Current Affairs 1 September 2020 – IAS Current Affairs

Current Affairs 1 September 2020 focuses on Prelims-Mains perspective. Major events are :

1. National Register of Citizen Excluded
2. Eight core industries contracts Implication
3. GDP Shrinks by 23.9
4. Onam Festival
5. Pangong Tso Agression and Importance
6. Renati Chola era inscription unearthed

National Register of Citizen Excluded

Why in News ?

After the publication of the complete National Register of Citizens (NRC), the fate of 19,06,657 people excluded from the updated list in Assam continues to hang in the balance. National Register of Citizen Excluded people still struggling to get the slip of reason exclusion. 

What is NRC ?

It is the official record of those who are legal Indian citizens. It was applicable only to Assam to keep its ethnic uniqueness unaltered. But in November 2020 Government extended to the entire country.

The aim of the register is to bring a legislation that will enable the government to identify illegal immigrants and infiltrates for detaining them to where they came from. 

The register was first prepared after the 1951 Census of India and since then it has not been updated until recently.

Brief History of Assam NRC

• Period from 1947-1971
  • After the partition in 1947 there was no restriction in the movement of People from Pakistan to India and vice versa. 
  • On March 1951 Immigrants (Expulsion from Assam) Act came into force to curb the inflow from East Pakistan to Assam and first ever NRC was published in Assam based on Census Report of 1951
  • Later on 1955 Citizen act came into force for citizenship based on Birth, decent and registration. Thus the Immigrant repealed.
  • By 1971 fresh immigrants from East Pakistan came to India for during 1971 war.
• Period from 1971 to recent
  • Anti foreign movement started in Assam leads to violence. 
  • All Assam Students’ Union (AASU) submitted the first memorandum demanding updating of NRC to Centre on January 18, 1980.
  • In 1985 Assam Accord signed 
    • The act ensures that among other clauses foreigners who came to Assam on or after March 25, 1971 shall be expelled.
  • In 1999 first formal decision to update the NRC as per the Assam Accord’s cut-off date to detect illegal foreigners agreed by the Centre. 
  • Citizenship (Amendment) Act 2003
    • Anyone born in India between 1950-1987 is an Indian citizen.
    • Anyone born between 1987-2003 is a citizen provided one of the parents is Indian.
    • Anyone born in India since 2004 is a citizen provided one of the parents is Indian and other is not an illegal immigrant at the time.
  • NGO Assam Public Works (APW) files case in Supreme Court praying for deletion of foreigners’s name in electoral rolls and updation of NRC in 2009 AND IN 2013 SC directed Centre and states to update the NRC.
  • Exclusion Draft introduction
    • 2017 Draft NRC published with names of 1.9 crore of total 3.29 crore applicants.
    • 2018 in another draft NRC nearly 40 lakh excluded 
    • In 2019 a 19,06,657 people excluded from the updated list in Assam still struggling to get the slip of reason exclusion which is mentioned in news

Who are excluded?

The NRC will target illegal immigrants in Assam. As of now, the government has vehemently denied the use of the CAA for the updation of the NRC. 

The current law do not allow an illegal immigrant for citizenship card.

What to do if rejected ?

According to the Centre’s standard operating procedures,

• A rejected person would have 120 days from the date of receiving the rejection slip to approach a Foreigners’ Tribunal (FT) for  judging their citizenship status.
• But till date they do not received no rejection slip. 

NRC in the rest of India

• Centre is pushing the states to implement NRC. The government has not officially called for the updation of the NRC for all of India. So the procedure and impact statistics is not clear.
• Many states started its similar procedure for implementing like Register of Indigenous Inhabitants in Nagaland.

Source : The Hindu

Topic

GS II : Government policies and interventions for development in various sectors and issues arising out of their design and implementation

Eight core industries contracts Implication

Why in News ?

Eight core infrastructure sectors dropped by 9.6 per cent in July due to decline mostly in production of steel, refinery products and cement.

What are the core Industries ?

• Core industries are the main or the key industries of any country and acts as a backbone for all other industries.
• The eight core industries : Coal, Crude oil, Natural gas, Refinery products, Fertilisers, Steel, Cement and Electricity.
• Weight of Core Industries in IIP

• Index of Industrial Production (IIP)
  • Growth rates in different industry groups of the economy in a particular period of time.
  • The IIP index published Central Statistical Organisation (CSO) on a monthly basis.
  • IIP is a composite indicator that measures the short-term changes in the volume of production of a basket of industrial products during a given period.
  • Index of eight core sector industries, which form 40% of the weight of items included in the broader Index of Industrial Production (IIP).
• Index of Eight Core Industries (ICI)
  • The ICI is a production volume index prepared and released
    • Office of the Economic Adviser (OEA)
    • Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT)
    • Ministry of Commerce & Industry, GOI\
  • To provide an advance indication on the production performance of the industries which are of core nature before the release of the IIP and released 12 days before the IIP.

About News

• Fertiliser output grew by 6.9 per cent.
• All seven sectors coal, crude oil, natural gas, refinery products, steel, cement and electricity recorded negative growth in July.

Source : Indian Express

Topic 

Prelims : IIP. ICI, Core Industry

GS III : Indian Economy

GDP Shrinks by 23.9

Why in News?

Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth contracted 23.9 percent in the April-June quarter. This also marked its entry into a recessionary phase as GDP Shrinks by 23.9 this year based on the data released by the National Statistical Office.

Details of the fall

• Construction, manufacturing and trade, hotels and transport were the worst-hit sectors. Contractions of 50.3 per cent, 39.3 per cent and 47.0 per cent, respectively from each sector.
• This is the lowest growth rate since India started reporting quarterly data in 1996.
• Agriculture is the only sector having a positive growth at 3.4 per cent.
• Besides this is the sharpest GDP contraction among the top 20 global economies.

Reason GDP Shrinks by 23.9

• Suspension of economic activity in the first quarter of this fiscal due to the pandemic
• Series of lockdown in the national and global level.
• Industrial output was in small phase before the lockdown was implemented.
• Private consumption is the biggest engine driving the Indian economy has fallen by 27%.
• Investments by businesses has fallen even harder it is half of what it was last year same quarter.
• Since the income of private individual  falls they cut down their consumption.

Impact of the GDP Shrinks by 23.9

• The worst affected areas create maximum job and loss of job increases leads to unemployment. 
• The full year GDP will be contract due tot his impact. 
• The steep decline in consumption is an issue, as consumption has accounted for 55-58 per cent of GDP leads to businesses stop investing. 

Way Forwards

• Government spend more
  • Either by building roads and bridges and paying salaries or by directly handing out money.
  • Economy revive in the short to medium term.
  • If government is not spending adequately then economy will take more time to recover.

Source : Indian Express

Topic

GS III : Indian Economy and issues relating to planning, mobilization of resources, growth, development and employment

Onam Festival

Onam Festival commemorates the annual visit of mythical king Mahabali. Keralites consider their state to have experienced its golden age during his rule.

It is also considered as a harvest festival. It is celebrated by all Keralites irrespective of caste and religion. 

Celebration Related to Onam

It is a ten day celebration that start with the star Atham and ends Thiruvonam. Thiruvonam is the most important day. 

Pookkalam : It is a part of celebration where flowers where decorated and arranged in certain shapes on the floor. Competitions for making pookkalam is also conducted. 

Onam Lunch (Called as OnaSadhya) : It is a feast mostly using vegetables including 21 different dishes. Rice is served with 21 dishes. Instead of sing plates it uses banana lef for serving the food. 

Boat Race (Called as Vallam Kali) : Various boat races were conducted in revers like Pamba. Snake boat is one of the major boat race during the period. Nehru Trophy Snake boat race and Aranmula snake boat race are the major boat race. 

Traditional Dance : Thiruvathira is the one of the most prominent dance during Onam celebration. It was mainly played by women with traditional dresses. It is performed in circular motions with some around a lamp called ‘Nilavilakku’. Also puli kali those who dressed as tiger and dances in the street.

Source : General Topic

Topic 

GS I : Indian culture will cover the salient aspects of Art Forms, Literature and Architecture from ancient to modern times.

Pangong Tso Agression and Importance

Why in News?

In an escalation of the ongoing standoff on the disputed boundary in Ladakh Chinese troops carried out aggressive
moves to change the status quo on the south bank of Pangong Tso and those attempts were thwarted. 

What is the issue ?

• Chinese Version
  • Indian Army illegally crossing the line on August 31 at two points at the south bank of Pangong lake and near the Reqin mountain pass (near Rezang La) and blatantly provoked and caused tension on the border.
• Indian Claim
  • On the night of August 29/30, PLA troops violated the previous consensus arrived at during military and
    diplomatic engagements during the ongoing standoff.

Where is the Pangong Tso Lake?

• Lake that is partly in India’s Ladakh region and partly in Tibet is an endorheic lake in the Himalayas.
• An Inner Line Permit is required to visit the lake as it lies on the Sino-Indian Line of Actual Control. For security reasons, India does not permit boating.
• China National Highway 219 passes by the eastern end of Pangong Tso.
• Nearly 20 km east from the Line of Actual Control is controlled by China but claimed by India.
• K2, the world’s second highest peak, ends at the north bank of Pangong Tso.
• The lake freezes during the winter even though its salinity which allowing some vehicular movement on it as well.

Background of the dispute

• Nearly two-thirds of the lake is controlled by China, with just about 45 km under Indian control.
• The lake is divided into sections called fingers and Indian forces do not had active control beyond Finger 4.
• The Chinese has controlled the Khurnak Fort area since 1952
• 1962, Pangong Tso saw military action during the Indo-China War and chinese were successful in establishing their upper hand in the region. 
• Since then China changed the status quo and its troops had occupied the region between Finger 8 and Finger 4, which was patrolled by both but occupied by neither side earlier.

Why China tries to occupy the region ?

• Chinese troops continue to occupy the Finger 4 ridgeline, though they have stepped back from the base of Finger 4 to the base of Finger 5.
• Pangong Tso is strategically crucial as it is very close to Chusul Valley and they wants to keep the region of strategical importance. 
• Any kind of construction in the region may thwart Chinese importance in the strategic location and occupation in Aksaichin region. 
• Besides the major involvement of India in the region may hit China-Pak corridor, so China wants to keep the region tension high. 

Source : The Hindu

Topic 

Prelims : Pangong Tso

GS II : India and its neighbourhood- relations

Renati Chola era inscription unearthed

Why in News ?

A rare Renati Chola era inscription unearthed in a remote village of Kadapa district of Andra Pradesh. 

About the News Renati Chola era inscription unearthed ?

• Found engraved on a dolomite slab and shale, which are part of a fragmentary pillar.
• written in archaic Telugu which was readable in 25 lines the first line with 11 lines and the remaining on the other side.
• It was assigned to the 8th Century A.D., when the region was under the rule of the Chola Maharaja of Renadu.
• The last lines are indicative of the priority given to morality in those days.
  • It says the people who safeguard this inscription for future generations will acquire the status of conducting Aswamedha Yaga, and those destroying it will incur sin equivalent to causing a death in Varanasi.

Chola Dynasty

After the decline of the Sangam period, the Cholas became prominent in the ninth century and established an empire comprising the major portion of South India.

• Their capital was Tanjore. They also extended their sway in Sri Lanka and the Malay Peninsula.
• The founder of the Imperial Chola line was Vijayalaya.
• Renati Chola
  • Telugu Cholas of Renadu ruled over Renadu region present day Cuddapah district. 
  • The Telugu Chodas or Telugu Cholas ruled parts of present-day Andhra Pradesh between the sixth and the thirteenth century
  • The earliest of this family was Nandivarman (500 AD) who claimed descent from the family of Karikala
  • The inscriptions at Gandikota at Jammulamadugu and Proddatur are proof of using the Telugu language in their inscriptions.
• Art and Architecture
  • Architecture is the Siva temple at Gangaikondacholapuram built by Rajendra I.
  • The Airavathesvara temple at Darasuram in Tanjore District and the Kampaharesvara temple at Tribhuvanam are other notable temples.
  • Kumbhabhishekam ceremony was held at the Brihadisvara Temple was built by Chola emperor Raja Raja Chola I (985-1014 AD). 
  • The bronze statues of Nataraja or dancing Siva are major attraction of Chola. 

Source : The Hindu

Topic 

Prelims : Inscriptions, Chola Dynasty, Telugu Cholas, Renati Chola

GS I : Indian culture will cover the salient aspects of Art Forms, Literature and Architecture from ancient to modern times

Current Affairs 1 September 2020 : Our major Sources for the Current Affairs are The Hindu, Indian Express, PIB. For more queries and mentor-ship please contact us.