Smart Abhyas/September/2019...Smart Abhyas/September/2019 8 • Tokyo took the No. 1 spot in the Economist Intel- ligence Unit’s ranking for the third time running, while Singapore

Smart Abhyas/September/2019 1



Polity and Social Issues

1. The legacy of Firoz Shah

2. Safe Cities Index (SCI) 2019

3. Cabinet approves higher procurement price for ethanol

4. 4 more States join ration card portability

5. Grand Old Man of India

6. Institutions of Eminence (IoE) declared

7. Sentinelese tribe : What you need to know

8. No need to pick incriminatory dying declaration, rules SC

9. A suicide every 40 seconds

10. NCST recommends ‘tribal area’ status for Ladakh under Sixth Schedule

11. Central Adverse List

12. Jammu and Kashmir’s Public Safety Act

13. Uniform Civil Code

14. Cabinet approves Promulgation of the Prohibition of Electronic Cigarettes Ordinance

15. The National Population Register

16. Dadasaheb Phalke Award

17. Centre institutes national unity award named after Sardar Patel

18. The Global Goalkeepers Award

19. Paika Rebellion

20. Seniority of Judges in Supreme Court : What you need to know

Geography, Ecology and Biodiversity

1. Dindigul lock gets GI Tag

2. Protecting the Great Indian Bustard

3. India to restore more degraded land

4. Two new species of ginger discovered in Nagaland

5. Cryodrakon boreas

6. How world is losing fertile land

7. Saving the Vulture

8. Fall Armyworm: What you need to know

9. Atlantic Meridional Overturning Current

10. World’s first market for trading in particulate matter emissions

11. New frog from Arunachal named after Greek god-dess

12. Coal gasification

13. El Nino

14. The Special Report on the Ocean and Cryosphere in a Changing Climate

15. Global Tiger Forum : What you need to know

16. Brow -antlered deer (Sangai) : What you need to know

Economy

1. External benchmark-based lending must says RBI

2. India’s domestic market for computer services to grow faster than exports: UN

3. Time Bank making its way to India

4. Pre-paid Payment Instruments (PPIs)

5. Financial Action Task Force


Science and Technology

Point Blank (Facts for prelims)

International Relations, Summits and Meetings

Government Schemes and Initiatives

1. Drug resistance in cholera causing bacteria

2. New kits to address the TB diagnostic challenges

3. India and electric vehicles

4. Apache attack helicopters

5. Lunar missions explained

6. Chandrayaan 2: Far from a failure, a massive win for India

7. 3-D printed food

8. Iodised salt in India

9. Bombay blood group

10. K2-18b

1. Poshan Maah in different States

2. Eat Right India campaign

3. National Infrastructure Pipeline

4. National Animal Disease Control Programme (NAD-CP) launched

5. Pradhan Mantri Kisan Maan Dhan Yojana launched in Jharkhand

6. Innovation and nutrition in Assam

7. India unlikely to meet ‘Poshan Abhiyaan’ targets

8. CDSCO looks to take more processes online

9. Pradhan Mantri Surakshit Matritva Abhiyan : All you need to know

10. UMMID Initiative

11. Prime Minister’s Economic Advisory Council reconsti-tuted

1. Interpol Red Notice: What you need to know

2. Global Fund for AIDS, TB and Malaria

3. The fourth South Asian Speakers’ Summit

4. Eastern Economic Forum

5. Climate Action Summit

6. India is the top source of immigrants

7. The India-Nepal petroleum pipeline

8. UN Human Rights Council

9. Line of credit for Pacific Island nations

10. India, Brazil, Germany, Japan make strong pitch for berths as permanent members in UNSC

11. First Indigenous Fuel Cell System launched

11. Ancient DNA and Indian history

12. Drones to be utilised for mapping

13. NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO)

14. Vande Bharat Express

15. Head on Generation (HOG) technology

16. Alzheimer’s disease

17. Ranitidine

18. India’s Scorpene class submarines

1. National Register of Citizens (NRC) in Assam

2. Total horticulture production estimated to be over 313 million tonnes

3. Indonesia To Move Capital From Sinking Jakarta To Borneo


4. India: 10th largest Gold Reserve in the World

5. Yudh Abhyas 2019

6. 1st ASEAN-U.S. Maritime Exercise

7. Decline in cotton exports

8. Swachhata Awards

9. Sixth India-China Strategic Economic Dialogue

10. India’s Second Multi Modal Terminal on Ganga at Sahibganj

11. India Begins Exporting Bulletproof Jackets To Over 100 Countries

12. Military Medicine Conference

13. Karan Vandana

14. South Asia’s tallest Tower

15. At 17.5 Million, Indian Diaspora Largest In The World: Un Report

16. SITMEX

17. Astra Missile

18. India and Belgium-Luxembourg Economic Union

19. Access to the internet

20. 63rd General Conference of IAEA

21. Pusa Yashasvi

22. ‘TB Harega Desh Jeetega’ Campaign

23. Exercise MALABAR

24. ICGS Varaha

25. 2I/Borisov

26. Exercise KAZIND - 2019

27. Goldschmidtite


Polity and Social Issues

Index

1. Constitution Bench

2. Kesavananda Bharati v/s State of Kerala case: All you need to know

3. National Register of Citizens

4. Assam Accord

5. Incredible India

6. Impeachment of US President

7. Nobel Prize

8. The Age of Democracy

Government Schemes and Initiatives

Science and Technology

International Relations, Summits and Meetings

Geography, Ecology and Biodiversity

1. Ozone Layer

2. Montreal Protocol

3. Plants to fight indoor air pollution

1. Moon Missions

2. India’s moon missions

3. Journey of Apollo-11

4. Russia’s Missions to Moon

5. Chinese Lunar Missions

6. Deep Space Network (DSN)

7. Super Earth

8. Exoplanets

9. Ceramic membrane by CGCRI

10. Alzheimer’s

11. Astra Missile

12. Innovation in Electric vehicles

13. Apache helicopters and strengthening of Indian Air Force

1. Eastern Economic Forum

2. India as favorable regional partner

3. West Asia Crisis

4. Yudh Abhyas 2019

5. OPEC

Economy

1. Blue Revolution

2. Blue revolution 2.0

3. Industrial Revolution 4.0

1. UNNID for Genetic disorders

2. Ayushman Bharat - Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana

3. Citizenship Amendment Bill, 2019


The legacy of Firoz Shah

What is the issue?

• Delhi’sFerozShahKotlastadiumissettobere-namedArunJaitleyStadiumaftertheformerFinanceMinister,takesitsnamefroma14th-centuryfortress. Let us have a look at the legacy of Firoz Shah, who built the fortress.

Firoz Shah Tughlaq

• In his autobiography Futuhat-i-Firozshahi, Firoz Shah Tughlaq described himself: “Among the many gifts which God bestowed upon me, his humble servant, was a desire to erect public buildings. So, I built many mosques and colleges and monasteries… I was led to repair and rebuild the edifices and struc-tures of former kings and ancient nobles which had fallen into decay with the passage of time.”

• And so, he built Feroz Shah Kotla (kotla means fortress), peppered Delhi with gardens, constructed canals, hunting lodges, and repaired Qutub Minar, Hauz Khas (royal tank) and Surajkund (lake of the Sun).

• FirozShahwasthefirstrulertobuildafortressnexttoriverYamuna.

• Born to a Hindu princess, Firoz Shah came to power in 1351, and died in 1388. HebuiltFerozShahKotla,thefortress,onthebanksoftheYamunaandcalleditFirozabad.

• In fact, EmperorAshoka’spillar,erectednearAmba-lain250BC, was transported to Delhi and placed in Firozabad by his order.

• At the Ridge in north Delhi stands another Ashokan pillar, smaller in size, near Hindu Rao Hospital. It was moved from Meerut to Delhi by Firoz Shah.

• Firoz Shah did public construction activity on a mas-sive scale. Welfare projects, gardens, serai (inn), wa-ter supply — were his priority. By improving sources of water supply and irrigation facilities in Delhi and surrounding areas, he helped bring down the price of food grains too. It’s a known fact that Haryana’s irrigation systems go back to his era.

• Firoz Shah also built Dargah Qadam Sharif, which is located in Delhi’s Sadar Bazar.

• Firoz Shah is regarded as the honorary founding president of The Conservation Society of Delhi and that the Britishcalledhimthe‘fatheroftheirriga-tiondepartment’becauseofthemanygardensandcanalsthathebuilt.

• Apart from indulging in building his own structures, Firoz Shah “felt a sense of responsibility” towards old structures that needed repair, among which Qu-tubMinar,HuazKhasandSurajkundstandout.

• Apart from building new structures and restoring old ones, Firoz Shah was also able to create a “multi-lin-gual, multi-cultural space by providing patronage to poets, musicians, and various linguistic commu-nities”.Underhispatronage,premakhyanwhichisSufipoetrywritteninAwadhigrew.Itwasanewgenreofliterature.Hebuiltmanyinstitutesformu-siciansandpoetstoo.

Safe Cities Index (SCI) 2019

What is the issue?

• Washington, DC, has entered the top 10 in the Safe Cities index for the first time, while Hong Kong is a noticeable no-show after plummeting down the rankings.

Who publishes the index?

• Economist Intelligence Unit

• The Safe Cities Index (SCI) 2019 ranks 60 countries worldwide across five continents and measures the multi-faceted nature of urban safety, with indicators categorised as digital, infrastructure, health and personal security.

Key takeaways

• Mumbai has been ranked as the 45th safest city on the Safe Cities Index (SCI), while Delhi stood at the 52nd position.


• TokyotooktheNo.1spotintheEconomistIntel-ligenceUnit’srankingforthethirdtimerunning, while Singapore and Osaka maintained their respec-tive footholds in second and third place. Hong Kong dropped to 20th place from 9th in the 2017 edition of the biennial report.

• Asia-Pacificcitiesdominatedthetop10,withSyd-ney,Seoul,andMelbournebringingtheregion’stotaltosixspots. Amsterdam, Copenhagen and Toronto rounded out the top of the list. London and New York both leaped six spots, to take 14th and 15th place.

• WhileAsia-Pacificishometoseveraloftheworld’ssafestplaces,italsocontainssomeoftheindex’slowest-scoringcities. Yangon in Myanmar took 58th place; Pakistan’s Karachi came in 57th and Dhaka, Bangladesh, filled the 56th spot. The Indian city of New Delhi came in at No. 53.

MULTIPLECHOICEQUESTION Consider the following statements with reference to the Safe Cities Index (SCI) 2019

1. It is published by the UN Security Council

2. No Indian city featured in the top 10 ranks of the index

3. Tokyo was named as the safest city worldwide

Which of the above mentioned statements are true ?

a) 1 and 2 b) 2 and 3

c) 1 and 3 d) All of the above

Solution: b

Cabinet approves higher procurement price

for ethanol

What is the issue?

• Recently, the government approved an increase in the price of ethanol to be procured by public sector oil marketing companies (OMCs) from sugar mills for blending with petrol for the 2019-20 supply year from December 1.

• The CabinetCommitteeonEconomicAffairs(CCEA) also allowed conversion of old sugar into ethanol, which again is expected to help mills deal with the current overproduction in the sweetener and make timely payments to farmers for the cane delivered by them.

What exactly is ethanol and how do mills produce it?

• Ethanol is basically alcohol of 99%-plus purity, which can be used for blending with petrol.

• The normal rectified spirit used for potable purposes has only 95% alcohol content.

• Bothethanol(alsocalledanhydrousalcohol)andrectifiedspiritareproducedmainlyfrommolasses,abyproductofsugarmanufacture.

• Mills typically crush cane with a total fermentable sugars (TFS) content of about 14%. Much of this TFS, sucrose plus so-called reducing sugars (glucose and fructose) — gets crystallised into sugar. The un-crystallised, non-recoverable part goes into what is called ‘C’ molasses. The latter, constituting roughly 4.5% of the cane, has a TFS of 40%. Every 100 kg of TFS, in turn, yields 60 litres of ethanol. Thus,fromonetonneofcane,millscanproduce115kgofsugar(at11.5%recovery)and45kgofmolasses(18kgTFS)thatgives10.8litresofethanol.

• Butratherthanproducesugar,millscanalsofer-menttheentire14%TFSinthecane.Inthatevent,theywouldendupmaking84litresofethanolandzerokgofsugar.

• In between these two extreme cases, there are intermediate options as well, where the cane juice does not have to be crystallised right till the final ‘C’ molasses stage


• The molasses can, instead, be diverted after the earli-er ‘A’ and ‘B’ stages of sugar crystal formation. Mills, then, would produce some sugar, as opposed to fermenting the whole sugarcane juice into ethanol. If ethanol is manufactured using ‘B’ heavy molasses (7.25% of cane and with TFS of 50%), around 21.75 li-tres will get produced along with 95 kg of sugar from every 1 tonne of cane.

So what has the government done?

• Given the surplus sugar production in the country, it has allowed mills to produce ethanol from ‘B’ heavy molasses and directly from sugarcane juice.

• The CCEA approved even use of sugar and sugar syrup for production of ethanol; mills can simply add these to the molasses mother liquor for further fer-mentation. But the real impetus has come from mills getting higher rates for ethanol manufactured from the ‘B’ heavy and sugarcane juice routes.

• For the 2018-19 supply year (December-November), the ex-distillery price payable by OMCs for ethanol manufactured from the conventional ‘C’ molasses route was fixed at Rs 43.46 per litre. This was set higher at Rs 52.43/litre for ethanol from ‘B’ heavy molasses and Rs 59.13/litre from sugarcane juice.Forthenew2019-20supplyyear,thepriceshavebeenraisedmarginallytoRs43.75/litre(‘C’molasses),Rs54.27/litre(‘B’molasses)andRs.59.48/litre(sugar-canejuice).Moreover,evenethanolproducedfromsugarandsugarsyrupwillenjoytheRs59.48/litrerate.

The rationale behind the move

• Currently, ex-factory prices of sugar are ruling at around Rs 32 per kg. If a mill were to produce 115 kg of sugar and 10.8 litres of ethanol through the con-ventional route, its gross realisation at Rs 32/kg and Rs 43.46/litre would be roughly Rs 4,149 from every tonne of cane crushed.

• But if it were to convert the entire cane juice into 84 litres of ethanol, the gross realisation at Rs 59.48/litre works out much higher at Rs 4,996 per tonne of cane.

• Inotherwords,thereisahugeincentivetoproduceethanoltoday. This has been additionally facilitated by the government mandating 10% blending of petrol with ethanol.

• Between2013-14and2018-19,ethanolprocurementbyOMCshasincreasedfrom38crorelitrestoanestimated200crore-pluslitres. Out of the latter, 32 crore litres is expected to be made from ‘B’ heavy molasses and sugarcane juice. If mills are able to divert more of cane juice for ethanol, it would mean producing less sugar.

• Sincethecountryisproducingtoomuchsugarandisimportingoil,theethanol-blendingprogrammeisbeneficialbothformillsandforthecountry’sbalanceofpayments. Ten-per-cent blending requires 330 crore-odd litres of ethanol, which can now be produced through the ‘B’-heavy molasses and sugar-cane juice routes as well.

4 more States join ration card portability

What is the issue?

• Ration card holders in Kerala and Karnataka along with Rajasthan and Haryana will be able to buy sub-sidised food from ration shops in the neighbouring State from next month.

• With effect from October 1, these two new clusters will join the existing State pairs of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana and Maharashtra and Gujarat as pio-neers in inter-State portability of ration cards.

• The Centre has been laying out the road map for the “Onenation,onerationcard”system of complete nationwide portability, which the Centre hopes to implement by June 2020.

More about the “One nation, one ration card” sys-tem

• Under the system, beneficiariescanbuysubsidisedfoodgrainsfromarationshopinanypartofthecountry.

• This means poor migrant workers will be able to buy subsidised rice and wheat from any ration shop in the country iftheirrationcardsarelinkedtoAad-haar.

• ApersonwillonlybeeligibleforthesubsidiessupportedbytheCentresuch as rice at Rs 3/kg and wheat at Rs 2/kg


• Even if a beneficiary moves to a state where grains are given for free, he/she will not be able to access those benefits.

• A migrant will be allowed to buy a maximum of 50% of the family quota. This is to ensure that the individ-ual, after shifting to another place, does not buy the entire family quota in one go

Grand Old Man of India

What is the issue?

• September 4, 2019 was the194thbirthanniversaryofDadabhaiNaoroji,the“GrandOldManofIndia”,whowasamongthefirstleaderswhostirredna-tionalconsciousnessinthecountry.

About Dadabhai Naoroji

• Born in 1825 at Navsari, in present-day Gujarat, Naoroji was a prolific scholar with varied interests. His distinguished political career aside, Naoroji was a professor of Gujarati, mathematics, and natural philosophy, and also worked as a businessman.

• Naoroji’slastingintellectualcontributionwastoexpoundthe‘DrainTheory’. He was closely involved with the Indian National Congress in its early phase, and served as the first Indian member of the British parliament.

• Naoroji began rousing public opinion in England on Indian issues in 1855, after he moved from India to Liverpool for business.

• His first agitation, in 1859, concerned recruitment to the Indian Civil Service. During this period, Naoroji worked closely with Irish leaders in England, who found common cause with the Indian nationalist movement.

• In1865and1866,NaorojihelpedfoundtheLondonIndianSocietyandtheEastIndiaAssociationre-spectively. The two organisations sought to bring nationalist Indians and sympathetic Britons on one platform.

• As the secretary of the East India Association, Naoro-ji travelled in India to gather funds and raise national awareness.

Leader of the Indian National Congress

• In1885,Naorojibecameavice-presidentoftheBombayPresidencyAssociation, was nominated to the Bombay legislative council by Governor Lord Reay, and helped form the Indian National Congress. HewasCongresspresidentthrice,in1886,1893,and1906.

• The first session of the Congress in 1885 passed a resolution calling for the formation of a standing committee in the British House of Commons for considering protests from legislative bodies in India. Naoroji dedicated his efforts towards this objective when he returned to England in 1886.

Election to the British parliament

• Naoroji first ran for the British Parliament in 1886, but did not get elected. His second bid in 1892 was successful, when he won the Central Finsbury seat on a Liberal Party ticket.

• In the British Parliament, Naoroji worked to bring Indian issues to the fore. In 1893, he helped form an Indian parliamentary committee to attend to Indian interests. The membership of the committee signifi-cantly grew in numbers in the coming years, becom-ing an important lobbying force.

• Naoroji was a vocal critic of the colonial economic policy in India. In 1895, he became a member of the royal commission on Indian expenditure.

• A moderate himself, Naoroji acted as a liaison be-tween nationalist Indians and British parliamentari-ans

Drain Theory

• Dadabhai Naoroji was among the key proponents of the ‘Drain Theory’, disseminating it in his 1901 book ‘Poverty and Un-British Rule in India’.

• Naoroji argued that imperial Britain was draining away India’s wealth to itself through exploitative economic policies, including India’s rule by foreign-ers; the heavy financial burden of the British civil and military apparatus in India; the exploitation of the country due to free trade; non-Indians taking away the money that they earned in India; and the interest that India paid on its public debt held in Britain.


Institutions of Eminence (IoE) declared

What is the issue?

• The Ministry of Human Resource Development, on the advice of UGC and the Empowered Expert Com-mittee, issued orders to 5 public Universities con-veying their declaration as Institutions of Eminence (IoE).

• These are IITMadras,BanarasHinduUniversity,IITKharagpur,UniversityofDelhiandtheUniversityofHyderabad.

• In addition, Letters of Intent were issued to 5 Pri-vate Universities for accepting and sending their preparedness for being declared as Institutions of Eminence. TheseareAmritaViswavidyapeetham,TamilNadu,VelloreInstituteofTechnology,TamilNadu,JamiaHamdard,NewDelhi,KalingaInstituteofIndustrialTechnology,OdishaandBhartiInsti-tute,SatyaBhartiFoundation,Mohali.

About the initiative :

• The Centre has initiated a move to establish a total of 20 ‘Institutes of Eminence’ as a distinct category of deemed to-be-universities so that they become “world-class” institutions over the next 10 years and also figure in the international list of top 100 best universities in the world.

• Ten out of these twenty distinct category of deemed to-be-universities will be established by declaring best of the government-run higher educational in-stitutions as ‘Institutes of Eminence’ in public sector while the remaining ten will be set up by approving applications to be coming from the private sector

Central government’s role :

• Under the scheme, theCentrewillprovideafundofRs1000croreforaperiodoffiveyearstoeachofthe10higherinstitutionstobeselectedandde-claredasthe‘GovernmentEducationalInstitutionsofEminence’underthescheme.

• The Government, however, will not provide any fund for the establishment of the proposed higher educa-tional institutions in the private sector.

Benefits of Institutions of Eminence

1. Government Institutions to get additionalfundingupto1000Cr.

2. The selected Institutions under IoE shall have com-pleteacademicandadministrativeautonomy.

3. The Institutions of Eminence will have completefi-nancialautonomy to spend the resources raised and allocated, subject to general conditions & restric-tions of the Statutes and GFR.

4. Academiccollaborationswithforeignhigheredu-cationalinstitutions (in top 500) would be exempt from governmentapprovals.

5. Freedomtohirepersonnelfromindustry, etc, as faculty who are experts in their areas but may not have the requisite higher academic qualifications.

6. FreedomtorecruitfacultyfromoutsideIndia (limit of 25% of its faculty strength for public institution).

7. Freedomtoenterintoacademiccollaborations with other Institutions within the country.

8. Freedom to have owntransparentmerit-basedsys-temfor admission of students.

9. Freedom to admitadditionallyforeignstudents on merit subject to a maximum of 30% of the strength of admitted domestic students.

10. Freedom to fixandchargefeesfromforeignstu-dentswithout restriction.

11. Freedom to determine the domestic student fees, subject to the condition that no student who gets selected admission is turned away for lack of finance. Every Institute to encourage scholarships and exten-sion of loans facility.

12. Freedom to offercourseswithinaprogramaswellastoofferdegreesinnewerareas,includinginter-disciplinaryones, after approval of its Governing Council and conforming to the minimum prevailing standards.

13. Freedom to have the flexibilityofcoursestructurein terms of the number of credit hours and years to take a degree, after approval of their Governing Council and conforming to the minimum prevailing standards.


14. Flexibility in fixing of curriculum and syllabus, with no UGC mandated curriculum structure. 15. Freedom to offer onlinecoursesaspartoftheirprogrammeswitharestrictionthatnotmorethan20%oftheprogramme should be in online mode. Certificate courses can entirely be through online mode. 16. Students enrolment capacity to be 10,000 in 15 years. (Lower figure permitted with justification) 17. Faculty Student Ratio should be 1:20 at the time of Notification and should increase to 1:10 in five years. 18. UGCInspectionshallnotapplytoInstitutionsofEminence.

Sentinelese tribe : What you need to know

Who are the Sentinelese?

• The Sentinelese is apre-neolithic,negritotribe who live in North Sentinel Island of the Andamans.

• The tribe has not faced incursions and remains hos-tile to outsiders.

• Surveys of North Sentinel Island have not found any evidence of agriculture. Instead, the community seems to be hunter-gatherers, getting food through fishing, hunting, and collecting wild plants living on the island.

• Sentinelese are also listed under ParticularlyVulner-ableTribalGroups(PVTGs) by the government of India.

• The inhabitants are connected to the Jarawa on the basis of physical, as well as linguistic similarities.

• Based on carbon dating of kitchen middens by the Anthropological Survey of India, Sentinelese pres-ence was confirmed in the islands to 2,000 years ago.

How are they protected?

• The Government of India issued the Andaman and Nicobar Islands (Protection of Aboriginal Tribes) Reg-ulation, 1956 to declare the traditional areas occu-pied by the tribes as reserves, and prohibited entry of all persons except those with authorisation.

• Photographing or filming the tribe members is also an offence.

Population

• From 1901 to 1921 they were estimated to be 117 people.

• In 1931, the number dropped to 50, a figure used for the 1961 Census too.

• In 1991 their headcount was put at 23.

• Census 2001 counted 39 inhabitants.

Tribes from the Andaman and Nicobar :

Great Andama-nese

Onge Jarawa

Sentinelese Nicobarese Shompen

MULTIPLECHOICEQUESTION Consider the following statements with reference to the Sentinelese tribe

1. It is a Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Group

2. The tribe has not faced incursions and remains hostile to outsiders till date

3. The tribe is found in the Lakshadweep Islands


a) 1 and 2 b) 2 and 3


Solution: a


No need to pick incriminatory dying declara-

tion, rules SC

What is the issue?

• In the case of divergent and multiple dying decla-rations, the court need not invariably pick the one that incriminates the accused person. Instead, it is for the court to find out which of the dying victim’s statement is true, the Supreme Court said in a recent judgment.

What the Supreme Court has opined

• When there are divergent dying declarations, it is not the law that the court must invariably prefer the statement which is incriminatory and must reject the statement which does not implicate the accused. The real point is to ascertain which contains the truth.

• Any statement made by a person as to the cause of his death or to any circumstance of the transaction which resulted in his death would be relevant in this context.

• Once it is proved that such a statement is made by the deceased then it cannot be brushed aside on the basis that it is not elaborate or that it was not record-ed in a particular fashion.

A suicide every 40 seconds

What is the issue?

• A fact sheet released by the World Health Organiza-tion recently shows that closeto8lakhpeopledieduetosuicideeveryyear.

• In other words, suicides account for one death every 40 seconds. Another important fact that often gets missed is that behind every successful suicide, there are more than 20 attempts at taking one’s life.

Key takeaways from the Report

• Against a global average of 10.53 deaths due to suicide (per 100,000 population) Europe tends to register the maximum deaths due to suicide while

while Eastern Mediterranean reports the lowest aver-age. However, even within each region, there are wide disparities. • The report said that while suicide happens through-

out the lifespan, itwasthesecondleadingcauseofdeathamong15-to29-year-olds. The leading cause for death in this age group is road injury (for men) and maternal conditions (for women).

• While the link between suicide and mental disorders, especially depression and alcohol use, is well estab-lished, WHO finds that many suicides happen during a crisis and because of an individual’s inability to deal with stress. However,byfar,WHOstates,“thestrongestriskfactorforsuicideisaprevioussuicideattempt”.

• Asfarasmethodsofsuicidesareconcerned,almost20percentofallsuicidesisduetopesticideself-poi-soning.The use of pesticide points to the setting where such suicides happen – rural agricultural areas in low- and middle-income countries. Other common methods are hanging and firearms.


NCST recommends ‘tribal area’ status for

Ladakh under Sixth Schedule

What is the issue?

• The NationalCommissionforScheduledTribes(NCST)hasrecommended‘tribalarea’statusforLa-dakhundertheSixthScheduleoftheConstitution.

Why was this decision made?

• The recommendation comes against the backdrop of growing demand from a predominantly tribal popu-lation and political leaders of Ladakh for according “tribal area” status to the region.

• Though Ladakhis have welcomed the Centre’s decision to revoke the special status of Jammu and Kashmir, and make Ladakh a Union territory, they fear an influx of outsiders would lead to a change in the region’s demography, jeopardising their culture and identity.

• It is estimated that more than 90 per cent of Lada-kh’s population is tribal.

• The Commission after careful consideration, rec-ommended that the Union Territory of Ladakh be brought under the Sixth Schedule of the Constitu-tion. The Commission feels that this will help in:

(i) Democratic devolution of powers; (ii)Preserve and promote the distinct culture of the region. (iii)Protect agrarian rights including rights on land (iv)Enhance transfer of funds for speedy develop-ment of Ladakh region.

• TheCommissiontooknoteofthefactthatthe

newlycreatedUnionTerritoryofLadakhispredomi-nantlyatribalregioninthecountry.

• The Scheduled Tribe population represent 66.8 percent in Leh, 73.35 percent in Nubra, 97.05 percent in Khalsti, 83.49 per cent in Kargil, 89.96 per cent in Sanku and 99.16 per cent in Zanskar areas of the Ladakh region.

• The official figures, however, does not include a num-ber of communities including Sunni Muslims in the region, who are working for Scheduled Tribe status. Taking into account this, the total tribal population in Ladakh region is more than 97 percent.

The region is inhabited by following Scheduled Tribes, namely:

1. Balti

2. Beda

3. Bot, Boto

4. Brokpa, Drokpa, Dard, Shin

5. Changpa

6. Garra

7. Mon

8. Purigpa


Central Adverse List

MULTIPLECHOICEQUESTION Consider the following statements with reference to the National Commission for Scheduled Tribes

1. It was established by amending Article 338 and inserting a new Article 338A

2. The Chairman and members are appointed by the Union Minister of Tribal Affairs

3. The members are not eligible for appointment for more than two terms


a) 1 and 2 b) 2 and 3


Solution: c

What is the issue?

• TheCentrehasremovedfromitsblacklistortheCentralAdverseListasitisofficiallyknown,namesof300oddSikhforeignnationals involved in anti-In-dia activities and only two persons figure in the list now.

What is the Central Adverse List?

• The Ministry of Home Affairs maintains a list of individuals who supported the Khalistan movement in the 1980s and 90s but left India to take asylum in foreign countries. This list included the name of “hardliners” who were in favour of a separate Sikh state and had opposed the Operation Blue Star.

• Many of the Sikhs on this list fled India to escape the authorities, acquired foreign nationality and took asylum outside India.

• This list is not restricted to Punjab or the Khalistan movement.

• The list has names of those individuals who are suspected to have links with terrorist outfits or have violated visa norms in their previous visit to India. The list also includes the names of those persons who have indulged in criminal activities or have been accused of sexual crimes against children in their respective countries. It has more than 35,000 names on it.

What is the purpose of this list?

• This list is constantly used by all Indian Missions and Consulates to stop the individuals named in it from entering India. This is done by not granting a visa to such persons.

• It is a step taken by the Indian government to main-tain internal security. The list is also used to keep serious offenders outside India as somebody may commit a crime in his native nation and then apply for an Indian visa to escape prosecution.

Who maintains this list?

• ThelistismaintainedbytheUnionMinistryofHomeAffairs with inputs from all the state govern-ments.

• Various intelligence agencies constantly review this list and add new names to it. Central intelligence agencies, as well as the state-level intelligence, con-tributes to the information determining the inclusion of a person in this list.

• Sincelawandorderisastatesubject,thestatepoliceisalsoutilisedforintelligencegatheringinordertoupdatethelist.

Documents

Smart Abhyas/September/2019...Smart Abhyas/September/2019 8 • Tokyo took the No. 1 spot in the Economist Intel- ligence Unit’s ranking for the third time running, while Singapore