Hindu Notes from General Studies-01

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 Burial urn, pots unearthed in Pallavaram

News

• A six-foot-high burial urn, mudhumakkal thazhi,made of clay, and pieces of pots were unearthed at Old Pallavaram .

Beyond News

• The artefacts are estimated to be around 2,000 years old.
• The Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) had earmarked several acres of land in Old Pallavaram for undertaking such excavations, which was objected to by the residents. The archaeological remains were found near Ambedkar Thidal.
• A few clay pieces were initially found by the researchers. On Friday, they unearthed a six-foot-high pot. The pot had 12 leg points made of sand mixed with clay.

An official said that, the history of mudhumakkal thazhi goes back to over 3,000 years, and these pots could be at least 2,000 years old, going by their black and brown colour..It was an ancient Tamil practice to make huge earthen pots to bury people.

Hindu Notes from General Studies-02

UN rejects US recognition of Jerusalem as Israeli capital

News:

• The United States found itself isolated at a special United Nations Security Council meeting in its recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, a move that set off alarms about the risk of escalating conflict in the Middle East.

Beyond News:

• Eight of the 15 members of the UN Security Council, the organization the looks out for peace and security around the world, had called for an urgent meeting to analyze the decision taken by Washington.
• Five European nations said that, the status of Jerusalem must be determined through negotiations between Israelis and Palestinians leading to a final status agreement.
• The European Union “has a clear and united position: they believe that the only realistic solution to the conflict between Israel and Palestine is based on two States, and with Jerusalem as the capital of both the State of Israel and the State of Palestine.
• UN special envoy to the Middle East said that, for both Israelis and Palestinians, Jerusalem “is and always will be the centre of their life, their culture,” as well as the “symbol and cornerstone” of the faith of many millions of people around the world.

RTE reservation likely to be extended to aided schools

News

• With the aim of improving the efficacy of the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act, 2009, the State government is planning to ensure that aided schools too start reserving seats for students from weaker sections in the neighbourhood.

Beyond News

• Primary and Secondary Education Minister said that,they are in the process of making changes to ensure that scope of the RTE Act is extended to aided institutions and will ensure that the right beneficiaries are selected.
• As per Section 12 (1) (b) of the RTE Act, aided schools shall provide free and compulsory elementary education to such proportion of children admitted based on the annual recurring aid or grants so received bears their annual recurring expenses, subject to a minimum of 25%.

More minors smoking, chewing tobacco in State

News

• The number of people smoking and chewing tobacco in the State has decreased by nearly five percentage points since 2009, according to the Global Adult Tobacco Survey (GATS) 2.

Findings of Survey

• The report, released at Tata Memorial Hospital (TMH) in Parel, showed that the prevalence of tobacco has come down from 31.4% in GATS1 (2009-10) to 26.6 % in GATS2.
• Tobacco use in the 15-17 age group has nearly doubled from 2.9% to 5.5%, and the age of initiation has fallen further from 18.5 years to 17.4 years.
• The report also revealed that exposure of adults to second-hand smoke at home has dipped from 36.6% in 2009-10 to 19.9% in 2016-17.
• The figure is also lower at the workplace, coming down from 23.8% to 20.1%.

Solutions

1. The police, who have to ensure that tobacco is not sold near schools and colleges, are not proactive as they look at this task as moral policing.
2. Spread awareness about the harmful effects of tobacco.
3. The State has also undertaken an oral cancer screening drive, through which they will reach out to at least one crore people this month.

Adultery law weighted in favour of men: Supreme Court

News

• The Supreme Court said that, the dusty Victorian provision of adultery in the Indian Penal Code treats a married woman as her husband’s “subordinate.”

Beyond News

• The court admitted a petition to drop adultery as a criminal offence from the statute book.
• The Supreme Court recorded in its five-page written order that, time has come when the society must realise that a woman is equal to a man in every respect.
• Issuing notice, the court would examine two aspects of the penal provision. One, why does Section 497 treat the man as the adulterer and the married woman as a victim. 
• The Supreme Court declared that, the provision (Section 497) really creates a dent in the individual independent identity of a woman when the emphasis is laid on the connivance or consent of the husband. This tantamount to subordination of a woman where the Constitution confers (women) equal status.

Further, only a husband or the person in whose care the husband has left his wife can file a complaint under Section 497. The petition challenges the validity of Section 198 (1) and (2) of the Code of Criminal Procedure which deems that only a husband can be an aggrieved party in offences against marriage like adultery and only he can go to court.

Hindu Notes from General Studies-03

Kacheguda becomes India’s first energy-efficient railway station

News

• Kacheguda Railway Station under the South Central Railway (SCR) has earned the unique distinction of being the first Energy Efficient ‘A1 Category’ Railway Station on Indian Railways.

Kacheguda Railway station

• Kacheguda Railway station is a historic building and had completed 100 years. Situated in the heart of Hyderabad, it was built in 1916 by the Nizam’s Guaranteed State Railway during the reign of Mir Osman Ali Khan, the seventh Nizam.

Beyond News

• The station has achieved 100% energy efficiency by replacing 1,312 conventional lights with light-emitting diode (LED) lighting, among other steps.
• About 370 ceiling fans, too, were replaced with energy efficient Brushless DC Electrical (BLDC) motors fans, and 12 air conditioners with energy efficient inverter-type air conditioners.
• All these measures would save about 1.76 lakh units and ₹14.08 lakh per annum with reduction of the connected load by 46.18 kW for Railways, said General Manager Vinod Kumar Yadav.

India gets admission into Wassenaar Arrangement

News

• India’s gets entry to the Wassenaar Arrangement  as the 42nd member of the organisation .
  • AIM: To regulate trade and use of dual use technology.

Beyond News

• India will get access to high technology, which will help address the demands of Indian space and defence sectors.
• It will also boost New Delhi’s chances of joining the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG).
• India’s membership is expected to facilitate high technology tie-ups with Indian industry and ease access to high-tech items for our defence and space programmes.”

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