towards digital agriculture of New India.

ISRO pays tribute to Dr Vikram Sarabhai by announcing that Chandrayaan 2 Orbiter has captured the Moon images of “Sarabhai” Crater

Dr Vikram Sarabhai: Father of India’s Space Programme, the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO)

• “Sarabhai” Crater is named after Dr Vikram Sarabhai and around 250 to 300 kilometres east of this Crater is where the Apollo 17 and Luna 21 Missions had landed.
• As per the ISRO sources, the Sarabhai Crater captured in 3D images shows that the Crater has a depth of around 1.7 Kms taken from its raised rim and the slope of Crater walls is in between 25 to 35 degree. These findings will help the Space Scientists to understand further the process on the lunar region filled with lava.

First Silk Training cum Production Center in Arunachal Pradesh by KVIC: In the far-flung tribal village of Chullyu,

• For the Eri Silk, which is traditionally worn by local tribals
• KVIC also aims to connect the center with the tourists visiting Ziro tourist spot and thus providing an assured market to the local artisans for their products. 
• The production center will be equipped to cater to the market demand. For the initial period, KVIC will also provide raw material and expenditure on training and wages and the cost of developing the prototypes of new designs.

World Elephant Day: 12th August

• To create awareness on elephant conservation, and to share knowledge and positive solutions for the better protection and management of wild and captive elephants.
• Asian elephants are listed as “Endangered” on the IUCN Red List of threatened species. This has been done most of the range states except India, have lost their viable elephant populations due to loss of habitats & poaching etc.  
• The current population estimates indicate that there are about 50,000 -60000 Asian elephants in the world. More than 60 % of the population is held in India.
• Indian Elephant has also been listed in the Appendix I of the Convention of the Migratory species in the recently concluded Conference of Parties of CMS 13 at Gandhi Nagar, Gujarat in February 2020.
• Elephant is the Natural Heritage Animal of India and India also celebrates this day to spread awareness towards conservation of the species.

eSanjeevani: A tele-medicine platform; This has made it convenient for the people to avail of the health services without having to travel. It also ensures that the patient gets to see the doctor in around five minutes after logging in.

• 1.5 lakh tele-consultations completed through ‘eSanjeevani’ and ‘eSanjeevaniOPD’
• This eSanjeevani platform has enabled two types of telemedicine services viz. Doctor-to-Doctor (eSanjeevani) and Patient-to-Doctor (eSanjeevani OPD) Tele-consultations.
•  The former is being implemented under the Ayushman Bharat Health and Wellness Centre (AB-HWCs) programme. 
• It is planned to implement tele-consultation in all the 1.5 lakh Health and Wellness Centres (as spokes) in a ‘Hub and Spoke’ model, by December 2022.

Launch of the submarine cable connectivity to Andaman & Nicobar Islands (CANI)

• The submarine Optical Fibre Cable (OFC) connects Andaman & Nicobar Islands (laying of the 2300 Kms submarine cable)
• The challenges: surveying in the deep sea, maintaining the quality of the cable and  laying of the cable with specialised vessels, high waves, storms and monsoons and the tough times owing to Corona Pandemic.
• The Submarine Cable will help A&N in getting cheaper & better connectivity and all the benefits of Digital India, especially in improving online education, tele-medicine, banking system, online trading and in boosting tourism
• Under the Act-East policy, the role of Andaman and Nicobar in India’s strong relations with East Asian countries and other countries connected to the sea is very high and is going to increase.
• The speedy construction of the deep draft inner harbor and the proposal to construct TransShipment Port in Great Nicobar at an estimated cost of about Rs 10 thousand crores would enable big ships to anchor and would increase India’s share in maritime trade, along with new employment opportunities.
• The blue economy like Fisheries, Aquaculture and SeaWeed farming in the island will accelerate in commensurate with the modern infrastructure being developed in Andaman and Nicobar.

Launch of Minimum Standards of Architectural Education Regulations, 2020

• The ancient cities, monuments, temples, buildings, etc are all Testament of Rich Indian Cultural Heritage and Awe-inspiring Architecture. Architecture of Modern India has the potential to compete with the very best in the world.
• Shri Dhotre hoped that the student-centric approach of these Regulations shall equip the students to learn and develop their skills in a much-improved manner and enable them to take up the challenges of the 21st century.

Swachh Bharat Mission Academy: With its mobile based technology, Swachh Bharat Mission Academy will significantly boost the capacity building efforts in training of Swachhagrahis as well as PRIs members, community-based organizations, NGOs, SHGs and others who are associated with phase 2 of SBM(G).

Import embargo on 101 items beyond given timelines to boost indigenisation of defence production: The Department of Military Affairs (DMA), Ministry of Defence (MoD) has prepared a list of 101 items for which there would be an embargo on the import beyond the timeline indicated against them. This is a big step towards self-reliance in defence. 

• It also offers a great opportunity to the Indian defence industry to rise to the occasion to manufacture the items in the negative list by using their own design and development capabilities or adopting the technologies designed and developed by Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) to meet the requirements of the Armed Forces in the coming years.
• The embargo on imports is planned to be progressively implemented between 2020 to 2024. The aim behind promulgation of the list is to apprise the Indian defence industry about the anticipated requirements of the Armed Forces so that they are better prepared to realise the goal of indigenisation. 
• The MoD has adopted many progressive measures to encourage and facilitate ‘Ease of Doing Business’ by the defence Production entities. All necessary steps would be taken to ensure that timelines for production of equipment as per the Negative Import List are met, which will include a co-ordinated mechanism for hand holding of the industry by the Defence Services.

Shri V.V. Giri

• India’s fourth President
• Joined the Indian National Congress and participated in Annie Besant’s Home Rule League
• Joined non-cooperation movement led by M K Gandhi in 1922
• Known for his role in the labour movement in India.

President’s address on 74th Independence Day

• President Ram Nath Kovind’s address to the nation on the eve of 74th Independence Day 
• The below are some of the important excerpts from his address, important for various stages of the exam –

1. Self-reliance or ‘Atmanirbhar Bharat’ initiative
   • India’s self-reliance means being self-sufficient without alienating or creating distance from the world. 
   • India will continue to engage with the world economy while maintaining its identity.
   • It has been the tradition of India that we do not just live for ourselves, but work for the well-being of the entire world.
2. Vasudhaiv kutumbakam : : the global community is but one family
3. When India won freedom, many predicted that our experiment with democracy will not last long. They saw our ancient traditions and rich diversity as hurdles in democratisation of our polity. But we have always nurtured them as our strengths that make the largest democracy in the world so vibrant. India has to continue playing its leading role for the betterment of humanity.
4. The ethos of our freedom struggle forms the foundation of modern India. Our visionary leaders brought together a diversity of world views to forge a common national spirit. They were committed to the cause of liberating Bharat Mata from oppressive foreign rule and securing the future of her children. Their thoughts and actions shaped the identity of India as a modern nation.
5. Gandhiji’s teachings answer to present day problems: Troubled by social strife, economic problems, and climate change, the world should seek relief in Gandhiji’s teachings. His quest for equality and justice is the mantra for our Republic.
6. The nation is indebted to doctors, nurses and other health workers who have been continuously on the forefront of our fight against this virus.
7. Look at the current crisis as an opportunity to initiate reforms to revitalise the economy for the benefit of all, specially farmers and small entrepreneurs. 
8. The invisible virus has demolished the illusion that human being is the master of nature. It is still not too late for humanity to correct its course and live in harmony with nature. ‘Human-centric collaboration’ is more important than ‘economy-centric inclusion’, in the present context.
9. Compassion and mutual help have been adopted as basic values by the people in India. We need to further strengthen this virtue in our conduct, for better future. 
10. Adoption of science and technology, in harmony with nature, will help sustain our survival and growth. 
11. Prayer for the well-being

सर्वे भवन्तु सुखिनः,सर्वे सन्तु निरामयाः। सर्वे भद्राणि पश्यन्तु, मा कश्चिद् दु:खभाग् भवेत्॥

It means:

May all be happy,

May all be free from illness,

May all see what is auspicious,

May no one come to grief.

The message of this prayer for universal well-being is India’s unique gift to humanity.

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