CULTURE

10th edition of ‘Rashtriya Sanskriti Mahotsav’ under the Ministry of Culture to be inaugurated tomorrow in Jabalpur

The Governor of Madhya Pradesh Shri Lalji Tandon in the presence of Minister of State for Culture and Tourism, Shri Prahalad Singh Patel will inaugurate the 10th Rashtriya Sanskriti Mahotsav tomorrow at Mahakoshal Shaheed trust, Gol Bazaar in the city of Jabalpur in Madhya Pradesh at 6:00 pm.

Rastriya Sanskriti Mahotsav 2019:

-       The Rashtriya Sanskriti Mahotsav 2019 would display all the facets of Indian Culture in different areas and aspects including Artists and Artisans from States/UT's like Assam, Karnataka, Haryana, Gujarat, Rajasthan, Goa, Tamil Nadu, Manipur, Kerala, Jammu and Kashmir, Leh, Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Punjab and West Bengal.

-       It will display India’s cultural heritage through performances of Arts, Folk Music, Dance, Handicrafts and Cuisines.

-       The Seven Zonal Cultural centers under the Ministry of Culture have been enjoined upon with the task of organizing the RSM in Madhya Pradesh

About Rastriya Sanskriti Mahotsav:

-       Rashtriya Sanskriti Mahotsav was conceived in the year 2015.

-       It is organized by Ministry of Culture.

-       Rashtriya Sanskriti Mahotsav is organised under the Ek Bharat Shrestha Bharat initiative.

-       The RSM will reconnect the people-especially the youth- with their indigenous culture, its multi-faceted nature, magnificence, opulence and historical importance in the context of India as a Nation over the millennia.

-       The Ek Bharat Shreshtha, Bharat programme was launched by the Prime Minister on 31 October 2016 to promote engagement amongst the people of different States/UTs to enhance mutual understanding and bonding between people of diverse cultures.

Source: The Pib

SCIENCE/TECHNOLOGY

Shri Nitin Gadkari to Inaugurate Conference on One Nation One Fastag Tomorrow

Shri Nitin Gadkari, Union Minister of Road Transport & Highways and Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises will inaugurate a conference on One Nation One FASTag in New Delhi.

-       MoUs will be signed with different states paving way for a unified electronic tolling solution across the country.

-       This will help provide seamless services to consumers across the country.

-       FASTag will also to be integrated with E-Way Bill System.

-       The integration of EWB system with FASTag will help revenue authorities track the movement of vehicles and ensure that they are travelling to the same destination that the transporter or the trader had specified while generating the e-way bill.

How Fastag works:

 

Source: The PIB

SOCIETY

People link nationalism with Hitler… but India is different: Mohan Bhagwat

RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat on Saturday spoke about nationalism, foundational principles.

Key Points on Nationalism:

-       Nationalism scares people because they immediately link it with Hitler and Mussolini.

-       Nationalism in India is not the same because this nation built on its common civilization.

-       India is not just a nation-state, where if the state falls then the nation is in danger.

-       USA founded on “freedom” and “pursuit of happiness”, which, he explained, is “trade security”. Different nationalities settled in the country came together to dislodge a king (of England), who was an obstacle in their trade practices.

-       We have never worshipped richest men or most powerful people. This land has the highest respect for sacrifice.

-       He gave the example of the respect for Ramakrishna Paramahansa, who had no money, education degrees or elected power.

Definition of Nationalism:

-       In general, a sense of nationalism requires oneness, feeling the goodness of the nation and its people, unity in diversity and respect, love and pride towards the nation by its citizens.

Concept of Nation State:

-       A state of mind in which the supreme loyalty of the individual is due to the nation-state.

-       It implies the identification of the state or nation with the people.

-       Here, the characteristics of the people are a homogenous culture, living together in a close association or territory, sharing the belief of a common destiny etc.

Indian Nationalism:

-       Indian nationalism developed as a concept during India’s freedom struggle against the colonial role of the British.

-       Indian nationalism is an instance of territorial nationalism, inclusive of its entire people, despite their diverse ethnic and religious backgrounds.

-       Nationalism in India signifies a common political consciousness or patriotism with the purpose of attaining self-rule. 

-       Our identities are necessarily multi-layered but ethnic nationalists privilege one of these layers.

-       Indian nationalism is based on “constitutional patriotism”, as opposed to patriotism based on “blood and soil”.

-       Gandhiji believed in Pluralism. He said that Free India will not be a Hindu Raj; it will be an Indian Raj, based not on the majority of any religious sect or community”.

Recent Debate on Nationalism:

-       The term is being redefined for achieving political goals.

-       The concept of nationalism is being used for acquiring votes in the elections.

-       Generally, the idea of nationalism becomes negative with irrational blaming and the spread of hatred among the people.

-       Nationalism is not a particular idea or thought that can be identified in the name of religion, caste or community of the people.

-       One cannot be identified as an anti-nationalist just because they have different political views or an ideology that majority people do not follow in the nation at a particular point in time.

-       Today, Nationalism is narrowly taken as majoritarianism in the service of a jingoistic state and focused on hating a neighboring country.

-       Today, In the name of national integration and fighting enemies, both outside and within, secretarians undermine minority rights and procedures of democracy.

-       Civic nationalism, on the other hand, emphasizes the procedural aspects of democracy.

Reference: https://indianexpress.com/article/india/people-link-nationalism-with-hitler-but-india-is-different-mohan-bhagwat-6066420/

INTERNATIONAL

India, China set up trade dialogue; skirt Kashmir, plan next meeting

Signaling intent to address Delhi’s concerns over the massive trade deficit between the two countries, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and visiting Chinese President Xi Jinping announced a high-level economic and trade dialogue mechanism at the level of finance ministers to address the issue and encourage mutual investments.

Talks in Chennai:

-       Talks over Jammu& Kashmir did not come. Foreign Secretary Vijay Gokhale said the Kashmir issue was “not raised, and not discussed”.

-       Invitation was given to Modi to China for a third informal summit, and the PM accepted.

-       MEA called the Chennai connect is in spirit of Wuhan Connect.

-       Xi said China is “ready to take sincere action, and discuss in a very concrete way how to reduce the trade deficit”.

-       Xi brought up the issue of “engaging more on defence and security”, saying this would enhance “trust between the two militaries”.

-       Two sides agreed on the need to maintain closer contact on international and regional issues, with Afghanistan mentioned.

Comparison between Wuhan and Chennai Summit:

Topic	Wuhan	Chennai
Border	Made a call for the Special Representatives to “intensify” their efforts for a settlement.  Issued “strategic guidance” to respective militaries to strengthen communication in order to “build trust and mutual understanding” and enhance “predictability and effectiveness” in the management of border affairs. Welcomed the work of the Special Representatives on the boundary question. Agreed to arrive at a mutually acceptable settlement based on political parameters and guiding principles agreed upon in 2005.
Terrorism	Reiterated their resolute opposition to terrorism in all its forms, and committed them to cooperate against it. Terrorism continued to pose a common threat. Recognized the need to make “joint efforts” to ensure that the international community strengthens the framework against terror
Economy	Agreed to promote bilateral trade and investment in a balanced and sustainable manner through complementarities between their two economies Announcement of a high-level mechanism for trade headed by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and Chinese vice Premier Hu Chunhua, to better balance trade and encourage mutual investments.
Disputes	Leaders hoped that peaceful, stable and balanced relations between India and China would be a positive factor for stability amidst global uncertainties. Reiterated the Wuhan agreement that India and China are factors for stability in the current international landscape. They also decided to continue with the informal summits.
Strategic communication	Modi and Xi agreed on the need to strengthen strategic communication through greater consultation. Agreed to enhance communication on all matters of mutual interest, and continue the momentum of high-level exchanges. 2020 would be marked as Year of India-China Cultural and People-to-People Exchanges, involving respective legislatures, political parties, cultural and youth organizations and militaries.

 

Reference: https://indianexpress.com/article/india/summit-to-summit-wuhan-to-chennai-some-changes-some-similarities-6066441/

ECONOMY

Explained: Land acquisition case is back on SC table; here are the questions of law involved

Context of the Case:

The Bench headed by Justice Arun Mishra will specifically interpret a provision of the law, Section 24(2), which states that when a developer fails to take possession of the land acquired under the 1894 Act for five years, or if compensation is not paid to the owner, the land acquisition process would fail and will have to initiated afresh under the LAAR.

Two different Judgements:

2018 judgement:

-       If a landowner refuses the compensation offered by the developer, he cannot take advantage of his own wrongdoing, and have the acquisition proceedings lapse under the old law.

2014 Judgement:

-       Acquisition proceedings initiated under the 1894 Act would automatically lapse, and would have to be initiated again if the state has not taken control of the land for five years, or if compensation was not paid to displaced farmers.

While the 2014 ruling is considered to be in favor of the landowners, the 2018 ruling gave fresh hope for developers.

Importance of Large bench:

-       It has stayed all cases relating to this provision of the land acquisition Act in all High Courts until the question of law was settled.

-       The Bench also asked “other Benches of the Supreme Court” to not take up the issue until it was decided by a larger Bench.

Land Acquisition act:

 

 

Reference: https://indianexpress.com/article/explained/explained-land-acquisition-case-is-back-on-sc-table-here-are-the-questions-of-law-involved-6067498/

Explained: What is IIP and why does it matter?

According to the data for the “Quick Estimates of Index of Industrial Production” released by the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI) on Friday, India’s industrial sector production contracted by 1.1 per cent in August when compared to the production in the same month in 2018.

About IIP:

-       The Index of Industrial Production (IIP) maps the change in the volume of production in Indian industries.

-       It chooses a basket of industrial products — ranging from the manufacturing sector to mining to energy, creates an index by giving different weight to each sector and then tracks the production every month. 

-       Finally, the index value is compared to the value it had in the same month last year to figure out the economy’s industrial health.

 

Which sectors are lagging?

-       The whole industrial economy is divided into three sectors:

-       Manufacturing with a weight of 77.6 per cent in the index.

-       Mining with a weight of 14.4 per cent.

-       Electricity with a weight of 8 per cent.

-       IIP value:

-       Manufacturing shrank by 1.2 per cent.

-       15 out of the 23 sub-groups in the manufacturing sector showed negative growth in August 2019.

-       Electricity production, too, shrank while mining production barely managed to be what it was in August 2018.

Relation of IIP with Growth:

-       It is true that one should not take just one month’s IIP data and project it for the whole year or indeed use it to conclude that the full year’s economic growth will be low.

-       Some key sectors are showing sustained weakness within IIP. 

-       A dip in IIP, especially the sustained weakness in manufacturing industries, does not bode well for India’s economic growth in the near term.

Reference: https://indianexpress.com/article/explained/explained-what-is-iip-and-why-does-it-matter-6065913/