Daily Current Affairs for 26th Dec 2023

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GS PAPER: II

Women participation in MGNREGS

Why in the news?

  • As per the Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS), published by the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation, the female Labour Force Participation Rate has increased in the country in recent years.

About the report

  • Women participation in the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) was the highest in 10 financial years, with the proportion of women person-days in the total touching 59.25% till December 24 during the current financial year 2023-24.
  • The rates of participation of women in the MGNREGS, defined as women person-days out of the total in percentage, stood at 57.47% in 2022-23 and 54.82% in 2021-22.
  • It was 53.19% during 2020-21 at the time of the Covid-19 outbreak and 54.78% in 2019-20 during the pre-Covid period.
  • Data on NREGS portal shows of the total 238.62 crore person-days under the NREGS during 2023-24 till December 24, the figure of women person-days was 141.37 crore or 59.25%.
  • The number of women person-days was 169.90 crore (57.47 %) of the total 295.66 crore in 2022-23. The lowest percentage of women participation in the NREGS over the last 10 financial years was recorded in 2020-21 at 53.19%. Women participation figures in NREGS for 2023-24 is based on data available up to December 24 and there might be a marginal change at the end of the financial year in March-end 2024. However, the broad trends indicate a steady rise in the women participation in the rural job guarantee scheme.
  • While the southern states like Kerala (89%), Tamil Nadu (86%), Puducherry (87.16%) and Goa (72%) have recorded women participation rate of over 70%, it has been hovering around 40% or below in northern states like Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh over the years.
  • In 2023-24, 5 states/UTs with the lowest women participation rate under NREGS are: UTs of Jammu and Kashmir (30.47%) and Lakshadweep (38.24%), Uttar Pradesh (42.39%), Madhya Pradesh (42.50%) and Maharashtra (43.76%). However, an uptick has been reported in 3 of them during the current financial year: Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Lakshadweep.
  • For instance, it was 37.87% in 2022-23 which increased to 42.39% in 2023-24. Similarly, Lakshadweep saw an increase to 38.24% from 26.67% and from 41.80% to 42.50% in Madhya Pradesh. In the financial year 2023-24, a total of 5.38 crore families availed NREGS till December 24, 2023 which was 6.18 crore in 2022-23 and 7.25 crore in 2021-22.
  • As per the Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS), published by the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation, the female Labour Force Participation Rate has increased in the country in recent years.
  • The rise was sharp in rural areas. In rural areas, the female Labour Force Participation Rate (LFPR), defined as the percentage of persons in the labour force among the persons in the population, increased to 30.5% in 2022-23 (July-June) from 18.2% in 2017-18. The female unemployment rate has declined to 1.8% in 2022-23 from 3.8% in 2017-18.

 

GS PAPER – I

Veer Baal Diwas

Why in the news?

  • Prime Minister Modi has participated in the program organized to pay tribute to the courage and martyrdom of the sons of Guru Gobind Singh.

Origins of ‘Veer Baal Diwas’

  • The origins of ‘Veer Baal Diwas’ trace back to January 9, 022, when PM Modi announced its observance on December 26 to honor the sacrifice of the Sahibzadas.
  • The government has undertaken a nationwide initiative to educate citizens, particularly young children, about the inspiring stories of courage and sacrifices of Sahibzadas.

Unparalleled courage

  • https://cdn.narendramodi.in/cmsuploads/0.07056900_1703504637_pm-to-visit.jpg Veer Baal Diwas — a tribute to the bravery of children — is dedicated to the Chhote Sahibzaade, Zorawar Singh and Fateh Singh, the two youngest sons of Guru Gobind Singh, who were bricked alive on the orders of Wazir Khan, the Mughal faujdar of Sirhind, for refusing to renounce their faith and become Muslim.
  • Zorawar Singh was 9 years old at the time, and Fateh Singh only 7. Soon after they were walled up alive, their grandmother Mata Gujri (Guru Gobind Singh’s mother) died of shock.
  • Today, Gurdwara Sri Fatehgarh Sahib stands on the site where the two Sahibzaadas were executed on December 12, 1705, which translates to December 26 as per the current calendar.
  • It is believed that after no one in Sirhind town agreed to spare land to cremate them, a rich Hindu trader named Diwan Todar Mal purchased a small piece of land by covering it with at least 7,800 gold coins, and performed the last rites after getting the Sahibzaadas’ bodies released from the Mughals. Later, Gurdwara Jyoti Sarup was built on this site in Fatehgarh Sahib.

Supreme sacrifice

  • Guru Gobind Singh had four sons, the Chaar Sahibzaade, all of whom four sacrificed their lives to uphold the identity and dignity of Khalsa Panth against the Mughals. The two elder ones, Ajit Singh and Jujhar Singh, died in the battle of Chamkaur Sahib. But the bravery and sacrifice of Zorawar Singh and Fateh Singh is considered unparalleled not just because of the tender age at which they chose death, but also for the cruel and barbaric conditions that the Mughals had created for the children and their grandmother before their execution.
  • Before the execution, the two children and their grandmother were held captive at the open-air Thanda Burj (Cold Tower) of the fort for days in the chilly weather, in which they shivered endlessly but refused to convert. For days, they were pressured and threatened with death if they did not accept Islam, but they did not fear the Mughals and refused to renounce their faith.
  • Jujhar, Zorawar, and Fateh were the sons of the Guru’s first wife Jito Ji, and were cared for by their grandmother after Jito Ji passed away.

Mughals and the Chhote Sahibzaade

  • Guru Gobind Singh evacuated Anandpur on the night of 5-6 December, 1705… In the front ran Sarsa stream swollen with rain water. Under cover of quick rearguard action fought on the banks of the stream, he succeeded in crossing it but the members of his family got scattered in the tumult… Mata Gujri, and her two grandsons, Zorawar Singh and Fateh Singh, aged 9 and 7 years respectively, had nowhere to go until their cook, named Gangu, offered to take them to his own village Kheri. They accompanied him to his house.
  • But he proved deceitful and betrayed them to Jani Khan and Mani Khan of Morinda. The latter despatched them to Sirhind where they were consigned to the Cold Tower (Thanda Burj) of the Fort. On December 9, 1705, Zorawar Singh and Fateh Singh were produced before Wazir Khan. He tried to lure them to embrace Islam with promises of riches and honours, but they spurned the offer. He threatened them with death as an alternative to Islam, but they remained firm. A death sentence was eventually awarded.
  • “Nawab Sher Muhammad Khan of Malerkotla protested that it would be improper to harm the innocent children and was against the teachings of Islam. Wazir Khan, however, ordered them to be bricked alive in a wall, if they still refused conversion. They were kept in the Cold Tower in that severe winter for another two days with their grandmother. On December 11, they began to be paved with bricks standing on the ground. However, as the mason reached above chest height, it crumbled. They were again sent to Cold Tower for the night.
  • The next day, December 12, 1705, the alternative of conversion being again turned down, Zorawar Singh and Fateh Singh were put to death by execution. The aged Mata Gujri, who had all along been kept in the Cold Tower, only a little distance away, breathed her last as the news reached her ears.

 

GS PAPER – II

India –ASEAN Trade Pact

Why in news?

  • India and the ten-member ASEAN will begin negotiations in February to “modernise” their decade-and-a-half-old free trade agreement (FTA) and bring in more balance in the pact currently weighed against New Delhi.
  • There will be a complete re-look at the entire FTA with the broad objective of bringing down the trade deficit for India.
  • New elements such as product specific rules and trade remedies will be brought in to make the FTA more efficient.

Trade deficit

  • India’s trade deficit with the region, which was $7.5 billion per annum when the pact was implemented, has since ballooned to $43.57 billion. In 2022-23, India’s exports to the region were valued at $44 billion, while its imports were at $ 87.57 billion.
  • Sectors that need propping up include chemicals and alloys, plastics and rubber, minerals, leather, textiles, gems and jewellery, per an industry analysis.
  • India will also need to make some concessions for the ASEAN as the review will have to benefit both but the objective of bringing balance has to be central an industry.

Revamping AITGA

  • Modernising the AITGA will include incorporating changes in the Rules of Origin (ROO), which can work in favour of India by increasing market access for some items as well as blocking possible re-routing of goods by China through the ASEAN countries.
  • ROO are the criteria to determine the origin of a product and establish if it qualifies for duty cuts under an FTA.
  • PSRs will be introduced in the ROO chapter which can help India have relaxed rules for certain items to increase exports. At the same time, loopholes could be blocked to check circumvention by China.
  • The modernised AITGA will also have a chapter on trade remedies, which will seek to provide a safety net for domestic industry against unfair trading practices or unforeseen surges in imports of goods.
  • But no new areas, such as environment, labour, MSMEs or gender, will be added to the AITGA. There is no intention to complicate the free trade pact by cluttering it with new issues. The focus will be on making the existing pact more efficient.
  • The ten-member ASEAN, which includes Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Brunei, Vietnam, Laos, Myanmar and Cambodia, accounted for 11.3 per cent of India’s global trade in 2022-23.

 

GS PAPER – II

External affair minister Russia visit

Why in news?

  • External affair minister S. Jaishankar began his five day visit from 25 to 29 December to Moscow and St Petersburg, during which he will hold talks with Russian foreign minister Denis Manturov.

What about meeting?

  • It will have discussion on number thorny bilateral issues, including continuing problems over the rupee rouble payment mechanism amid a surge in the imports of Russian oil and bilateral trade.
  • Discussion on delays in supplies of defence equipments.
  • It holds importance because it is happening in lieu of the annual summit due to be held between prime minister Narendra modi and Russian president Vladimir putin , an unbroken tradition from the year 2000 and 2021 , and which is dues from 2 years.

India Russia relation:

  • India and Russia signed a treaty of friendship and cooperation in January 1993 and a bilateral Military –Technical cooperation agreement in 1994.
  • After disintegration of the Soviet Union both countries formed a strategic partnership in 2000.
  • The strategic partnership was promoted to the status of “special and privileged strategic partnership “in 2010.
  • Presently it shares good relation in trade, energy, space relations, and culture.

 

GS PAPER – II

MV Chem Pluto reaches Mumbai: Probe points to drone attack

Why in news?

  • Chem Pluto a chemical /oil tanker with a crew of 21 Indians and Vietnamese, was on its way to new Mangalore from AI Jubali (Saudi Arabia).
  • A chemical tanker that was struck by a projectile causing an explosion and fire while deploying three of its front line warships in the Arabian Sea for deterrence.
  • It arrived at Mumbai outer anchorage on Monday afternoon.

What is MV chem Pluto?

  • MV chem Pluto is a Liberia-flagged, Japanese – owned and Netherlands – operated chemical tanker.
  • MV chem Pluto a merchant ship which came under a drone attack near India’s West coast ,arrived at the Mumbai port on Monday under the protection of Indian coast guard ship ICGS vikram.
  • It was struck in the Indian Ocean, 200 nautical miles from the coast of India on Saturday.

What about attack and probe?

  • MV chem Pluto strike was by a drone was confirmed by Navy.
  • 3 missile destroyers are on deployment in Arabian Sea.
  • The ship is scheduled to undergo mandatory checks by the inspecting authorities before undertaking ship to ship transfer of cargo.
  • This is likely to be followed by docking and repairs of the damaged portion of MV chem Pluto.

 

GS PAPER – II

Aircraft A-340 leaves for India

Why in news?

  • An aircraft with 303 passengers named A-340, mostly the Indian citizen that was detained by the French authorities on December 21.
  • It was over alleged concerns of undocumented immigration was allowed to return to India on Monday.

Why aircraft is detained?

  • The aircraft had landed for a technical halt at the vatry airport, located approximately 160km away from the French capital on Thursday.
  • It was when an anonymous tip off had prompted the French government to stop the aircraft from taking off.
  • The aircraft was stranded at the Vatry airport and passengers as well as crew were interrogated.
  • The flight operated by Romania based Legend airline, had been en route from the United Arab Emirates to Nicargua and detained on the fear of human trafficking.

Policy of the aircraft?

  • The aircraft followed a liberal policy that has started a major wave of possible illegal immigration to North America.

Why flight was delayed?

  • Some of the passengers initially did not want to return to their country of origin.
  • Nearly four dozens passengers had filed asylum applications.

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