National Unity Day 2022
GS Paper: 1- Modern Indian History
Important for
Prelims exam: National Unity Day
Mains exam: Contribution of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel
Why in News
The Union Home Minister of India paid tribute to Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel on National Unity Day 2022, the 147th anniversary of his birth, noting that with his foresight, the latter was able to realise the ideal of a powerful and united India.
About
- Every year on 31 October, National Unity Day is observed to honour Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel’s birthday. Rashtriya Ekta Diwas is an alternative name for it.
- The motive behind the celebration of this day is to make people aware of the ideas of staying together and uplifting society.
- National Unity Day was celebrated for the first time in 2014.
- On this day, a number of activities are planned, including the nationwide marathon “Run for Unity,” which raises awareness of Sardar Patel’s contribution to national integrity and the National Unity Pledge, among other things.
- In 2018, to commemorate Sardar Patel’s 143rd birthday, the Indian government inaugurated the “Statue of Unity” in Gujarat.
SARDAR VALLABBHAI PATEL 1875-1950
Place of Birth
- 31st October 1875, Nadiad, Gujarat.
- In order to recognise his effort to integrating and unifying India, the government decided to celebrate his birthday as National Unity Day in 2014.
Titles
- Iron Man of India
- Patron saint of India’s civil servants for establishing all-India services system.
Pre Independence Contributions
- He was a politician, a lawyer, and a prominent member of the Congress party during the Indian freedom movement.
- He along with other leaders including Rajendra Prasad, C. Rajagopalachari, and M.A. Ansari, came to be known as the ‘No-changers’, who opposed entry into legislative councils.
- The Swarajists were defeated at the Gaya session in December 1922. (Pro-changers or who favoured the council-entry move).
- He led the landowners of Bardoli landowners in their successful battle against increased taxes in 1928.
- He was given the title “Sardar,” which means “a Chief or a Leader,” by the women of Bardoli.
- He presided over the Indian National Congress session at Karachi in March 1931.
- Additionally, he took part in the 1930 Quit India Movement, Civil Disobedience, and Salt Satyagraha (1942).
- He also played a significant role in the Mutiny of the Royal Indian Navy (RIN) of February 1946 by counselling the participants.
Post Independence Contributions
- He held the positions of Deputy Prime Minister, Home Minister, Minister of Information, and Minister of State for the first three years following India’s declaration of independence in 1947.
- He served as the chief architect of India’s civil services. The National Police Academy is named after him.
- He played a big part in India’s political unification and integration.
- He was responsible for uniting all the 562 princely states of the nation to become the Republic of India.
- He led Operation Polo, the police operation used to annex the former state of Hyderabad into the Indian state, in September 1948.
Idea of Ek Bharat, Shresth Bharat:
- Ek Bharat: For his enormous contribution to integrating and creating India as a unified and independent nation, he is acknowledged as the true unifier of India.
- Shresth Bharat: He urged the Indian people to live in harmony by uniting in order to build the most eminent and great India.
Statue of Unity
- The Statue of Unity was constructed as a tribute to Sardar Patel and is the highest statue in the world (182 m).
- It is situated in Gujarat’s Narmada district at Kevadiya.
- It has a view of the Sardar Sarovar dam and the Narmada River basin. A 300-meter bridge connects it to the Sadhu Bet hilltop, providing access to the statue from the mainland.
Sardar Patel National Unity Award
- It is the highest civilian honour given for support of India’s integrity and unity.
- In order to further the cause of national unity and integrity and to emphasise the importance of a powerful and united India, it seeks to recognize notable and inspiring contributions.
- These are announced on October 31, National Unity Day, which commemorates Sardar Patel’s birth.
- There is no financial grant or cash prize associated with it; it only consists of a medal and a citation.
- A maximum of three Awards may be granted each year.
- The nominations are submitted online to the Ministry of Home Affairs.
Eligibility
- Any Indian individual, regardless of their profession, caste, age, place of birth, or race, as well as any institution or organisation.
- An individual, institution, or organisation may be nominated by an Indian national, an organisation with a base in India, or both.
- Self-nominations are permitted from institutions, businesses, and other entities.
- Any Indian institution or organization may nominate an individual or institution or organization for consideration for the award.
- Individuals, institutions and organizations can also nominate themselves.
Death:
- On December 15th, 1950, in Bombay.
- The highest civilian honour in India, the Bharat Ratna, was given to him posthumously in 1991.
IT Rules 2021
GS PAPER 2: Polity & Governance
Important for
Prelims: Provisions of IT Rules
Mains: Up to what extent will these rules resolve the issues of Social Media?
Context
The Ministry of Electronics and IT (MeitY) has notified amendments to the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021 (IT Rules, 2021).
Key Highlights
Proposed amendments can be broadly classified into two categories.
- The first category involved placing additional obligations on the SMIs to ensure better protection of user interests.
- While the second category involved the institution of an appellate mechanism for grievance redressal. Both have been notified to the Rules.
- The amendments call for the institution of Grievance Appellate Committees (GAC).
Need to amend the IT Rules, 2021
- First, there was a need to ensure that the interests and constitutional rights of netizens are not being contravened by big tech platforms,
- Second, to strengthen the grievance redressal framework in the Rules, and
- Third, that compliance with these should not impact early stage Indian start-ups.
New Guidelines for Social Media Intermediaries:
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- Currently, intermediaries are only required to inform users about not uploading certain categories of harmful/unlawful content.
- These amendments impose a legal obligation on intermediaries to take reasonable efforts to prevent users from uploading such content.
- The new provision will ensure that the intermediary’s obligation is not a mere formality.
- The amendment requires intermediaries to respect the rights guaranteed to users under the Articles 14, 19 and 21 of the Indian Constitution, therefore, including a reasonable expectation of due diligence, privacy and transparency.
- For effective communication of the rules and regulations of the intermediary, it is important that the communication is done in regional Indian languages as well.
Amendments to the Rule 3:
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- The grounds in subclause 1 of rule 3 (rule 3(1)(b)(ii)) have been rationalized by removing the words ‘defamatory’ and ‘libelous’.
- Whether any content is defamatory or libelous will be determined through judicial review.
- Some of the content categories in subclause 1 of rule 3 (rule 3(1)(b)) have been rephrased to deal particularly with misinformation, and content that could incite violence between different religious/caste groups.
Grievance Appellate Committees (GAC)
The Central Government shall establish one or more Grievance Appellate Committees (GAC) within three months.
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- Each GAC will consist of a chairperson and two whole-time members appointed by the Central government.
- Of these, one member shall be ex-officio, while the other two shall be independent members
- The GAC will hear appeals by social media users against the decisions of grievance officers appointed by the intermediary.
- The idea behind setting up the committees is to give users of social media platforms, including Facebook and Twitter, recourse other than approaching the courts to settle complaints.
- However, users will always have the right to approach courts for any remedy.
Time-bound
The companies will be required to acknowledge complaints from users within 24 hours and resolve them within 15 days or 72 hours in case of an information takedown request.
Employees’ Pension Scheme 1995 (EPS-95)
GS Paper: 3 – Employement, Government policies and interventions
Important for
Prelims exam: Employees’ Pension Scheme 1995 (EPS-95)
Mains exam:
Why in News
Retirement fund body EPFO decided to allow withdrawal of accumulations in Employees’ Pension Scheme 1995 (EPS-95) for those subscribers who have only less than six months of service left.
About
- The Employee’s Pension Scheme (EPS) was introduced in the year 1995 with the main aim of helping employees in the organised sector. All employees who are eligible for the Employees Provident Fund (EPF) scheme will also be eligible for EPS.
- The Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) administers the system, which assures that employees receive a pension after they reach the age of 58.
- The scheme’s benefits are available to both existing and new EPF members.
- Both the employee and the employer contribute 12% of the employee’s basic salary and Dearness Allowance (DA) to the EPF.
- While the employee’s entire part goes to EPF, the employer’s contribution goes to EPS at a rate of 8.33 percent.
- The plan provides a steady stream of income after the retirement of an employee.
About EPFO
- EPFO is a statutory body formed under the Employees’ Provident Fund and Miscellaneous Provisions Act, 1952.
- The Schemes framed there under the act are administered by a Board known as the Central Board of Trustees and the board is assisted by the EPFO.
- EPFO is administered by the Ministry of Labour & Employment, Government of India.
- In terms of clientele and the volume of financial transactions, it is one of the world’s largest organizations.
Features of the Scheme
- The returns on EPS are assured, and there are no risks associated with investing in the scheme because it is sponsored by the Indian government. The amount that will be returned will be fixed and no changes will be made.
- Employees must sign up for the scheme if their base salary plus DA is Rs. 15,000 or less.
- Once you reach the age of 50, you will be entitled to withdraw your EPS.
- The children would be considered orphans and would receive the additional pension amount, if the widower/widow marries again.
- Those employees who are enrolled in the EPF scheme will automatically be enrolled in the EPS scheme.
- The minimum monthly pension amount is Rs.1, 000 that will be received by the individual.
- In case the widow/widower is receiving the EPS amount, they will continue to receive the amount until his/her death. After that, the children will receive the pension amount until they attain the age of 25 years.
- If a child is physically challenged, they will receive the pension amount until his/her death.
Recommendation of Central Board of Trustees (CBT)
- Currently, the Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) subscribers who have less than six months of service left are allowed to withdraw the accumulations in their employees’ provident fund account only.
- The EPFO’s apex decision making body Central Board of Trustees (CBT) recommended to the government to extend withdrawal benefits from EPS account to members who have less than six months of service.
- The board has also recommended to extending proportionate pensionary benefits for members who have been in the scheme for more than 34 years. This will help the pensioners in getting higher pension at the time of fixation of retirement benefit
- It has suggested enabling equitable transfer value calculation in cases of grant of exemption or on cancellation of exemption from EPS-95.
About Employees’ Provident Funds (EPF) scheme
- EPF is a savings scheme under the Employees’ Provident Funds and Miscellaneous Provisions Act, 1952.
- It is managed under the supervision of Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO).
- Every establishment with 20 or more employees is covered by it (and certain other establishments which may be notified by the Central Government even if they employ less than 20 persons each).
- The employee is required to contribute a specified amount to the provident fund and the same amount is paid by the employer on a monthly basis.
- At the end of retirement or during the service, the employee gets the lump sum amount including the interest on PF contributed which gets accrued.
- The Central Board of Trustee (CBT), which is an apex decision making body for EPFO, takes a call on the interest rates that have to be provided on the provident fund deposits, every year.
- Once the board (CBT) decides an interest rate on EPF deposits for a fiscal year, it is sent to the Ministry of Finance for concurrence.
- EPFO provides a rate of interest only after it is ratified by the finance ministry.
- The interest on EPF is reviewed on a yearly basis. The EPF interest rate for the fiscal year 2022 is 8.10%.
Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS)
GS Paper: 3- Economy
Important for
Prelims exam: Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS)
Mains exam: How MGNREGA helps in escaping the poverty?
Why in News
An internal study commissioned by the Ministry of Rural Development has argued for decentralisation of the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS), allowing for more “flexibility” at the ground level.
About MGNREGA
- MGNREGA is one of the largest work guarantee programmes in the world which was launched in 2005 by the Ministry of Rural development.
- The main objective of the scheme is to guarantee 100 days of employment in every financial year to adult members of any rural household willing to do public work-related unskilled manual work.
- As of 2022-23, there are 15.4 crore active workers under the MGNREGA.
- Legal Right to Work: Unlike earlier employment guarantee schemes, the scheme aims at addressing the causes of chronic poverty through a rights-based framework.
- A minimum of one-third of beneficiaries must be women.
- Wages must be paid in accordance with the statutory minimum wages established by the Minimum Wages Act of 1948 for agricultural labourers in the state.
- Demand-Driven Scheme: The most significant part of MGNREGA’s design is its legally-backed assurance for any rural adult to get work within 15 days of demanding it, failing which an ‘unemployment allowance’ must be given.
- This demand-driven approach enables the self-selection of workers.
- Decentralised planning: There is a focus on strengthening the process of decentralisation by giving a significant role in Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRIs) in planning and implementing these works.
- The act mandates Gram sabhas to recommend the work that is to be undertaken and at least 50% of the work must be executed by them.
Importance of MGNREGA
- MGNREGA establishes a minimum wage criterion for low income workers and promotes livelihood opportunities for our fellow citizens.
- Additionally, it has changed the nature of the rural labour market. It gave opportunity to rural households to earn minimum income.
- While the poor have used it as a means of escaping poverty, the not-so-poor used it as a measure to supplement their income by working during lean agriculture periods.
- The programme is inclusive since it has a higher percentage of women and people from SC and ST. Approximately 40% of SC/ST and nearly one-half of all employment created under the scheme are for women.
- Nowadays, Under the Scheme, the majority of payments are made directly into beneficiary accounts, which in turn forced people to create new bank or post office accounts.
Issues with the Scheme
- The programme compels the government to provide employment, but it hasn’t yet assessed the effectiveness or longevity of the work done. The slow speed of work is one of the criticisms.
- Because of the delay in the material component, the beneficiaries ended up buying the construction material themselves to complete the projects.
- There is an incentive for employees to work as many hours as necessary to earn the wage rate, but there is no incentive for them to expidite the process.
- There are also some administrative errors. For months, Panchayat Samitis are not in session. As a result, work sanctioning is getting delayed.
- In 2015–16, only 10% of the 4.8 crore households were able to fully benefit from 100 days of labour.
North India’s first data centre
GS PAPER 3: Science & Tech
Important for
Prelims: State coming with data centre
Mains: How will data centers play an important role in people’s life ?
Why in News?
NORTH India’s first hyperscale data centre, ‘Yotta D1’, inaugurated in Greater Noida and it will be the first pillar of North India’s 5G revolution.
What is Data centre?
- It is a specialized physical facility of networked computers, storages and other information technology equipment
- Entities in online space use these to organize, process, store and disseminate large amounts of data.
- Such physical facilities are available all across the world and are not restricted by geographical borders.
What are Data Centre Parks?
These are specialized secure Data Zones located with the most conducive non-IT and IT infrastructure and regulatory environment for housing mix of small scale / large scale / clusters of Data Centres to serve the high needs of compute, storage, networking and provision of a wide range of data-related services.
Data Center Industry
- India, with over 750 million internet users, is well on track to becoming a full-fledged digital economy.
- The National Optical Fiber Network plans to connect 250,000 Gram Panchayats in the country with high-speed broadband.
- With increasing internet penetration in the country and more users going online, the data center market is primed for growth.
- Indian data center industry capacity is expected to double from 499 MW IT load to 1007 MW IT load by 2023.
- The size of the digital economy in India is estimated to grow from USD 200 billion in 2017-18 to USD 1 trillion by 2025.
- India has witnessed an exponential growth in digital-commerce, digital entertainment and use of social media.
- India’s mobile data consumption is already the highest in the world and is constantly increasing.
- The demand for digital infrastructure in India is expected to rise rapidly in the coming years.
- India’s geographic location and favorable policies are expected to make the country a hub for data centers catering to the Southeast Asian region in the next five years.
UP Government Policy on Data Centre
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