PIB Summary- 29th September, 2022 | PIB (Press Information Bureau) Summary - UPSC PDF Download

Bhagat Singh Birth Anniversary

Why in News?
The Prime Minister has bowed to Shaheed Bhagat Singh on his birth anniversary. 

Who is Bhagat Singh?

Background

• In 1907, Bhagat Singh was born into a Sikh family in Lyallpur District, Pakistan.
• Singh was lured to the Indian independence movement from a young age since his family members were participating in the struggle for independence.
• He disobeyed the British government as a child by destroying textbooks that it advised.
• He first backed Mahatma Gandhi’s Non-Cooperation Movement.
• Bhagat Singh converted to revolutionary nationalism after Gandhi withdrew the campaign in the aftermath of the Chauri Chaura tragedy.
• The Jallianwala Bagh massacre (1919) and the violence against unarmed Akali protestors at Nankana Sahib had a profound impact on him (1921).
• Inspired by leftist writings he read widely, Singh was an atheist and against capitalism.

Revolutionary activities

• In Kanpur in 1924, he joined the Hindustan Republican Association, which had been founded a year before by Sachindranath Sanyal.
• Bhagat Singh returned to Lahore in 1925, and within a year, he and his colleagues founded the Naujawan Bharat Sabha, a militant youth organisation.
• Along with Sukhdev, Chandrashekhar Azad, and others, he was a member of the Hindustan Socialist Republican Association (HSRA) in 1928.
• Bhagat Singh and Sukhdev also founded the Lahore Students Union to encourage students to engage in open, lawful work.
• He was involved in revolutionary actions such as the
  • Lahore Conspiracy case and
  • the 1929 Central Assembly Bombing case.
• Along with Rajguru, Sukhdev, and others, Bhagat Singh was arrested and charged in the Saunders murder case.
• The three was sentenced to be hanged on March 24, 1931, however the sentence was carried out at the Lahore Jail a day early.
• In honour of Bhagat Singh, Rajguru, and Sukhdev, the 23rd of March is honoured as ‘Martyrs’ Day,’ or ‘Shaheed Diwas,’ or ‘Sarvodaya Day.’

Political ideology
His azaadi independence did not stop with the expulsion of the British; he also demanded azaadi freedom from poverty, untouchability, communal warfare, and all forms of discrimination and exploitation.

National Disaster Management Authority

Why in News?
The National Disaster Management Authority celebrated its 18th Formation Day in New Delhi.
The theme for this year’s Foundation Day was “Volunteerism in Disaster Management”.

National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA)

• National Disaster Management Authority, abbreviated as NDMA, is an apex Body of Government of India, with a mandate to lay down policies for disaster management.
• NDMA was established through the Disaster Management Act enacted by the Government of India in 2005. Hence, NDMA is a Statutory body.
• The vision of NDMA is “To build a safe and disaster resilient India by developing a holistic, proactive, multi-disaster oriented and technology - driven strategy through a culture of prevention, mitigation, preparedness and response”.
• NDMA is responsible for framing policies, laying down guidelines and best-practices for coordinating with the State Disaster Management Authorities (SDMAs) to ensure a holistic and distributed approach to disaster management.
• It is headed by the Prime Minister of India and can have up to nine other members. Since 2014, there have been four other members.
• The tenure of the members of the NDMA shall be five years.
• The phrase disaster management is to be understood to mean ‘a continuous and integrated process of planning, organising, coordinating and implementing measures, which are necessary or expedient for prevention of danger or threat of any disaster, mitigation or reduction of risk of any disaster or severity of its consequences, capacity building, preparedness to deal with any disaster, prompt response, assessing the severity or magnitude of effects of any disaster, evacuation, rescue, relief, rehabilitation and reconstruction’.

Disaster Management Act, 2005

• The Disaster Management Act, 2005, (23 December 2005) received the assent of The President of India on 9 January 2006.
• The Act extends to the whole of India.
• The Act provides for “the effective management of disasters and for matters connected there with or incidental thereto.”
• The Act calls for the establishment of National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA).
• The Act enjoins the Central Government to Constitute a National Executive Committee (NEC).
• All State Governments are mandated under the act to establish a State Disaster Management Authority (SDMA).
• The Chairperson of District Disaster Management Authority (DDMA) will be the Collector or District Magistrate or Deputy Commissioner of the district.
• The Act provides for constituting a National Disaster Response Force “for the purpose of specialist response to a threatening disaster situation or disaster” under a Director General to be appointed by the Central Government.
• Definition of a “disaster” in the DM Act states that a disaster means a “catastrophe, mishap, calamity or grave occurrence in any area, arising from natural or man-made causes.
• The objective of the Act is to manage disasters, including preparation of mitigation strategies, capacity-building and more.
• The Act contains the provisions for financial mechanisms such as the creation of funds for emergency response, National Disaster Response Fund and similar funds at the state and district levels.
• The Act also devotes several sections various civil and criminal liabilities resulting from violation of provisions of the act.