Jainism and Mahavir Jayanti

Part of: GS Prelims and GS-I- Religion

• Mahavir Jayanti is one of the most auspicious festivals in the Jain community.
• This day marks the birth of Vardhamana Mahavira, who was the 24^th and the last Tirthankara who succeeded the 23^rd Tirthankara, Parshvanatha.
• According to Jain texts, Lord Mahavira was born on the 13^th day of the bright half of the moon in the month of Chaitra.
  • As per the Gregorian calendar, Mahavir Jayanti is usually celebrated during the month of March or April. In 2020, Mahavir Jayanti was celebrated on 6^th of April.
• A procession is called with the idol of Lord Mahavira called the Rath Yatra.
• Reciting stavans or Jain prayers, statues of the lord are given a ceremonial bath called abhisheka.

Lord Mahavira

• Mahavir was born to King Siddhartha of Kundagrama and Queen Trishala, a Lichchhavi princess in the year 540 BC in the Vajji kingdom, identical with modern day Vaishali in Bihar.
• Mahavira belonged to the Ikshvaku dynasty.
• There are several historians who believe that he was born in a place called Ahalya bhumi and the land has not been plowed for hundreds of years by the family that owns it.
• Lord Mahavir was named Vardhamana, which means “one who grows”.
• He abandoned worldly life at the age of 30 and attained ‘kaivalya’ or omniscience at the age of 42.
• Mahavira taught ahimsa (non-violence), Satya (truth), asteya (non-stealing), brahmacharya (chastity) and aparigraha (non-attachment) to his disciples and his teachings were called Jain Agamas.
• Ordinary people were able to understand the teachings of Mahavira and his followers because they used Prakrit.
• It is believed that the Mahavira passed away and attained moksha (liberation from the cycle of birth and death) at the age of 72 in 468 BC at a place called Pavapuri near modern Rajgir in Bihar.

Jainism

• The word Jaina comes from the term Jina, meaning conqueror.
• Tirthankara is a Sanskrit word meaning 'Ford maker', i.e., one who is able to ford the river, to cross beyond the perpetual flow of earthly life.
• Jainism attaches utmost importance to ahimsa or non-violence.
• It preaches 5 mahavratas (the 5 great vows):
  • Ahimsa (Non-violence)
  • Satya (Truth)
  • Asteya or Acharya (Non-stealing)
  • Aparigraha (Non-attachment/Non-possession)
  • Brahmacharya (Celibacy/Chastity)
• Among these 5 teachings, the Brahmacharya (Celibacy/Chastity) was added by Mahavira.
• The three jewels or Triratna of Jainism include
  • Samyak Darshana (right faith).
  • Samyak Gyana (right knowledge).
  • Samyak Charitra (right conduct).
• Jainism is a religion of self-help.
  • There are no gods or spiritual beings that will help human beings.
  • It does not condemn the varna system.
• In later times, it got divided into two sects:
  • Shvetambaras (white-clad) under Sthalabahu.
  • Digambaras (sky-clad) under the leadership of Bhadrabahu.
• The important idea in Jainism is that the entire world is animated: even stones, rocks, and water have life.
• Non-injury to living beings, especially to humans, animals, plants, and insects, is central to Jaina philosophy.
• According to Jain teachings, the cycle of birth and rebirth is shaped through karma.
• Asceticism and penance are required to free oneself from the cycle of karma and achieve the liberation of the soul.
• The practice of Santhara is also a part of Jainism.
  • It is the ritual of fasting unto death. Swetambara Jains call it Santhara whereas Digambars call it Sallekhana.

Jai Hind Jai Bharat

NHAI achieved record 3,979 km highways construction

Part of: GS Prelims and GS-III- Economy Infrastructure

National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) has achieved the highest ever highway construction feat with an accomplishment of 3,979 km of national highways in the financial Year 2019-20.However, it has completed 88% of highway construction against the target of building 4,500 km highways in FY-20. In the FY 2018-19, NHAI constructed 3,380 km of National Highways.

Initiatives taken to accelerate the pace of highway construction:

-The government has initiated a highway development programme in 2015 namely Bharatmala Pariyojana, which includes development of about 65,000 km of NHs. Under Phase-I of the programme, the government has approved implementation of 34,800 km of national highways projects with an outlay of Rs 5.35 lakh crore in a period of five years i.e. 2017-18 to 2021-22.The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) has been mandated to develop 27,500 km of NHs under Phase-I.
-Apart from above, the government has also revived stalled projects, streamlined land acquisition and acquisition of a major portion of land prior to inviting bids.
-Disputes resolution mechanism was revamped to avoid delays in completion of projects.

PT PICKUPS

National Highways Development Programme (NHDP)

National Highways Development Programme (NHDP) was launched in 1998 with the objective of developing roads of international standards which facilitate smooth flow of traffic. It envisages creation of roads with enhanced safety features, better riding surface, grade separator and other salient features. National Highways constitute only 2% of the total road length in the country but carry 40% of the total traffic.

NHDP is being implemented by National Highways Authority of India (NHAI), an organisation under the aegis of Ministry of Road, Transport and Highways. The programme is being implemented in the following seven phases;

• Phase I: Phase I consists of Golden Quadrilateral network comprising a total length of 5,846 km which connects the four major cities of Delhi, Chennai, Mumbai & Kolkata and 981 km of North-South and East-West corridor .NS-EW corridor connects Srinagar in the north to Kanyakumari in the south and Silchar in the east to Porbandar in the west. Phase I also includes improving connectivity to ports.
• Phase II: Phase II covers 6,161 km of the NS-EW corridor (The total NS-EW corridor consists of 7,142 km) and 486 km of other NHs.
• Phase III: Four-laning of 12,109 km of high density national highways connecting state capitals and places of economic, commercial and tourist importance.
• Phase IV: Upgradation of 20,000 km of single-lane roads to two-lane standards with paved shoulders.
• Phase V: Six-laning of 6,500 km of four-laned highways.
• Phase VI: Construction of 1,000 km of expressways connecting major commercial and industrial townships.
• Phase VII: Construction of ring roads, by-passes, underpasses, flyovers, etc. comprising 700 km of road network

About NHAI:

Establishment– 1995

Administrative control– Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH)

Chairman– Dr. Sukhbir Singh Sandhu

Bharatmala Pariyojana

The Government of India launched “Bharatmala Pariyojana”, a new umbrella program for the highways sector that focuses on optimizing the efficiency of road traffic movement across the country by bridging critical infrastructure gaps. The project covering a whopping 34800 km of the road would be completed in a phased manner.

The Bharatmala Pariyojana was announced i, the Minister of Road Transport and Highways of India with an aim to improve the road network in the country. The budget for the scheme will be managed by the cess collected on petrol and diesel and the tax collected at toll booths, apart from the budgetary support provided by the Government.

The components of Bharatmala Pariyojana are

1. Development of Economic corridors – 9,000 Kms
2. Inter-corridor & feeder roads – 6,000 Kms
3. Improving the efficiency of National Corridors – 5,000 Kms
4. Border & International connectivity roads – 2,000 Kms
5. Coastal & port connectivity roads – 2,000 Kms
6. Expressways – 800 Kms
7. Balance of NHDP works – 10000 Kms

The Bharatmala project envisions to improve the efficiency of the National Corridor including the Golden-Quadrilateral and North, South –East West corridor by decongesting the choke points through the construction of elevated corridors, bypasses, ring roads, lane expansion and logistics parks at identified points.

The project plan includes the construction of Border Roads of strategic importance along international boundaries and International Connectivity roads to promote trade with Myanmar, Bangladesh, Bhutan and Nepal.

The programme has identified around 26,200 km of Economic Corridors or routes that have heavy freight traffic. The programme has planned to develop the identified Economic Corridors with heavy freight traffic, end to end to ensure seamless, speedy travel and uniformity in standards. Feeder Corridors will be developed so as to address the infrastructure asymmetry that exists in many places.

All projects implemented under Bharatmala are to be technically, financially and economically appraised by an empowered Project Appraisal &Technical Scrutiny Committee to be set up in National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) and Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH).

Features of Bharatmala Pariyojana

The scheme was initiated with an aim to improve road traffic and improve trade through road transportation. Some other key features of the Bharatmala Pariyojana include:

1. The main aim was to improve the quality of roads in order to bring in a wave of development in every corner of the country.
2. Construction of new roads is another important feature for the announcement for this scheme.
3. The Government plans to finish the construction of all the roads, under this scheme, within a time span of five years.
4. Since the fund provided by the Government may not be sufficient for the construction of roads, hence the Ministry relies on various other sources for the completion of this project.
5. The project aims to construct multiple roads and for proper executive of the project, the Ministry has decided to divide the project into various categories for proper construction of the roads.

Objectives

• Optimizing efficiency of the movement of goods and people across the country.
• Generating large number of direct and indirect employment opportunities in the construction & infrastructure sector and also as part of the enhanced economic activity resulting from better road connectivity across the country.
• Connecting 550 Districts in the country through NH linkages.

Highlights of Bharatmala Pariyojana

• It calls for improvement in efficiency of existing corridors through development of Multimodal Logistics Parks and elimination of choke points.
• It enhances focus on improving connectivity in North East and leveraging synergies with Inland Waterways.
  • North East Economic corridor enhancing connectivity to state capitals and key towns.
  • Multimodal freight movement via 7 Waterway terminals on River Brahmaputra – Dhubri, Silghat, Biswanath Ghat, Neamati, Dibrugarh, Sengajan, Oriyamgh.
• It emphasis on the use of technology & scientific planning for project preparation and asset monitoring.
• It calls for seamless connectivity with neighboring countries:
  • 24 Integrated check posts (ICPs) identified
  • Transit through Bangladesh to improve North East connectivity
  • Integrating Bangladesh – Bhutan – Nepal and Myanmar – Thailand corridors which will make NorthEast hub of East Asia
• Satellite mapping of corridors to identify upgradation requirements

Challenges of Bharatmala Project

The Bharatmala project was announced in 2017 and was targetted to get completed by 2022. However, the latest reports suggest that the project currently is nowhere close to completion because of the increased land cost and the increase in the estimated budget for the project.

The Central Government is now looking in for more investments from funds collected from the market and any other private investment. If the estimated budget is not met, then the Government intends to auction completed highway projects or even look for foreign debts and bond markets.

Bharatmala Route

The government will mobilize resources for Bharatmala through four different routes:

• Market borrowings
• Central road fund
• Monetizing government-owned road assets
• Budgetary allocation

Of the total amount, Rs. 2 Lakh Crore are to be raised as debt from market borrowings, while Rs. 1 Lakh crore will be used from the accrued money in Central Road Fund and toll collections by NHAI.

This project will help in the economic growth of the country by increasing the corridors from 6 to 50. The Central Government, with the Bharatmala Project intent to increase trade, improve the condition of the National Highways and improve the network of roads in the country.

Fall in IHS Markit

Part of: GS Prelims and GS-III- Economy Data

The IHS Markit India Services Business Activity Index (i.e Service Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI)) was at 49.3 in March, down from February’s 85-month high of 57.5.

Important

• The Index is compiled by IHS Markit for more than 40 economies worldwide. IHS Markit is a global leader in information, analytics and solutions for the major industries and markets that drive economies worldwide.
• The fall implies contraction in India’s services sector activity during March basically due to COVID-19.
  • The COVID-19 pandemic has reduced demand, particularly in overseas markets. Nationwide store closures and prohibition to leave the house weighed heavily on the services economy.
  • In PMI parlance, a print above 50 means expansion, while a score below that denotes contraction.
• The Composite PMI Output Index that maps both the manufacturing and services sector also fell to 50.6 in March, down 7 points from February’s 57.6.
  • This signals a sharp slowdown in private sector output growth and brought an abrupt end to the recent strong upward-moving expansion trend.

Purchasing Managers' Index

• PMI is an index of the prevailing direction of economic trends in the manufacturing and service sectors.
• It consists of a diffusion index that summarizes whether market conditions, as viewed by purchasing managers, are expanding, staying the same, or contracting.
• The purpose of the PMI is to provide information about current and future business conditions to company decision makers, analysts, and investors.
• It is different from the Index of Industrial Production (IIP), which also gauges the level of activity in the economy.

Index of Industrial Production

• The Index of Industrial Production (IIP) is an index which details out the growth of various sectors in an economy such as mineral mining, electricity, manufacturing, etc.
• It is compiled and published monthly by the Central Statistical Organisation (CSO), Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation.
• The Base Year of the Index of Eight Core Industries has been revised from the year 2004-05 to 2011-12 from April, 2017.
  • The eight core industries comprise 40.27% of the weight of items included in the Index of Industrial Production (IIP).
  • The eight Core Industries in decreasing order of their weightage: Refinery Products> Electricity> Steel> Coal> Crude Oil> Natural Gas> Cement> Fertilizers.

Difference between PMI and IIP

• IIP covers the broader industrial sector compared to PMI.
  • Index of Industrial Production (IIP) measures growth in the industrial sector.
  • IIP shows the change in production volume in major industrial sub sectors like manufacturing, mining and electricity.
  • Similarly, the IIP also gives use based (capital goods, consumer goods etc) trends in industrial production.
• PMI is more dynamic compared to a standard industrial production index.
  • The PMI senses dynamic trends because of the variable it uses for the construction of the index compared to volume based production indicators like the IIP.
  • For example, new orders under PMI show growth oriented positive trends and not just volume of past production that can be traced in an ordinary Index of Industrial Production.

Animals affected through COVID-19

Part of: GS Prelims and GS-III-Health

Owing to a recent news report on a Tiger being infected with Covid-19 in New York (Bronx Zoo), the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change has issued an advisory regarding the containing and management of Covid-19 in National Parks/Sanctuaries/Tiger Reserves.

• Also, a tiger in Pench Tiger Reserve (Madhya Pradesh) has died due to respiratory illness. The National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) is investigating whether the tiger should be tested for the novel coronavirus disease.
• However, swabs from the throat and nose to test for rhinotracheitis, a viral infection that afflicts cats and causes respiratory illness were collected.

Important

• Spread of Infection from humans to animals
  • The Bronx Zoo case suggests that a zoo employee spread the virus to the tiger.
  • The virus came from an animal source and mutated; humans have since been infecting humans. Thus, it is theoretically possible for the virus to mutate again to survive in certain species after being transmitted by humans.
• Advisory by the MInistry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change
  • It has asked all Chief Wildlife Wardens (CWLWs) of all States/UTs to take immediate preventive measures to stop the transmission and spread of the virus from humans to animals and vice versa, in National Parks/Sanctuaries and Tiger Reserves.
  • The CWLW is the statutory authority under the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972 who heads the Wildlife Wing of a State Forest Department and exercises complete administrative control over Protected Areas (PAs) within a state.
• Guidelines issued by the NTCA and CZA
  • Both the Central Zoo Authority (CZA) and the NTCA have issued guidelines that require zoos to be on the “highest alert” and monitor animals on closed-circuit cameras 24/7 for “abnormal behaviour and symptoms.”
  • The CZA has also directed zookeepers to approach sick animals wearing personal protective equipment and isolate and quarantine them.

Central Zoo Authority

• The CZA is a statutory body whose main objective is to enforce minimum standards and norms for upkeep and health care of animals in Indian zoos. It was established in 1992.
• Zoos are regulated as per the provisions of Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972 and are guided by the National Zoo Policy, 1998.

National Tiger Conservation Authority

• NTCA is a statutory body under the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change.
• It was established in December, 2005 following the recommendations of the Tiger Task Force.
• It was constituted under enabling provisions of the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972, and amended in 2006, for strengthening tiger conservation, as per powers and functions assigned to it .

Pench Tiger Reserve

• Pench Tiger Reserve, Seoni (Madhya Pradesh) is one of the major Protected Areas of Satpura-Maikal ranges of the Central Highlands. It was included in the Project Tiger in 1992-93.
• It is among the sites notified as Important Bird Areas of India.
  • The IBA is a programme of Birdlife International which aims to identify, monitor and protect a global network of IBAs for conservation of the world’s birds and associated diversity.
• It has a contiguous forest cover with Kanha Tiger Reserve and Pench Tiger Reserve (Maharashtra).
• The area of the Pench Tiger Reserve and the surrounding area is the real story area of Rudyard Kipling's famous "The Jungle Book".
• The forests found in Pench Tiger Reserve are divided into three parts: southern tropical wet dry forest, southern tropical dry deciduous teak forest and southern tropical dry deciduous mixed forest.
• The major Carnivores are Tiger, leopard, wild cat, wild dog, hyena, jackal, fox, wolf, weasel, among the vegetarian species, Gaur, Nilgai, Sambar, Chital, Chasinga, Chinkara, Wild Pig etc. are prominent.
• There are a lot of migratory birds seen in the cold season. Among the migratory birds, Ruddy shelduck, Pintail, Whistling Teal and Vegtel etc are prominent.

Important Days

World Health Day 2020: April 7

World Health Day is observed annually on April 7, under the sponsorship of the World Health Organization (WHO), to spread about equal healthcare facilities worldwide, the importance of Health and Wellness and to kill myths around Health.

The theme of the year 2020: Support nurses and midwives.

The theme celebrates the work of nurses and midwives and reminds world leaders of the critical role they play in keeping the world healthy.

Key Points:

i.The WHO designated 2020 as the International Year of Nurse and Midwife in honour of the 200th birth anniversary of Florence Nightingale and this year highlights the current status of nursing around the world.
ii.On this day, WHO launched the first-ever State of the World’s Nursing report 2020.
iii.WHO held the First World Health Assembly in 1948 and the Assembly decided to celebrate April 7 of each year, with effect from 1950, as the World Health Day.

International Day of Reflection on the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda: April 7

The International Day of Reflection on the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda is observed every year on April 7, since 2004 to commemorate the murder of more than 1 million people, majorly consist of Tutsi, Twa & moderate Hutu- group of African Great lakes region & others who opposed the genocide in Rwanda and also to reflect on the suffering of those who survived. This year marks its 26th anniversary.
Key Points

i.The Tutsi were systematically killed in the space of 100 days, from April 7 to the middle of July 1994.
ii.The United Nations(UN) General Assembly adopted a resolution on December 23, 2003 to establish the International Reflection Day on the 1994 genocide in Rwanda on April 7 so as to remember the lost lives & reaffirm its commitment to initiatives to prevent all future atrocities.
iii.In January 2018, the General assembly adopted the resolution to amend the name of the day.
iv.Every year, on or around that date, the UN organizes events at its Headquarters(New York) and at UN offices around the world but this year it has been postponed due to COVID-19.
v.Rwanda has two public holidays- April 7 for Kwibuka (remembrance) & July 4 for liberation.

RBI relaxed the norms of State/UT to avail overdraft

On April 7, 2020, The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) decided to increase the number of days that a State/UT can continue to overdraft to 21 working days from the current stipulation of 14 working days as they are facing cash flow mismatches due to coronavirus.
Key Points

i.In addition, the number of days that a State/UT can overdraft in a quarter has also been increased to 50 working days from the current stipulation of 36 working days, while all other stipulations remain unchanged.
ii. The new arrangement is effective immediately and is valid until September 30, 2020.
iii. It has also increased the Ways and Means Advances (WMA) limit by 30% from the existing limit (Rs 1.20 lakh crore) for all States/UTs which was effective from April 1, 2020, & is valid till September 30, 2020.

Money laundering

• It is the concealing or disguising of the identity of illegally obtained proceeds so that they appear to have originated from legitimate sources.

Round Tripping of Funds

• Round tripping refers to money that leaves the country through various channels and makes its way back into the country often as foreign investment.
• This mostly involves black money and is allegedly often used for stock price manipulation.

Prevention of Money-Laundering Act

• Prevention of Money-Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002 deals with money laundering and has three main objectives :
  • To prevent and control money laundering.
  • To provide for confiscation and seizure of property obtained from laundered money.
  • To deal with any other issue connected with money laundering in India.
• Under the PMLA Act, the Enforcement Directorate is empowered to conduct a Money Laundering investigation.
• PMLA (Amendment) Act, 2012
  • Adds the concept of ‘reporting entity’ which includes a banking company, financial institution, intermediary etc.
  • It prescribes the obligation of banking companies, financial institutions and intermediaries for
    • Verification and maintenance of records of the identity of all its clients and also of all transactions.
    • Furnishing information of such transactions in prescribed form to the Financial Intelligence Unit-India (FIU-IND).
      • It empowers the Director of FIU-IND to impose a fine on a banking company, financial institution or intermediary if it or any of its officers fail to comply with the provisions of the Act as indicated above.
  • PMLA, 2002 levied a fine up to Rs 5 lakh, but the amendment act has removed this upper limit.
  • It has provided for provisional attachment and confiscation of property of any person involved in such activities.

Financial Intelligence Unit-India

FIU-IND is a central, national agency responsible for receiving, processing, analyzing and disseminating information relating to suspect financial transactions to enforcement agencies and foreign FIUs.

It was set up in 2004.

It is an independent body reporting directly to the Economic Intelligence Council (EIC) headed by the Finance Minister.

Smart City Mission

• It is an innovative initiative under the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, Government of India to drive economic growth and improve the quality of life of people by enabling local development and harnessing technology as a means to create smart outcomes for citizens.
• Objective: To promote cities that provide core infrastructure and give a decent quality of life to its citizens, a clean and sustainable environment and application of Smart Solutions.
• Focus: On sustainable and inclusive development and to look at compact areas, create a replicable model which will act like a lighthouse to other aspiring cities.
• Strategy:
  
  • Pan-city initiative in which at least one Smart Solution is applied city-wide.
  • Develop areas step-by-step with the help of these three models:
    • Retrofitting.
    • Redevelopment.
    • Greenfield.
• Coverage and Duration: The Mission covers 100 cities for the duration of five years starting from the financial year (FY) 2015-16 to 2019-20.
• Financing: It is a Centrally Sponsored Scheme.