n at Pune. China, with its multi-billion-dollar Belt and Road Initiative, has fast expanded its footprint in Africa as the “New Great Game” plays out in the world’s second-largest continent known for its minerals and other raw commodities. India may not have China’s economic wherewithal but is trying to leverage its long-standing ties and military expertise with African nations.
Read More: https://www.ksgindia.com/index.php/study-material/news-for-aspirants/19347-india-kicks-off-afindex-19
#Africa #AFINDEX #India #Military #SanjeevSharma

3rd Indo-Japan Workshop on DRR
The 3rd Indo-Japan Workshop on Disaster Risk Reduction was held in New Delhi on 19 March 2019. The workshop was attended by about 140 delegates from Japan and India including experts from both the governments, top premium research institutes, city administrators, specialized Disaster Management agencies and private sector. The Government of India and the Government of Japan had signed a Memorandum of Cooperation (MoC) in the field of Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) in September 2017.
Read More: https://www.ksgindia.com/index.php/study-material/news-for-aspirants/19346-3rd-indo-japan-workshop-on-drr
#DRR #MoC #HFA #Japan #SFDRR #India #TokyoJapan

Mitra shakti-VI
Exercise MITRA SHAKTI is conducted annually as part of military diplomacy and interaction between armies of India & Sri Lanka. The joint exercise for the year 2018-19 will be conducted from 26 March to 08 April 2019 in Sri Lanka. Troops from 1st Battalion the BIHAR Regiment of the Indian Army and Gemunu Watch Battalion of Sri Lankan Army would be jointly undertaking the exercise.
Read More: https://www.ksgindia.com/index.php/study-material/news-for-aspirants/19345-mitra-shakti-vi
#MitraShakti #IndianArmy #BIHAR #Indian #military

Operational Readiness Exercise
The Chief of Naval Staff (CNS), Admiral Sunil Lanba, PVSM, AVSM, ADC, arrived Kochi on 18 March 19 for the debrief of the recently concluded annual Theatre Level Readiness and Operational Exercise (TROPEX). Commanders-in-Chief of all the three naval Commands, along with a number of senior operational commanders and representatives from Indian Army, Air Force and Indian Coast Guard attended and participated in the discussions held at the Naval Base, Kochi.
Read More: https://www.ksgindia.com/index.php/study-material/news-for-aspirants/19344-operational-readiness-exercise
#CNS #IndianAirForce #IndianNavy #SeaVigil

Today Update

यूके सिन्हा समिति ने सौंपी रिपोर्ट
सेबी के पूर्व अध्यक्ष यूके सिन्हा की अध्यक्षता में जनवरी में बनाई गई एमएसएमई क्षेत्र की विशेषज्ञ समिति ने अपनी रिपोर्ट आरबीआइ के गवर्नर शक्तिकांत दास को सौंप दी है। रिज़र्व बैंक ने यह जानकारी दी है। इस आठ सदस्यीय समिति की स्थापना सूक्ष्म, लघु और मध्यम उद्यमों के लिए फ्रेमवर्क की समीक्षा करने के लिए की गई थी।
Read More: https://www.ksgindia.com/index.php/study-material/news-for-aspirants-hindi/20600-2019-06-20-04-25-45
#Sinha #UK #MSME #SEBI #ShikkatantDas #ReserveBankofIndia #ICICIBank

बिहार में बच्चों की मौत का मामला पहुंचा सुप्रीम कोर्ट
बिहार में एक्यूट एंसिफलाइटिस सिंड्रोम (एईएस) से हो रही बच्चों की मौत का मामला सुप्रीम कोर्ट पहुंच गया है। सुप्रीम कोर्ट मे एक जनहित याचिका दाखिल हुई जिसमें राज्य और केन्द्र सरकार को इलाज के पुख्ता इंतजाम करने का निर्देश दिये जाने की मांग की गई है। इस याचिका पर कोर्ट से शीघ्र सुनवाई की मांग भी हो सकती है।
Read More: https://www.ksgindia.com/index.php/study-material/news-for-aspirants-hindi/20599-2019-06-20-04-25-37
#Supremecourt #Bihar #deathofchildren #AES #PIL #ICUs

डाटा स्टोरेज को लेकर भारत का कड़ा रुख
भारत द्वारा डाटा स्टोरेज को लेकर लगातार कड़ा रुख रखा जा रहा है, जिससे कईं मल्टीनेशनल कंपनियों में नाराजगी देखी जा रही है। यहां तक कि अमेरिकी कंपनियां और अमेरिकी सरकार भी भारत के इस फैसले से नाराज दिख रही है। आरबीआई का कहना है कि डिजिटल डाटा देश में ही स्टोर हो और इसके लिए वह कड़ी समीक्षा करने वाला है।
Read More: https://www.ksgindia.com/index.php/study-material/news-for-aspirants-hindi/20598-2019-06-20-04-25-28
#India #RBI #MasterCard #Visa #PiyushGoyal #CEO #AjayBanga

UK Sinha panel submit report
The Reserve Bank has said the expert committee on the MSME sector, set up in January under the chairmanship of former chairman of Sebi UK Sinha, has submitted its report to the governor Shaktikanta Das.
Read More: https://www.ksgindia.com/index.php/study-material/news-for-aspirants/20604-uk-sinha-panel-submit-report
#Sinha #UK #MSME #SEBI #ShikkatantDas #ReserveBankofIndia #ICICIBank

World Bank report on Belt and Road
China’s massive Belt and Road infrastructure drive could speed up economic development and reduce poverty for dozens of developing countries, the World Bank said in a new report that called for deep policy reforms and more transparency for the initiative. The long-delayed report said that the Belt and Road – a string of ports, railways, roads and bridges and other investments connecting China to Europe via central and southern Asia – could lift 32 million people out of moderate poverty conditions if implemented fully.
Read More: https://www.ksgindia.com/index.php/study-material/news-for-aspirants/20603-world-bank-report-on-belt-and-road
#WorldBank #China #Pakistan #DavidMalpass #railways #roads #bridges

UN plan to combat hate speech
Secretary-General Antonio Guterres is launching a plan to combat hate speech and counter what he calls “a groundswell of xenophobia, racism and intolerance, violent misogyny, anti-Semitism and anti-Muslim hatred” around the world.
Read More: https://www.ksgindia.com/index.php/study-material/news-for-aspirants/20602-un-plan-to-combat-hate-speech
#UN #WorldWarII #digital #Muslimhatred #NewYork

7th Annual MICE report
India is estimated to generate over 2 million outbound luxury and MICE tourists annually by 2020, reinforcing the country’s influence as a key source market for MICE and luxury travel, according to a new report by the organisers.
Read More: https://www.ksgindia.com/index.php/study-material/news-for-aspirants/20601-7th-annual-mice-report
#MICE #7thAnnual #MILT #India #Kazakhstan #LuxuryTravelCongress

Future of Assumption Island
An Indian-origin priest from Bihar has been elected President of Seychelles which has a substantial population from the subcontinent. Wavel Ramkalawan, whose grandfather came from Gopalganj, Bihar, defeated incumbent Danny Faure.
Read More: https://www.ksgindia.com/study-material/news-for-aspirants/26772-future-of-assumption-island.html
#AssumptionIsland #Bihar #WavelRamkalawan #UPSCOnlineClasses #OnlineClassses #IASOnlineclasses

Additionally, activists from the community say that this will come at a loss for Dalit, Bahujan and Adivasi transgender persons, as they will have to make a choice between availing reservation either based on caste and tribal identity or gender identity.

“This is in violation of the Constitution. SC, ST persons should be able to avail internal reservation in their categories. If trans persons from these categories do not have the choice to do that, they will be forced into two corners. Either compete with cis-gendered SC, ST persons. Or under OBC, compete with other savarna transgender persons, and cis-gendered persons from OBC communities,” said Kanmani, a trans woman and lawyer, to The Indian Express.

What has happened so far on horizontal reservations?

Since the NALSA judgment, there has been no direction from the Central government on delivering on the right to reservation for trans persons.

In 2015, Rajya Sabha DMK MP Tiruchi Siva presented the Rights of Transgender Persons Bill. Prepared with inputs from the trans community, this Private Member’s Bill, in line with the NALSA judgment, had provisions for reservation for trans persons — in the public and private sector. After being passed in the Rajya Sabha, the Bill was rejected in the Lok Sabha. Instead, the Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Bill, 2016 was introduced by the Centre. It had no provision for reservations.

In 2018, a parliamentary standing committee under the Ministry of Social Justice was set up. It was headed by BJP MP Ramesh Bais, now Governor of Maharashtra. The committee, again in line with the NALSA judgment, recommended reservations for transgender persons. Yet, the Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Act, 2019 did not have any mention of reservation — vertical or horizontal.

Alternatively, the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016, included in its purview the right of disabled persons to accrue horizontal reservation. Since this Act has been implemented, horizontal reservation for disabled people is now ensured under the Central government.

In 2015, the Tamil Nadu government decided to categorise “transgender or eunuch (thirunangai or aravani)”, that is, only transwomen under the Most Backward Classes (MBC) category. After Sangama v State of Karnataka, Karnataka became the first and only state to offer one per cent horizontal reservation to transgender persons in 2021. In April this year, transgender persons were included in the OBC category in Madhya Pradesh.

“The aspect of the implementation [of the NALSA judgment] has really not gone anywhere. Currently, the primary challenges are legislative. This lack of action needs to be legally challenged,” Bittu K R, a genderqueer trans man and Associate Professor of Biology and Psychology at Ashoka University, told The Indian Express.

Transgender persons have filed several petitions of late in the Delhi HC, Madras HC, Rajasthan HC, etc., asking for horizontal reservation in education and jobs.

#upsc #news #reservation #theindianexpress #transgendercommunity #bombay #highcourt #variouscommunities #nalsa #socialasymmetry #sc #st #obc #policies #national #human #rights #commission #violation #constitution #uttarakhand #bihar

Today's Headlines - 31 July 2023
International Tiger Day
GS Paper - 3 (Environment)

29 July is celebrated world over as the International Tiger Day in a bid to raise awareness on various issues surrounding tiger conservation. It was first instituted in 2010 at the Tiger Summit in St Petersburg, Russia when the 13 tiger range countries came together to create Tx2, the global goal to double the number of wild tigers by the year 2022. Last year, the designated date for achieving the goals of Tx2, however, saw uneven progress. As per the World Wildlife Fund, while countries in Southeast Asia struggled to control population decline, others, like India, fared much better.

How Project Tiger came about

Project Tiger was launched by the Central government on 1 April 1973, in a bid to promote conservation of the tiger.
The programme came at a time when India’s tiger population was rapidly dwindling. According to reports, while there were 40,000 tigers in the country at the time of the Independence (in 1947), they were soon reduced to below 2,000 by 1970 due to widespread hunting and habitat destrcutions.
Concerns around the issue intensified when in 1970, the International Union for Conservation of Nature declared the tiger as an endangered species.
Two years later, the Indian government conducted its own tiger census and found that there were only 1,800 of them left in the country.
To tackle the problem of hunting and poaching of not just tigers but also other animals and birds, then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi promulgated the Wildlife Protection Act in 1972.
A year later, after a task force urged the government to create a chain of reserves dedicated to tiger preservation, Indira unveiled Project Tiger.

What is Project Tiger?

Launched at the Jim Corbett National Park, the programme was initially started in nine tiger reserves of different States such as Assam, Bihar, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Odisha, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal, covering over 14,000 sq km.
Notably, Project Tiger didn’t just focus on the conservation of the big cats. It also ensured the preservation of their natural habitat as tigers are at the top of the food chain.

#upsc #news #headline #tigerday #enviroment #Stpetersburg #russia #world #wildlife #fund #independence #nature #karnataka #assam #bihar #madhyapradesh #maharashtra #odisha #rajasthan #uttarpradesh #westbengal #jimcorbett

Today's Headlines - 22 August 2023
Violation of privacy in caste survey
GS Paper - 2 (Polity)

The Supreme Court asked the petitioners challenging the Bihar caste survey what was the violation of privacy in asking people to disclose their caste after the latter contended that the exercise was clearly in violation of the top court’s nine-judge decision in the privacy case wherein it was held that the state cannot encroach on the privacy of individuals without a law to back it.

What

If somebody is asked to give caste or sub-caste, in a state like Bihar, caste is known to neighbours… Which of these 17 questions (asked as part of the survey) invades privacy, asked Justice Sanjeev Khanna, presiding over a two-judge Bench, and said the exercise was carried out on the strength of an executive order.
The Bench commenced hearing a batch of pleas challenging the 1 August decision of the Patna High Court, which gave the go-ahead to the caste survey.
Some of these petitions have claimed the exercise was an infringement of the people’s right to privacy.
The SC, he pointed out, had said that “while it intervenes to protect legitimate state interests, the state must nevertheless put into place a robust regime that ensures the fulfillment of a threefold requirement.
These three requirements apply to all restraints on privacy (not just informational privacy). They emanate from the procedural and content based mandate of Article 21.
The first requirement that there must be a law in existence to justify an encroachment on privacy is an express requirement of Article 21.
For, no person can be deprived of his life or personal liberty except in accordance with the procedure established by law. The existence of law is an essential requirement.
The caste survey, however, was carried out on the basis of an executive order, which does not even set out the aim of the exercise.
Puttaswamy judgment says privacy can be intruded upon only by a just fair and reasonable law, with a legitimate aim, which has to stand the test of proportionality.

#upsc #news #violation #privacy #castesurvey #polity #supremecourt #bihar #caste #neighbours #patna #highcourt #pleas #caste #survey #requirement #interests #threefold #restraints #encroachment #puttaswarmy #judgment #law #proportionality #executive #order #article #decision #polity