CONTENTS
- Revised Beti Bachao Beti Padhao Scheme
- Interpol
- Jayaprakash Narayan
- United Nations World Geospatial Information Congress
Revised Beti Bachao Beti Padhao Scheme
Context:
The Central Government, expanding the mandate of its flagship scheme – ‘Beti Bachao Beti Padhao’ (BBBP Scheme) announced the inclusion of skilling of girls in non-traditional livelihood (NTL) options.
Relevance:
GS II: Government schemes
Dimensions of the Article:
- What are the new Changes in the BBBP Scheme?
- What are Non-Traditional Livelihoods (NTL)?
- About Beti Bachao Beti Padhao Scheme
What are the new Changes in the BBBP Scheme?
- Ensuring 1% increment in enrolment at the secondary level particularly in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics) subjects.
- Skilling of girls and women every year (mainly in non-traditional livelihoods)
- Increasing knowledge of appropriate menstrual hygiene
- Promulgating elimination of child marriages
Other Changes to the Program:
- The MW&CD emphasized the coordination of efforts among several departments to empower females via quality education (including vocational education).
- To ensure that teenagers finish their education, develop their skills, and enter the workforce in a variety of vocations, a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed by the MW&CD, the Ministries of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship, and Minority Affairs.
- State and UT representatives will examine the BBBP scheme’s implementation with a national committee chaired by the Secretary of MW&CD that was established as part of the wider Mission Shakti initiative.
What are Non-Traditional Livelihoods (NTL)?
- “Non-Traditional Livelihoods” (NTLs) – sectors and jobs where participation of women is and has historically been conventionally low or absent. Like STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics) subjects due to gender-based categorization of the work, in the society.
About Beti Bachao Beti Padhao Scheme
- The Beti Bachao Beti Padhao (BBBP) Scheme, launched by the Hon’ble Prime Minister in 2015 in Haryana with the objective of bringing behavioral change in the society towards birth and rights of a girl child, has resulted in increased awareness and sensitization of the masses regarding prevalence of gender bias and role of community in eradicating it.
- Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao is a campaign of the Government of India that aims to generate awareness and improve the efficiency of welfare services intended for girls in India. The scheme was launched with an initial funding of ₹100 crore.
- A joint initiative of MoWCD, MoHFW and MoHRD (now Ministry of Education).
- According to census data in India, the child sex ratio (0–6 years) in India was 927 girls per 1,000 boys in 2001, which dropped to 918 girls for every 1,000 boys in 2011.
- In the Population Census of 2011 it was revealed that the population ratio of India 2011 is 919 females per 1000 of males.
- The Sex Ratio 2011 shows a downward trend from the census 2001 data.
- During the last 6 years the Sex Ratio at Birth (SRB) has improved by 16 points from 918 in 2014-15 to 934 in 2019-20.
- Gross Enrolment Ratio of girls in the schools at secondary level has improved from 77.45 to 81.32.
- During the last 6 years since its inception, the BBBP scheme has been aiming at changing the mindset of the public to acknowledge the rights of the girl child.
- The scheme has resulted in increased awareness and sensitization of the masses regarding prevalence of gender bias and role of community in eradicating it.
- It has raised concerns around the issue of declining CSR in India.
- As a result of collective consciousness of the people supporting the campaign, BBBP has found its place in public discourse.
Main Objectives:
- Prevention of gender-biased sex-selective elimination.
- Ensuring survival & protection of the girl child.
- Ensuring education and participation of the girl child.
- Protecting rights of Girl children.
Criticism of Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao
- Excessive expenditure on communication-related activities: The committee noted that the massive spending on advertisements was despite the clearly laid-down formula for utilization of funds.
- Inefficient allocation and release of funds: The C&AG issued a study criticizing the scheme’s execution, saying that fewer than 20% of the total funds provided by the Centre were actually spent at the state level in 2016-17.
- Implementation challenges: The scheme faces several challenges ranging from underutilisation of available funds, to lackadaisical implementation and failure of monitoring mechanisms, particularly at the state and district levels.
- Unbalanced expenditure patterns: The expenditure planned for the BBBP is highly skewed towards just one pillar of the BBBP scheme. This provides no provision for improving the scheme’s long-term, quantifiable effects on education and health.
-Source: The Hindu
Interpol
Context:
The Interpol has rejected a second request by India to issue a Red Corner Notice against Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, the Canada-based founder and legal advisor of the pro-Khalistan outfit Sikhs for Justice (SFJ), whom the Union Ministry of Home Affairs has listed as a “terrorist” under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA).
Relevance:
GS III: Security challenges
Dimensions of the Article:
- About Interpol
- What is a Red Notice?
- Is an RN a warrant of arrest?
About Interpol
- The International Criminal Police Organization (ICPO), commonly known as INTERPOL, is an international organization that facilitates worldwide police cooperation and crime control.
- Headquartered in Lyon, it has seven regional bureaus worldwide and a National Central Bureau in all 194 member states, making it the world’s largest police organization.
- INTERPOL provides investigative support, expertise, and training to law enforcement worldwide, focusing on three major areas of transnational crime: terrorism, cybercrime, and organized crime.
- Its broad mandate covers virtually every kind of crime, including crimes against humanity, child pornography, drug trafficking and production, political corruption, copyright infringement, and white-collar crime.
- The agency also facilitates co-operation among national law enforcement institutions through criminal databases and communications networks.
- Contrary to popular belief, INTERPOL is itself not a law enforcement agency.
- INTERPOL is mostly funded by annual contributions by member police forces in 181 countries.
- It is governed by a General Assembly, composed of all member countries, which elects the Executive Committee and the President.
- Pursuant to its charter, INTERPOL seeks to remain politically neutral in fulfilling its mandate, as it is barred from interventions or activities of a political, military, religious, or racial nature or involving itself in disputes over such matters.
- The agency operates in four languages: Arabic, English, French, and Spanish.
- The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) is the nodal agency in the INTERPOL for India.
What is a Red Notice?
- Criminals or suspects often flee to other countries to evade facing justice.
- A Red Corner Notice, or Red Notice (RN) alerts police forces across the world about fugitives who are wanted internationally.
- RNs contain information that helps identify wanted persons, such as their names, dates of birth, nationality, and physical attributes such as the colour of their hair and eyes, as well as pictures and biometric data such as fingerprints, if they are available. RNs also mention the crime(s) they are wanted for.
- An RN is published by Interpol at the request of a member country.
- The fugitives may be wanted for prosecution or to serve a sentence.
- The country issuing the request need not be the home country of the fugitive; Interpol acts on the request of a country where the alleged crime has been committed.
- These RNs are restricted for use by law enforcement authorities only.
- An RN is published on Interpol’s website only in cases where the help of the public is needed to locate an individual, or if those individuals pose a threat to public safety.
Is an RN a warrant of arrest?
- An RN is only an international wanted persons’ notice; it is not an international arrest warrant.
- Interpol itself does not want individuals; they are wanted by a country or an international tribunal.
- This means the Interpol cannot compel law enforcement authorities in any country to arrest the subject of an RN.
- It is up to individual member countries to decide what legal value to give to an RN, and the authority of their national law enforcement officers to make arrests.
- Every Red Notice request is checked by a specialised task force to ensure it is compliant with (Interpol) rules.
- The Interpol argues that an RN is issued only after a competent court has taken cognisance of a chargesheet against the fugitive.
-Source: Indian Express
Jayaprakash Narayan
Context:
Union Home Minister Amit Shah unveiled a 15-foot statue of Jayaprakash Narayan or JP on his 120th birth anniversary, at the socialist icon’s birthplace, Sitab Diara village in Bihar’s Saran district.
Relevance:
GS I: History
Dimensions of the Article:
- About Jayaprakash Narayan
- The JP movement
- Opposition to the Emergency
About Jayaprakash Narayan:
- JP was born in 1902 in Bihar’s Sitab Diara, a village prone to frequent-flooding, after which his family moved to a village in Uttar Pradesh’s Balia district.
- He quit college to join the non-cooperation movement, before going to study at the University of California, Berkeley, where he was influenced by the ideas of Karl Marx.
- He returned to India in 1929 and joined the freedom struggle and the Indian National Congress, upon the invitation of Jawaharlal Nehru and drawn by a speech by Maulana Abul Kalam Azad.
- JP would go onto become the founding members of the Congress Socialist Party (CSP), but after independence took it out of the Congress and formed the Socialist Party, which was merged with J B Kripalani’s Kisan Mazdoor Praja Party to form the Praja Socialist Party
- While Nehru was keen on JP joining the Union government, JP sought to distance himself from electoral politics, opting to focus on social causes instead.
- He was disillusioned with political parties and called for communitarian democracy. Parties, he believed, were centralised and susceptible to moral and financial corruption.
The JP movement
- Students in Gujarat began demonstrating in late 1973, in response to mounting mess bills.
- The protests became widespread in the state, with workers, teachers and several other groups joining in the movement, calling for a change in government.
- JP saw the youth of Gujarat that had been able to bring about political change as an alternative route from electoral politics, and recognised the power of students in helping him realise his ideas of a new politics, distinct from the one he had grown weary of.
- The protests against corruption grew widespread, and students of Bihar began their movement in March 1974.
- The students approached JP, who left his self-imposed political exile and led the movement.
- At a rally in Patna on June 5, he called for Sampoorna Kranti (Total Revolution).
Opposition to the Emergency
- When Indira Gandhi imposed Emergency on June 25, 1975, JP shifted his focus to opposing authoritarian rule and opposition parties looked to him for leadership.
- The Socialists were naturally drawn to him ideologically, while the RSS and its political front the Jana Sangh sought to return to the mainstream, and were happy to be dissolved into the Janata Party that JP had formed.
- JP is celebrated for launching a popular, mass movement against the Indira Gandhi government, which led to the formation of the Janata Party government in the 1977 general election, the first non-Congress government in the country.
- In order to rebuild politics and the state from the grassroots level, where real power would be with people’s movements, JP had to engage with the RSS and the Jana Sangh, despite disagreeing with them on many counts.
-Source: Indian Express
United Nations World Geospatial Information Congress
Context:
PM has inaugurated the second United Nations World Geospatial Information Congress (UNWGIC) in Hyderabad.
Relevance:
GS II: International Relations
Dimensions of the Article:
- What is UNWGIC?
- Objectives of UNWGIC
- Advantages of geospatial technology
What is UNWGIC?
- In 2018, Deqing, Zhejiang Province, China hosted the inaugural World Geospatial Information Congress of the United Nations.
- The UNWGIC is organised every four years by the United Nations Committee of Experts on Global Geospatial Information Management (UN-GGIM).
- It is hosted by the Ministry of Science and Technology of the Government of India.
- The goals are to improve global cooperation between Member States and pertinent stakeholders in the management and capabilities of geospatial information.
- The theme of UNWGIC 2022 is ‘Geo-Enabling the Global Village: No one should be left behind’.
Objectives of UNWGIC
- The initiative intends to offer reliable and high-quality geospatial data to serve national and international policy goals.
- Additionally, it emphasises global coordination and cooperation in the creation of geospatially connected human data.
- It supports social growth and wellbeing, tackles environmental and climate change issues, and embraces technological advances.
Advantages of geospatial technology:
- Geospatial technology can be used to create intelligent maps and models which help to collect geographically referenced data.
- Decisions based on the value and importance of resources, most of which are limited, can become easy through geospatial technology.
- Intelligent maps and models can be created using geospatial technology.
- It can be used to reveal spatial patterns hidden in large amounts of data that are complex to access collectively through mapping.
-Source: The Hindu
