PIB Summary- 24th January, 2021 | PIB (Press Information Bureau) Summary - UPSC PDF Download

Pradhan Mantri Rashtriya Bal Puraskar

Context: 32 children awarded the Pradhan Mantri Rashtriya Bal Puraskar – 2021.

Details

• The Government of India has been awarding the Pradhan Mantri Rashtriya Bal Puraskar to the children with exceptional abilities and outstanding accomplishments, in the fields of innovation, scholastics, sports, arts & culture, social service and bravery.

About the Pradhan Mantri Rashtriya Bal Puraskar

This award scheme gives awards in two categories every year:

1. Bal Shakti Puraskar (to individuals)
2. Bal Kalyan Puraskar (for institutions/individuals working for children) 

• Bal Shakti Puraskar
  • This award is given to children in the fields of innovation, social service, scholastic, sports, art and culture and bravery.
  • It carries a medal, a cash prize of Rs. 1 lakh, a certificate and a citation.
  • It was formerly known as “National Child Award for Exceptional Achievement”.
  • It was instituted in 1996 and renamed to “Bal Shakti Puraskar” in 2018.
• Bal Kalyan Puraskar
  • This award was instituted in 1979 as “National Child Welfare Awards”.
  • It was renamed in 2018 to “Bal Kalyan Puraskar”.
  • This is given to individuals and/or organisations working in the field of child development, child protection and child welfare.
  • This award is given in two categories – Individual and Institution. Three awards are given in each of these two categories along with cash prizes.
• Any child with exceptional achievement in the fields of innovation, scholastic achievements, social service, arts & culture, sports and bravery can apply for the award.
• Also, any person who knows about a meritorious achievement by a child can recommend this child for the award.
• A high-level committee selects the winners after careful consideration of each application.
• The scheme is under the Ministry of Women and Child Development.

National Girl Child Day

Context: 24th January is celebrated as the  National Girl Child Day every year in India.

About the National Girl Child Day

• The day is an initiative of the Ministry of Women and Child Development started in 2008.
• The objective behind celebrating the National Girl Child Day is to provide all support and opportunities to the girls of the country.
• It also aims towards promoting awareness about the rights of the girl child and to increase awareness on the importance of girls’ education, and their health and nutrition.
• The National Girl Child day 2021 is being celebrated across the country with the objective of raising awareness on the issue of declining Child Sex Ratio (CSR).
• The celebrations will also mark the anniversary of Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao (BBBP) scheme.

Various ministries of the government of India like those of Education, Sports, Skill Development and Department of Science and Technology have undertaken various initiatives and programmes for the progress and empowerment of girls.

• National Education Policy (NEP) – 2020 has introduced a Gender Inclusion Fund for targeting the development of the girl child.
  • The fund will focus on ensuring 100% enrolment of girls in schools and a record participation rate in higher education, decrease gender gaps at all levels, practise gender equity and inclusion in society, and improve the leadership capacity of girls through positive civil dialogues.
  • NEP 2020 will focus on the safety and security of school-going girls both inside and outside of the campus.
  • The schools have to ensure harassment, discrimination, and domineer free campus before enlisting for yearly accreditation.
• Under Samagra Shiksha Scheme, the following interventions are being made: 
  • Opening of schools in the neighbourhood as defined by the State,
  • Provision of free text-books to girls up to Class VIII,
  • Uniforms to all girls, SC, ST children and Below Poverty Line (BPL) children up to class VIII,
  • Provision of gender-segregated toilets in all schools,
  • Teachers’ sensitization programmes to promote girls’ participation,
  • Provision for Self-Defence training for girls from classes VI to XII,
  • Stipend to CWSN girls from class I to Class XII,
  • Residential Schools/Hostels,
  • Construction of residential quarters for teachers in remote/hilly areas/in areas with difficult terrain.
• The Department of Science and Technology (DST) has launched ‘Knowledge Involvement in Research Advancement through Nurturing (KIRAN)’ Scheme to provide various career opportunities to women scientists and technologists.
  • It is primarily aimed to bring gender parity in the Science & Technology sector by inducting more women talent in the research & development domain through various programmes.
• The Ministry of Skill Development is making efforts for building a conducive ecosystem for skilling women in India.
  • Out of 33 National Skill Training Institutes (NSTIs), 19 NSTIs are providing skill training exclusively for women.

Bodoland Territorial Region (BTR) Agreement

Context: The first anniversary of the historic Bodoland Territorial Region (BTR) agreement.

Background

Who are the Bodos?

• They are an ethnic and linguistic group speaking Tibeto-Burman languages, residing in the Brahmaputra valley in the northeast of India.
• The Bodos are the largest plains tribe in Bodoland Territorial Autonomous District (BTAD) straddling four districts – Kokrajhar, Chirang, Baksa and Udalguri – of western Assam.
• The word ‘Bodo’ has been derived from the word ‘Bod’ which means Tibet. The Bodos speak the Bodo language.
• Bodos traditionally practise Bathouism, which is the worshiping of forefathers, known as Obonglaoree.

British Rule and loss of economic and political freedom

• A very complex economic situation had developed in the societies of the Brahmaputra Valley of Assam with the taking over of power by the British imperialists.
• This new form of economy unfolded new complexities with serious socio-economic and political ramifications into the medieval society of the Valley.
• Much of the 19th century was a time of economic degradation, displacement and land alienation for the Bodo people. This may also perhaps be seen as a loss of political power of the Bodos.

Socio-economic grievances of the Bodos

• The policies and developmental activities of the Government could not bring the desired socioeconomic development for the Bodo community. This impacted immensely on the Bodo psyche.
• In the years, following independence, most of the Bodo grievances remained unattended to by the Government. As a result, problems of land alienation, poverty, indebtedness, severe unemployment, economic exploitation and cultural and political neglect became increasingly acute among them.
• There were two prime reasons behind the Bodo demand for a separate state:
  • One was the matter of economic under-development of the community.
  • Other of course was the rising political aspirations of the Bodo leaders.

Waves of Protests

• The First trouble across the Bodo domain began in the 1930s when Bodo leader Kalicharan Brahma submitted a memorandum to the Simon Commission, demanding a separate political set-up for the indigenous and tribals of Assam.
• The second wave of demand to ‘divide Assam 50-50’ in the late 1960s fizzled out like the first.
• The third movement turned violent in 1986 with the establishment of the National Democratic Front of Bodoland (NDFB)

Bodo Accord 2020

• The Central and Assam governments and the NDFB’s Saoraigwra faction, or NDFB-S, signed a tripartite agreement for the cessation of operations.
  • The Saoraigwra faction agreed to shun violence and join the peace process.
  • The NDFB-S is the third and last faction of the outfit.
• The All Bodo Students’ Union (ABSU), which has been spearheading a movement for a Bodoland State since 1972, and another group called United Bodo People’s Organisation were also signatories to the accord.
• The Memorandum of Settlement (MoS) said “All NDFB factions under SoO [Suspension of Operations] shall abjure path of violence, surrender their weapons and disband their armed organisations within one month of signing this MoS.”
• The 2020 agreement says the Government of Assam “will notify Bodo language in Devanagri script as the associate official language in the state”.

What is the Bodoland Territorial Council (BTC)?

• It is an autonomous body under the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution. There have been two Bodo Accords earlier, and the second one led to the formation of BTC.
• The ABSU-led movement from 1987 culminated in a 1993 Bodo Accord, which paved the way for a Bodoland Autonomous Council (BAC), but ABSU withdrew its agreement and renewed its demand for a separate state.
• In 2003, the second Bodo Accord was signed by the extremist group Bodo Liberation Tiger Force (BLTF), the Centre and the state. This led to the BTC.

What was agreed on territory?

• The area under the jurisdiction of BTC, formed under the 2003 Accord, was called the Bodo Territorial Autonomous District (BTAD). The BTAD will now be renamed Bodoland Territorial Region (BTR).
• The new Accord provides for “alteration of area of BTAD” and “provisions for Bodos outside BTAD”. A commission appointed by the state government will examine and recommend if villages contiguous to BTAD and with a majority tribal population can be included in the BTR while those now in BTAD and with a majority non-tribal population can opt out of the BTR.
• The government will set up a Bodo-Kachari Welfare Council for focused development of Bodo villages outside BTAD — which opens up a way to potentially address the needs of Bodos outside BTAD.

Rehabilitation Program

• The Cadres of NDFB will be rehabilitated by the Centre and the Assam Government. They will be assimilated in the mainstream and will surrender.
• The generous terms promise an expanded area to be renamed as BTR, a ₹1,500-crore development package, and greater contiguity of Bodo-populated areas.
• The MoS says that the criminal cases registered against members of the NDFB factions for “non-heinous” crimes shall be withdrawn by the Assam government and in cases of heinous crimes it “shall be reviewed case by case according to the existing policy”.
• Families of those killed during the Bodo movement will be given ₹5 lakh.

How is the 2020 Accord different from the earlier Accords?

• Unlike the 2003 Accord which clearly identified 3,082 villages to be included in Bodoland Territorial Council (BTC): 
  • 2020 Accord ambiguously points to the inclusion of contiguous tribal majority villages outside the BTC area within BTR while simultaneously excluding non-tribal majority areas that are not contiguous with the Sixth Schedule area within BTC.
    • It is thus clear that the Accord seeks to perpetuate Bodos’ “self-rule” and territorial control in BTR by exclusively privileging their political, social, cultural and identity interest over everything else.
• Again, unlike the two tripartite accords signed by the Bodo rebels in 1993 and 2003, the 2020 Accord specifically seeks to invest BTC with “legislative” power in addition to “executive, administrative and financial” powers on 12 additional subjects including trade and commerce, welfare and development of minorities/indigenous faith.
• The 2020 Accord also enlarges the scope of representation by increasing the strength of BTC from 40 to a maximum of 60 members.
  • However, unlike the 2003 Accord which clearly reserved 35 of the 40 elected seats for tribals (read as Bodos), this agreement does not specify the seat share of Bodos and other non-Bodo communities.

Advantages of the Peace Deal

• It successfully brings together the leading stakeholders under one framework.
• Those who were previously associated with armed resistance groups will now be entering the mainstream and contributing to our nation’s progress.
• The Accord with Bodo groups will further protect and popularise the unique culture of the Bodo people.
• They will get access to a wide range of development-oriented initiatives.

Concerns

• The failure to envision a power-sharing arrangement with non-Bodos makes the BTR a very weak “shared-rule” model of autonomy. This weakness could induce violence and deepen ethnic fractionalisation.
• The conspicuous absence of reference to legal safeguards to land extended by the 2003 Bodo Accord to non-Bodos on matters pertaining to, inter alia, land settlement, ownership and inheritance of property would make them more vulnerable.

Other extremist organizations not part of the Peace Deal

• The peace deal with NDFB-S leaves very few members of the Kamtapur Liberation Organisation (KLO) still at large with their leader Jiban Singh, while the PDCK, a group of miscreants is not a signatory to this pact.

Conclusion

• If the Accord delivers what it promises, it would lead to the end of one of Northeast’s long-running insurgencies.
• But for the Northeast to truly enjoy fruits of peace and development, and become a bridge between India and Southeast Asia under New Delhi’s Act East policy, other insurgency movements too need a negotiated settlement.

Uttar Pradesh Statehood Day

Context: January 24 is celebrated as the Statehood Day of Uttar Pradesh.

Details

• It was on this day in 1950 that the United Provinces was renamed Uttar Pradesh.
• In 2000, the northern districts of the state were carved into another state, Uttarakhand.

11th National Voters’ Day (NVD)

Context: 25th January is celebrated as National Voters’ Day in India to mark the formation of the Election Commission of India on this day in 1950. 

About the National Voters’ Day 2021

• The theme for this year’s NVD, ‘Making Our Voters Empowered, Vigilant, Safe and Informed’, envisages active and participative voters during elections.
  • It also focuses on ECI’s commitment towards conducting elections safely during the COVID-19 pandemic.
• The National Voters’ Day has been celebrated on January 25 every year since 2011. 
• The main purpose of the NVD celebration is to encourage, facilitate and maximize enrolment, especially for the new voters.
• Dedicated to the voters of the country, the day is utilized to spread awareness among voters and for promoting informed participation in the electoral process.
• New voters are felicitated and handed over their Elector Photo Identity Card (EPIC) in the NVD functions.
• This year on the occasion, the President will launch the ECI’s web radio, ‘Hello Voters’.
  • This online digital radio service will stream voter awareness programmes.
• Also launched would be the e-EPIC.
  • E-EPIC is the digital version of the Elector Photo Identity Card.