UPSC Civils Daily Current Affairs 24th January 2022

Topics

Sri Ramanujacharya
Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose
India’s border management
The Inheritance of Daughters
UNESCO tag for root bridges

1.Sri Ramanujacharya

#GS 1: Personalities

Context:

On February 5, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will inaugurate the world’s second-largest statue (Statue of Equality) in Hyderabad.
The 216-foot-tall statue of Ramanujacharya, an 11th-century social reformer and saint, will be seated.

In depth information

What is the Equality Statue?

The world’s second tallest statue in a sitting position is built of ‘panchaloha,’ which is a five-metal alloy consisting of gold, copper, silver, brass, and zinc.
Sri Ramanujacharya’s inner sanctorum deity is made of 120 kg of gold. This marks the saint’s 120 years on this planet.

Sri Ramanujacharya’s bio:

In Tamil Nadu, he was born in 1017 CE.
In the Sri Vaishnavism ideology, he is the most revered Acharya.
He was also known as Ilaya Perumal, which translates to “the bright one.”
The Bhakti movement was influenced by his conceptual foundations for devotionalism.
He is best known as the founder of the Vishishtadvaita Vednta subschool.
In Sanskrit, he composed famous books such as bhsya on the Brahma Sutras and the Bhagavad Gita.

What is the meaning of Vishishtadvaita?

It is a non-dualistic Vedanta philosophy school. It is non-dualism of the qualified whole, in which Brahman is the only thing that exists, but which is marked by plurality.
Qualified monism, qualified nondualism, or attributive monism are all terms that might be used to define it.
It is a Vedanta philosophical school that claims that all variation is subsumed by an underlying unity.

2. Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose

#GS1-Personalities

Context

The government recently agreed to erect a large statue of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose at India Gate.
The event is being held to commemorate the legendary liberation warrior Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose’s 125th birthday.

In depth information

The granite statue will be an appropriate homage to Netaji’s enormous contribution to our freedom movement, as well as a symbol of the country’s gratitude to him.
A 4K projector with 30,000 lumens will power the holographic statue. The hologram statue has a height of 28 feet and a width of 6 feet.

Other efforts to pay tribute to him

Bose, Subhas Chandra Aapda Prabandhan Puraskars: To recognise and honour individuals and organisations in India who have made significant contributions and provided selfless service in the field of disaster management.
Every year on January 23rd, the prize is presented.
Creating a memorial to INA martyrs in Red Fort and in Nilganj, near Kolkata.
Biographies of Col. Dhillon and Gen. Shahnawaz Khan are being published, as well as INA images in the form of a graphic book and children’s Netaji comics.
Parakram Diwas: To mark Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose’s 125th birthday, the government announced January 23rd as Parakram Diwas.
Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose was honoured with commemorative coins and stamps.
Netaji at Red Fort, New Delhi, has a museum, which was unveiled by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2019.
Three islands in Andaman and Nicobar have been renamed by the Prime Minister.
The island of Ross was renamed Netaji. Havelock Island is known as SwarajDweep, while Subhas Chandra Bose Dweep is known as Subhas Chandra Bose Dweep.

Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose’s biography

He was born in Cuttack, Orissa, on January 23, 1897.
Janaki Nath Bose was a well-known lawyer, and Prabhavati Devi was a devout and religious woman.
From the time he was a child, he was a brilliant student.
Swami Vivekananda’s teachings had a profound influence on him as a student, and he was noted for his nationalistic zeal.
He was a stalwart who dedicated his life to ensuring that every Indian lives with dignity.
He was particularly well-known for his strong devotion to independence and socialist principles.
He was also noted for his organisational abilities and intellectual prowess.

Events in His Life in Chronological Order

1919: He went to London to take the Indian Civil Services (ICS) examination and was successful, but the Jallianwalla Bagh massacre greatly affected him, and he abandoned his Civil Services apprenticeship in the middle of his apprenticeship to return to India in 1921.
1921: Worked for Chittaranjan Das, a renowned Bengal politician.
He served as an editor for Das’ Forward newspaper before starting his own, Swaraj.
1923: Assumed the positions of President of the All India Youth Congress and Secretary of the Bengal State Congress.
In the mid-1930s, he travelled through Europe, researching and writing the first section of his book, The Indian Struggle, which covered the country’s independence campaign from 1920 to 1934.
1938: Upon his return, he was elected President of the Indian National Congress in Haripur, where he ran unopposed for Swaraj (self-governance).
He advocated for the use of force against the British, who were then opposed to Mahatma Gandhi and his ideas.
In Tripuri, he was re-elected as President of INC in 1939.
However, he resigned from the presidency soon after and founded the All India Forward Bloc, a Congress faction aiming at uniting the political left.
1942: Traveled to Japan and assumed command of the East Asian Indian Independence Movement. He acquired command of the Indian National Army, a trained army of around 40,000 troops in Japanese-occupied Southeast Asia, with Japanese assistance and influence (Azad Hind Fauj).
The INA was founded by Mohan Singh and Japanese Major Iwaichi Fujiwara and consisted of Indian prisoners of war seized by Japan during the Malayan (modern-day Malaysia) campaign and in Singapore.
The Azad Hind Government, which came to develop its currency, postal stamps, judiciary, and civil code, and was recognised by nine Axis governments, governed the INA troops.
1942: The Indian soldiers of the Azad Hind Fauj bestowed the title “Netaji” on him in Germany.
1945: In retaliation for the INA’s takeover of Manipur, Kohima, and Imphal, the British Indian Army slaughtered nearly half of the Japanese men as well as the whole INA contingent.
Bose fled to Manchuria in search of a better future in the Soviet Union.
“Give me blood, and I’ll give you freedom!” is a famous slogan.
“Jai Hind,” says the narrator.
In his speech from Singapore, he was the first to refer to Mahatma Gandhi as “Father of the Nation.”
Death: He is said to have died in a plane disaster in Taiwan in 1945. There are, however, a slew of conspiracy theories surrounding his demise.

3.India’s border management

#GS3-Security Forces, Agencies

Context

Recent events necessitate a comprehensive assessment of border management in order to ensure our borders’ all-weather security.

In depth information

What is it about India’s border administration that makes it so difficult?

Pakistan, China, Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh, and Myanmar all share a 15,106-kilometer land border with India.
In addition, we share a 3,323-kilometer Line of Control (LoC) with Pakistan, which includes the renamed 110-kilometer “Actual Ground Position Line” (AGPL) that divides the Siachen glacier region.
We have the 3,488-kilometer LAC with China to the east.
We have a 7,683-kilometer coastline and a 2 million-square-kilometer exclusive economic zone that we share with Sri Lanka, the Maldives, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Myanmar, and Indonesia (EEZ).
As a result, India’s task is more difficult than that of most other countries.

Border security is handled by a number of agencies.

The fact that, in addition to the army, we have various other security agencies — the Central Armed Police Force (CAPF) and the Paramilitary Forces (PMF) — sharing responsibility adds to the complexity.
The Border Security Force (BSF) guards the international border with Pakistan and Bangladesh while the army is posted along the LoC and AGPL.
The Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) and the Assam Rifles have been tasked with guarding the LAC.
The Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB) is in charge of guarding Nepal’s and Bhutan’s borders.
Our border with Myanmar is patrolled by the Assam Rifles.
In a nutshell, we have four organisations, in addition to the army, guarding our borders with six neighbours.
Maritime boundaries, on the other hand, are patrolled by a single organisation, the Coast Guard.

A review of border management is required.

Various groups lack a consistent policy on training, planning, and the execution of guarding missions.
Overall coordination suffers as a result.
On the western border, our adversary has frequently increased transgressions by employing considerable military resources.
Provocations by the Chinese along the LAC are military operations.
Clearly, the scenario in peacetime has become militarised.

a path forward

In this scenario, India requires a single security agency that is well-equipped, well-armed, and well-trained in modern military drills and sub-unit tactics to protect our borders.
Further, a certain percentage of manpower, including the officer cadre, should be pulled on deputation from the army to improve fighting efficiency.
This single security agency should be classified as a paramilitary force under the Ministry of Defence and operate under the army to achieve the appropriate training and operational standards.
Mergers:
The ITBP and SSB should be fully integrated into the new organisation; the BSF and CRPF, on the other hand, still have critical internal security responsibilities and can be partially merged.
The reorganised Assam Rifles should continue to perform counter-insurgency operations and serve as a reserve for regular army operations.
For border protection, most governments have developed specialised and committed armed forces.
Iran has a Border Guard Command, Italy has a Border Police Service, Russia has a Border Guard Service, and the United States has a Homeland Security Border Guard Service.
Most of these countries have placed these organisations under the leadership of the military forces, based on threat perception and to improve combat cohesion.

Conclusion

To deal with the changing difficulties, India should establish a single agency with sufficient resources and training.

4.The Inheritance of Daughters

#GS2-Judiciary & Cases Related to Women

Context

The Supreme Court recently ruled that daughters have equal rights to their father’s property even before the Hindu Succession Act (HSA) of 1956 was enacted.

The case involves a disagreement over the property of a person who died in 1949 and left behind an issueless daughter who died in 1967.

Previously, the trial court decided that because the individual died before the HSA, 1956 was enacted, the petitioner and her other sisters were not the heirs as of the date of his death and were not entitled to a share of the suit possessions. The appeal against the trial court was later denied by the High Court as well.

In depth information

Inheritance of Daughters:
It was decided that the property of a man who died without leaving a will and is survived only by a daughter would pass to the daughter and not to others like his brother.
The SC has already enlarged Hindu women’s rights to be coparceners (joint legal heirs) and inherit ancestral property on the same terms as male heirs earlier in 2020.
Judicial Pronouncements & Ancient Texts:
The Supreme Court cited ancient scriptures (smritis), commentaries by a number of eminent scholars, and even legal decisions that have recognised the rights of multiple female successors, the wives and daughters being the most prominent.
The Supreme Court considered Mitakshara law while tracing the origins of customary Hindu law on inheritance.
SC also looked into Vyavastha Chandrika, a digest of Hindu Law by Shyama Charan Sarkar Vidya Bhushan which quoted ‘Vrihaspati’ as saying ‘the wife is pronounced successor to the wealth of her husband, in her default, the daughter. As a son, so does the daughter of a man proceed from his several limbs.
The SC further pointed out that Manu is described in the Bible as saying, “A man’s son is equal to himself, and his daughter is equal to the son.” How, then, can anybody else inherit his property despite her survival, who is, in a sense, himself?”
Ancient Law:
A widow or daughter’s right to inherit self-acquired property or a share received in division of a coparcenary property of a Hindu man dying intestate is fully recognised not only under old customary Hindu Law, but also under modern Hindu Law.
If a male Hindu dies intestate, his property, whether self-earned or acquired through the partition of a coparcenary or a family property, devolves by inheritance rather than survivorship, and his daughter is entitled to receive such property in preference to other collaterals.”
Property After a Woman’s Death:
According to the court, if a female Hindu dies intestate without issue, the property she inherited from her father or mother will go to her father’s descendants, while the property she inherited from her husband or father-in-law will belong to the husband’s heirs.
If a female Hindu dies without leaving behind a husband or children, Section 15(1)(a) of the HSA 1956 takes effect, and the properties left behind, including those she inherited from her parents, pass to her spouse and children concurrently.

Women’s Land Rights in India

Related Information:
In India, property is mostly passed down to male heirs. Women lose agency, financial freedom, and the ability to start businesses as a result of this.
According to the National Family Health Survey-5, 43% of women said they owned a home or land alone or jointly, however there are still questions about women’s ability to access and control property.
In fact, according to a working paper published by the University of Manchester in 2020, only 16% of women in rural landowning households own land.
Property, which is considered as a key source of wealth in strong patriarchal mores and rural-agrarian contexts, is largely prone to be passed down to male heirs.
State Rules: Agricultural land inheritance regulations remain a quagmire, with conflicting federal and state laws.
Regressive inheritance restrictions exist in places like Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh (UP), and even Delhi.
In reality, Haryana has tried repeatedly to repeal the progressive rights granted to women by HSA1956, while married daughters in Uttar Pradesh have not been deemed primary heirs since 2016.
Ground-level Resistance:
In certain north Indian states, there is a lot of grassroots opposition to registering land for women. As a result, women’s empowerment and property rights are still unfinished business.

5.UNESCO tag for root bridges

#GS3- Conservation Biodiversity and Environment

Context

For the living root bridges of Meghalaya to be designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, the Zoological Survey of India (ZSI) has outlined some green guidelines.
For Meghalaya’s living root bridges to be designated as UNESCO World Heritage Sites, faunal variety and the preparation of health cards would be required.

In depth information

Single and double-decker live root bridges can be found in Meghalaya.
Jingkieng jri is the native name for such a bridge.
Humans are the ones who make them.
A living root bridge is created by guiding the pliable roots of the rubber fig tree (Ficus elastica) across a stream or river and allowing them to develop and strengthen over time, similar to a suspension bridge.
Although it takes 10 to 15 years for the Living Root bridge to take shape, it can last up to 500 years.
They are a representation of Meghalaya’s history.

Importance:

They can be used as a model for future botanical architecture initiatives in urban environments.
They are popular tourist destinations in Meghalaya and are home to a diverse range of flora and animals.
They are constantly changing and have the capacity to hold 50 or more people at once.
These are usually farmed by trained Khasi and Jaintia tribes along streams that run through the jungles.