Book on Chipko Movement wins Kamaladevi Chattopadhyay NIF Book Prize (GS Paper 1, History)
Why in news?
- The Kamaladevi Chattopadhyay NIF Book Prize 2022 has been awarded to ‘The Chipko Movement: A People’s Movement’ by historian and activist Shekhar Pathak, translated from Hindi by Manisha Chaudhry.
About Shekhar Pathak:
- Historian and Padma Shri-awardee Shekhar Pathak has lived in the Himalayan region for years and conducted extensive research into the Chipko Movement, engaging with local communities and leaders.
- He established the People’s Association for Himalaya Area Research (PAHAR) in 1983 and also penned Asia ki Peeth Per (On Asia’s Back), a biography of the Himalayan explorer Pandit Nain Singh Rawat, along with Uma Bhatt.
Chipko movement:
- The 1973 Chipko movement is regarded as the harbinger of modern environmentalism in India.
- A non-violent protest, the movement curbed the felling of trees and spurred debate about Indian forest policy, sustainable development, and the need for ecological balance between forests and local communities.
- While several works have focused on Chandi Prasad Bhatt and Sunderlal Bahugana, the movement’s major leaders, the book covers the ordinary people of the movement, such as Gaura Devi, and shows that it was “diverse in leadership and ideology and was never a singular Gandhian movement”.
Kamaladevi Chattopadhyay NIF Book Prize 2022:
- The award, now in its fifth edition, is given for non-fiction on contemporary India by writers of any nationality, and carries a cash award of 15 lakhs, a trophy and a citation.
- The Kamaladevi NIF Book Prize was named for Kamaladevi Chattopadhyay, an eminent freedom fighter who also championed the cause of women’s rights, refugee rehabilitation and local handicrafts.
- In 2021, the prize went to Dinyar Patel for the biography ‘Naoroji: Pioneer of Indian Nationalism’.
All-women bench to hear matters in Supreme Court
(GS Paper 2, Judiciary)
Why in news?
- Recently, the Chief Justice of India has constituted an all-women bench comprising Justices Hima Kohli and Bela M. Trivedi to hear transfer petitions involving matrimonial disputes and bail matters.
Details:
- The two-judge bench is currently sitting in Court number 11 of the top court.
- The bench has 32 matters listed before it, starting with 10 transfer petitions involving matrimonial disputes and followed by 10 bail matters.
- This is the third occasion in the history of the apex court that an all-women bench has been constituted.
Background:
- The first all-women bench was set up in 2013 when a bench of Justices Gyan Sudha Misra and Ranjana Prakash Desai was constituted followed by a bench of Justices R. Banumathi and Indira Banerjee in 2018.
Current women judges in SC:
- There are three women judges in the top court at present including Justice Kohli, B.V. Nagarathna, and Justice Trivedi.
- Justice Nagarathna is also set to become first woman Chief Justice in 2027.
- The apex court currently has a strength of 27 judges including the CJI, against a sanctioned strength of 34.
Digi Yatra for Three Airports launched
(GS Paper 3, Infrastructure)
Why in news?
- Recently, the Union Minister for Civil Aviation launched Digi Yatra from the Indira Gandhi International Airport, New Delhi for three airports in the country, namely New Delhi, Varanasi and Bengaluru.
- Digi Yatra is conceived to achieve contactless, seamless processing of passengers at airports based on Facial Recognition Technology (FRT).
What is the DigiYatra scheme?
- DigiYatra is a biometric-based digital processing of passengers at airports.
- Passengers will be automatically processed based on a facial recognition system at checkpoints, including entry point check, security check, aircraft boarding.
- It also facilitates self-bag drop and check-in using facial recognition to identify passengers and data recall.
- DigiYatra facilitate paperless travel and avoids identity check at multiple points.
- DigiYatra has a centralised registration system for passengers.
Key Highlights:
- To use this facility, one-time registration on Digi Yatra app is required using Aadhar based validation and a self-image capture. The project has tremendous advantages of improving passenger convenience and ease of travel.
- Keeping in mind the privacy, there is no central storage of Personally Identifiable Information (PII).
- Passenger’s ID and travel credentials are stored in a secure wallet in the passenger’s smartphone itself. The uploaded data will utilise blockchain technology and all the data will be purged from the servers within 24 hours of use.
Phase I:
- Digi Yatra in the first phase, will be launched at 7 airports.
- However, it has been initially launched at 3 airports i.e., Delhi, Bengaluru and Varanasi, to be followed by 4 airports namely Hyderabad, Kolkata, Pune, and Vijayawada by March 2023. Later it would be implemented across various airports in the country.
- The service is presently being launched for domestic flights passengers only. Digi Yatra App is available on both IoS and android. It is voluntary is nature.
About DigiYatra:
- Digi Yatra Foundation, a not-for-profit company, is the nodal body for DigiYatra.
- The foundation’s shareholders are Airport Authority of India (AAI), Cochin International Airport Ltd (CIAL), Bangalore International Airport Ltd (BIAL), Delhi International Airport Ltd (DIAL), Hyderabad International Airport Ltd (HIAL) and Mumbai International Airport Ltd (MIAL).
Way Forward:
- With Digi Yatra, India is setting a new global benchmark for a seamless, hassle free and health risk free process at airports.
