10/7/2020 : Prelims Daily Current Affairs for Civil Services
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Rewa Solar Project
Why in News
- Recently, the Prime Minister has inaugurated the 750 MW (Mega Watt) solar project set up in Rewa, Madhya Pradesh. It is in line with India’s commitment to attain the target of 175 GW of installed renewable energy capacity by 2022 including 100 GW of solar installed capacity.
Key Points
- Features: It is Asia’s largest solar power project. It comprises three solar generating units of 250 MW each located on a 500 hectare of land situated inside a solar park (total area 1500 hectare).
- Solar Park: It was developed by the Rewa Ultra Mega Solar Limited (RUMSL), a Joint Venture Company of Madhya Pradesh UrjaVikas Nigam Limited (MPUVN), and Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI), a Central Public Sector Undertaking. Central Financial Assistance of Rs. 138 crore was provided to the RUMSL for development of the Park.
Significance:
- Grid Parity Barrier: It is the first solar project in the country to break the grid parity barrier.
- Grid parity occurs when an alternative energy source can generate power at a cost of electricity that is less than or equal to the price of power from the electricity grid. Further, compared to prevailing solar project tariffs of approx. Rs. 4.50/unit in early 2017, it achieved a first year tariff of Rs. 2.97/unit with a tariff escalation of Rs. 0.05/unit over 15 years.
- Risk Reduction: Its payment security mechanism for reducing risks to power developers has been recommended as a model to other states by the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy.
- Renewable Energy Project: It is the first renewable energy project to supply an institutional customer outside the state, i.e. Delhi Metro, which will get 24% of energy from the project with the remaining 76% being supplied to the state DISCOMs of Madhya Pradesh.
- It is also India’s first solar project to get funding from Clean Technology Fund (CTF), which is available at a rate of 0.25% for a 40-year period from the World Bank.
- The CTF promotes scaled-up financing for demonstration, deployment and transfer of low carbon technologies with a significant potential for long-term greenhouse gas emissions savings.
- Carbon Emission Reduction: It will help in reducing the carbon emission equivalent to 15 lakh ton of CO per year.
- Global Appreciation: It has also received the World Bank Group President’s Award for innovation and excellence and was included in the book ‘A Book of Innovation: New Beginnings’.
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India Global Week 2020: India Inc.
Why in News
- Recently, the Prime Minister of India has addressed the inaugural session of a three-day virtual conference of India Global Week 2020 organised in London, United Kingdom by India Inc. It also marks the 100 birth anniversary of Pandit Ravi Shankar, a great Indian musician (Sitar player, composer and singer).
- India Global Week is an annual flagship event organised by India Inc., a London based media house to re-energise and ignite optimism at global level. It brings about an action-oriented focus by giving a forum to global deliberations from geopolitics to business, arts & culture to emerging technologies, banking and finance, pharma, defence and security, social impact and the diaspora dividend.
- India Inc. also produces incisive contents and events on investment, trade and policy matters related to India’s increasingly globalised economic and strategic agenda. Its flagship publication: India Global Business.
- Diaspora news network:
Key Points
- Theme: Be The Revival: India and a Better New World.
- Objective: Explore business, strategic and cultural opportunities, understand the challenges and make informed decisions as the world looks ahead to a better, brighter future beyond Covid-19.
- Significance for India:
- Global Revival: As India is playing a leading role in the global revival, it has brought India’s ancient culture (AYUSH), universal, peaceful ethos and the beauty of classical music to the world.
- Global Audience: The event as a forum has helped to bring the opportunities in India to a global audience and made the links between India and UK stronger.
- Trade and Investment: It would focus on India’s trade and foreign investment processes as it has done many reforms e.g. private investment in the space sector. Reforms in agriculture would provide an opportunity to invest in storage and logistics.
- Invest India Programme: It will help in improving the Invest India programme. India has recently been reviewing 50 investment proposals from China under its new screening policy which is being done under the new rules.
- New rules: India announced new investment rules in April 2020. Under the new rules, all the investments by the entities based in neighbouring countries have to be approved by Indian Government. This was introduced to curb opportunistic takeovers during Covid-19-period.
- Battle against the Covid-19: As India is fighting a strong battle against the global pandemic it would recognise India’s efforts towards revival with care, compassion and sustainability – both for the environment and the economy.
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Rabari, Bharvad and Charan of Gujarat
Why in News
- Recently, the Gujarat government has decided to form a five-member commission to identify members of Rabari, Bharvad and Charan communities, who are eligible for benefits of Schedule Tribe (ST) status.
Key Points
- Issue: In October 1956, the central government conferred ST status on people of Rabari, Bharvad and Charan communities, living in nesses (tiny, ovalshaped hutments made of mud) of Gir, Barda and Alech areas of Gujarat.
- However, it has been alleged that a number of people not living in nesses have managed to get ST certificates and are enjoying undue reservation benefits, mainly in government jobs. Leaders of these three communities and other communities as well, have been protesting for quite some time against this.
- Objective of the Commission:
- To resolve this issue and identify the legitimate beneficiaries of ST status among the members of the three communities. To ensure that the eligible members of the tribes are not devoid of their right and the others do not get an undue benefit in their names.
- Composition: The five-member commission will comprise a retired judge of the high court as the head, two district judges, one retired forest officer and one retired revenue
Rabari
- They migrated from Rajasthan via Kutch and now most of them live in the Okhamandal region of Jamnagar district. They speak ‘Bhopa’ which is a mixture of Gujarati, Kachchi, Marwari words and Pharasi (Persian) and use Gujarati script.
- Women stand in almost equal status to that of men. The main economic activity is sheep breeding and selling of milk. Only a few of them own cultivable agricultural land. Recently, they have started engaging as wage labourers in industrial establishments both as skilled and unskilled labourers.
- They profess Hinduism and are followers of Shiva and Shakti. Their folk songs are called ‘Siya’.
Bharvad
- The term Bharwad is a modified form of the word ‘Badawad’. ‘Bada’ means sheep and ‘Wada’ refers to compound or enclosure. The personwho possesses compounds or pens is known as Badawad. They communicate in Gujarati and use Gujarati script.
- Bharwad women have a lower status. The Bharwads are pastorals who are permitted to graze their sheep and cattle in certain demarcated areas of the reserved forest.
- Some of them possess dry agricultural land and earn their livelihood as agricultural labourers. They profess Hinduism and Krishna is considered the supreme God.
Charan
- The Charan, also called Gadhvi, is a small tribe in Gujarat and the name Charan is derived from the word ‘Char’ which means They speak Gujarati and use Gujarati script. They marry within their community and practice monogamy.
- The Charans are traditionally cattle breeders. They have also adopted agriculture as their secondary occupation. They profess Hinduism and the main deity is Pithorai Mata.
- As per Census 1931, Schedule tribes are termed as ‘backward tribes’ living in the ‘Excluded’ and ‘Partially Excluded’ The Constitution does not define the criteria for recognition of Scheduled Tribes and hence the definition contained in 1931 Census was used in initial years after independence.
- The Government of India Act, 1935 called for the first time for representatives of ‘backward tribes’ in provincial assemblies. Article 366 (25) of the Constitution only provides a process to define Scheduled Tribes:
- Scheduled Tribes: means such tribes, tribal communities, parts of or groups within such tribes or tribal communities as are deemed under Article 342 to be Scheduled Tribes for the purposes of the Constitution.
- Article 342 (1): The President may with respect to any State or Union Territory, and where it is a State, after consultation with the Governor, by a public notification, specify the tribes or tribal communities or part of or groups within tribes or tribal communities as Scheduled Tribe in relation to that State or Union Territory.
- The category of ‘tribe’ entails a social and cultural dimension but the ‘schedule tribe’ category has political-administrative implications. A majority of the ST population is concentrated in the eastern, central and western belt covering the nine states of Odisha, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Rajasthan, Andhra Pradesh and West Bengal.
- About 12% inhabit the North-eastern region, about 5% in the Southern region and about 3% in the Northern states. The Constitution (Scheduled Tribes) Order (Second Amendment) Bill, 2019 will amend Part VI of the Constitution (Scheduled Tribes) Order, 1950 that specifies the tribal and tribal communities which are deemed to be Scheduled
Other Constitutional Provisions:
- Article 15 (4): Special provisions for advancement of any socially and educationally backward classes of citizens or for the Scheduled Castes (SCs) or the STs.
- Article 16 (4): Enables the state to make any provision for reservation of appointments or posts in favour of any backward class of citizens which, in the opinion of the state, is not adequately represented in the services under the state.
- Article 46: Promotion of educational and economic interests of SCs, STs and other weaker sections.
- Article 330 and 332: Provides for specific representation through reservation of seats for SCs and STs in the Parliament and in the State Legislative Assemblies respectively.
- Article 338 A: Gives powers to the National Commission for Scheduled Tribes (NCST) to oversee the implementation of various safeguards provided to STs.
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Mongolian Kanjur Being Reprinted
Why in News
- The Ministry of Culture has taken up the project of reprinting 108 volumes of Mongolian Kanjur by March 2022 under the National Mission for Manuscripts (NMM). Some copies were presented to the government of Mongolia on the occasion of Guru Purnima, also known as Dharma Chakra Day, on 4th July, 2020.
Key Points
- Mongolian Kanjur: It is a Buddhist canonical text in 108 volumes and is considered to be the most important religious text in Mongolia. It is a source of providing a cultural identity to Mongolia. In the Mongolian language ‘Kanjur’ means ‘Concise Orders’– the words of Lord Buddha in particular.
- It has been translated from Tibetan and is written in classical mongolian.
- Cultural Relations Between India and Mongolia: Buddhism was carried to Mongolia by Indian cultural and religious ambassadors during the early Christian era.
- India established formal diplomatic relations with Mongolia in 1955. The publication of Mongolian Kanjur by the Government of India for the Government of Mongolia will act as a symbol of cultural harmony between India and Mongolia and will contribute to furtherance of bilateral relations during the coming years.
- National Mission for Manuscripts (NMM) was launched in February 2003 by the Government of India with the mandate of documenting, conserving and disseminating the knowledge preserved in the manuscripts.
- One of the objectives of the mission is to publish rare and unpublished manuscripts so that the knowledge enshrined in them is spread to researchers, scholars and the general public at large.
- It is under the Ministry of Culture
Source- https://pib.gov.in/newsite/PrintRelease.aspx?relid=209996
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