1. Sabarimala temple bar unreasonable: SC

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Leslie Fleming
5 years ago
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1 Topic: Art and culture Why in news: 1. Sabarimala temple bar unreasonable: SC The Supreme Court s Constitution Bench observed that tagging a woman s right to enter the famous Sabarimala temple with her menstrual cycle is unreasonable. More on the Topic: Sabarimala is a Hindu pilgrimage centre located at the Periyar Tiger Reserve in the Western Ghat mountain ranges of Kerala. It is one of the largest annual pilgrimages in the world with an estimated million devotees visiting every year.ayyappan's temple is situated amidst 18 hills. The temple is situated on a hilltop at an altitude of 1260 m (4,133 ft) above mean sea level, and is surrounded by mountains and dense forests. The dense forest, (Periyar Tiger Reserve), around the temple is known as Poongavanam. Temples exist in each of the hills surrounding Sabarimala. While functional and intact temples exist at many places in the surrounding areas like Nilakkal, Kalaketty, and Karimala remnants of old temples survive to this day on remaining hills. History The shrine at Sabarimala is an ancient temple of Ayyappan also known as sasta and Dharmasasta. In the 12th century, Manikandan, a prince of Pandalam dynasty, meditated at Sabarimala temple and became one with the divine. Manikandan was an avatar of Ayyappan. In 1991, the Kerala High Court restricted entry of women above the age of 10 and below the age of 50 from offering worship at Sabarimala Shrine as they were of the menstruating age. Presently, the Supreme Court of India has taken a petition to review the judgment of High Court and allow entry of women. The worship of Sastha forms part of the very ancient historyof south India. At Sabarimala, the deity is worshiped as Ayyappan and as Dharmasasta. The shrine of Sabarimala is an ancient temple. There are many Sastha temples in South India and across the globe.as per the temple history, the Sastha temple at Sabarimala is one of the five Sastha temples founded by Lord Parasurama. The other Sastha temples in this group of five includes the Ayyappan Temples:at Kulathupuzha, where the Sastha appears as a Balaka or child; at Aryankavu where the Lord appears as a Brahmachari or young man; at Achankovil Shastha Temple, where the lord leads the Grihastha Ashrama life here and depicted along with his two wives Purna and Pushkala;at Sabarimala, where the lord is depicted in the Vanaprastha or form of renunciation; at Poonambala Medu the Lord appears as a yogi. 1 P a g e

2. Krishna River Topic: Environment and Ecology/Geography Neelakantarayanagaddi Island on the Krishna was cut off from the outside world on Wednesday after officials of KBJNL discharged 1.

2 2. Krishna River Topic: Environment and Ecology/Geography Neelakantarayanagaddi Island on the Krishna was cut off from the outside world on Wednesday after officials of KBJNL discharged 1.46 lakh cusecs of water from the Narayanpur reservoir. Krishna River: The Krishna River is the fourth-biggest river in terms of water inflowsand river basin area in India, after the Ganga, Godavari and Brahmaputra. The river is almost 1,300 kilometres (810 mi) long. The river is also called Krishnaveni. It is a major source of irrigation for Maharashtra, Karnataka, Telangana and Andhra Pradesh. The Krishna river originates in the Western Ghats nearmahabaleshwar at an elevation of about 1,300 metres, in the state of Maharashtra in central India. It is one of the longest rivers in India. The Krishna river is around 1,300 km in length. The Krishna river's source is at Mahabaleswar near the Jor village in the extreme north of Wai Taluka, Satara District, Maharashtra in the west and empties into the Bay of Bengal at Hamasaladeevi (near Koduru) in Andhra Pradesh, on the east coast. It flows through the state of Karnataka before entering Telangana State. The delta of this river is one of the most fertile regions in India and was the home to ancient Satavahana and Ikshvaku Sun Dynasty kings. Vijayawada is the largest city on the River Krishna. It causes heavy soil erosion during the monsoon floods. It flows fast and furious, often reaching depths of over 75 feet (23 m). 2 P a g e

Tributaries Left bank Tributaries: Bhima, Dindi, Peddavagu, Musi, Paleru, Munneru Right bank Tributaries: Venna, Koyna, Panchganga, Dudhaganga, Ghataprabha, Malaprabha, Tungabhadra 3.

3 Tributaries Left bank Tributaries: Bhima, Dindi, Peddavagu, Musi, Paleru, Munneru Right bank Tributaries: Venna, Koyna, Panchganga, Dudhaganga, Ghataprabha, Malaprabha, Tungabhadra 3. Dam Safety Bill 2018 hardly focuses on operational aspects. Topic: Government Schemes and Bills The Bill provides for proper surveillance, inspection, operation and maintenance of all dams to ensure their safe functioning. It also envisages the establishment of a National Dam Safety Authority, a regulatory body to implement the policy, guidelines and safety standards. 3 P a g e

Damodar Valley Corporation and the Bhakra Beas Management Board.

4 There are 5,254 large dams in operation and another 447 under-construction ones in India. In addition to these, there are thousands of medium and small dams and most of these structures are maintained by states, while some of the bigger ones are managed by autonomous bodies such as the Damodar Valley Corporation and the Bhakra Beas Management Board. The structural and operational safety of these dams is crucial because about 75% of large dams are more than 25 years old and about 164 dams are more than 100 years old. According to a PIB release, India has had 36 dam failures in the past. Any accident can lead to huge losses of lives and property, and also impact power generation, irrigation and water supply and flood control. The Bill proposes the constitution of state-level committees on dam safety. The nodal authority is also empowered to examine unresolved points of issue between the state dam safety organizations of two states, or between the state dam safety organization and the owner of a dam in that state Though a law on safety of dams is welcome, there are problems in the Bill. First, it is too focused on the structural safety of dams, not so much on their operational safety. Second, all structural and operational decisions must be in the public domain, and only then will it be easier to focus on the flaws. The Comptroller and Auditor General of India s report on the Chennai floods of 2015, which came out on Wednesday, clearly points to operational failures. The report says that there was an indiscriminate discharge of water from the Chembarambakkam reservoir, in excess of inflows, which burdened the Adyar River leading to floods in the city and its suburbs. In cases such as these, the erring official should be hauled up but that has not happened in this case or any of the earlier cases that resulted from operational mistakes. 4 P a g e

the event of a launch abort. In its aim towards human spaceflight, Indian space agency ISRO on Thursday carried out the first in a series of tests to qualify a crew escape system.

5 4. Crew Escape System for Human Spaceflight. Topic: Science and Technology The Crew Escape System is an emergency escape measure designed to quickly pull the crew module along with the astronauts to a safe distance from the launch vehicle in the event of a launch abort. In its aim towards human spaceflight, Indian space agency ISRO on Thursday carried out the first in a series of tests to qualify a crew escape system.the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) in a statement said the crew escape system is a critical technology for human spaceflight. The Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) in a statement said the crew escape system is a critical technology for human spaceflight.the crew escape system is an emergency escape measure designed to quickly pull the crew module along with the astronauts to a safe distance from the launch vehicle in the event of a launch abort. According to the ISRO, the five-hour countdown was smooth. The crew escape system along with the simulated crew module with a mass of 12.6 tons, lifted off at 7 a.m. at the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh. The test was over in 259 seconds during which the crew escape system along with crew module soared skyward, then arced out over the Bay of Bengal and floated back to Earth under its parachutes about 2.9 km from Sriharikota. The crew module reached an altitude of nearly 2.7 km under the power of its seven specifically designed quick acting solid motors to take away the crew module to a safe distance without exceeding the safe g-levels. Nearly 300 sensors recorded various mission performance parameters during the test flight. 5 P a g e

As arguments recently reopened on the curative petition against this 2013 judgment, India s LGBTQ community is hopeful.

6 Topic: Social Justice 5. LGBTQI in hope for a new dawn. One of the lowest moments for human rights in India came in 2013 when the Supreme Court reversed the progressive 2009 judgment of the Delhi High Court reading down Section 377.As arguments recently reopened on the curative petition against this 2013 judgment, India s LGBTQ community is hopeful. Though supportive in its initial observations, surprisingly, the Supreme Court has also said that it will concern itself only with the question of the validity of Section 377, and examine the correctness of the Supreme Court s 2013 judgment. This was in response to the issue of the broader rights for sexual minorities that came up in the arguments. There is also the matter of the Court s own precedent in another recent ruling one that found in favor of individual privacy in the case of Puttaswamy vs Union of India which terms sexual orientation an essential attribute of identity and privacy. It terms discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation as deeply offensive to the dignity and self-worth of the individual. It terms the rights of India s sexual minorities as those founded on sound constitutional doctrine effectively making Section 377 unsustainable. Instead of merely considering the petition as a narrow legal matter, it should examine the issue from the perspective of an institution that is committed towards ensuring equality for all. Without these rights, sexual minorities will continue to face unequal treatment, abuse, discrimination in workplaces and housing, violence, and denial of recognition. 6 P a g e

7 The Court should also consider closely the fact that individual dignity and freedom cannot be achieved without equal rights. Failure to use a rights-based approach also has serious social repercussions. There is sufficient evidence to show that suicide rates are higher among sexual minorities. Moreover, this lack of rights and protections feeds a homophobic culture that overemphasizes and empowers patriarchy and masculinity. Because of widespread homophobia, gay men and women create and inhabit subcultures of self-hate, internalized homophobia, and oppression. Public health evidence also indicates a clear relationship of a lack of social acceptance and legal rights with substance abuse, violence, isolation, and mental illness. They need an anti-discrimination law that empowers them and places the onus on the state and society to change. By expanding its ambit, the Court has the power to positively affect the lives of millions of Indians, many of whom live vulnerable and disempowered lives in the legal and social structures. The Court knows well that Section 377 is inhumane. It is disingenuous to say that its only concern is the law s constitutional validity. Topic: Economy 6. Going the extra mile for doubling farmer s income. The increase in minimum support prices (MSPs), which promises up to 97% increase in return on costs, can become the trigger for stimulating much-needed investment in agriculture by the Indian farmer. But it needs to be backed by the other factors that go towards making farming profitable. The ministry of agriculture estimates that to double farmer incomes by , private investment in agriculture must jump two times to almost Rs 1,40,000 crore. Markets require the visible hand to protect small participants so that they have agency. States must similarly develop and defend agricultural markets that work for smallholders by reducing transaction costs and counterparty risks, and raising price discovery, price transparency and bargaining power. Since smallholders till mainly leased land with uncertain and informal tenure, they have little incentive to take long-term capital loans for investments, such as micro-irrigation, which mitigate risk. Suitably modified land-leasing laws can encourage investments in land improvement. Likewise, investment in dairy and poultry will increase by the incentives from integration into tight value chains. Agricultural growth is private sector, but requires large investment in public goods rural roads, education, research, irrigation, extension, finance, institutions for women farmers participation. According to ministry of 7 P a g e

8 agriculture, public investment must grow 16.8% annually, up from around 10%, to achieve the target of doubling farmer incomes. Once the ecosystem for enabling agriculture growth strengthens, the corporate sector, with a 2% current share in the overall investment, will venture closer to the bottom of the pyramid, offering smallholders linkages to technology, services and competitive markets. How can India encourage farming families to boost investment in their farms? The answer lies in unleashing the entrepreneurial energies of the smallholder farmer, especially those already thinking commercially and sell at least a third of their crop. Thanks to their majority, such smallholders collectively possess the highest latent energy for moving the needle on agricultural growth. What would encourage them to invest? Profitability. Assured buying, and export demand in some years, stimulated investment in wheat, rice, cotton, mentha, guar, a few pulses and sugarcane. National IAS Academy , Lucky Paradise, 2nd floor, 8th 'F' main road, 22nd cross, Opp. ICICI bank, 3rd Block, Jayanagar, Bangalore P a g e

SEPTEMBER 2018 VOLUME 24 MMRC ADDING NEW DIMENSIONS A MUMBAI METRO RAIL CORPORATION NEWSLETTER

SEPTEMBER 2018 VOLUME 24 MMRC A MUMBAI METRO RAIL CORPORATION NEWSLETTER United Maharashtra was formed in 1960 with 26 districts at that time. Similarly, the Metro-3 project, first fully underground metro