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Pointing out that the biggest injustice to any student is to be judged on the basis of language rather than capability, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said “education in mother tongue” is “initiating a new form of justice for students in India” and is “a significant step towards social justice”.
Addressing a gathering at the inauguration of AkhilBhartiyaShikshaSamagam at Bharat Mandapam in New Delhi, the Prime Minister underlined that many developed nations, in fact, have an edge owing to their local languages. Citing the example of Europe, Modi said most countries make use of their own mative languages.
But in India, despite an array of distinguished languages, they were presented as a sign of backwardness, and those who could not speak English were neglected and their talents were not recognised, “As a result, the children of the rural areas remained most affected.”
But the country, he said, has now begun to shun this belief. “Even at the UN, I speak in the Indian language. Modi also released education and skill curriculum books translated into 12 Indian languages at the event, which also marked the third anniversary of the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020.
When students are confident in a language, their skills and talent will emerge without any restrictions, adding, “Those who try to politicise language for their own selfish interests will now have to shut their shops.”
He urged students present at the gathering to be free from the “mentality of slavery” and remain eager for innovations during the next 25 years of AmritKaal.
MP leads the pack as tiger population surges (Page no. 3)
(GS Paper 3, Environment)
Implementation of “tiger governance”, wildlife management and use of technology helped Madhya Pradesh retain its position as the state with the most tigers as the number of big cats in India saw a 24% increase between 2018 and 2022.
While the country now has 3,682 tigers, 785 are in MP, which saw an almost 50% rise in tiger numbers, according to the latest government data released on International Tiger Day.
Union Minister for Environment, Forest and Climate Change Bhupender Yadav said India now “harbours approximately 75% global wild tiger population, which is reflective of our conservation initiatives thoroughly supported by a robust scientific approach”.
According to the report titled ‘Status of Tigers, Co-predators and Prey in India 2022’, MP is followed by Karnataka (563), Uttarakhand (560) and Maharashtra (444).
Dr Rajesh Gopal, secretary general of the Global Tiger Forum and a former IFS officer who served in Madhya Pradesh at Bandhavgarh and Kanha tiger reserve.
Madhya Pradesh has an excellent track record which points to the kind of tiger governance that they have put in place.
Elaborating on “tiger governance”, the state has worked on deploying efficient officers, adequate staff and creating a buffer at core areas.
There is also the support they are giving to the voluntary relocation of communities in these reserves, and linking them up with other schemes so they get a fair deal.
They have brought in some practices which are worth emulating in other states. The second part is management at the frontline.
For example, at Kanha, you have at least 50 prey animals per sq km; that kind of high density you will have nowhere (else) in the world.
Govt. & Politics
Centre’s bill dilutes autonomy of IIMs President is visitor (Page no. 8)
(GS Paper 2, Governance)
In a move that could potentially curb the autonomy granted to 20 Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs) in 2017, the Centre introduced an amendment to the IIM Act in the Parliament, proposing to make the President the Visitor of all B-schools.
The amendment, if comes effect, will strip the IIM Board of the power to select and appoint chairpersons and directors to the institutes. Under the amendments, the Visitor will have the power to appoint the Chairperson to the Board of Governors of the institute, and nominate an individual to the search-cum-selection committee for the positions of Director, giving the government a say in these crucial calls.
The Visitor will also have the power to appoint the Chairperson to the Coordination Forum of the institute, as per the Bill.
The Visitor would also be empowered to set up an inquiry against the institute in case of suspected irregularities, and remove the institute’s director, besides allowing the central government to “constitute an interim Board in case of suspension or dissolution of the said Board of Governors.”
While the central government does not have any power at present to order the IIMs on any matter, the amendments make it so that any directive from the Ministry of Education would have to be implemented by the institute.
Odisha’s big cat numbers falling: 45 tigers counted in 2006, only 20 remains now; one reserve left with none (Page no. 8)
(GS Paper 3, Environment)
The tiger census figures released Saturday have triggered an alarm in Odisha — more than half the tigers the state had in 2006 have vanished, with one of the two notified tiger reserves left with none.
While experts believe rampant poaching as a main reason for the sharp decline in the number of big cats, some officials have raised questions on the methodology of counting the tigers.
Convinced there are more tigers than recorded in the census, the state government will conduct its own survey later this year.
The All India Tiger Estimation -2022 was released by Union MoS for Forest, Environment and Climate Change Ashwini Kumar Choubey in Uttarakhand on the occasion of International Tiger Day.
It shows that the number of tigers in India has increased from 2,967 in 2018 to 3,682 in 2022, an annual rise of 6%. Madhya Pradesh has the most number (785) of tigers, followed by Karnataka (563), Uttarakhand (560), and Maharashtra (444).
Bucking the trend, Odisha has 20 tigers, down from 28 in 2018, and a 55% fall since 2006, when the state had 45 tigers.
The only positive blip tiger numbers in the past 16 years was in 2010, when the census recorded 32 tigers in Odisha.
What’s added to the alarm now is that there are no tigers left in the Satkosia Tiger Reserve, which had just one tiger in 2018. Though, at the only other reserve, Similipal Tiger Reserve, the number has doubled from 8 in 2018 to 16 in 2022.
Opinion
Manipur Burns, Government Fiddles(Page no. 11)
(GS Paper 2, Governance)
I hold the view that if normal people of average intelligence behave as if they have lost their senses, it is because there is a method in their madness. Nothing illustrates this better than the conduct of the government of India while the state of Manipur burns.
The BJP holds the reins of government in Delhi and in Imphal, the capital of Manipur. There are channels of communication within the party. There are administrative channels of communication from the governor and the Intelligence Bureau to civil society organisations and the media.
What is happening in Manipur is not the occasional brawl; it is not opportunistic crime; it is not random incidents of murder or rape; it is not plunder and loot for gain. It is — let us not mince words — the beginning of ethnic cleansing.
The dreaded phrase has come to haunt India. ‘Ethnic cleansing’ has been defined as the attempt to get rid (through deportation, displacement or even mass killing) members of an unwanted ethnic group in order to establish an ethnically homogeneous geographic area (history.com editors).
Historians cite examples of the massacre of Armenians during World War I and the Holocaust in which 6 million European Jews were killed. Serbia in Europe and some African countries have witnessed ethnic cleansing.
Manipur was recognised by the Constitution as a state with a defined territory in which three major ethnic groups live.
World
US announces military aid package for Taiwan amid tensions with China (Page no. 12)
(GS Paper 2, International Relation)
The US on Friday announced $345 million in military aid for Taiwan, in what is the Biden administration’s first major package drawing on America’s own stockpiles to help Taiwan counter China.
The White House’s announcement said the package would include defence, education and training for the Taiwanese.
According to two US officials who spoke on the condition of anonymity to the Associated Press, the aid package includes man-portable air defence systems (MANPADS), intelligence and surveillance capabilities, firearms, and missiles. This decision comes amidst ongoing pressure from US lawmakers on the Pentagon and White House to expedite weapons delivery to Taiwan.
The primary objectives behind the aid package are twofold: to empower Taiwan to effectively counter any potential aggression from China and to serve as a strong deterrent against any consideration of attacking the island.
By providing Taipei with a robust arsenal, the US aims to raise the cost of any invasion attempt to a level that China would find unacceptably high.
In response to the US announcement, Chinese diplomats protested the move, expressing their disapproval. However, Taiwan’s trade office in Washington welcomed the decision, stating that the US’s commitment to supply arms and other materiel from its own stockpiles provides a crucial tool to support Taiwan’s self-defence.
In Sri Lanka Macron calls for open, inclusive Indo – Pacific (Page no. 12)
(GS Paper 2, International Relation)
French President Emmanuel Macron held discussions with his Sri Lankan counterpart on an open and inclusive Indo-Pacific region in the first-ever visit by a French leader to the Indian Ocean island nation.
As the fourth-largest creditor to Sri Lanka, France had pledged cooperation in debt restructuring to help the island nation recover from its economic crisis.
Macron arrived in Sri Lanka, following his trip to the South Pacific region, to mark the 75th anniversary of diplomatic relations between the two nations.
Sri Lanka President Ranil Wickremesinghe praised France’s significant role in global affairs, particularly in areas such as climate mitigation, global debt restructuring, and matters related to the Indo-Pacific region.
Sri Lanka and France are two Indian Ocean nations that share the same goal: an open, inclusive and prosperous Indo-Pacific.
In Colombo we confirmed it: strengthened by 75 years of diplomatic relations, we can open a new era of our partnership,” Macron said in a Twitter message after the meeting.
Economy
New standing committee on statistics holds is first meet (Page no. 13)
(GS Paper 3, Economy)
The newly-formed Standing Committee on Statistics held its first meeting and discussed the yet-to-be released results of the Annual Survey of Industries and Annual Survey of Unincorporated Enterprises in detail.
The committee, chaired by former Chief Statistician and former Chairman of the National Statistical Commission Pronab Sen, was constituted on July 13.
“The discussions were mainly around the Annual Survey of Industries 2020-21 because the results are to be released soon.
There was also discussion on the results of the Annual Survey of Unincorporated Enterprises 2021, which has been pending for a long time even though it is ready.
The first quarter results for it are showing a dip and then it bounces back up in subsequent quarters, so we are looking into it. These two surveys were discussed in detail,” a committee member, who did not wish to be named.
The Annual Survey of Industries (ASI), which covers all factories registered under the Factories Act across the country, is considered as an important source of industrial statistics of the registered organised manufacturing sector of the economy. The survey results for 2020-21 are expected to be released next week.
As per a government release from 2019, the National Statistical Office (NSO) had proposed to conduct the first round of the Annual Survey on Unincorporated Sector Enterprises (ASUSE) during October 2019-March 2020 and next round of ASUSE in April 2020 till March 2021.
In October last year, it launched another round of ASUSE (October 2022-September 2023) which will cover economic and operational characteristics of unincorporated non-agricultural enterprises in manufacturing, trade and other services sectors. These survey results are yet to be made public.
The unincorporated sector is seen as important because of the large number of establishments in this sector and the magnitude of employment it provides to unskilled/ semi-skilled/ skilled persons along with its significant contribution to the Gross Domestic Product of the country.