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Syllabus

• Prelims – Current Affairs

Context: The Dadasaheb Phalke Award for 2020 will be conferred on veteran actress Asha Parekh

About the Award:

• It is presented annually by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting.
• The award is considered the highest honour in the Indian film fraternity.
• It is awarded for outstanding contribution to the growth and development of Indian cinema.
• The award was instituted by the government in 1969, and consists of a ‘Swarna Kamal’, a cash prize of INR 10 lakh, a certificate, a silk roll, and a shawl.
• The award is presented by the President of India.
• The first recipient of the award was Devika Rani Roerich in 1969.

About Dhundiraj Govind ‘Dadasaheb’ Phalke:

• He was born in 1870 at Trimbak in Maharashtra.
• He studied engineering and sculpture and developed an interest in motion pictures after watching the 1906 silent film The Life of Christ.
• Before venturing into films, Phalke worked as a photographer, owned a printing press, and had even worked with the famed painter Raja Ravi Varma.
• In 1913, Phalke wrote, produced, and directed India’s first feature film, the silent Raja Harishchandra.

Source: Indian Express                

Previous Year Questions

Q.1) Consider the following statements in respect of the Bharat Ratna and Padma Awards.

1. Bharat Ratna and Padma Awards are titles under Article 18(1) of the Constitution of India.
2. Padma Awards, which were instituted in the year 1954, were suspended only once.
3. The number of Bharat Ratna Awards is restricted to a maximum of five in a particular year.

Which of the above statements are not correct? (2021)

1. 1 and 2 only
2. 2 and 3 only
3. 1 and 3 only
4. 1, 2 and 3

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Syllabus

• Prelims – Environment

Context: The Neelakurinji flowers have turned the green patches of Bababudangiri range of the Western Ghats (Chandradrona Mountains) into purple-blue.

About Neelakurinji Flowers:

• It is a shrub of the Acanthaceae family that famously blooms once every 12 years.
• It is endemic to Western Ghats, covering the slopes of Kerala, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu.
• Their scientific name is ‘Strobilanthes Kunthiana’,
• Strobilanthes is a genus of about 350 species of flowering plants in the family Acanthaceae, mostly native to tropical Asia and Madagascar.
• The Topli Karvy (Strobilanthes sessilis), the Karvy (Strobilanthes callosa) and the Kurinji (Strobilanthes kunthiana), all belong to the Strobilanthes genus.
• The Topli Karvy is found more in the northern section of the Western Ghats in Maharashtra.
• The Karvy grows on the steepest cliffs where trees can’t grow.
• They are seen mostly on the Nilgiri hills, which even got its name from the flowers — ‘Neela’, meaning blue and ‘Kurinji’, referring to the flowers.

Source: Indian Express                      

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Syllabus

• Prelims – Security Issues (Defence)

Context: Recently, a P8I Long Range Maritime Patrol Aircraft of the Indian Navy participated in the Multinational Maritime Exercise Kakadu 2022.

About the Exercise:

• It was hosted by the Royal Australian Navy in Darwin along with INS Satpura.
• It is a biennial maritime exercise that brings together around 3,000 personnel, 15 warships and more than 30 aircraft from 22 countries.
• It would cover both the sea phase and the harbour phase.
• The harbour phase would witness participants being involved in operational planning interactions and supportive activities.
• The maiden participation of the P8I provided an enhanced exposure to the aircrew, augmenting the understanding of the varied nuances of collaborative Anti-Submarine and Anti-Surface Warfare operations in a complex multi-threat scenario.
• Objective: Enhance interoperability and reaffirm the Indian Navy’s commitment to the Indo-Pacific.
• Theme: ‘Partnership, Leadership, Friendship’

Source: PIB                   

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Syllabus

• Prelims – History

In News: The Chandigarh International Airport was renamed as Shaheed Bhagat Singh Airport, on the occasion of the freedom fighter’s birth anniversary and the controversy between Punjab and Haryana over their claims on the airport has finally ended.

• Earlier, Haryana had stated that the airport should only be named after Chandigarh, as it is the joint capital of both the states.
• An agreement was signed between the Airport Authority of India (AAI) and Punjab.

About Shaheed Bhagat Singh:

• Bhagat Singh was born on September 27, 1907 in Lyallpur, Western Punjab (now in Pakistan).
• He was a revolutionary hero of the Indian independence movement.
•  He attended Dayanand Anglo Vedic High School, which was operated by Arya Samaj. He quit education at the age of thirteen and got admitted to the National College in Lahore, where he studied European revolutionary movements. He worked as a writer and editor in Amritsar for Punjabi- and Urdu-language newspapers espousing Marxist theories.
• The Jallianwala Bagh massacre of 1919 had a tremendous impact on Bhagat Singh who was just 12-years-old, he took the sand soaked with blood of the Indians killed at the garden and kept it with him to remind him of the ruthlessness of the British government.
• Nationalist activities:

• He is credited with popularizing the catchphrase “Inquilab zindabad” (“Long live the revolution”)
• Hindustan Socialist Republican Association (HSRA) was founded in 1928 by Chandrashekhar Azad, Bhagat Singh and others.
• In 1928, Bhagat Singh and Rajguru shot dead a British police officer, John Saunders, in Lahore, mistaking Saunders, for the British senior police superintendent, James Scott. They held Scott responsible for the death of Lala Lajpat Rai in a lathi charge of Simon Commission.
• On 8 April, 1929, Bhagat Singh and Batukeshwar Dutt threw bombs at the Central Legislative Assembly at Delhi ‘to make the deaf hear’.
• In the Lahore conspiracy case, Bhagat Singh along with, Rajguru and Sukhdev were sentenced to death. Bhagat Singh was in one-year imprisonment. He was in the Lahore jail when he was hanged in March 1931.
• Widespread coverage in Indian-owned newspapers about his courage and spirit—turned him into a household name in India and after his execution into a martyr of Indian Freedom Struggle.
• Philosophy: He was an avid reader of the teachings of Mikhail Bakunin and also read Karl Marx, Vladimir Lenin and Leon Trotsky. In his last testament, “To Young Political Workers“, he declares his ideal as the “Social reconstruction on new, i.e., Marxist, basis. Singh regarded Kartar Singh Sarabha, the founding-member of the Ghadar Party as his hero.
• Books: Why I am an Atheist, Letter to my father, Jail Notebook

Source: Indian Express

Previous Year Question

Q.1) The Ghadr (Ghadar) was a: (2014)

1. revolutionary association of Indians with headquarters at San Francisco
2. nationalist organization operating from Singapore
3. militant organization with headquarters at Berlin
4. communist movement for India’s freedom with headquarters at Tashkent

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Syllabus

• Prelims – Art & Architecture

In news: In the Bandhavgarh Tiger Reserve in Madhya Pradesh, the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) discovered Buddhist caves and stupas, and Brahmi inscriptions, dating back to the 2nd century, and Hindu temples from the 9th-11th centuries, and possibly the world’s largest Varaha sculpture.

• 46 new sculptures have come to light in exploration that took place 84 years after the last such effort in 1938.

About:

• The Varaha sculpture is among the many monolithic sculptures of the 10 incarnations of Lord Vishnu.
• Discoveries include:

• 26 Buddhist caves dating back to the 2nd and 5th centuries. The caves and some of their remains had ‘Chaitya’ (rounded) doors and stone beds typical of Mahayana Buddhism sites. This discovery brings the total number of caves found in Bandhavgarh to 76, as 50 are already in the records since the last survey.
• 24 inscriptions in Brahmi text, all dating back to the 2nd-5th centuries. The inscriptions mention sites such as Mathura and Kaushambi, and Pavata, Vejabharada and Sapatanaairikaa. The kings they mention include Bhimsena, Pothasiri and Bhattadeva.
• 26 temples date to the Kalachuri period between 9th-11th centuries. In addition to this, two Saiva mutts have also been documented. The Kalachuri dynasty, which spread over parts of Gujarat, Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh, is also associated with the earliest Ellora and Elephanta cave monuments.
• Some remains of the Gupta period, such as door jambs and carvings in caves, have also been found.

MUST READ: ASI              

Source: The Hindu                             

Previous Year Question

Q.1) Which one of the following statements is correct? (2021)

1. Ajanta Caves lie in the gorge of Waghora river
2. Sanchi Stupa lies in the gorge of Chambal River.
3. Pandu-Leni Cave shrines lie in the gorge of Narmada River.
4. Amaravati Stupa lies in the gorge of Godavari River.

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Syllabus

• Prelims – Economy

In News: Malthus’ idea has often been cited by modern environmentalists and others who believe that rising human population puts unsustainable pressure on earth’s resources.

About Malthusian trap:

• The Malthusian trap is a theory of population that says as the human population grows there is unsustainable pressure on earth’s resources, which in turn acts as a check on the further rise in population.
• It is named after English economist Thomas Malthus who elaborated on the concept in his 1798 book An Essay on the Principle of Population, which also inspired Charles Darwin.
• While rise in food production in a country can lead to improved living standards for the general population, the benefit is likely to be temporary. This is because, Malthus argued, increasing availability of food would encourage people to have more kids since they could afford to feed them now, thus leading to a rise in the total population and a drop in per capita income levels.
• The Malthusian trap was at the core of the Simon-Ehrlich wager in 1980. While Ehrlich, like Malthus, argued that there are natural limits to economic growth; Simon argued that private property rights and the price mechanism in a market economy offered tremendous incentives for people to use scarce resources carefully and to come up with innovations and living standards could rise along with increasing population levels.

How it works:

• In the pre-modern age, whenever there was a rise in food production, it caused per capita income to rise for a while as long as population levels remained stable.
• However, the population of the country rose quite quickly which ensured that per capita income decreased and returned to its historical trend.
• Whenever food production dropped on the other hand, there was famine which caused the death of a large number of people. The drop in human population continued until the country’s per capita income rose to subsistence levels.
• Either way, resource constraints kept a check on human population.

Significance:

• Malthusian trap provided an inverse relationship between human population and living standards i.e.; with rising population, living standards lower.
• The theory allows us to understand concepts of poverty and sustained economic growth.
• It can help in planning preventive measures such as late marriage, contraceptives, self-control, and simple living to balance the population growth and food supply.

Criticisms:

• The industrial revolution of 18th and 19th centuries broke the historical relationship between human population and living standards and refuted Malthus.
• The rising use of man-made technology made sure that human beings could produce more output for each unit of the earth’s resource that they exploited. In other words, human productivity rose massively as a result of the rise of technology.
• Human population levels and living standards have risen in tandem ever since the industrial revolution.
• Some argue that as human population rises, the chances of breakthrough innovations happening rise manifold as there would be more human minds working on solving humanity’s problems.

Source: The Hindu                         

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Syllabus

• Prelims – Environment

In News: TATA Power Renewable Microgrid Ltd (TPRMG), a wholly owned subsidiary of TATA Power, has joined hands with Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI) to provide 1,000 green energy ventures throughout the country.

• 10,000 mini/microgrids in rural areas
• Use of Bio-methane generators powering TATA Power microgrids to meet rural electricity demands in UP and Bihar.
• SIDBI will provide the enterprises with a Go Responsive Enterprise Incentive.
• TATA Power manages one of the biggest microgrid systems in the world and works on the solar off-grid plant with energy storage to supply power in the remote parts of the country.

About:

• Microgrids are energy distribution systems that include a generator and storage system that can be controlled either on-grid or off-grid.
• A microgrid is a very important infrastructure that helps in providing clean, affordable, and reliable electricity in rural/remote areas where the main grid has limited or no reach.

• One of the most important aspects of microgrids is operation and maintenance. Chhattisgarh Renewable Energy Development Agency (CREDA) has a dedicated cell for Operation and Maintenance.
• Every village of the mini-grid has one operator. One cluster technician for every 15-20 villages has been provided by CREDA. The maintenance of the battery is the most important component for energy storage.
• The collection efficiency of the plant should meet the minimum requirements of financial sustainability.
• Capacity-building measures need to be undertaken for the technicians, villagers, and other stakeholders involved in the operation of microgrids.
• TPRMG technology has a one-meter box that can provide supply to around six customers with remote monitoring and controlling features in it with load limiting, time of day and safety features available with it.

Significance of microgrids:

• Non-polluting energy producers can be transformative for rural India, which largely depends on diesel generators to meet its electricity needs.
• They contribute towards reducing emissions in the rural areas and help in the creation of village-level entrepreneurs.
• TPRMG would supply rural areas with reliable, quality, affordable, clean energy, such as solar, wind and biogas.
• SIDBI would help organise finance options for developing businesses in the rural areas through its PRAYAAS scheme.
• This will also help in the development of the associated ecosystem.
• Cost Economy: The cost of energy generation using mini-grids is relatively high in India and TPRMG tackles the issue with innovative technologies such as Group Smart Meter for customers (patented technology of TPRMG).
• Since most customers don’t use the electricity supply for their own consumption; the microgrid is used for farming the neighbouring land too. This helps their income and the benefit reaches other farmers as well.
• TATA Power microgrids have so far proved beneficial to shops, healthcare facilities, flour mills, bulk milk chillers, RO cold water systems, schools, colleges and banks, among many others paving the way for sustainable energy in rural areas.
• TPRMG gave a good opportunity for families involved in reverse migration due to COVID-19 pandemic to pursue rural entrepreneurship through microfinancing measures and paved the way to a sustainable economy for all.

About Bio-methane generators:

• Biogas is produced when organic matter is broken down in an anaerobic environment. Bio-methane generators use the waste from sugar mills to generate electricity.
• Benefits: reduction in energy costs, eco-friendly use of waste, lower installation costs, lower greenhouse gas emissions, lower amounts of waste going to landfills and production of natural fertiliser.
• Economy: Biofuel-based generators are cheaper than diesel generators. However, the they are more expensive compared to the solar microgrid. This is due to the maintenance cost of the plant as well as the sourcing of raw materials for the plant.
• The only disadvantage of solar-based generation is that it can be tapped only during the daytime, which necessitates the requirement of the storage system.

PRAYAAS scheme of SIDBI:

• It is an app-based, end to end digital lending platform.
• Aim: To facilitate loans and low-cost capital to aspiring entrepreneur from the bottom of the pyramid and livelihood entrepreneurs, thereby improving their viability.
• It is being implemented in partnership model in different geographies and segments such as it has onboarded BigBasket to offer loans.
• As on 31 March 2020, it has assisted 14000 micro borrowers with an aggregate sanction of Rs. 161 cr.

• Women and rural beneficiaries constitute 74% and 88% respectively of total beneficiaries

Source: DownToEarth                            

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Syllabus

• Prelims – Agriculture
• Mains – GS 3 (Economy – Agriculture)

Context: Food security is key in an age of uncertainties. Growing climate-related risks, geopolitical tensions, and macroeconomic shocks make imports costlier than ever before—in both tangible and intangible terms.

• Due to the growing world population, it is estimated that global food production will need to increase by 60 percent to feed over 9.5 billion people by 2050.
• India’s agriculture sector’s GDP stands at US$ 262 billion, demonstrating a low dependence on imports. Achieving self-reliance and sustainability in agriculture has led to a critical policy switch.

Food security:

• Food security is defined as a concept that considers both physical and economic access to food while also taking into consideration people’s dietary demands and preferences.
• Food security is defined as “ensuring that all people have access to sufficient, safe, and nutritious food at all times in order to live a healthy and active life.”
• Food security is built on four pillars:
  • Availability
  • Access
  • Utilisation
  • Stability
• The primary problem in achieving the goal of self-sufficiency in emerging nations is food stability and availability.

Challenges with Food Security:

• Climate-oriented risks: Prolonged heat waves and an increased frequency of extreme weather events such as floods, droughts and cyclones are also resulting in increased quantum damage-related expenses.
• Wastages and Losses: 5-7 percent of India’s food grain production is wasted due to procedural inefficiencies; this number is higher for fresh produce with an estimate of losses amounting to about 11 percent.
• Inadequate storage facilities: Inadequate and improper storage facilities for grains, which are often stored outside under tarps that provide little protection from humidity and pests.
  • Hot and humid conditions in India also exacerbate the maintenance costs of cold storage facilities.
• Lack of Awareness: Lack of education and training on new techniques, technologies and agricultural products. Traditional farming methods are slightly more time consuming and delay the production of food grains, etc.
• Deteriorating Soil Health: A key element of food production is healthy soil because nearly 95% of global food production depends on soil.

Reforms to ensure food security:

• Water-conserving irrigation: The practice of flood irrigation is largely prevalent even today and it has a reinforcing impact on the depleting levels of groundwater, which, in turn, aggravate drought conditions.
• Moving to micro-irrigation will optimise costs on water and electricity inputs for farmers in the long term, freeing up financial resources for investment in post-harvest technologies.
• Storage infrastructure: Cold storage infrastructure and supply chains are an example of foundational interventions that can propel food processing industries, whilst simultaneously enhancing the diversification of crops with farmers being able to lengthen the shelf life of fresh produce.
• Expanding access to finance: Global finance pledges and the architecture of financial flows be changed to allow an increased flow of funds to the Global South.
• At a domestic stage, medium to long-term debt financing facilities for investment in viable projects for post-harvest management infrastructure and community farming assets, like the new Agriculture Infrastructure Fund(AIF) must be developed to accelerate change in this direction.
• Crop diversification: Food availability is a necessary condition for food security. India is more or less self-sufficient in cereals but has deficit in pulses and oilseeds.
• Due to changes in consumption patterns, demand for fruits, vegetables, dairy, meat, poultry, and fishery products has been increasing.
• There is a need to increase crop diversification and improve allied activities to produce such crops and produces in which we are deficient.
• Tackling climate change: Food security in India can be achieved by paying higher attention to issues such as climate change, limiting global warming, including the promotion of climate-smart agricultural production systems and land use policies at a scale to help adapt and mitigate ill effects of climate change.

Food Security Programs in India:

• Mega Food Parks: This scheme, launched by the government in 2008, provides financial assistance up to 50 crores to set up modern infrastructure facilities for food processing called Mega Food Parks.
• PM Kisan SAMPADA Yojana: It is a comprehensive package aiming to create modern infrastructure with efficient supply chain management from farm gate to retail outlet.
  • The scheme boosts the growth of the food processing sector in the country and helps in providing better returns to farmers as well.
• Agriculture Infrastructure Fund: It is a Central Sector Scheme approved by the Union Cabinet in 2020.
  • It aims to provide a medium – long term debt financing facility for investment in viable projects for post-harvest management Infrastructure and community farming assets.
  • The duration of the Scheme shall be from FY2020 to FY2032.
• Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchayee Yojana: PMKSY is a Centrally Sponsored Scheme (Core Scheme) launched in 2015. Its objectives are:
• Convergence of investments in irrigation at the field level,
• To expand the cultivable area under assured irrigation (Har Khet ko Pani),
• To improve on-farm water use efficiency to reduce wastage of water,
• To enhance the adoption of precision-irrigation and other water saving technologies.

Way Forward:

• So, we need a thorough upgradation of storage facilities (especially in rural areas) that can minimise losses in power, water and post-harvest losses, by expanding access to finance for climate resilient technology adoption.
• We need to smoothen access points for private sector innovations that can share the burden of improving agricultural resilience and complement public sector actions.
• It is time we acknowledge the role of modern solutions in overcoming food insecurity, enhancing access to nutrition and ensuring long-term food sector sustainability.

Source:  WorldEconomicForum     

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Syllabus

• Prelims – Environment
• Mains – GS 3 (Environment)

Context: This monsoon, several parts of India have found themselves literally swimming in filth and sewage. Gutters have choked with garbage, plastics being one of the main reasons for it.

• Single-use plastic carry-bags have been singled out for particular attention and regular meetings have been held to educate – as well as admonish — people about their use.
• Thus, good behaviour of the people is seen as the key to change the plastic use pattern.

What is single-use plastic?

• As the name suggests, it refers to plastic items that are used once and discarded. E.g., plastics used in packaging items, bottles (shampoo, detergents, cosmetics), polythene bags, face masks, coffee cups, cling film, trash bags, food packaging etc.

Maintaining the producer Accountability is need of the Hour:

• In a clogged gutter, we generally find branded packaging material — metal foil wrappers, bottles and boxes of various grades of plastics — are a substantial part of the mess inside.
• This packaging is required because the products must have a long shelf life, and withstand heat, sunlight and rough handling during freight.
• As packing contribute the significant aspect of this plastic pollution so, there is need to address the main concern

 Regulation of Plastic waste :

• Centre and state governments have laws for plastic waste regulation, but it requires the effective implementation by the bureaucracy and it is the bureaucratic ability to implement them which will define its outcomes.
• According to the law, the ultimate manufacturers (UMs) of the plastic films — the raw material for the much-reviled carry-bags and also the much larger volume of branded packaging — are responsible for the collection of this waste and its processing.
• They must set up collection networks and work with state pollution control boards and the city and town administrations to ensure that this waste reaches recyclers and manufacturers. The rural regions are, of course, ignored.

 However, responsibility of producer for collecting the plastic is not effective

• While Rs 8 out of 100 was spent on packaging the product, the cost of the packaging materials is barely Rs 1. The rest of the cost is in shaping this raw material into packaging unit
• Given the volumes manufacturing plant, hundreds of shampoo bottles need to be filled per minute and soaps need to be packed. The machines which do this are some of the most intricate combinations of sensors and control systems. Most of them are imported and contribute significantly to the cost.
• Of the Re 1 of the reusable material, even with the most advanced recycling technology, the value of that piece of garbage in our hand to the ultimate manufacturer is less than 50 paise. Therefore, it is simply not economical to transfer the waste back to the manufacturer

Hence, only where this waste is concentrated and there are abjectly poor people available to segregate, can supply chains exist to take it back to the chemical plants.

This is why the garbage dumps, ragpickers and the neighbourhood kabadi shops are necessarily the only viable last mile of our recycling system.

Plastic waste management rules in India:

• With effect from September 30, 2021 India has the Plastic Waste Management Amendment Rules, 2021.
• It prohibited the manufacture, import, stocking, distribution, sale, and use of plastic carry bags whose thickness is less than 75 microns.
• From December 31, 2022, plastic carry bags whose thickness is less than 120 microns will be banned.
• It means that the ban does not cover all plastic bags; however, it requires the manufacturers to produce plastic bags thicker than 75 microns which was earlier 50 microns.
• As per the notification, the standard shall be increased to 120 microns in December this year.

Way Forward:

• By implementing a sustainability tax on the packaging and carriage cost components of a given product
  • Given the elaborate bureaucratic machinery of the GST and the formal nature of the dealer network of large FMCG companies, this tax can be easily administered and transferred to the districts and town
  • Such a consumption tax based on concrete aspects of sustainability, and its local devolution, would create the right incentives for a scientific analysis of garbage and the logistics of its disposal. It will also create a clutch of professional companies who specialise in this sector and provide their services to the hundreds of cities
• There is need for a coordination among city’s stressed garbage collection system and a few good Samaritans at the Sahyadri Nisarga Mitra — an NGO.
• As with most public services, such as education or drinking water, the goodness of heart of a few and the noble intentions of our leaders, rather than a professionally run system, form the basis of delivery of this important environmental service.

Therefore, on decentralization of sophistication process that would create more jobs for our youth and give them more dignity. And improve the quality of our lives and help preserve the environment.

Source: Indian Express                 

Previous Year Question

Q.1) With reference to polyethylene terephthalate, the use of which is so widespread in our daily lives, consider the following statements:

1. Its fibres can be blended with wool and cotton fibres to reinforce their properties.
2. Containers made of it can be used to store any alcoholic beverage.
3. Bottles made of it can be recycled into other products.
4. Articles made of it can be easily disposed of by incineration without causing greenhouse gas emissions.

Which of the statements given above are correct? (2022)

1. 1 and 3
2. 2 and 4
3. 1 and 4
4. 2 and 3

Q.2) Magnetite particles, suspected to cause neurodegenerative problems are generated as environmental pollutants from which of the following? (2021)

1. Brakes of motor vehicles
2. Engines of motor vehicles
3. Microwave stoves within homes
4. Power plants
5. Telephone lines

Select the correct answer using the code given below

1. 1, 2, 3 and 5 only
2. 1, 2 and 4 only
3. 3, 4 and 5 only
4. 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5

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Syllabus

• Mains: GS 2 Governance, GS 3 Internal Security

In News: Ministry of Home Affairs under Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) raided premises of the Popular Front of India (PFI), arrested over a hundred of its leaders and banned the outfit for a period of five years.

About PFI:

• PFI is an Indian Muslim political organisation that engages in a radical and exclusivist style of Muslim minority politics. It was formed to counter Hindutva groups.
• It was founded in 2006 with the merger of the Karnataka Forum for Dignity (KFD) and the National Development Front (NDF) – a controversial organisation established in Kerala a few years after the Babri mosque was demolished in 1992.
• It describes itself “as a non-governmental social organisation whose stated objective is to work for the poor and disadvantaged people in the country and to oppose oppression and exploitation”
• At present, the PFI, which has a strong presence in Kerala and Karnataka, is active in more than 20 Indian states and says its cadre strength is in the “hundreds of thousands”.
• Activities:

• It advocates for Muslim reservations.
• In 2012, the organisation conducted protests against alleged use of the UAPA law to detain innocent citizens.
• PFI has often been in violent clashes with Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) in parts of Kerala and Karnataka – Activists have been found with lethal weapons, bombs, gunpowder, swords by the authorities.

• The organisation has various wings – National Women’s Front (NWF) and the Campus Front of India (CFI) which have also been banned.
• The Social Democratic Party of India (SDPI), founded in 2009, is a registered political party and active in electoral politics — it has a few hundred representatives in local bodies, mostly in Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu. It is regarded as the political wing of PFI.
• Even though the PFI and SDPI have separate leaderships, their cadres overlap and they share a political vision.

Criticisms:

• It represents a militant strand of political Islam that draws money, material, cadre by exploiting the resentment and fear among a section of the Muslim minority amid the rise of majoritarian agendas. That is a political challenge
• The PFI first stepped into the limelight in 2010 after an attack on a college professor in Kerala accusing him of asking derogatory questions about the Prophet Muhammad.
• Karnataka’s government has accused the PFI of instigating protests against “hijab” ban.
• More recently, members from the group were also linked to the beheading of a Hindu man in the western state of Rajasthan in June 2022.
• The impression has also gained ground among sections of the community that many mainstream secular parties are more interested in patronising the minority as a vote bank than standing up for their Constitutional guarantees.

Popularity:

• PFI leaders get a lot of media attention for speeches which some consider to be provocative.
• The group claims to have a large supporter-base, but SDPI hasn’t won any parliamentary seats.
• Its influence it has is mainly limited to Kerala and some other southern states

Causes of the ban:

• Investigating agencies claim to have unearthed unaccounted funds and linkages of PFI with global terrorist groups such as Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS), the Students Islamic Movement of India (Simi) and the Jamat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB).
• The role of PFI cadres in unleashing violence, including killings, to further their agenda is well-documented.
• The PFI and SDPI, the electoral arm of the PFI, have exploited distrust and disillusionment to push their ideological footprint.
• As per MHA notification, the PFI and its associates or affiliates or fronts operate openly as socio-economic, educational and political organisation but they have been pursuing a secret agenda to radicalise a particular section of the society working towards undermining the concept of democracy and show sheer disrespect towards the constitutional authority and constitutional set up of the country.

Way forward:

• Shutting down PFI’s funding network and arresting their leaders may help to counter the security challenge posed by the outfit.
• It will require mainstream parties to confront the increasing relegation of Muslims in public life, and call out rights abuses by state agencies — for instance, the often opaque and extended incarceration of Muslim youth under laws like the UAPA.
• But a ban may only force cadres underground. It cannot be — it should not be — the whole response to the gauntlet thrown down, in a diverse democracy, by an outfit like the PFI. What follows the ban, how the state goes about due process while implementing it, will frame the challenges that lie ahead.

Scope of UAPA:

• Power to prohibit the use of funds of an unlawful association
• Power to notify places used for the purpose of an unlawful association
• Penalty for being a member of an unlawful association
• Terrorist activities including forfeiture of proceeds of terrorism
• Power to punish for raising funds for a terrorist act, organising terrorist camps, harbouring, conspiracy, threatening witness, etc.
• Denotification of terrorist organisations
• Impounding of passport and arms license
• Cognizance of offenses
• Procedure to arrest, seizure, etc.

Source: Indian Express               

Syllabus

• GS-1: Women Issues
• GS-2: Government policies and interventions for development in various sectors and issues arising out of their design and implementation.

Context: The Stri or the Female Energy is the mother of all gods, conqueror of all evil, dispenser of all boons in the Indian culture. This divine female energy is worshipped with intense adoration and devotion in India.

Read Complete Details on Education and Women Liberation

Q.1) In the context of solving pollution problems, what is/are the advantage/advantages of bio-methane electricity generators?

1. They use biological waste such as food crops to generate electricity using anaerobic respiration.
2. They can be used to provide clean electricity in rural areas using microgrids.

Select the correct answer using the code given below:

1. 1 only
2. 2 only
3. Both 1 and 2
4. Neither 1 and 2

Q.2) Consider the following statements:

1. He was one among the founders of the Hindustan Socialist Republican Association (HSRA)
2. He was involved in Lahore conspiracy case.
3. He declares his ideal as the “Social reconstruction on new, i.e., Marxist, basis.
4. His famous books include ‘Why I am an Atheist’, ‘Letter to my father’, and ‘Jail Notebook’.

Identify the personality described in above statements using the code given below:

1. Rajguru
2. Sukhdev
3. Lala Lajpat Rai
4. Bhagat Singh

Q.3) Consider the following statements regarding Neelakurinji Blooms:

1. They are endemic to Western Ghats, covering the slopes of Kerala, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu.
2. They bloom once in 10 years.

Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

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

Comment the answers to the above questions in the comment section below!!

ANSWERS FOR ’29th September 2022 – Daily Practice MCQs’ will be updated along with tomorrow’s Daily Current Affairs.

Q.1) – b

Q.2) – d

Q.3) – c