GS Analyst
Daily Current Affairs

The 10th edition of Swara Samrat festival is being celebrated as a centennial of sarod maestro Ustad Ali Akbar Khan.

About the event

• Swara Samrat festival (also known as SSF) is a four-day annual mega festival of Indian classical music and dance.
• This festival is the brainchild of Sarod maestro Pandit Tejendra Narayan Majumdar, his wife, Manasi Majumder and their son Indrayuddh Majumder.
• The festival is dedicated to Swara Samrat Ustad Ali Akbar Khan.
• It generallyheld during the winters in Kolkata, India. This event is going to be for the year 2020-21. This year it will be organised in Delhi.
• Awards are given for both Music and Dance
  

Hindustani Classical Music

• Hindustani music is one of the two principal types of South Asian classical music.
  • (The other principal type, Karnatak music, is found in the Dravidian-speaking region of southern India.)
• It is found mainly in the northern three-fourths of the subcontinent, where Indo-Aryan languages are spoken.
• The roots of Hindustani Music is traced to the emergence of Dhrupad & Dhamar. It further developed into Vocal & Instrumental Streams.
• Further emergence of Khayal from Dhrupad as a result of influence of the Mughal Kingdom, Classical Music underwent a change in character, moving from Temples to the Courts.
  • Names like Miyan Tansen have been one of the greatest influence on the Hindustani Style.
• Instruments: The most prominent instruments of Hindustani music are the
  
   
  • Sitar (a long-necked fretted lute with about 30 melodic, drone, and sympathetic strings)
  • Sarod (a short-necked unfretted lute with sympathetic and drone strings)
  • Sarangi (a bowed fiddle)
  • Shehnai (an oboe like wind instrument)
  • table (a set of two drums played by one musician, the right-hand drum carefully tuned)
  • tambura(a large long-necked lute with four strings, used only to play the supporting drone, a single repeated chord)
    

Context

A rare 19th century painting of Raja Serfoji and his son Sivaji, which was stolen from Saraswathi Mahal, Thanjavur, a few years ago, has been traced by Idol Wing CID police to the Peabody Essex Museum in USA.

Historical Background

• The rulers of Thanjavur had been devoid of absolute power during the British Raj in India.
• Raja Serfoji had placed by the British on the throne over his step brother Amar Singh died in
• His only son Sivaji ruled until 1855.
• As there were no male successor in the kingdom, Thanjavur became a part of Lord Dalhousie's infamous 'Doctrine of Lapse', and it got absorbed into British-ruled Indian provinces.

What is Doctrine of Lapse?

• The Doctrine of Lapse was an annexation policy followed widely by Lord Dalhousie when he was India’s Governor-General from 1848 to 1856.
• The Doctrine of Lapse was an annexation policy extensively applied by East India Company in India until
• The doctrine stated that any princely state under the vassalage of the company will how its territory annexed should the ruler of the said state fail to produce an heir. The doctrine and its application were regarded by many Indians as illegitimate.
• The Doctrine of Lapse was one of the underlying factors that led to the revolt of 1857.

About

• According to some historians, the painting of Raja Serfoji and his son, was probably painted between 1822 and 1827 and kept in the Saraswathi Mahal. 
• In 1918, the Saraswathi Mahal Library was opened to the public.
• Efforts were made to microfilm and catalogue the contents in 1965 when Indira Gandhi, who was then Information and Broadcasting Minister, sanctioned the fund for the library's development.
• Despite this, there exists no record to show the disappearance of the painting from the mahal. 
• The painting was purchased in 2006 from an international antique dealer Subash Kapoor who was arrested by the State police in 2011 on charges of smuggling several antiques/artefacts.  
• In 2006, the painting was sold to Peabody Essex Museum (PEM) in USA. PEM is one of several major art institutions worldwide that had purchased items from India.
  
  
  
  

Significance of Ancient Indian Art forms

• Painting is one of the most delicate forms of art giving expression to human thoughts and feelings through the media of line and colour.
• Many thousands of years before the dawn of history, when man was only a cave dweller, he painted his rock shelters to satisfy his aesthetic sensitivity and creative urges.
• Among Indians, the love of colour and design is so deeply ingrained that they created paintings and drawings even during the earliest periods of history for which we have no direct evidence.

In order to ensure food security for all, SC has directed the Centre and the States to supply door-to-door food grains to migrants.

Key-points made by the SC

The Supreme Court was hearing a matter relating to migrant labourers. It highlighted the following points:

• A large number of migrant workers are without ration cards.
• It was pointed out by the petitioners that the central government had failed to undertake any exercise to re-determine coverage under the National Food Security Act (NFSA) and as a result, more than 10 crore people who should have been issued ration cards were left out of the purview of the food security net.

• No citizen should die of hunger and said that it was most concerning that there were deaths due to hunger.
• Migrants and other workers are the backbone of the country and they must be provided rations at subsidized rates.

What are the issues faced by migrant workers?

Major issues: Below are the major challenges faced by the migrant workers in India (especially the unorganized workers)

• low wages and economic hardship
• physical and sexual exploitation
• Lack of safety at workplace
• Food insecurity
• Multiple vulnerabilities
• Inadequate healthcare
• No job security

Other Government Interventions for Migrants

• Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Yojana: After the lockdown, Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Yojana with a financial package of Rs. 1.7 lakh crore was launched to help poor, needy and unorganised sector workers of the country.
• PM SVANidhi Scheme: PM SVANidhi Scheme was launched to facilitate collateral free working capital loan upto Rs.10,000/- of one-year tenure, to approximately, 50 lakh street vendors, to resume their businesses.
• Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Rojgar Abhiyan: In order to facilitate employment of migrant workers who have gone back to their home state, Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Rojgar Abhiyan was initiated in 116 districts in Mission Mode.
• State migrant cell: Migrant workers’ Cell is being created to prepare a database of migrant workers in states with mapping.
• eShram portal: It is a national database created to register the unorganised workers in the country, including the migrant workers.
• National policy on migrant workers: NITI Aayog has been mandated to prepare a draft national policy on migrant workers to reimagine labour-capital relations while integrating the migrantworkers within the formal workforce.
• National Career Service portal: The portal has been created which is a one-stop solution that provides a wide array of employment and career-related services to the citizens of India.

The Supreme Court allowed an unmarried woman whose relationship status changed during the pregnancy to terminate her 24-week foetus.

• Before 1971, abortion was not legalized and in fact, was criminalized under Section 312 of the Indian Penal Code (framed by Britishers).
• The Shah Committee was appointed by the Government of India in
• The Committee carried out a comprehensive review of the socio-cultural, legal and medical aspects of abortion.
• The Committee in 1966 recommended legalizing abortion in its report to prevent wastage of women's health and lives on both compassionate and medical grounds.
• But in 1971, the Indian constitution granted abortion rights to women.

Where does lie the gap in the law?

• The Delhi High Court bench said that access to termination of pregnancy between 20-24 weeks for an unmarried woman on the grounds that her relationship status changed is not included under the Law.
• As the law recognises change in circumstances of the relationship status between a pregnant woman and her spouse — in the case of divorce and widowhood — it does not envisage the situation for unmarried women.
• This is the gap in the law that the petitioner before the Supreme Court falls in.

What are the provisions for terminating pregnancy in India?

• The Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act, 1971 (MTP Act), allows termination of pregnancy for all women in the first 20 weeks on the opinion of a registered medical practitioner.
• However, only certain categories of women are allowed termination between 20-24 weeks under certain
• Rule 3B of Rules annexed to the MTP Act, which was amended in 2021 specified seven categories of women who are eligible for termination between 20-24 weeks.
• These are:
• Survivors of sexual assault or rape or incest;
• Minors;
• Those who have a change of marital status during the on-going pregnancy (widowhood and divorce);
• Women with physical disabilities;
• Mentally ill women;
• Women carrying malformed foetus that has substantial risk of being incompatible with life; and
• Women with pregnancy in humanitarian settings or disaster or emergency situations as may be declared by the government.
• For pregnancies between 20-24 weeks old, the opinion of two doctors is required.

What was Supreme Court’s Interpretation?

• The Supreme Court also observed that the MTP Act’s use of “woman or her partner” provision that was also brought in after the 2021 amendment to say that the legislation must be given a “purposive interpretation”. This means that;
• SC has seen the fundamental right of the Unmarried petitioner for the case as her relationship status changed during pregnancy.

Recent MTP Amendments Act (2021)

• It increased the time limit for undertaking the abortion from 20 weeks to 24 weeks for pregnant women.
• This act also allowed unmarried women to terminate their pregnancy based on the failure of
• The right to privacy has also been appointed to women. The medical institute can only reveal the details regarding abortion to the authorized person. This new law is more inclusive of rape survivors, victims of incest, differently-abled, minors, etc.
• Earlier, a registered medical practitioner was allowed to perform an abortion on a foetus for up to12 weeks. And for more than 12 weeks and under 20 weeks, the opinions of two medical practitioners were a must.
• Now it has been changed to one doctor for abortion within 20 weeks and two doctors for abortion between 20 to 24 weeks.

Kali Bein is a holy rivulet in Sultanpur Lodhi and is significant for the Sikh religion. However, it recently got in news when Punjab Chief Minister got hospitalized after consuming a glass of water directly from the Kali Bein.

• Kali Beinis a rivulet in Punjab, India that flows into the confluence of the rivers Beas and Satluj at Harike.
• In the wake of the Green Revolution, the Kali Bein became progressively polluted until it was cleaned and rejuvenated in a mass action led by Sant Balbir Singh Seechewal in the 2000s.

About

• It is a 165-km rivulet, runs across four districts and meets the confluence of the rivers Beas and Sutlej in
• The Kali Bein rises from a spring in the Dhanoa village of Dasuya tehsil Hoshiarpur district.
• Along its banks are around 80 villages and half a dozen small and big towns.
• Kali Bein literally means the Black Stream.
• It is called Kali ('black') due to the black colour reflected by the minerals in its waters.
• The Punjabi word 'bein' derives from the Sanskrit 'veni' meaning a stream or a water body.
• Beins are a feature of the plains and are marked by their zigzagging course.

Significance

• Guru Nanak Dev Ji, the founder of Sikhism, is believed to have attained enlightenment after taking a dip in the Kali Bein. 
• Guru Nanak Dev Ji is said to have disappeared while bathing in the Bein only to reappear three days later.
• Guru Nanak Dev Ji then proclaimed that "There is no Hindu and there is no Musalman. There is only one God and all are equal before Him.
• The ‘mool mantra ‘of Sikhism, Ik Onkar, originated from this experience.
• The Gurudwara Ber Sahib, where Guru Nanak Dev Ji used to meditate under a ber tree, is located on the Kali Bein's banks in Sultanpur Lodhi.

Why it is important to conserve?

• Kali Bein plays a key role in recharging the water tableand in flood management in its watershed.
• It is also a key source of irrigation for the agricultural fields there.
• The Kanjli Wetland, a Ramsar site is supported by the Kali Bein.
• The use of industrial and agricultural chemicals and the exploitation of groundwater led to the drying up of the Kali Bein along parts of its course and the contamination of groundwater leading to diseases and the drying up of farmlands.

NITI Aayog has released the India Innovation index for the year 2022.

About

• India Innovation Index is a comprehensive tool for the evaluation and development of the country’s innovation ecosystem.
• It ranks the states and the union territories on their innovation performance to build healthy competition amongst them.
• It is prepared by NITI Aayog and the Institute for Competitiveness.
• This is the third edition which highlights the scope of innovation analysis in the country by drawing on the framework of the Global Innovation Index.
• The number of indicators has increased from 36 (in the India Innovation Index 2020) to 66 (in the India Innovation Index 2021).
• The indicators are now distributed across 16 sub-pillars, which, in turn, form seven key pillars.

Key Highlights

• Karnataka has topped the rank in NITI Aayog’s India Innovation Index for the third time under the ‘Major States category’.
• Manipur secured the lead in the Northeast and Hill States category,
• While Chandigarh was the top performer in the Union Territories and City States category.
• Karnataka was followed by Telangana, Haryana, Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu.
• Chhattisgarh, Odisha, Bihar and Gujarat were at the bottom of the index.
  
  

Suggestions by NITI Aayog

• India’s average innovation score is low as given the country’s ambitious targets to be named among the top 25 nations in the Global Innovation Index.
• The report has recommended measures, such as increasing

• • Gross Domestic Expenditure on R&D (GDERD), as India’s GDERD as a percentage of GDP stood at about 0.7%.
  • Promoting private sector participation in R&D and
  • Closing the gap between industry demand and produces through its education systems.

• The report went on to state that countries that spend less on GDERD fail to retain their human capital in the long run and the ability to innovate is dependent on the quality of human capital.