PIB Summary- 23rd March, 2021 | PIB (Press Information Bureau) Summary - UPSC PDF Download

World Tuberculosis Day

Context: World Tuberculosis Day is observed on March 24 every year.

About World Tuberculosis Day

• The aim of the celebration of the Day is to raise public awareness about the devastating health, social and economic consequences of TB, and to step up efforts to end the global TB epidemic.
• The date marks the day in 1882 when Dr Robert Koch announced that he had discovered the bacterium that causes TB, which opened the way towards diagnosing and curing this disease.
• World TB Day 2021 Theme: ‘The Clock is Ticking’.

Background

• TB remains one of the world’s deadliest infectious killers. Each day, nearly 4000 lose their lives to TB and close to 28,000 people fall ill with this preventable and curable disease. Global efforts to combat TB have saved an estimated 63 million lives since the year 2000.

Dr Ram Manohar Lohia

Context: The Prime Minister paid tribute to Dr Ram Manohar Lohia on his birth anniversary which falls on 23 March.

Dr. Ram Manohar Lohia: Relevance of his Thoughts
Of late there has been a revival of interest in the thoughts and ideas of Dr.Ram Manohar Lohia, though it has been fifty years since he died. This is especially seen among people resisting environmental degradation, displacement, and large-scale development projects. This is due to the fact that Lohia provided an alternative perspective on development, planning, and science.

Early Life
Ram Manohar Lohia was born at Akbarpur in what is now the state of Uttar Pradesh on March 23, 1910. He lost his mother at a young age and was brought up by his father. He graduated from Calcutta University in 1929 and did his doctoral studies in Germany between 1929-33. Lohia wrote his Ph.D. thesis paper on the topic of ‘Salt Taxation in India’, with a focus on Gandhi’s socio-economic theory. He lived a short and intense life of thought and action and was an innovator of ideas.

Thoughts and achievements
Lohia was one of the founders of the Congress Socialist Party (CSP) along with Jaya Prakash Narayan, Achyut Patwardhan, Yusuf Meherally, etc. and editor of its mouthpiece ‘Congress Socialist’. As part of the Foreign Relations Department of the Congress Party, he evolved the theory of the Third Camp in world affairs. He rejected both the blocs in the Cold War and his policy became the official policy of the Congress Party.

Lohia was at the forefront of the ‘Quit India’ movement launched by the Congress in 1942 and founded the Azad Hind Radio during its underground phase. After independence, he was against Portugal’s continuing sovereignty over Goa. He had visited the area in 1946 to strengthen and inspire the fight against colonial rule.
He opposed the partition of the country in 1947 along with a few other members of Congress. However, after partition, he was keen to promote the idea of a confederation of India and Pakistan. He thought that the industrialization of Western Europe was due to the exploitation of their colonies. He wanted to bring out the close relationship between industrialization and imperialism.
As regards the economic strategy to be adopted after independence, Lohia pointed out that India was capital scarce but labour abundant, didn’t have colonies or the time-space of a hundred years or more which the Western countries used for their industrialization. He, therefore, suggested labour intensive technology as against the capital intensive technology of the West and wanted the introduction of the small unit machine to be driven by power. He called upon Indian technologists and scientists to attempt the invention of such machines.

Lohia desired to achieve economic equality and end exploitation. He wanted public ownership of large scale industries and wanted to reconstruct the Indian economy with land reforms with land to the tiller. He wanted limits to be imposed on income and expenditure. Lohia analyzed the caste system and advocated preferential treatment for the backward castes. He felt that the abolition of the class system would lead to the simultaneous abolition of the caste system. He believed that inequality was not only economic but social too. In India where the caste system and patriarchy were part of society, one had to fight for caste and gender equality along with economic equality. He demanded a 60 percent reservation in all areas of public life for women, the backward, and the backwards amongst the minority religious groups.

Lohia was staunchly anti-English and pro-vernacular. He desired that the country’s administration, judiciary, and its elite professions must not remain alienated from the masses. He was against the continuation of English as the medium of higher and professional education, administration, and the judiciary. He wanted English to be replaced by regional languages and Hindi to replace English as the link language. If a large proportion of Indians are still illiterate/semi-literate and the quality of education low and at many times sub-standard, the reason for it is the opposition to Lohia’s language policy.
Lohia advocated devolution of politico-administrative power and coined the phrase ‘Four-Pillar State’. He supported Panchayat Raj. With respect to communal tensions and conflicts, Lohia made a difference between the humanistic essence of Hinduism and the narrow-minded use of it for fomenting communal tensions. He also differentiated between foreign Muslim aggressors and the local Muslims who had nothing to do with those aggressions. These ideas of Lohia are more relevant today in the present surcharged communal atmosphere as they were during his lifetime.

Lohia also influenced the writings of Kannada writer U.R.Ananthamurthy, Hindi writers such as Fanishwarnath Renu, Raghuvir Sahay, Srikant Verma, Sarveshwar Dayal Saxena besides Assamese writers like Birendra Kumar Bhattacharya and several Marathi, Oriya, and Gujarati writers. He led a crusade against the despotic rule in Nepal and assisted the Nepali Congress in its democratic struggle. In order that the socialist movement in the Afro-Asian countries become a vehicle of the aspirations of the people of the Third World, Lohia, along with Jaya Prakash Narayan and other colleagues, helped in founding the Asian Socialist Conference in Rangoon, Myanmar in 1953. Lohia’s major writings in English include ‘Fundamentals of a World Mind’; Guilty Men of India’s Partition; India, China, and Northern Frontiers; Interval during Politics; The Caste System; Foreign Policy; Fragments of World Mind; Marx, Gandhi, and Socialism, etc.

Legacy
Thus, Ram Manohar Lohia was the father of non-Congressism; champion of backward castes in the politics of north India; originator of Other Backward Classes (OBC) reservations; a critic of dynastic politics of the Nehru-Gandhi family, and the man responsible for the politics of anti-English. He campaigned against poverty, unemployment, and price rise and advocated gender justice. He was a staunch nationalist who suggested a sharp response to Chinese aggression and also upheld the Indian case on Kashmir. His cultural politics included efforts to organize a Ramayan Mela; an effort to bring Indian languages closer; a call for cleaning rivers and protecting pilgrimage centers; protest against the museumisation of Adivasis (aboriginals) such as the Andamanese, Nicobarese, Todas, etc. and culturally integrating the north-east with the rest of the country.

As an Internationalist, he advocated pacifism; opposed nuclear weapons; protested against racial inequality; advocated Indo-Pak federacy; and dreamt of a world without visas and passports in effect recommending the concept of Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam (the world is one family). Though Lohia has faded away many of his thoughts and ideas still reverberate in the political and intellectual landscape of India and find practical application in economy, religion, society, and politics.

Shaheedi Diwas

Context: PM pays tributes to Martyrs on Shaheedi Diwas.

About Shaheedi Diwas

• On 23 March 1931, freedom fighters Bhagat Singh, Shivaram Rajguru and Sukhdev Thapar were hanged to death by the British government for their revolutionary activities.
• This day is observed as Shaheedi Diwas or Martyrs’ Day in India.
• The day is also known as ‘Sarvodaya Day’.

What happened?

Revolutionary freedom fighters Bhagat Singh, Shivaram Rajguru and Sukhdev Thapar were hanged to death by the British government for their activities on March 23, 1931, at the Lahore Jail. This day is observed as ‘Martyrs’ Day’ in India.

Bhagat Singh, Rajguru, Sukhdev

• When national leader Lala Lajpat Rai died of a heart attack in November 1928 after he was brutally lathi-charged on the orders of the Superintendent of Police James A. Scott, Bhagat Singh and his associates vowed to avenge his death.
• Singh and Rajguru shot and killed an Assistant Superintendent of Police of Lahore, John Saunders in a case of mistaken identity. Nevertheless, they proclaimed that Lala Lajpat Rai’s death had been avenged.
• As Singh and Rajguru fled, Chandrashekhar Azad shot a police constable Chanan Singh who was pursuing the revolutionaries.
• The young revolutionaries were on the run for many months.
• They were all members of the Hindustan Socialist Republican Association which were an organisation involved in revolutionary activities. They believed that only an armed revolution could bring about freedom from colonial rule.
• In April 1929, Bhagat Singh and Batukeshwar Dutt threw two bombs in the Central Legislative Assembly at Delhi to protest an unjust bill. Their intentions were not to harm anyone but only to publicise their struggle.
• The two did not flee from the scene after the chaos and courted arrest shouting, ‘Inquilab Zindabad’. Singh and Dutt were given life imprisonments.
• Other revolutionaries including Rajguru were arrested from a bomb factory at Lahore. The police were then able to link the revolutionaries to the Saunders murder case. They charged Singh, Rajguru, Sukhdev and others in this case.
• In prison, the revolutionaries started a hunger strike demanding better treatment and facilities. They wanted to be considered political prisoners.
• Jatin Das died after more than 60 days of hunger strike. The strike gained huge publicity and the revolutionaries got a lot of support and sympathy from the public.
• Even the Viceroy Lord Irwin returned from his vacation in Shimla to discuss the matter with the prison authorities.
• The revolutionaries were met with political leaders including Jawaharlal Nehru. He had remarked, “I was very much pained to see the distress of the heroes. They have staked their lives in this struggle. They want that political prisoners should be treated as political prisoners. I am quite hopeful that their sacrifice would be crowned with success.”
• Bhagat Singh finally ended his fast after 116 days.
• The trial of the young men drew widespread attention in the country. On 7 October 1930, Singh, Rajguru and Sukhdev were sentenced to death while others were sentenced to imprisonment and deportation.
• The death sentence was widely protested by various people. National leaders appealed to the government to reduce the sentence to life imprisonment. Even the Communist Party of Great Britain expressed disapproval of the sentence.
• The trio was ordered to be hanged on 24 March 1931 but the sentence was carried out a day earlier at the Lahore Jail. After the hanging, their mortal remains were cremated in secret.
• There was a huge backlash against the government for the execution of the heroes. The three young men were true martyrs who did not fear even death and really seemed to welcome it.
• Their courage and ultimate sacrifice for the motherland’s cause should never be forgotten.
• March 23rd is observed as ‘Martyrs’ Day’ or ‘Shaheed Diwas’ or ‘Sarvodaya Day’ in India in honour of the eternal heroes.

Also on this day

• 1757: Robert Clive captured Chandannagar from the French.
• 1898: Birth of Assamese poet Nalinibala Devi.
• 1910: Birth of socialist leader Ram Manohar Lohia.
• 1940: The Lahore Resolution was passed by the Muslim League which called for a separate  Muslim homeland. This day is observed as ‘Pakistan Day’ in Pakistan.

MoC between India and Japan

Context: Cabinet approves Memorandum of Cooperation (MoC) signed between India and Japan in the field of Water Resources.

Details

• The MoC was signed between the Department of Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation, Ministry of Jal Shakti, Government of India and Water and Disaster Management Bureau, Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism of Japan.
• This MoC was signed for the development of long-term cooperation in the field of water and delta management, and water technology in order to increase the exchange of information, knowledge, technology and scientific allied experience, as well as implementation of joint projects between the two countries.
• This MoC will help in achieving water security, improved irrigation facility and sustainability in water resources development.

National Health Mission (NHM)

Context: Cabinet apprised on progress under National Health Mission (NHM) 2019-20.

Details

• The new initiatives under NHM that were introduced in 2019-20 are:
  • SAANS initiative: Social Awareness and Actions to Neutralize Pneumonia Successfully (SAANS) initiative was launched to accelerate action to reduce deaths due to childhood pneumonia.
  • SUMAN initiative: Surakshit Matritva Aashwasan (SUMAN) initiative was launched to provide assured, dignified, respectful and quality healthcare at no cost and zero tolerance for denial of services; and all existing schemes for maternal and neonatal health have been brought under one umbrella.
  • Midwifery Services Initiative: This aims to create a cadre of Nurse Practitioners in Midwifery who are skilled in accordance to competencies prescribed by the International Confederation of Midwives (ICM) and are knowledgeable and capable of providing compassionate women-centred, reproductive, maternal and newborn health care services.
  • School Health and Wellness Ambassadors Initiative: This has been launched under the AB-HWCs Programme in partnership with the Ministry of Education to promote health and well-being through an active lifestyle amongst school children.

National Health Mission - Major Initiatives and Successes

National Health Mission was launched by the Government of India with the objective of addressing India’s malnutrition crisis. This mission subsumed 2 other malnutrition missions that already existed with the aim of targeting rural population and urban population. This mission was launched in the year 2013 and is implemented by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare. This article covers the 4 main components of the mission, major objectives, goals, major initiatives and some of the successes of the National Health Mission.

National Health Mission – 4 Components of the Mission

• National Rural Health Mission
• National Urban Health Mission
• Tertiary Care Programmes
• Human Resources for Health and Medical Education

National Health Mission – Major Objectives

• The mission targets to move beyond earlier missions focus on reproductive and child health
• Tackle 2 categories of diseases – Communicable and Non-Communicable
• To give a major impetus to health infrastructure facilities at District and Sub-District levels.

National Health Mission – Goals
Some of the major goals of the National Health Mission are given below.

• Total Fertility Rate (TFR) – Reduce it to 2.1
• Infant Mortality Rate (IMR) – Reduce it to 25 per 1000 live births
• Maternal Mortality Rate (MMR) – Reduce it to 1 per 1000 live births
• Bring down the malaria cases to less than 1 per 1000 population.
• Prevent and reduce anaemia in women in the age bracket of 15 years to 49 years.
• Bring down cases and mortality due to tuberculosis by half.

National Health Mission – Major Initiatives

There are around 24 major initiatives under the National Health Mission.

National Health Mission – Some Major Successes

• Mission Indradhanush: It helped in increasing immunization cover by over 5% in just 1 year.
• Kayakalp Initiative: This was launched with the plan to inculcate hygiene, sanitation, effective waste management, and infection control in public health facilities. This initiative has introduced awards which resulted in significant improvement in sanitation standards.

One District One Product

Context: The PMFME Scheme adopts the One District One Product approach to reap the benefits of scale in terms of procurement of inputs, availing common services and marketing of products.

Details

• The Ministry of Food Processing Industries (MoFPI) under the Centrally Sponsored Pradhan Mantri Formalisation of Micro Food Processing Enterprises Scheme (PM FME Scheme), provides financial, technical and business support for upgradation of existing micro food processing enterprises.
• Know more about the One District One Product approach in PIB dated Sep 18, 2020.

Overview of ODOP

• The objective of the concept is to convert each district of the country into an export hub by:
  • Identifying products with export potential in the district
  • Addressing bottlenecks for exporting these products
  • Supporting local exporters, manufacturers to scale up manufacturing, and find potential buyers outside India.
• The aim is to promote exports, promote the manufacturing & services industry in the district and generate employment in the district.
• Towards this end, District Export Promotion Committees (DEPCs) are being set up in each district.
  • These committees are likely to be headed by the DM/Collector/DC/District Development Officer of the District and co-chaired by the designated Regional Authority of the Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT).
  • The primary function of the DEPC will be to prepare and act on district-specific Export Action Plans in collaboration with all the relevant stakeholders from the Centre, State and the District levels.

NAFED e-Kisan Mandis

Context: This information was given in a written reply by the Union Minister of Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare in Lok Sabha.

About NAFED e-Kisan Mandis

• NAFED e-Kisan mandis (NeKM) is an electronic trading platform with physical infrastructure at each proposed location in partnership with local Farmer Producer Organisations (FPCx and Cooperatives) to be integrated with a National Level Digital Marketing Platform.
• The mandi has both physical and virtual infrastructure and it is based on the spoke & hub model.
• The physical infrastructure will include digital platform with auctioning facility, pack-house (including sorting-grading, packing and pre-cooling facilities), warehouse and cold storages if required.
• FPOs will get funding support through the Agriculture Infrastructure Fund (AIF) and subsidies available under various Central and State Government schemes.
• The mandis are made at farm gate bringing buyers to farmers.

Overview of NAFED

• NAFED has its headquarters in New Delhi with regional offices in Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai and Kolkata. It also operates 28 zonal offices in capitals of states and other crucial cities.
• The NAFED is part of “Operation Greens” where price stabilization measures are implemented in order to increase farmers’ income by 2022. It works in tandem with the Food Corporation of India (FCI) in playing a lead role in purchasing oilseeds, pulses under the Price Support Scheme (PSS). The PSS in turn is also a scheme under the PM-AASHA scheme.

Objectives of NAFED

The objectives of NAFED are as follows:

• To organise, promote, and develop marketing and storage of agricultural and forest produce.
• Assist for technical advice in agricultural production.
• Facilitation, coordination and promotion of marketing and trading activities of partners associates in the agricultural sector.
• Undertaking purchase, sale and supply of agricultural, marketing and processing requirements such as manure, seeds, fertilizers etc.
• Facilitate the construction of warehouses as per the Warehousing act by constructing its own godowns and storage facilities.
• Act as agent of any government or cooperative for the purchase, sale and storage of agricultural, horticultural and animal husbandry produce.
• Provide insurance coverage to cover any accidents that may occur.
• Organize consultancy work for the benefit of allied institutions under the NAFED
• To undertake marketing research and dissemination of market intelligence;
• To subscribe to the share capital and undertake business collaboration with  cooperative institutions, public, joint and private sector enterprises, if and when considered necessary for fulfilling the objectives of NAFED.

Latest Scheme to be implemented by the NAFED

The Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare inaugurated the Honey Farmer Producer Organisation Programme (FPO). The National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India Limited will be the one of the national implementing agency

• It is a Central Sector Scheme that will promote 10,000 new FPOs
• Initially three implementing agencies would implement this scheme; they were the Small Farmers Agri-business Consortium (SFAC), National Cooperative Development Corporation (NCDC) and National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD).
• The states may nominate their own implementing agency should they desire after consulting the Department of Agriculture.
• The FPOS will be developed by Cluster Based Business Organizations (CBBOs)

The scheme will  have the following benefits:

• Skill enhancement in holistic beekeeping.
• Robust infrastructure for processing honey and allied products such as bee’s wax, royal jelly, bee venom etc.
• Quality control by specialised laboratories
• Better supply chain management through advanced storage, collection and marketing centres.
• Promotion and Formation of FPOs is the first step for converting Krishi into Atma Nirbhar Krishi.

Project Mausam

Context: Project Mausam has now been extended up to 31st March, 2023.

About the Project

• Project ‘Mausam’ is a Ministry of Culture project with Archaeological Society of India (ASI), New Delhi as the nodal agency and Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts (IGNCA), New Delhi as its Research Unit.
• This project aims to explore the multi-faceted Indian Ocean ‘world’ – collating archaeological and historical research in order to document the diversity of cultural, commercial and religious interactions in the Indian Ocean.
• The main objective of the project is to inscribe places and sites identified under Project Mausam as transnational nomination for inscription on UNESCO’s World Heritage List.
• The central themes that hold Project ‘Mausam’ together are those of cultural routes and maritime landscapes that not only linked different parts of the Indian Ocean littoral, but also connected the coastal centres to their hinterlands.
• More importantly, shared knowledge systems and ideas spread along these routes and impacted both coastal centres, and also large parts of the environs.