Whatsapp 93125-11015 For Details
‘Kashi Tamil Sangamam’ is an attempt to bring a cultural renaissance that will unite the country and connect different languages, Union Home Minister Amit Shah said.
He was addressing the closing ceremony of the 30-day event, during which nearly 2,500 visitors from Tamil Nadu arrived in Varanasi.
The Home Minister shared the dais with Tamil Nadu Governor R.N. Ravi, Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, Tourism Minister G. Kishan Reddy, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, and BJP’s Tamil Nadu president K. Annamalai.
Kashi Tamil Sangamam is an attempt to revive the country’s cultural unity. Though India has multiple cultures, languages and art forms, its soul is one.
He called the event a bridge and an attempt to join languages of not just Kashi (or Varanasi) and Tamil Nadu or south and north, but of the entire country.
He likened Prime Minister Narendra Modi with sage Adi Shankaracharya for trying to bring together two great cultures of Kashi and Tamil Nadu.
Mr. Shah also spoke about the National Education Policy 2020 and said the Prime Minister had ensured that through the medium of education and languages, the country’s spiritual pride and the Indian knowledge system found a place on the global stage.
The soul of the National Education Policy is our languages. That is why Modi ji has said mother tongue should be the medium of instruction.
Gradually, the NEP has percolated deep down. I appeal once again to Tamil Nadu to impart medical, technical and legal education in Tamil, so that it is further strengthened.
Repeating the words of Mr. Modi who launched the programme on November 19, the Home Minister said Tamil was one of the oldest languages in the world. He said the entire country was ready to welcome visitors from Tamil Nadu with both hands.
States
Wayanad rice festival promotes climate resilient crops (Page no. 5)
(GS Paper 3, Agriculture)
At a time when climate vagaries are posing a serious threat to farming in the country, a Kerala-based organisation named Thanal has embarked on a unique conservation experiment, planting 300 climate-resilient varieties of traditional rice on 1.5 acres of land at its agroecology centre in Panavally in the Wayanad district.
On December 12, Thanal gave the public an opportunity to experience their initiative by launching IkkiJathre, or the Festival of Rice in tribal parlance. Throngs of farmers, researchers, environmentalists and students have been arriving at Panavally to take part in the festival.
The initiative aims to sensitise people to the significance of conserving traditional crops that have the ability to withstand harsh climatic conditions. Thanal has been organising annual “rice field weeks” since 2012.
Floods in 2018 and 2019 and then the COVID-19 pandemic had put brakes on the festival, till the NGO decided to revive it this year.
The festival also sets the stage for knowledge sharing and co-creation of knowledge between tribal farmers and experts. “We launched the Rice Diversity Block (RDB) at Panavally under the Save Our Rice campaign in 2009, with a collection of 30 varieties of rice. It has now expanded to 300 varieties.
Most of the varieties were collected from Kerala, Karnataka, Assam, Tamil Nadu, Arunachal Pradesh, Maharashtra and West Bengal. There are three traditional rice varieties from Vietnam and Thailand.
Many varieties are drought-resistant and flood-tolerant, while others have aromatic and medicinal properties. When the farmers return home from the festival they would take back seeds and propagate them by exchanging them with their friends. Efforts are on to popularise traditional rice crops among consumers.
“Many farmers had stopped cultivating traditional rice seeds after hybrid rice varieties became popular, under the misconception that the former has low productivity. But this is not true.
Five agricultural products of Kerala get GI tag, taking the total count to 17 (Page no. 5)
(GS Paper 3, Intellectual Property Rights)
Five agricultural products of Kerala have been granted Geographical Indication (GI) status.
AttappadyAttukombuAvara (beans), AttappadyThuvara (red gram), OnattukaraEllu (sesame), Kanthalloor-VattavadaVeluthulli (garlic), and KodungalloorPottuvellari (snap melon) are the latest Geographical Indications that have been registered.
This achievement is the result of the team work of Kerala Agricultural University, Department of Agriculture, and farmer groups of the respective areas.
The AttappadyAattukombuAvaraUthpathakaSangham, AttappadyThuvaraUthppadhakaSangham, OnattukaraVikasana Agency, AnchunadVattavada-KanthalloorVeluthulliUdpadhakaKarshaka Sangam, KodungallurPottuvellariKarshakaKshemaVikasana Samiti and PottuvellariUlppadakaSangham-Alangad are the respective registered owners of the Geographical Indications.
The unique features of the products, imparted by the agro-climatic conditions of the geographical area of their production, are the basis for getting geographical indication tag.
AttappadyAttukombuAvara, cultivated in the Attappady region of Palakkad, is curved like a goat’s horn as its name indicates. Its higher anthocyanin content compared to other dolichos beans imparts violet colour in the stem and fruits. Anthocyanin is helpful against cardiovascular diseases along with its antidiabetic properties.
Other than this, calcium, protein, and fibre content are also high. The higher phenolic content of AttappadyAttukombuAvara imparts resistance against pest and diseases, making the crop suitable for organic cultivation.
AttappadyThuvara is having seeds with white coat. Compared to other red grams, AttappadyThuvara seeds are bigger and have higher seed weight. This delicious red gram, which is used as vegetable and dal, is rich in protein, carbohydrate, fibre, calcium and magnesium.
Compared to the garlic produced in other areas, the garlic from the Kanthalloor-Vattavada area of Devikulam block panchayat in Idukki contains higher amount of sulphides, flavonoids, and proteins.
It is rich in allicin, which is effective against microbial infections, blood sugar, cancer, cholesterol, heart diseases, and damages to blood vessels. The garlic cultivated in this area is also rich in essential oil.
Editorial
Countering terror (Page no. 6)
(GS Paper 3, Internal Security)
External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar’s listing of four hurdles to better counterterrorism cooperation, i.e., state support for financing terror; multilateral mechanisms that are opaque and agenda driven; double standards and politicisation of countering terrorism according to where terror groups belong, and the “next frontier” (the use of emerging technologies such as drones and virtual currency by terrorists), needs attention.
The focus of the UNSC special briefing on Thursday, ‘Global Counterterrorism Approach’, that was convened by India, is well-timed given that the “Global War on Terrorism” and the sanctions regimes launched after 9/11 are in disarray.
In their haste to exit Afghanistan in 2021, for example, the UNSC’s permanent members, the U.S. and the U.K. struck the biggest blow to the sanctions regime by holding talks with the Taliban, easing their path to power in Kabul and letting their handlers in Pakistan off the hook.
Second, as Mr. Jaishankar has pointed out, a P-5 country (China) continues to block the designations of Pakistan-based terrorists, including five named this year, from the LeT and the JeM.
Finally, instead of uniting to accept India’s proposal, of 1996, of a Comprehensive Convention on International Terror to institute global practices on countering terror, the P-5 countries are hopelessly polarised, and irrevocably so, over Russia’s war in Ukraine. Given the scenario, New Delhi’s attempt at highlighting the issues during the last few weeks of its two-year UNSC tenure was apt, as it built up to the briefing with conferences in India including a UN Counter-Terrorism Committee meeting, the No Money For Terror conference, and an Interpol conference.
It is unfortunate, however, that the briefing appears to have been overshadowed by heated words outside the Council between Mr. Jaishankar and his Pakistani counterpart Bilawal Bhutto Zardari.
In response to Mr. Jaishankar’s comments on Pakistan being the “epicentre of terrorism”, Mr. Bhutto chose to launch a personal tirade against Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the 2002 Gujarat riots.
That Pakistan’s “dossier” on what it claims is an Indian hand behind a blast in Lahore essentially pertains to an attack on the 26/11 terrorist strikes mastermind and LeT chief Hafiz Saeed is equally telling about the Pakistan government’s regard for him, as well as its desire to muddy the global narrative on terrorism.
News
No Supreme Court Benches will be available during winter vacation, says CJI (Page no. 8)
(GS Paper 2, Polity and Governance)
Chief Justice of India D. Y. Chandrachud said no Vacation Benches will be available in the apex court during the winter break.
The oral announcement came a day after Law Minister Kiren Rijiju reportedly criticised the "long vacations" of the court and the inconvenience it caused to litigants.
However, according to a circular issued by the Supreme Court on September 29 this year, a senior Supreme Court Registry official is specially deputed as a ‘Vacation Officer’.
This officer could be approached by any advocate seeking urgent relief either on court holidays or during after-court hours. In such instances, a Bench would be constituted, if required.
Friday is the last working day before the court goes into winter recess. The apex court will re-open only next year, on January 2. The calendar for the year 2023 shows the court would not be fully functional for nearly 180 days, including weekends and holidays. The court's pendency as on December 1 is 69,598 cases. There are currently six judicial vacancies in the court.
Vacation is also a time for judges to work harder, writing judgments, travelling, administrative work and preparing cases for hearings. It is also a period of recuperation.
The past year had seen the court come out of hard days of the pandemic and take on the increased pendency. Judges have been hearing 80 cases, on some days, up to 100 cases a day. Many Constitution Benches have reserved their judgments and would use the winter holidays to author them.
Vacation Benches are Special Benches which can be designated by the Chief Justice of India during summer and winter holidays to hear ‘urgent matters’, which include pleas concerning bail, habeas corpus and other fundamental rights’ issues.
Rule 6 of Order II of The Supreme Court Rules, 2013, provide that the “Chief Justice may appoint one or more Judges to hear during summer vacation or winter holidays all matters of an urgent nature which under these rules may be heard by a Judge sitting singly, and, whenever necessary, he may likewise appoint a Division Court for the hearing of urgent cases during the vacation which require to be heard by a Bench of Judges”.
LS clears Bill to add Himachal’s Hattee community in ST list (Page no. 8)
(GS Paper 2, Polity and Governance)
Lok Sabha on Friday passed the Constitution (Scheduled Tribes) Order (Third Amendment) Bill, 2022 to include the Hattee community in the Trans-Giri region of Sirmaur district in Himachal Pradesh in the Scheduled Tribes list of the State after Tribal Affairs Minister Arjun Munda moved a motion to have the Bill passed.
The Minister moved the motion after his concluding remarks on the discussion on the Bill, which had gone on for two days. Mr. Munda said the Hattee people had been deprived of the ST status for decades, despite their family members living across the border in Uttarakhand being categorised as such.
He said the Central government under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been focussing on bringing justice to such communities which have been deprived of the status for decades, and cited the example of including Narikoravan and Kurivikkaran tribes in the ST list of Tamil Nadu.
He said the government’s intention was to bring development to those living in the remotest parts of the country and that it was not for “vote politics”.
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has consistently promised in election manifestos to include the Hattee community in the ST list, including in that of the recent Assembly election, where it lost the State to the Indian National Congress (INC).
The Union Cabinet had announced its approval for the addition just weeks before the Himachal Pradesh poll dates were announced. Interestingly, the BJP won three of the five Assembly seats in Sirmaur district this election.
The Bill received support from across party lines during the discussion and was passed in the Lower House through a voice vote.
During the discussion, several members spoke of the need to address similar demands from several other communities across the country to be included in the ST list.
Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) MP SupriyaSule insisted that the government should bring a comprehensive Bill to address the demands of all such communities. Others, including Saptagiri Sankar Ulaka (INC) and Navneet Ravi Rana (Ind), also spoke of the need to formulate policies that actually benefit tribal populations, the need to stop land alienation of tribals, and the need to address their health and educational needs.
India likely to post highest percentage rise in coal use (Page no. 10)
(GS Paper 3, Energy)
India is projected to add the largest percentage increase in coal use in the coming year globally ahead of China and the European Union, a report by the International Energy Agency (IEA).
India is expected to increase use by 7% over the previous year, or about 70 million tonnes (Mt), followed by the European Union (+6%/+29 Mt) and China (+0.4%/+18 Mt).
While coal-fired power generation in China and India is rising to keep pace with stronger demand, several European countries have been temporarily switching to coal due to record high prices for natural gas, low hydropower generation, and maintenance-related closures at nuclear plants, according to Coal 2022, the IEA’s annual report on coal trends.
India’s coal consumption has doubled since 2007 at an annual growth rate of 6% – and will be the “growth engine” of global coal demand.
China is by far the largest coal-consuming country, accounting for 53% of global demand. Overall, China’s coal consumption increased by 4.6% to 4,232 tonnes in 2021. Coal demand in India, the second-largest consumer, increased by 14%, or 128 Mt, in 2021.
Even though global coal demand is set to increase only marginally by 1.2% from the previous year in 2022, it would be enough to push it to an all-time high -- about 8 billion tonnes in a single year and a record since 2013 -- amid the energy crisis.
This doesn’t spell good news for the planet especially in the light of international climate change agreements and attempts to keep temperature rise below 1.5 degrees C.
India has, while committing to switch to renewable energy over time, strongly defended its intent to keep using coal given that it is the quickest and cheapest resource it has for powering economic growth.
Though the world’s three largest coal producers – China, India and Indonesia – are expected to hit production records translating into high prices and comfortable margins for coal producers, because of a surge in demand in Europe due the Russia-Ukraine war, there is no sign of surging investment in export-driven coal projects.
The world is close to a peak in fossil fuel use, with coal set to be the first to decline, but we are not there yet,” Keisuke Sadamori, the IEA’s Director of Energy Markets and Security said in a statement.
Business
Rupee settlement options draw interest from 4 more nations (Page no. 12)
(GS Paper 3, Economy)
India's rupee trade settlement mechanism, a means of using rupees instead of dollars and other big currencies for international transactions, is attracting interest from more countries.
Tajikistan, Cuba, Luxembourg and Sudan have begun talking to India about using the mechanism, according to two sources and an official document reviewed by Reuters.
It has already been used by Russia following the imposition of sanctions on Moscow over the Ukraine war.The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) set up the mechanism in July.
The government is looking to bring countries that are short of dollars into the mechanism, said a government official and an industry source aware of the development. The sources declined to be named, as the matter is confidential.
The four countries have shown interest in opening special rupee accounts, called vostro accounts, but partner banks in India have not yet provided those facilities, documents showed. Opening of these accounts needs approval from the Reserve Bank of India.
Mauritius and Sri Lanka have also shown interest, and have seen their special vostro accounts approved by the RBI, documents showed.
India's central bank has given approval to banks to open 12 vostro for trade in rupees with Russia, according to the document. Six other accounts, including five for trade with Sri Lanka and one for trade with Mauritius have been authorised, the same document showed.Queries sent to the Finance Ministry, Commerce Ministry and RBI remained unanswered.
India continues to discuss denomination of trade in rupees with larger trading partners, including key oil suppliers Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.
Details of a potential rupee-dirham trade mechanism are being firmed up by the central banks of India and UAE, a second government official said, requesting anonymity. Talks with Saudi Arabia on a rupee-riyal trade mechanism also continue, the government official added.
The UAE and Saudi Arabia are talking through ways to invest Indian rupees they earn as part of these transactions, as the gulf nation's exports to India exceed imports from it.