Central Government committed to reach last man in the queue in J&K, says Minister

All citizen-friendly Central laws to be applicable to newly created UTs Article 370 is gone forever, says MoS PMO

‘Awaz-e-Awam portal’ of J&K merges with CPGRAMS Posted On: 30 NOV 2019 3:55PM by PIB Delhi The Union Minister of State (PP), Dr Jitendra Singh said that all Central laws applicable to other parts of the country will now be applicable to the newly created UTs of Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) and Ladakh. He said that there are about 854 such laws which are citizen-friendly and will benefit the common man of J&K and Ladakh, who were previously deprived of it. The Minister said that now everybody should understand that Article 370 is gone and gone forever;

and not in pieces, but as a whole and it is the determined resolve of Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi and the Home Minister Shri Amit Shah. He appealed to the people of the UTs not to pay heed to the fringe elements with vested interests and to cooperate with the Government in providing welfare to common masses. He was addressing at the inauguration of two-day Conference on ‘Ek Bharat Shreshta Bharat’ with focus on ‘Jal Shakti’ and ‘Disaster Management’ on November 30-December 1, 2019 at Jammu today. The conference is being organized by the Department of Administrative Reforms and Public Grievances (DARPG) in collaboration with Governments of Tamil Nadu and Union Territory of Jammu & Kashmir.

Says our history is incomplete without the bravery of these heroes Union government should encourage states to research upon and compile history of local heroes of freedom struggle – VP

Calls for making it mandatory part of our school syllabus Serious research required on the oral traditions of history telling – VP Stresses the need to develop nationalistic approach towards history writing

Urges people to follow Fundamental Duties and spread awareness about them Posted On: 30 NOV 2019 3:32PM by PIB Delhi The Vice President, Shri M. Venkaiah Naidu today suggested that Union government should encourage states to research upon and compile the history of local heroes of freedom struggle from across the country. He also emphasized on publishing this history in local languages so as to reach the maximum people.

Speaking at an event organised in the remembrance of Shaheed Raja Vijay Singh and his brave men at the village Kunja Bahadur in Haridwar district of Uttarakhand today, Shri Naidu recalled the heroic story of the people of Kunja Bahadur who rose against the British with their king Vijay Singh.

The Britishers had occupied a significant portion of India by the year 1824 when King Vijay Singh declared freedom. He gathered an army of one thousand men from nearby areas such as Garhwal, Kumaon, Bijnor, Saharanpur and Meerut and stopped paying taxes to the British. He eliminated all symbols of British occupation from the area.

The British in turn attacked the fort of Kunja Bahadur. Around 40 Britishers were killed in the fierce battle that ensued and hundreds of Gurjar soldiers were martyred. The British inflicted innumerable atrocities over the people. They hanged hundreds of people from a single tree. The bodies of Raja Vijay Singh and his brave general Kalyan Singh were mutilated and displayed in front of Dehradun prison.

The Vice President said that Raja Vijay Singh and his men made supreme sacrifice for the cause of freedom in 1824, three decades before the first war for independence in 1857, but it is an irony that the stories like Kunja Bahadurpur remain ignored in our history. “Our history is incomplete without the bravery of these heroes ’’, he said.

Mentioning the names of legendary warriors from Uttarakhand such as Ram Pyari Gurjar, Rani Karnawati, Shahmal Singh Tomar and teenage warrior Shivdevi Tomar, Shri Naidu said that our history has been witness to many a struggle wherein people rose against the invaders under the leadership of local heroes to defend their freedom, honour, culture and property.

“But these resistances hardly find any mention in our history”, said Shri Naidu adding that “we need to rectify this mistake”. He also stressed the need to make such stories mandatory part of our school syllabus so that the new generation can draw inspiration from them.

The Vice President also called for developing a nationalistic approach to our history and research new sources for it. History does not belong to just the rulers, rather it belongs to the people and communities as well, he said emphasizing the need to study local cultural, literary and social history.

Shri Naidu said that heroic stories of local communities are transmitted from generation to generation by oral tradition and form an inseparable part of their being. “Local educational institutions, civil society organizations and media should do serious research on these oral traditions of history telling and to make the whole country aware of them”, he added.

Saying that our history is indebted to the great sacrifices made by our ancestors such as Raja Vijay Singh and his general Shaheed Kalyan Singh, he appealed to the younger generation to respect and follow their ideals.

In order to drive enrolments under Pradhan Mantri Shram Yogi Maandhan (PM-SYM) and National Pension Scheme for Traders and Self-Employed Persons (NPS-Traders), Labour Ministry has decided to celebrate Pension Week during 30th Nov, 2019 - 6th Dec 2019. Today, a central function was inaugurated by Minister of State(I/C) for Labour and Employment with an aim to enroll one crore beneficiaries for PM-SYM and 50 lakhs beneficiaries for NPS-Traders by March 2020. This event was live webcast to all 3.5 lakhs Common Service Centres(CSCs) across the country.

Shri Gangwar stated that both the pension schemes are simple and hassle free. For the enrolments, only Aadhar and savings bank/Jandhan account is required. It takes only 2-3 minutes time to get oneself enrolled under the Schemes. The monthly contribution has been kept at the lowest level that ranges from Rs.55 to Rs.200 per month depending upon the entry ages of the subscriber. If a person is of age 30 years, his monthly contribution would be around Rs.100 per month. In this way, he will contribute Rs.1200 only per year and Rs.36,000 in his entire contribution period. But, after attaining 60 years, he will get Rs.36,000 per year as Pension.

The life table clearly indicates that if a person reaches 60 years, he is likely to survive around 80 years of his age. In this way, he will get Rs.36,000 pension per year. After his death, his spouse will get 50% of the pension, i.e. Rs.1,500 per month. If husband and wife are both eligible, they can join the Scheme separately and after 60 years, they will get Rs.6,000 as Pension which will be sufficient to meet their daily needs, during their old ages. If one of them dies during the pension period, the spouse will get Rs.4500 per month as monthly pension (Rs.3000 as his own and Rs.1500 for spouse).

The Minister expressed hope that during the Pension Week we will organize awareness campaign among 10 crore Ayushman beneficiaries, 11 crore MGNREGA workers, 4-5 crore BOC workers, 2.5 crore Self Help Group members, 40 lakh Anganwadi workers and 10 lakh ASHA workers about the benefits of these Pension Schemes.

While addressing the function, Labour Secretary Shri Heeralal Samariya said that the CSCs which will enroll more than 100 persons, during the Pension Week, will be given additional incentive. In this incentive, CSC-SPV will not take any share and complete amount will be transferred to the respective VLEs/CSCs.

Shri Samariya said that it will be our sincere effort to motivate targeted groups like construction workers, ASHA workers, Aanganwadi workers and domestic workers to get benefit from the schemes. He expressed hope that the State Governments along with their District level functionaries should try to enroll maximum number of beneficiaries during the week. The progress of the Scheme is being regularly reviewed in the Ministry.

Ministry of Road Transport and Highways has decided to postpone the date of compulsory implementation of FASTags on National Highway Toll Plazas to 15th of December, 2019. The scheme was earlier to launched from the 1st of December, 2019.

In order to save fuel, time and pollution and to ensure seamless movement of traffic, Ministry of Road Transport & Highways has launched National Electronic Toll Collection program (NETC) which provide for collection of user fee through FASTag based on RFID technology. It was decided that all lanes (except one lane on each side) in Fee Plazas shall be declared as 'FASTag lane of Fee Plaza' by 1st of December 2019.

Accordingly, NHAI has equipped all Fee Plazas with Electronic Toll Collection System. For ease in availability of FASTag , NHAI has launched MyFASTag APP whereby all information regarding FASTag can be obtained along with location of POSs and charging/ linking with NHAI/other wallets or bank accounts.

However it has been found that many citizens have still not enabled their vehicles with FASTag due to various reasons. Accordingly to provide some more time to citizens to buy and put FASTag on their vehicles, it has now been decided that charging of double User Fee from vehicles which enter FASTag lane without FASTag will start from 15th of December 2019 instead of 1st of December 2019

Who was Udham Singh? Born in Sunam in Punjab’s Sangrur district in 1899. He was a political activist who got associated with the Ghadar Party while in the US.

In 1934, Singh made his way to London with the purpose of assassinating O’Dwyer, who in 1919 had been the Lieutenant Governor of Punjab and unsurprisingly, Singh considered O’Dwyer to be responsible for the massacre.

Instead of Dyer, who instructed his men to open fire at the crowd gathered in Jallianwala Bagh, O’Dwyer is considered to be the actual perpetrator, since Dyer could not have executed it without his permission.

On March 13, 1940 Singh shot O’Dwyer at a meeting of the East India Association and the Royal Central Asian Society at Caxton Hill. He was sentenced to death and was hanged on July 31, 1940 at Pentonville Prison.

What is Ghadar Party? The multi-ethnic party was believed to have communist tendencies and was founded by Sohan Singh Bhakna in 1913.

Headquartered in California. It was committed to the ouster of the British from India.

Registration of political parties: Registration of Political parties is governed by the provisions of Section 29A of the Representation of the People Act, 1951.

A party seeking registration under the said Section with the Commission has to submit an application to the Commission within a period of 30 days following the date of its formation as per guidelines prescribed by the Election Commission of India in exercise of the powers conferred by Article 324 of the Commission of India and Section 29A of the Representation of the People Act, 1951.

To be eligible for a ‘State Political Party,’ the Election Commission has set the following criteria: For any political party to be eligible for recognition as a State Party in a state, it has to satisfy any of the five conditions listed below: Secure at least 6% of the valid vote & win at least 2 seats in an Assembly General Election. Secure at least 6% of the valid vote & win at least 1 seats in a Lok Sabha General Election

Win at least 3% of the seats or at least 3 seats , whichever is more, in an Assembly General Election Win at least 1 out of every 25 seats from a state in a Lok Sabha General Election Secure at least 8% of the total valid vote in an Assembly or a Lok Sabha General Election.

Benefits: If a party is recognised as a State Party’, it is entitled for exclusive allotment of its reserved symbol to the candidatesset up by it in the State in which it is so recognised, and if a party is recognised as a `National Party’ it is entitled for exclusive allotment of its reserved symbol to the candidates set up by it throughout India.

Recognised `State’ and `National’ parties need only one proposer for filing the nomination and are also entitled for two sets of electoral rolls free of cost at the time of revision of rolls and their candidates get one copy of electoral roll free of cost during General Elections. They also get broadcast/telecast facilities over Akashvani/Doordarshan during general elections.

Political parties are entitled to nominate “Star Campaigners” during General Elections. A recognized National or State party can have a maximum of 40 “Star campaigners” and a registered un-recognised party can nominate a maximum of 20 ‘Star Campaigners”. The travel expenses of star campaigners are not to be accounted for in the election expense accounts of candidates of their party.

Background: The United Nations had given UK six months to process the transfer, a move the UK and the US have bitterly resisted.

What’s the issue? Britain detached the Chagos Islands from Mauritius in 1965, three years before Mauritian independence.

From 1967 to 1973, some 1,500 Chagos islanders were gradually forced to leave their homes so that the largest island, Diego Garcia, could be leased to the US for a strategic airbase. Today, Diego Garcia hosts a major US military base. In 2016, after several judicial challenges, Britain extended Diego Garcia’s lease until 2036 and declared that the expelled islanders would not be allowed to go back.

In 2017, Mauritius successfully petitioned the United Nations to seek an ICJ advisory opinion on the legality of the separation. Mauritius claims it was forced to give up the islands – now a British overseas territory – in 1965 in exchange for independence, which it gained in 1968.

What the ICJ said? The UK should end its control of the Chagos Islands in the Indian Ocean as rapidly as possible. The islands are not lawfully separated from the former colony of Mauritius.

Arguments by Mauritius: Britain has illegally occupied this region and only Mauritius has sovereignty over the archipelago.

Against the right of self-determination: The separation of the islands from Mauritius was in clear breach of UN resolution 1514, also known as the Colonial Declaration. Passed in 1960, it enshrined the right of self-determination for colonial peoples and specifically banned the breakup of colonies prior to independence. This was intended to keep borders stable, and to prevent colonial powers from simply absorbing colonial territory into their overseas territory so as to retain their sovereignty.

Yet in spite of this resolution, a number of states (including France and the UK) kept possession of parts of their former colonies following the decolonisation process. What happens now after UK missed the UN deadline to return Chagos Islands?

The UK is slowly finding itself more diplomatically isolated after its failures at the UN General Assembly concerning Chagos Islands. The shambles that is Brexit has also alienated the UK to a certain degree in terms of its relations with other EU members.

For now, the UK might possibly be searching for reassurance in the fact that the ICJ ruling is not binding and no immediate sanctions or adverse actions will be taken against it.

The next step at the UN General Assembly in 2020 would be the question of resettlement of and potential compensation for the displaced Chagos Islanders who faced homelessness, poverty and associated hardships after being forcefully removed from their homeland by the UK and the US.

Key findings- India specific: India accounts for the highest share with 17.5 million Indians living outside the country. India is the leading recipient of remittances. International remittances in 2018 (2020 report) reached $689 billion, out of which India received $78.6 billion from the 17.5 million living abroad.

Remittances received by India have consistently increased between the 2005 and 2020. The top migration corridors for Indians are the United Arab Emirates, the US and Saudi Arabia. Highest number of migrants entering India come from Bangladesh.

Global scenario: As compared to the 2000 Global Migration Report, the number of international migrants has nearly doubled in the 2020 report, from 150 million to 272 million.

India is followed by Mexico (11.8 million) and China (10.7 million). Roughly two-thirds of international migrants are labour migrants. The United States was the top remittance-issuer, at $68 billion, followed by the United Arab Emirates ($44.4 billion) and Saudi Arabia ($36.1 billion).

The top destinations for international migrants is the US where, as of September 2019, there were 50.7 million international migrants. The US is followed by Germany, Saudi Arabia, Russian Federation and the UK. The proportion of female international migrants has only marginally changed between the two reports, from 47.5% in 2000 to 47.9%.

The share of international migrants who were children has dropped from 16% in 2000 to 13.9%. Oceania is the region with the highest proportion of international migrants. The UAE is the country with the highest proportion of international migrants. More than half of all international migrants (141 million) live in Europe and North America.

Reasons for migration: Economic conditions. Ongoing conflicts and violence. Impact of climate and weather disasters.

Impact: Previously the US provided some 22% of NATO’s direct funding, which covers the cost of maintaining the NATO headquarters, joint security investments and some combined military operations.

It’s a largely symbolic move as NATO’s direct budget is relatively small, at about $2.5 billion, and is separate from national defense budgets that NATO recommends should stand at 2% of GDP.

About North Atlantic Treaty Organization: It is an intergovernmental military alliance. Established by Washington treaty. Treaty that was signed on 4 April 1949. Headquarters — Brussels, Belgium.

Headquarters of Allied Command Operations — Mons, Belgium. Significance: It constitutes a system of collective defence whereby its independent member states agree to mutual defence in response to an attack by any external party.

Objectives: Political – NATO promotes democratic values and enables members to consult and cooperate on defence and security-related issues to solve problems, build trust and, in the long run, prevent conflict.

Military – NATO is committed to the peaceful resolution of disputes. If diplomatic efforts fail, it has the military power to undertake crisis-management operations. These are carried out under the collective defence clause of NATO’s founding treaty – Article 5 of the Washington Treaty or under a United Nations mandate, alone or in cooperation with other countries and international organisations.

India’s cold-wave zone covers the north Indian states of Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Delhi, Haryana, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh and also other states like Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, and Bihar.

Context: India’s cold-wave regions to have warm winter this year as per IMD.