Daily Prelims Notes 17 August 2023

Daily Prelims Notes

17 August 2023

Table Of Contents

1. Digital India expansion gets ₹14,903 crore outlay
2. Bihar caste based survey and legal challenges:
3. Ukraine grain depots hits by Russian drones
4. Explaining MoEFCC’s U-turn to merge autonomous bodies
5. Want to catch a supernova? There’s a new app for that
6. High in the Andes, Lake Titicaca’s water levels fall to historic lows
7. The importance of the Sulina Channel to Ukraine grain trade
8. HC bats for animals’ right to live without fear, orders relocation of 495 families near T.N. Tiger reserve
9. SC unveils handbook to eliminate gender stereotypes from law
10. Cracks on Jagannath Temple’s Nata Mandap raise concern
11. Centre and WHO to launch Global Initiative on Digital Health
12. PM-eBus Sewa approved by Cabinet
13. Significant drop in poverty as per National Multidimensional Poverty Index report

1. Digital India expansion gets ₹14,903 crore outlay

Subject: Schemes

Context: The Union Cabinet on August 16 approved a five-year extension and expansion of the Digital India programme, including an expansion of the Computer Emergency Response Team, India (CERT-in).

More about the news:

• Union Cabinet on Wednesday approved extension of the Digital India programme with an outlay of Rs 14,903 crore to boost digital initiatives in skilling, cyber security, high performance computing and simplifying technology for masses, among other areas.
• The five-year outlay will be starting from 2021-22 to 2025-26. Moreover, this outlay would be over the budget which has already been spent on the programme over the last two years.
• Under the programme, 6.25 lakh IT professionals will receive upskilling and re-skilling training, and 2.65 lakh employees will receive information security training.
• These funds will also be used to improve and modernize the National Knowledge Network (NKN), a high-speed broadband network that was established in 2010 to improve connectivity among educational and research institutions.
• The Unified Mobile Application for New-age Governance (UMANG) platform, which offers access to about 1,700 government services, will have 540 more services added to it,
• DigiLocker, the online repository operated by the government for official documents, will be expanded to serve Medium, Small and Micro Enterprises(MSMEs).
• The National Supercomputing Mission, which has deployed 18 supercomputers, will add nine more such machines
• Bhashini, the AI-enabled translation tool created with the support of Microsoft and OpenAI, will be rolled out in all of the 22 languages included in Schedule 8 of the Constitution. 

More about Digital India Programme:

• Digital India, a flagship programme of the government of India, aims to transform India into a digitally empowered society and knowledge economy.
• It was launched in July 2015.
• Programme Management Structure for Digital India Programme

• The programme management structure for Digital India consists of a Monitoring Committee on Digital India headed by the Prime Minister
• A Digital India Advisory Group chaired by the Minister of Communications & IT and an Apex Committee chaired by the Cabinet Secretary.
• The 9 Pillars of Digital India includes:

Some Digital India Initiatives:

• Aadhaar: Aadhaar provides 12 digit biometric and demographic based identity that is unique, lifelong, online and authenticable. Further to give statutory backing to Aadhaar ‘The Aadhaar (Targeted Delivery of Financial and Other Subsidies, Benefits and Services) Act, 2016’ was notified on 26th March 2016.
• Common Services Centres – CSCs are offering government and business services in digital mode in rural areas through Village Level Entrepreneurs (VLEs).
• DigiLocker: Digital Locker provides an ecosystem with a collection of repositories and gateways for issuers to upload the documents in the digital repositories. Digital
• Unified Mobile Application for New-age Governance (UMANG) – for providing government services to citizen through mobile..
• e-Sign: e-Sign service facilitates instant signing of forms/documents online by citizens in a legally acceptable form.
• MyGov – It is a citizen engagement platform that is developed to facilitate participatory governance.
• MeriPehchaan – National Single Sign-on (NSSO) platform called MeriPehchaan has been launched in July 2022 to facilitate / provide citizens ease of access to government portals.
• Digital Village: MeitY has also initiated the ’Digital Village Pilot Project” in October, 2018. 700 Gram Panchayats (GPs)/Village with atleast one Gram Panchayat/Village per District per State/UT are being covered under the project. The digital services being offered are Digital Health Services, Education Service, Financial Services, Skill Development, Solar panel powered street lights including Government to Citizens Services (G2C), Business to Citizen (B2C) Services.
• National Rollout of eDistrict MMP: e-District is a Mission Mode Project (MMP) that aims at electronic delivery of identified high volume citizen centric services at the district or sub-district level.

2. Bihar caste based survey and legal challenges:

Subject :Polity

Section: Constitution

Context:

• The Supreme Court is set to hear on August 18 a batch of petitions challenging the Patna High Court’s verdict upholding the Bihar government’s ongoing caste survey. 

More about the Caste Census news:

•  The Bihar government plans to compile data on each family digitally through a mobile application as part of the eight-level survey from the panchayat to the district level.
• The mobile app will have a set of questions in a format, mentioning place, caste, the number of people in a family, their profession, and annual income, among others.
• During the first phase of the caste survey the houses would be numbered and caste details would be sought.
• The second phase of the exercise involves compiling the economic status of the people.
• All composite information would be compiled in the app after scrutiny by senior officers.
• The process of caste survey monitoring will involve the additional district magistrate (DM)/ district welfare officer/ district statistics officer at the top, with the DM concerned being the final monitoring authority. The next level will comprise the sub-divisional officer followed by the circle officer, block development officer, municipal commissioner/ chief executive officer.
• The Panchayati Raj Institutions will be kept completely out of the process.

What are the legal angles involved:

• The population census is a Union subject under Article 246 of India Constitution.
• It is listed at serial number 69 of the seventh schedule of the constitution.
• Census is conducted under the provisions of the Census Act, 1948.
• The bill for this Act was piloted by Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, the then Home Minister of India.
• The information collected during the population Census is so confidential that it is not even accessible to the courts of law.
• The confidentiality is guaranteed by the Census Act, 1948. The law specifies penalties for both public and census officials for non-compliance or violation of any provision of the Act.
• The census recorded at the beginning of every decade does not record any caste data other than for those listed as schedule cast.

History of Caste Census:

• A population census was first carried out by the British colonial state in 1872.
• The 65-page census enumerated the populations of various castes, including Brahmins, Kshatriyas and Rajputs across several provinces.
• Caste populations were specifically counted based on their traditional occupations at the time.For instance, Hindus in the Madras province were counted in 17 sets, which included “priests, warriors, traders, agriculturists, shepherds and pastoral castes” among others.
• The last time comprehensive data on caste was collected was in the 1931 Census.

Why has it not been carried out since 1931:

• The categories of ‘Race, Caste or Tribe’ were replaced by the ‘Scheduled Tribe/ Scheduled Caste’.
• Subsequent reports and studies have attributed to the belief that “including caste data in census enumeration will perpetuate the caste system and deepen social divisions”.
• Recording of caste was abandoned after Indian Independence in 1947, to help smooth the growth of a secular state.

More about Socio-economic caste census (SECC)

• It is a study of the socio-economic status of rural and urban households and allows ranking of households based on predefined parameters.
• Census in Rural Areas has been conducted by the Department of Rural Development.
• Census in Urban areas is under the administrative jurisdiction of the Ministry of Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation.
• It was also the first paperless census in India conducted on hand-held electronic devices by the government in 640 districts.

3. Ukraine grain depots hits by Russian drones

Subject: IR

Section: Places in news

Context:

• Russian drones attacked a Ukrainian Danube river port and damaged grain silos and warehouses.

What is the issue:

• Grain silos and warehouses were hit during successive Russian drone attacks on one of the country’s Danube river ports located near the border with Romania,
• Ukraine has two main ports on the Danube – Reni and Izmail – which have become central to the country’s grain exports since Russia’s blockade of Ukraine’s Black Sea ports and Moscow’s recent withdrawal from a United Nations-backed agreement.
• Danube river ports have  become the main export route, with grain shipments sent on barges from Ukraine across the Danube to Romania and on to its Black Sea port of Constanta for onward shipment.

More about Danube Channel for Ukraine grain export:

• The Danube delta has provided Ukraine with an alternative passage for its grain after Russia withdrew from the Black Sea grain deal
• A key element in this ‘new’ trade pathway is the Sulina Channel, a 63 km long offshoot of the Danube River. It effectively connects significant Ukrainian river ports to the Black Sea, operating solely within Romania’s borders.
•  The Danube, the second longest river in Europe, has historically played a pivotal role in freight movement.
• As it reaches Tulcea, Romania, around 80 km from the sea, it fans out into the Danube delta, characterized by three main channels: Chilia, Sulina, and St George.
•  Among these, the Sulina Channel stands out as the most suitable for transporting cargo due to its dredged and widened condition.
•  Serving as a riverine ‘expressway,’ it’s vital for transporting goods from the interior to the Black Sea.
• Ukrainian grain-laden ships depart from Izmail and Reni, prominent Ukrainian ports along the mainstream (or Chilia Channel). Their route takes them to the Sulina port at the mouth of the Sulina Channel. From there, they navigate approximately 140 km south to reach Constanta, Romania’s largest seaport. At this juncture, cargo is transferred onto larger vessels, which carry it beyond the Black Sea into the Mediterranean via the Bosphorus straits. This route operates under the continuous surveillance and protection of NATO.

What was the Black Sea grain deal:

• The deal was agreed through UN and Turkish mediation.
• It established safe corridors along which Ukrainian ships can come in and out of three designated Black Sea ports in and around Odessa.
• Under the initiative, cargo ships were allowed to travel from and to three Ukrainian ports of Odessa, Chornomorsk and Pivdennyi (Yuzhny), after inspection that they weren’t carrying arms.
• The safe passage in the Black Sea was 310 nautical miles long and three nautical miles wide.
• A control center was established in Istanbul, staffed by U.N,Turkish, Russian and Ukrainian officials, to run and coordinate the process.
• Both sides also pledged not to attack ships on the way in or out

4. Explaining MoEFCC’s U-turn to merge autonomous bodies

Subject: Environment

Section: Conservation

Context:

• In June, the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change (MoEFCC) issued a notification quietly walking back on its move to establish integrated regional offices by merging offices of the Forest Survey of India (FSI), the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA), the Wildlife Crime Control Bureau (WCCB), and the Central Zoo Authority (CZA), and thus bring them under the Ministry.

Criticism of the merger:

• It would render the key environmental organisation ‘toothless’.
• For example, in the existing structure, the NTCA can oppose a forest clearance for an infrastructure project for diverting Tiger Reserve areas. The proposed merger would have rendered this difficult as the NTCA would have come under the Deputy Director General of Forests, who is in charge of the Integrated Regional Office and reports to the Ministry.
• The MoEFCC justified the merger for “ease of doing business” whereas the NTCA had opposed it, as it could lead to:
  • Administrative confusion,
  • Loss of independence,
  • Undue interference in decision making,
  • Loss of focus in discharging duties and responsibilities.

Rejection of the merger plan:

• The MoEFCC dropped the merger plan, likely owing to technical and administrative difficulties in merging the institutions in question.

Merger of Project Tiger and Project Elephant:

• Last month, the Indian government announced a plan to merge Project Tiger and Project Elephant.
• Tiger Reserves are recognised under the Wildlife Protection Act 1972 but Elephant Reserves are not.

About National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA):

• It is a statutory body under the Ministry of Environment, Forest, and Climate Change (MoEFCC).
• It was established in 2006 under Wildlife (Protection) Act 1972.
• The NTCA is the managing authority of Project Tiger and India’s Tiger Reserves.
• Objectives:
  • Providing statutory authority to Project Tiger so that compliance of its directives become legal.
  • Fostering accountability of Center-State in management of Tiger Reserves by providing a basis for MoU with States within the federal structure.
  • Providing for an oversight by Parliament.
  • Addressing livelihood interests of local people in areas surrounding Tiger Reserves.
• NTCA Members:
  • Minister in charge of MoEFCC (as Chairperson),
  • Minister of State in MoEFCC (as Vice-Chairperson),
  • three members of Parliament, the Secretary (MoEFCC), and other members.

Forest Survey of India (FSI):

• Founded in June 1981
• Headquartered at Dehradun in Uttarakhand
• FSI is the Government of India Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change organization which conducts forest surveys, studies and researches to periodically monitor the changing situations of land and forest resources and present the data for national planning, conservation and sustainable management of environmental protection as well as for the implementation of social forestry projects.
• Forest Survey of India is the successor of “Preinvestment Survey of Forest Resources” (PISFR), a project initiated in 1965 by the government of India with the sponsorship of Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).
  • In its report in 1976, the National Commission on Agriculture (NCA) recommended the creation of a National Forest Survey Organization for a regular, periodic and comprehensive forest resources survey of the country, leading to the creation of FSI in the same year.
• Publications:
  • FSI has biennial “The Indian State of Forest Reports” and area-specific reports on “The Reports on Inventory and Wood Consumption Studies”.

Wildlife Crime Control Bureau (WCCB):

• Wildlife Crime Control Bureau (WCCB) is a statutory body established by the Government of India under the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change to combat organized wildlife crime.
• The Wild Life (Protection) Amendment Act, 2006 provisions came into force on 6 June 2007. It became operational in the year 2008.
• It is a law enforcement agency.
• WCCB won the prestigious 2010 Clark R. Bavin Wildlife Law Enforcement Awards for its outstanding work on wildlife law enforcement in the country.
• UNEP has also awarded WCCB with Asia Environment Enforcement Award, 2018.
• WCCB is also partnering with United Nations University and CIESIN-Earth Institute at Columbia University through the Wildlife Enforcement Monitoring System Initiative.
• Motto: “Fighting Transboundary Environmental Crime”
• Headquarters: New Delhi

Central Zoo Authority (CZA):

• Founded in 1992
• Headquarters: New Delhi
• The Central Zoo Authority (CZA) is the body of the Government of India responsible for oversight of zoos.
• It is an affiliate member of the World Association of Zoos and Aquariums (WAZA).
• The CZA was formed to bring Indian zoos up to international standards.
• The Central Zoo Authority has been constituted under the section 38A of Wild Life (Protection) Act 1972.
• The Authority consists of a Chairman, ten members and a Member Secretary.
• The main objective of the authority is to complement the national effort in conservation of wild life. Standards and norms for housing, upkeep, health care and overall management of animals in zoos has been laid down under the Recognition of Zoo Rules, 1992.
• Every zoo in the country is required to obtain recognition from the Authority for its operation.
• Apart from the primary function of grant of recognition and release of financial assistance, the Central Zoo Authority also regulates the exchange of animals of endangered category Listed under Schedule-I and II of the Wildlife Protection Act among zoos.
  • Exchange of animals between Indian and foreign zoos is also approved by the Authority before the requisite clearances under EXIM Policy and the CITES permits are issued by the competent authority.

5. Want to catch a supernova? There’s a new app for that

Subject: Science and technology

Section: Space technology

Context:

• The compass and gyroscope sensors of a smartphone can precisely align the telescope, or binoculars, with the focus of one’s observation in the sky.
• The apps can further extend their low-light capabilities so that, once paired with a telescope, the phone turns into a veritable looking glass to the heavens.

Space-based Apps:

• The Google Sky Map is described as “a hand-held planetarium for your Android device” and can locate and identify stars, planets, and nebulae (enormous clouds of gas and dust in interstellar space) in seconds.
• NASA’s free smartphone app helps in finding the way around the sky, providing images, videos, and exclusive updates on current and scheduled space missions.

A new App- ZARTH:

• A team of researchers led by Ashish Mahabal, an astronomer and the lead computational and data scientist at the Center for Data Driven Discovery, California Institute of Technology, has developed an app that allows anyone with a smartphone to ‘hunt’ for transients (Space related phenomenon and events typically lasting fractions of a second to days or even years).
• The app uses the open-source Sky Map and adds data daily from the Zwicky Transient Facility (ZTF)’s robotic telescope at the Palomar Observatory in California.
• Palomar is also home to one of the oldest, largest, and most powerful telescopes in the world: the 200-inch Hale reflector.
• The ZTF scans the entire northern sky every two days and uses the data to make large area sky maps that have important applications in tracking near-earth asteroids and studying supernovae.
• The new app, called ZARTH, short for ‘ZTF Augmented Reality Transient Hunter’, is built along the lines of the augmented reality mobile game Pokemon Go.
• Its USP is that it allows the user to do serious science while playing a game.
• Students from the Indian Institutes of Technology at Mandi and Gandhinagar were also involved in developing ZARTH.
• This new app is inspired by the game Pokemon Go.
• In the ZARTH app, users have to ‘catch’ a transient, and once they catch it, the app shows more details about it.
• ZARTH ranks transients by their rarity and importance.

Significance:

• The game (or App) can be introduced in the classroom courses
• Encouraging students to pursue STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths) studies.
• Detection of rare and new astronomical events.

Terms:

• Supernovae: A supernova is the explosion of a star. It is the largest explosion that takes place in space.
  • A supernova occurs during the last evolutionary stages of a massive star or when a white dwarf is triggered into runaway nuclear fusion.
• Black Hole: A black hole is a region of spacetime where gravity is so strong that nothing, including light or other electromagnetic waves, has enough energy to escape it.
  • Black hole is the incredibly dense debris of dead stars.
• Hale Telescope: The Hale Telescope is a 200-inch (5.1 m), f/3.3 reflecting telescope at the Palomar Observatory in San Diego County, California, US, named after astronomer George Ellery Hale.
  • The Hale was groundbreaking for its time, with double the diameter of the second-largest telescope, and pioneered many new technologies in telescope mount design and in the design and fabrication of its large aluminum coated “honeycomb” low thermal expansion Pyrex mirror.
  • It was completed in 1949 and is still in active use.

6. High in the Andes, Lake Titicaca’s water levels fall to historic lows

Subject: IR

Section: Places in news

Context:

• The waters of Lake Titicaca are within 10 inches (25 centimeters) of their all-time low, a record set in 1996.

Details:

• At its highest point in 1986, water levels reached 12 feet higher than they are today, topping out at 12,504.2 feet (3,811 meters) above sea level. But in 1996, they had fallen to 12,491.4 feet above sea level.
• Falling water levels are “the result of climate change” and the outlook is not good.
• El-Nino and La-Nina events have a major impact on the water level of lake Titicaca.

Lake Titicaca:

• Lake Titicaca is a large freshwater lake in the Andes mountains on the border of Bolivia and Peru.
• It is often called the highest navigable lake in the world. By both volume of water and by surface area, it is the largest lake in South America.
• It is the highest of the world’s large lakes and is one of the largest in South America, after Venezuela’s Lake Maracaibo (which is actually connected to the Caribbean Sea) and Brazil’s Lagoa dos Patos, a coastal lagoon.
• The lake is located at the northern end of the endorheic Altiplano basin high in the Andes on the border of Peru and Bolivia.
• The western part of the lake lies within the Puno Region of Peru, and the eastern side is located in the Bolivian La Paz Department.
• Five major river systems feed into Lake Titicaca. In order of their relative flow volumes these are Ramis, Coata, Ilave, Huancané, and Suchez.
• More than 20 other smaller streams empty into Titicaca.
• The lake has 41 islands, some of which are densely populated.

Other important lakes:

Andes mountain Range:

• The Andes Mountains or Andean Mountain Range are the longest continental mountain range in the world, forming a continuous highland along the western edge of South America.
• The range is 8,900 km (5,530 mi) long, 200 to 700 km (124 to 435 mi) wide (widest between 18°S – 20°S latitude), and has an average height of about 4,000 m (13,123 ft).
• The Andes extend from north to south through seven South American countries: Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, Chile and Argentina.
• Geology:
  • The Andes are a Mesozoic–Tertiary orogenic belt of mountains along the Pacific Ring of Fire, a zone of volcanic activity that encompasses the Pacific rim of the Americas as well as the Asia-Pacific region.
  • The Andes are the result of tectonic plate processes, caused by the subduction of oceanic crust beneath the South American Plate as the Nazca Plate and South American Plate converge.

7. The importance of the Sulina Channel to Ukraine grain trade

Subject: IR

Section: Places in news

Context:

• Russia, in overnight drone strikes targeted ports and grain storage facilities along the Danube river in Ukraine.

Details:

• The Danube delta has provided Ukraine with an alternative passage for its grain after Russia withdrew from the Black Sea grain deal last month.
• The deal, brokered by the UN and Turkey, used to provide safe passage for cargo ships carrying grain from Ukrainian Black Sea ports of Odessa, Chornomorsk and Pivdennyi.

Sulina Channel:

• The ‘new’ trade route is the Sulina Channel – a 63 km long distributary of the Danube, connecting major Ukrainian ports on the river to the Black Sea, lying completely within the borders of Romania, a NATO member.
• Near Tulcea, Romania, some 80 km from the sea, the river Denube begins to spread out into its delta which has three major channels – Chilia, Sulina and St George.
• Of these, the Sulina Channel is the only one deep and wide enough for freight transport.
• This makes it crucial for transport of goods from inland to the Black Sea.
• Ships carrying grain from Ukraine leave from Ukrainian ports such as Izmail and Reni on the mainstream (or the Chilia Channel), and head to the port of Sulina, at the mouth of the Sulina Channel.
• From there, they head around 140 km south to Constanta, Romania’s biggest seaport.
• Here the cargo is transferred to bigger ships that carry it out of the Black Sea into the Mediterranean through the Bosphorus straits.
• This route is under constant surveillance and protection of NATO.

8. HC bats for animals’ right to live without fear, orders relocation of 495 families near T.N. Tiger reserve

Subject: Environment

Section: Protected Area in news

Context:

• Highlighting the right of animals to live free from fear and distress, the Madras High Court has ordered relocation of 495 families of Thengumarahada village, situated within the eastern boundary of the Mudumalai Tiger Reserve, on payment of ₹15 lakh each in compensation.

Details:

• The compensation will be released from the Compensatory Afforestation Fund Management and Planning Authority (CAMPA) funds to the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA).
• The NTCA was directed to transfer the amount to the Tamil Nadu Principal Chief Conservator of Forests (PCCF) within two months. After receiving the amount, the PCCF must disburse the compensation and relocate the villagers within a month.

Thengumarahada village:

• Thengumarahada was formed through State action after the issuance of a Government Order on August 5, 1948 for leasing out 100 acres to Thengumarahada Vivasaya Corproation (now Thengumarahada Cooperative Society) for farming.
• In 1961, the extent was increased to 500 acres.
• This human settlement in the forest area was leading to man-animal conflict as the village was located at the confluence of the rich biodiversity regions of the Eastern Ghats and the Western Ghats and was serving as a corridor for most of the long-ranging wild animals.
• It blocks the crucial migratory routes of elephants in the Mudumalai- Sathyamangalam landscape.
• Thengumarahada area and the adjoining landscape is one of the rare places in India where healthy breeding populations of tiger, elephant, leopard, sloth bear, wild dog, hyena, black buck, four horned antelope, barking deer, mouse deer and sambar are found together.
• The place is also home to many reptiles like star tortoise, rock python, russell’s viper, saw scaled viper, cobra and common krait to name a few.

Compensatory Afforestation Fund:

• The CAF Act was passed by the centre in 2016 and the related rules were notified in 2018.
• The CAF Act was enacted to manage the funds collected for compensatory afforestation which till then was managed by ad hoc Compensatory Afforestation Fund Management and Planning Authority (CAMPA).
  • Compensatory afforestation means that every time forest land is diverted for non-forest purposes such as mining or industry, the user agency pays for planting forests over an equal area of non-forest land, or when such land is not available, twice the area of degraded forest land.
• As per the rules, 90% of the CAF money is to be given to the states while 10% is to be retained by the Centre.
• The funds can be used for treatment of catchment areas, assisted natural generation, forest management, wildlife protection and management, relocation of villages from protected areas, managing human-wildlife conflicts, training and awareness generation, supply of wood saving devices and allied activities.

Objectives of CAMPA:

• Compensatory Afforestation Fund Management and Planning Authority (CAMPA) are meant to promote afforestation and regeneration activities as a way of compensating for forest land diverted to non-forest uses.
• National CAMPA Advisory Council has been established as per orders of The Hon’ble Supreme Court with the following mandate:
  • Lay down broad guidelines for State CAMPA.
  • Facilitate scientific, technological and other assistance that may be required by State CAMPA.
  • Make recommendations to State CAMPA based on a review of their plans and programmes.
  • Provide a mechanism to State CAMPA to resolve issues of an inter-state or Centre-State character.

Mudumalai Tiger Reserve:

• Mudumalai National Park is a national park in the Nilgiri Mountains in Tamil Nadu, south India.
• It shares boundaries with the states of Karnataka and Kerala.
• It was declared a tiger reserve in 2007.
• It is a part of Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve (1st Biosphere Reserve in India) along with Wayanad Wildlife Sanctuary (Kerala) in the West, Bandipur National Park (Karnataka) in the North, Mukurthi National Park and Silent Valley in the South.
• It is bordered in the north by Bandipur National Park, in the east by Sigur Reserve Forest and in the west by Wayanad Wildlife Sanctuary. In the south, it is bordered by Singara Reserve Forest.
• The Moyar River and its tributaries drain this area, and several artificial waterholes provide drinking water for wildlife during dry seasons.
• The river Moyar, which flows along the Tamil Nadu-Karnataka border, divides the two states. The Park is bisected by the Mysore-Ooty highway, which follows the direction of the Moyar River, which divides Mudumalai and Bandipur.
• Flagship Species: Tiger and Asian Elephant.
• The Reserve has tall grasses, commonly referred to as ‘Elephant Grass’.
• Tropical Evergreen Forest, Moist Mixed Deciduous Forest, Moist Teak Forest, Dry Teak Forest, Secondary Grasslands, Shrubs, and Swamps are among the habitats found here.

9. SC unveils handbook to eliminate gender stereotypes from law

Subject: Polity

Section: Constitution

Context:

The 30-page Handbook on Combating Gender Stereotypes aims to free the judiciary and the legal community from the mechanical application of gender stereotypical language in judgments, orders, and court pleadings.

Handbook on Combating Gender Stereotypes 

• The handbook’s purpose is to assist judges and legal practitioners in recognizing and addressing gender stereotypes about women.
• Focuses on identifying and rectifying common stereotypical language often found in judicial discourse.
• Released by Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud.

Examples of Stereotypical Language in Judgements

• Points out the 2017 Supreme Court case where the word “ravished” was used instead of “raped.”
• Cites a Kerala High Court judgment that characterized a 24-year-old woman as “weak and vulnerable.”

Highlighted Stereotypical Language and Alternatives

• Lists phrases considered stereotypical and offer alternative language suggestions.
• “Concubine/keep” is suggested to be replaced with “woman with whom a man has had romantic or sexual relations outside of marriage.”
• Proposes using gender-neutral terms like “compassionate or enthusiastic” instead of describing a woman’s emotional state as “hormonal.”

Significance of Using Appropriate Language for Judges

• Argues that a judge’s language reflects their interpretation of the law and societal perceptions.
• Highlights how stereotypes in language can contradict constitutional principles and influence public perception.
• Emphasizes that language is a crucial vehicle for conveying legal values and intentions to society.

International Efforts and Similar Projects

• Notes the Women’s Court of Canada, a collective writing “shadow judgments” on equality law.
• Refers to the Indian Feminist Judgement Project, which critiques and “rewrites” judgments from a feminist perspective.

Constitutional Provisions for Women in our Constitution

10. Cracks on Jagannath Temple’s Nata Mandap raise concern

Subject: History

Section: Art and culture

Context:

An Amicus Curiae appointed by the Orissa High Court has found evidence of wear and tear in the structures of the Shree Jagannath Temple in Puri, an Archaeological Survey of India–protected monument. The structure dates back to the 12th Century.

Concern Over Cracks

• Cracks on beam in Nata Mandap (dancing hall) of Shree Jagannath Temple complex.
• ASI informed the temple administration about repair work completion in Jagamohana and Nata Mandap.

Shree Jagannath Temple of Puri: Historical Significance and Architecture

Construction and Dynasty

• Rebuilt from the 10th century onwards, replacing earlier temples.
• The present temple was built in the 12th century by King Anatavarman Chodaganga Deva of the Eastern Ganga Dynasty.

Religious Significance

• Dedicated to Lord Jagannath, a form of Vishnu.
• Known as ‘Yamanika Tirtha,’ nullifying the power of Yama (god of death) due to Lord Jagannath’s presence.

Part of Char Dham

• Referred to as the “White Pagoda.” (by European traders)
• Integral to Char Dham pilgrimages: Badrinath, Dwaraka, Puri, Rameswaram.

Temple Gates

• Four gates:
  • Eastern ‘Singhdwara,’
  • Southern ‘Ashwadwara,’
  • Western ‘Vyaghra Dwara,’
  • Northern ‘Hastidwara.’
• Each gate is adorned with a carving representing a specific form.

Aruna Stambha

• The Sun pillar is located in front of the entrance.
• Originally from Sun Temple in Konark.

Ratha Yatra

• Famous Annual Chariot Festival.
• Coined the term “Juggernaut” in English.

Unique Image of Jagannath

• Unlike other Hindu temples, Jagannath’s image is wooden.
• Replaced ceremoniously every twelve or nineteen years with an exact replica.

Architectural Style

Kalinga architectural style.

• Pancharatha type with two anurathas, two konakas, and one ratha.
• Distinctive Gajasimhas (elephant lions) and Jhampasimhas (Jumping lions) carvings.

Nagara-rekha Design

• Evolved from perfect Pancha Ratha to Nagara-rekha temple style.

Integrated Chambers

• Unique design: Jagamohana, Bhogamandapa, and Natyamandapa were built with the main temple.
• Miniature shrines surround the main temple.

The temples in Odisha are categorized based on distinct architectural features into three types:

1. Rekhapedia/Rekha Deula/Rathaka Deuala:

• Characterized by a tall, straight structure resembling a sugar loaf.
• Completely surrounds the inner sanctum (garbhagriha).

2. Pidha Duela:
   • Features a square structure with a pyramid-shaped top.
   • Used for housing dance and offering halls on the exterior.
3. Khakra Duela:
   • Exhibits a rectangular structure with a truncated, pyramid-shaped roof.
   • Often used for temples dedicated to female deities, resembling South Indian Dravidian temples.

11. Centre and WHO to launch Global Initiative on Digital Health

Subject: IR

Section: International Organisation

Context:

India in collaboration with the World Health Organization (WHO) will launch the Global Initiative on Digital Health on August 19 as part of the ongoing G-20 summit in Gandhinagar, Gujarat.

Global Initiative on Digital Health (GIDH)

WHO-managed network of stakeholders organized to facilitate the implementation of the Global Strategy on Digital Health 2020–2025.

Key Points of the Initiative

• Aims to focus on data convergence, health platform interface, and global investments in digital health.
• A digital platform to include an investment tracker, ask tracker, and library of existing digital health platforms.
• Innovations to enhance universal health convergence and healthcare service delivery.
• Funding support from global partners was secured for the initiative.
• Emphasis on data security with India’s citizen-centric data ownership policy.

Medical Countermeasure and Other Efforts

• Summit working on interim Medical Countermeasures (MCM) for health emergencies, led by India and WHO.
• Climate and Health Initiative (CHI) was set up in collaboration with the Asian Development Bank discussed.
• Patient and healthcare workforce mobility portal launch in progress.

Traditional Medicine Global Summit

• WHO convenes traditional medicine global summit co-hosted by the Ministry of Ayush at Gandhinagar, Gujarat.
• Explores traditional complementary medicine’s role in addressing health challenges and sustainable development.

GIDH: A Network of Networks

It addresses challenges like duplication of efforts and product-focused digital health transformation through four key pillars:

1. Country Needs Tracker: Informs digital health investments based on country priorities.
2. Country Resource Portal: Identifies traditional and innovative resource opportunities, enhancing transparency and reducing duplication risk. Enables standards-based analysis of resourcing gaps.
3. Transformation Toolbox: Advocates for quality-assured tools and resources, empowering countries to manage national digital health transformation.
4. Convening and Knowledge Exchange: Promotes collaboration and knowledge sharing across global, regional, and national digital health networks.

12. PM-eBus Sewa approved by Cabinet

Subject: Schemes

In News: Cabinet approves “PM-eBus Sewa” for augmenting city bus operations; priority to cities having no organized bus service

Key Points:

• The e-bus scheme is meant to augment city bus operations, and will prioritise cities having no organised bus service.
• Around 10,000 e-Buses to be deployed on PPP model in 169 cities; Infrastructure to be upgraded in 181 cities under Green Urban Mobility Initiatives (GUMI).
• Total estimated cost of the scheme to be around Rs.57,613 crore out of which support of Rs.20,000 crore will be provided by the Central government. The Scheme will support bus operations for 10 years.
• The service is expected to achieve direct employment generation of over 45,000.
• The scheme is different from the one that is rolled out by the government-owned company, Convergence Energy Services Ltd (CESL), the e-mobility subsidiary of Energy Efficiency Services Ltd (EESL).
• India-US had announced a joint plan to create a $150 million payment security fund and payment security mechanism that will facilitate the deployment of 10,000 made-in-India electric buses in India.
• Boost to E-Mobility:
  • The scheme will promote e-mobility and provide full support for behind-the-meter power infrastructure.
  • Cities will also be supported for development of charging infrastructure under Green Urban Mobility Initiatives.
  • The support to bus priority infrastructure shall not only accelerate the proliferation of state-of-the-art, energy efficient electric buses but also foster the innovation in the e-mobility sector as well as development of a resilient supply chain for electric vehicles.
  • This scheme shall also bring in economies of scale for procurement of electric buses through aggregation for e-buses.
  • Adoption to Electric mobility will reduce noise and air pollution and curb carbon emission.
  • Modal shift due to increased share of bus-based public transportation will lead to GHG reduction.

The Scheme has two segments:

• Segment A – Augmenting the City bus services:(169 cities):
  • The approved bus scheme will augment city bus operations with 10,000 e-buses on Public Private Partnership (PPP) model.
  • Associated Infrastructure will provide support for Development/ up-gradation of depot infrastructure; and Creation of behind-the-meter power infrastructure (substation, etc.) for e-buses.
• Segment B– Green Urban Mobility Initiatives (GUMI): (181 cities):
  • The scheme envisages green initiatives like bus priority, infrastructure, multimodal interchange facilities, National Common Mobility Card (NCMC)-based Automated Fare Collection Systems, Charging infrastructure, etc.
  • Support for Operation: Under the scheme, States/Cities shall be responsible for running the bus services and making payments to the bus operators.  The Central Government will support these bus operations by providing subsidy to the extent specified in the proposed scheme.

13. Significant drop in poverty as per National Multidimensional Poverty Index report

Subject: Economy

Section: Indices and Reports

In News: 13.5-crore people came out of poverty from 2015- 2019 as per the second National Multidimensional Poverty Index report.

Key Points:

• The 2nd National Multidimensional Poverty Index report, published by Niti Aayog notes significant drop in poverty. The first such report was published in 2021.
• The 2023 edition of the index uses data from the latest round of the National Family Health Survey (2019-21), and captures changes in multidimensional poverty between the survey periods of NFHS-4 (2015-16) and NFHS-5 (2019-21).
• The poverty headcount ratio, that is, the proportion of multi-dimensionally poor in the country, fell from around 25% to just under 15% between the two rounds of NFHS. In absolute terms, this implies that 135 million (or 13.5 crore) Indians escaped multidimensional poverty in this period.
• It must be noted that this is a multidimensional poverty index and, as such, is not comparable to India’s traditional and official way of estimating poverty.
• Poverty has traditionally been estimated using a monetary measure. The idea has been to arrive at an amount of money that is considered necessary to either eat a subsistence diet or to achieve a minimum standard of living.
• Since data on income was difficult to collect, India used regular (five-yearly) consumption expenditure surveys (which showed how much people were spending on consumption).
• Based on this data, several expert committees — led by D T Lakdawala (1993), Suresh Tendulkar (2009), and C Rangarajan (2014) — drew a “poverty line”. The line is the level of consumption expenditure (stated in rupees) that divides those who are poor from those who are not.
• India’s last official poverty statistics are from 2011. The data have not been updated because the government junked the consumption expenditure survey of 2017-18. That survey showed a decline in rural consumption and, as such, pointed to an increase in abject poverty.
• Several economists have tried to work around the absence of consumption data — by using NFHS data or data from the think tank Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE) and provided estimates of poverty.