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THE INDIAN POLITY AND GOVERNANCE

1. THE PHILOSOPHER-SAINT RAMANUJACHARYA

THE CONTEXT: The Prime Minister unveiled the ‘Statue of Equality’ to commemorate the 11th-century Bhakti saint Sri Ramanujacharya in Hyderabad and said the statue will encourage youth and will be a symbol of knowledge, detachment, and ideals.

THE EXPLANATION:

• According to the Prime Minister, India had a strong traditional base which drew strength from the preaching of great men like Sri Ramanujacharya. There was, however, no conflict between tradition and development. Even B. R. Ambedkar subscribed to the teachings of Sri Ramanujacharya.
• He also praised the recognition of the Ramappa temple in the erstwhile Warangal district as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO, and of Pochampalli as a world tourism village by the World Tourism Organization, was an extension of the rich cultural heritage left behind by the Satavahana and Kakatiya dynasties.

Statue of Equality’:

• The ‘Statue of Equality’ has been built at Muchintal, a village in Telangana. The statue is said to be made of ‘panchaloha’, which is a combination of five metals including gold, silver, copper, brass, and zinc.
• This statue is one of the tallest metallic statues in sitting positions in the world. The statue has been mounted on a 54-feet high base building named ‘Bhadra Vedi’. The building has floors dedicated to a Vedic digital library and research centre, ancient Indian texts, a theatre, and an educational gallery to explore the works of Sri Ramanujacharya.

ABOUT RAMANUJACHARYA

• Ramanujacharya was born in 1017 in Sriperumbudur in Tamil Nadu, Ramanujacharya is revered as a Vedic philosopher and social reformer.
• He was the chief proponent of Vishishtadvaita and stood for the importance of bhakti (devotion) as a means to spiritual enlightenment. He worked tirelessly for the upliftment of people with the spirit of every human being equal regardless of nationality, gender, race, caste or creed.
• He revived the Bhakti movement, and his preachings inspired other Bhakti schools of thought. He is considered to be the inspiration for poets like Annamacharya, Bhakta Ramdas, Thyagaraja, Kabir, and Meerabai.
• The inauguration of the ‘Statue of Equality’ which is a part of a 12-day Sri Ramanuja Sahasrabdi Samarohan, is the ongoing 1000th birth anniversary celebrations of Sri Ramanujacharya.
• The Indian tradition of its scholars that views knowledge above rebuttal and acceptance-rejection. “If we have ‘advait’ then we have ‘dvait’ too and we also have Sri Ramanujacharya’s ‘Vishishtadvaita’ that encompasses both ‘davit-advait’”,

What is Vishishtadvaita?

• It is a non-dualistic school of Vedanta philosophy. It is non-dualism of the qualified whole, in which Brahman alone exists, but is characterized by multiplicity.
• It can be described as qualified monism or qualified non-dualism or attributive monism.
• It is a school of Vedanta philosophy which believes in all diversity subsuming to an underlying unity.

3. CENTRE LIFTS 100-METRE CAP ON CONSTRUCTION NEAR ASI PROTECTED MONUMENTS

THE CONTEXT: The Union Culture Ministry was working on amendments to “The Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Sites and Remains (AMASR) Act, 1958” to lift the 100-meter cap on construction near Archeological Protected Area monuments.

THE EXPLANATION:

• The ongoing Budget session (2022) of the parliament, the Lok Sabha passed the amendments to the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Sites and Remains Act, to pave the way for several stalled developmental projects, including expansion of Metro and roads and building bridges.
• The proposed amendment allows construction of public infrastructure such as highways, bridges and airports within 100 metres of monuments protected by the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI). The original Act prohibited any construction around 100 metres of a historical building or place.
• According to the Ministry of Culture, “the Projects like the 112-years-old bridge in Kolhapur, which is 40 metres away from a monument, Metro rail projects in Kolkata and Pune, proposed bridges on the Yamuna, etc, had been stuck for a long time due to restrictions. The new Bill would pave the way for these projects which are coming up in the interest and the safety of the people.”
• The lok sabha panel also recommended a constitutional amendment to enable the Centre to enforce some protective provisions with regard to monuments and sites that are not under the Central or State governments’ protection. To allow the Archaeological Survey of India to act against encroachment of monuments, the committee recommended that the AMASR Act should grant the ASI the power to seal the illegal construction till it could be demolished.

Value Addition:

Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Sites and Remains Act, 1958

• The AMASR Act provides for preservation of ancient and historical monuments and archaeological sites and remains of national importance. It also provides for the regulation of archaeological excavations and for protection of sculptures, carvings and other like objects.
• The Archaeological Survey of India functions under the provisions of this act.
• The Act prohibits construction in ‘prohibited area’, an area of 100 meters around protected monument. was amended in 2010 to declare the 100-metre radius of protected monuments as prohibited areas and the next 300-metre radius as regulated areas.
• It does not permit construction in such prohibited areas even if it is for public purposes, except under certain conditions. The iconic monuments in India, Taj Mahal, Ajanta Caves, The Great Stupa at Sanchi and the Sun Temple of Konark, among others are designated as “ancient monuments of national importance” and protected under the AMASR Act.
• The Archaeological Survey of India is the custodian of these monuments.

THE ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

3. THE PROBLEMS WITHIN THE UDAN SCHEME

THE CONTEXT: According to the Ministry of Civil Aviation Parliamentary Panel, only one out of four routes under the low-cost flying scheme called UDAN have survived after completing the government’s subsidy period of three years.

THE EXPLANATION:

• The MoS stated that this was because of the failure to set up airports due to lack of availability of land, airlines finding the routes difficult to sustain, and the adverse impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.
• The poor financial health of much smaller, regional carriers has been a bane for the scheme.

What is UDAN Scheme:

• The scheme is aimed at enhancing connectivity to remote and regional areas of the country and making air travel affordable.
• It is a key component of the Centre’s National Civil Aviation Policy in 2016.
• Under the scheme, nearly half of the seats in Udan flights are offered at subsidized fares, and the participating carriers are provided a certain amount of viability gap funding (VGF) – an amount shared between the Centre and the concerned states.
• The scheme will be jointly funded by the central government and state governments.
• The scheme will run for 10 years and can be extended thereafter.

What is the status of the scheme?

• A total of nine rounds of bidding have taken place since January 2017. The Ministry of Civil Aviation has set a target of operationalizing as many as 100 unserved and underserved airports and starting at least 1,000 RCS routes by 2024.
• So far, the Airports Authority of India (AAI) has awarded 948 routes under UDAN, of which 403 routes have taken off that connect 65 airports, which include eight heliports. Out of the total 28 seaplane routes connecting 14 water aerodromes, only two have commenced.
• While the Ministry of Civil Aviation undertook interesting initiatives within the scheme to provide improved connectivity to hilly regions and islands through helicopters and seaplanes, as well as linking Assam with certain international destinations in South Asia and Southeast Asia, these mostly remain on paper.

What have been the challenges?

• The poor financial health of much smaller, regional carriers has been a bane for the scheme. Financial crunch for maintenance.
• According to the Government, they also have problems with the availability of pilots and are forced to hire foreign pilots which costs them a lot of money and makes the business unviable. So far, only those routes that have been bagged by bigger domestic players such as IndiGo and SpiceJet have seen a better success rate”.
• Similarly, the only seaplane flight launched remains suspended. SpiceJet’s seaplane flight from Statue of Unity in Kevadiya to Sabarmati Riverfront in Ahmedabad was launched in October 2020, by the Prime Minister and saw a few flights till April but has since been suspended “due to rise in COVID cases, travel restrictions and keeping passenger safety in mind”.

What lies ahead for the scheme?

The Government offers subsidies for a route for a period of three years and expects the airline to develop the route during this time so that it becomes self-sufficient.

THE ENVIRONMENT AND ECOLOGY

4. SATKOSIA MAKING FRESH ATTEMPTS TO BE SUITED FOR TIGER HABITAT

THE CONTEXT: Fifteen years after declaration as a tiger reserve and failure of revival of big cat population through India’s first inter-State tiger relocation programme, the Satkosia Tiger Reserve (STR) in Odisha has started making efforts afresh to re-establish it as a tiger habitat.

THE EXPLANATION:

• At the time of declaration Satkosia as a tiger reserve, it had about 12 tigers. Over the years, the big cat population dwindled. The STR is left with only one tigress.
• To revive tiger population in the STR, India’s first inter- State tiger relocation programme was launched by way of import of a pair of tiger and tigress from Kanha Tiger Reserve and Bandhavgarh Tiger Reserve (MP) in 2018. But, the programme had failed primarily due to hostility of local communities and their intensive use of the tiger reserve resources for livelihoods.

Satkosia Tiger Reserve

• Satkosia was established as a wildlife sanctuary in 1976. It is spread along the magnificent gorge over the mighty river Mahanadi in Odisha.
• The area was declared as Satkosia Tiger Reserve in 2007, comprising two adjoining wildlife sanctuaries; the Satkosia Gorge sanctuary and Baisipalli sanctuary. The Reserve is spread over 4 districts like; Angul, Cuttack, Nayagarh and Boudh.
• The Core area of the reserve is also a part of the Mahanadi elephant reserve.
• Satkosia is the meeting point of two bio-geographic regions of India; the Deccan Peninsula and the Eastern Ghats, contributing immense biodiversity.
• Species found: The area of Satkosia Tiger Reserve supports moist deciduous forest, dry deciduous forest and moist peninsular Sal forest.
• This area is the home for Tiger, Leopard, Elephant, Gaur, Sambar, Spotted deer, Mouse deer, Nilgai, Chousingha, Sloth bear, Wild dog etc.
• The Forest Department of the Government of Orissa with technical support from the UNDP and FAO decided to start a breeding programme of crocodiles during March 1974. As a part of this joint conservation initiative, the Gharial Research and Conservation Unit (GRACU) was started during March 1975.

5. THE RARE INSECT SIGHTED IN SESHACHALAM

THE CONTEXT: A Tirupati-based wildlife photographer Black percher or black ground skimmer (Diplacodes lefebvrii), a species of dragon fly, was sighted for the first time in the Seshachalam Hill ranges . It belongs to the phylum arthropoda, class insecta and order odonata.

THE EXPLANATION:

• According to the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN) Red List of threatened species, Black Ground Skimmer was labelled in 2016 as of ‘least concern’ in view of its wide prevalence in southern Eurasia and the whole of Africa.
• The insect has been sighted in forest locations of Karnataka and coastal Andhra Pradesh, but this appears to be its maiden appearance in the Seshachalam ranges. It is known to move near forest streams.

Seshachalam biosphere Reserve:

• The Seshachalam Hills are hilly ranges part of the Eastern Ghats in Andhra Pradesh.
• In 2010 it was designated as Biosphere Reserve. Seshachalam biosphere is spread over Chittoor and Kadapa districts.
• Tirupati, a major Hindu pilgrimage town and the Srivenkateshwara National Park are located in these ranges.
• It is home to a number of endemic species including the famous Red Sanders and Slender Loris.
• The native population of the reserve includes the tribes of Yanadis.

6. THE STRIPES OF SUCCESS: SARISKA TIGER RESERVE

THE CONTEXT: The measures for habitat management for tigers launched in June 2021 at the famous Sariska Tiger Reserve in Rajasthan’s Alwar district have started bearing fruit.

THE EXPLANATION:

The tiger population in the wildlife sanctuary has gone up to 25, while the resources are being provided to create water holes and develop grasslands for ungulates as a prey base.

New tourist route

The forest administration has opened a new route in the tiger reserve’s buffer zone, adjacent to Alwar town, for tourists to facilitate better sightings of the big cats. The new Bara-Liwari route, located in the region where a tigress gave birth to two cubs recently, will reduce pressure on the core area and increase livelihood opportunities for the rural population.

ABOUT SARISKA TIGER RESERVE

• Sariska Tiger Reserve is located in Alwar District of Rajasthan in lap of Aravali hills. Sariska Tiger Reserve or Sariska National Park was a hunting reserve area for Alwar state. It got a status of wildlife reserve in year 1955 and in year 1978 it became Sariska Tiger Reserve.
• It covers area of 866 sq kms. The Wild life 0f Sariska Park includes Royal Bengal Tiger, Leopard, Jungle Cat, Caracal, Striped Hyena, Golden Jackal, Chital, Sambhar, Blue Bull, Chinkara, Four Horned antelope.
• Flora of Sariska is found as Dhok tree, Salar, Kadaya, Dhak, Gol, Ber, Khair, Bargad, Arjun, Gugal and Bamboo etc.
• The topography of Sariska supports scrub-thorn arid forests, dry deciduous forests, rocks and grasses.
• The park is home to numerous carnivores including Leopard, Wild Dog, Jungle Cat, Civets Hyena, Jackal, and Tiger.

 THE PRELIMS PRACTICE QUESTIONS

QUESTIONS OF THE DAY 7TH FEB 2022

1. Which of the following pairs is/are correctly matched?

1. Satkosia Tiger reserve – Odisha
2. Valmiki Tiger reserve – West Bengal
3. Mukundara Hills Tiger reserve – Rajasthan

Select the correct answer using the code given below:

a) 1 only                         b) 2 and 3 only

c) 1 and 3 only              d) 1, 2 and 3

ANSWER FOR 5^TH FEB 2022

Answer: b)

Explanation:

• Statement 1 is correct: They found the semi-evergreen and mixed-deciduous forests of India
• and Bhutan.
• Statement 2 is correct: In India, they are found only in Assam.
• Statement 3 is correct: Conservation status – Endangered. Also, Schedule-I species under the Wildlife Protection Act of 1972.