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Mar 10, 2022

THE LINK BETWEEN EDUCATION AND PARTICIPATION OF WOMEN IN POLITICS Recently, the gender disparity in politics indicates the need to promote education amongst women, thus, enabling greater political participation.

Women in Politics

Women make up about half of our population, but they are underrepresented in our political system in proportion to their numbers.
At every level, from the home to the highest levels of government, women are excluded from decision-making. Women’s decision-making engagement in politics may have a substantial impact on women’s empowerment.
Despite the Indian Constitution’s provision of equal opportunity, women have a small presence in legislative bodies and political participation at all levels.
The education plays a part in politics; however, only for women because the literacy rate of female politicians is higher than the male politicians, implying that only women need political education.
As per the report of the Election Commission of India, women represent 10.5 percent of the total members of the Parliament. The plight of women in the state assemblies is even worse, where they nearly account for 9 percent of the leaders.
Women’s representation in the Lok Sabha has not even grown by 10 percent in the last 75 years of independence. Women workers abound in India’s main political parties, but they are often marginalised and refused a party ticket to run in elections.
According to Global Gender Gap Report 2020, India ranks 112th in educational attainment out of 153 countries, which reveals a stark involvement of education as a factor that determines women’s participation in politics.
In states like Uttar Pradesh, where only 10 percent of the women are representing in state assemblies, out of them 77.5 percent women are graduates and post-graduates while the number is comparatively lower for men. Similarly, in West Bengal, only 14 percent of the women elected for the state assemblies have around 60 percent literacy rate, and male leaders are considerably low.

Factors Responsible for Poor Representation of Women in Politics

Gender stereotypes, lack of political network, financial strains, and unavailability of resources, etc.
One of the prominent factors that hinders the inclusion of women in politics is the lack of political education amongst women in the country. Due to a lack of political knowledge, women are oblivious of their basic and political rights.
Women’s social mobility is influenced by their education. Formal education, such as that given in educational institutions, provides an opportunity for leadership and instils critical leadership abilities.
India has a low rate of girl-child education and is still in the grips of patriarchy which results from traditionally assigned roles to women.
A significant barrier to women's capability of participating in politics to be the threat of violence. Sexual violence in India is exacerbated by issues of education and marriage. Women are sexually abused. Child marriage, domestic violence and low literacy rates have lowered Indian women's economic opportunities and contributed to sexual violence in India.
Discriminatory attitudes manifest in the limitations presented to Indian women including low access to information and resources. Women rely on receiving information from family or village members, typically men.
Women also lack leadership experience due to the fact they are burdened with household duties. The burden of household duties is a significant reason why many Indian women do not participate. Unlike men, there are fewer opportunities for women to get involved in organizations to gain leadership skills. There is little public space for them as men have dominated the political arena for many years in India.
Discrimination is further perpetuated by class. Dalit women, of the lowest caste in India, are continually discriminated against in running for public office. Dalit women experience harassment by being denied information, ignored or silenced in meetings, and in some cases petitioned to be removed from their elected position.
Socio-economic conditions, such as poverty and illiteracy, prevent the entrance of women into running for public office, and even voting.
Inability to understand the rules of Panchayat Raj undermines the self-confidence to participation in public office.

Why is women's participation in politics important?

Female representation plays huge importance to the growth of the country towards sustainable development. SDG 5 goals at achieving gender equality and the empowerment of all women and girls with special emphasis on leadership and participation in public, political, and economical decision-making and the adoption of policies to facilitate this participation.
As a country where half of the voters are women and the policies are made for both men and women, they deserve to get equal representation in the governing and policymaking procedures because a deficiency here can reduce the effectiveness and relevance of the respective policy.
Women's political participation is a fundamental prerequisite for gender equality and genuine democracy. It facilitates women's direct engagement in public decision-making and is a means of ensuring better accountability to women.
Political accountability to women begins with increasing the number of women in decision-making positions and the requirement of gender-sensitive governance reforms that will make all elected officials more effective at promoting gender equality in public policy and ensuring their implementation.
To promote transformative leadership, politics and communities through the active and reciprocal participation of women as members of constituencies and potential leaders in the political processes and governance at the local and community levels.

Constitutional rights of women

The Constitution of India establishes a parliamentary system of government, and guarantees its citizens the right to be elected, freedom of speech, freedom to assemble and form associations, and vote.
The Constitution of India attempts to remove gender inequalities by banning discrimination based on sex and class, prohibiting human trafficking and forced labour, and reserving elected positions for women.
The Government of India directed state and local governments to promote equality by class and gender including equal pay and free legal aid, humane working conditions and maternity relief, rights to work and education, and raising the standard of living.
Women were substantially involved in the Indian independence movement in the early 20th century and advocated for independence from Britain. Independence brought gender equality in the form of constitutional rights, but historically women's political participation has remained low.

How to Increase Women Participation in Politics?

To overcome issues of discrimination and violence, women's organizations have focused on the empowerment of Indian women. Empowerment is tied to the support of family and improved status within the household, which is undermined by the threat of domestic and sexual violence.
Empowerment of Indian women can also occur through "bridging gaps in education, renegotiating gender roles, the gender division of labour and addressing biased attitudes".
Women can also be empowered to participate by family, and when familial support is present, they are more likely to run for office.
The Government of India has addressed the issue of empowerment by consolidating all programmes for women under the National Mission of Empowerment of Women (NMEW). The mission of NMEW is to "enhance economic empowerment of girls and women through skill development, micro credit, vocational training and entrepreneurship."
In 2001, the Government of India passed the National Policy for the Empowerment of Women. The policy focuses on "the advancement, development, and empowerment of women." Specifically, the policy focuses on ending gender inequality and violence against women.
The United Nations has also encouraged empowerment among India women by campaigning to end violence against women in India.
A more nuanced approach would focus on eliminating the underlying, interconnected barriers that women face in getting nominated for elected office and conducting successful campaigns. Such obstacles include the election system itself; lack of access to financing; weaker professional networks; and outside responsibilities that make it harder to take on punishing and unpredictable working conditions.
Overcoming such structural barriers requires a comprehensive strategy for supporting women candidates. One of the most powerful tools is money.
Beyond financing constraints, women face high social and cultural barriers to political participation. In particular, greater care obligations, reinforced by public perceptions of a “woman’s role,” severely undermine women’s ability to run for public office.
One step that could help would be for male politicians to assume more care responsibilities, thereby making the playing field more level, while demonstrating that family is a high priority for everyone.
Concrete policies should also be put in place to support working parents, by giving them more flexibility to meet family responsibilities.
Women may also benefit from targeted training. UN Women’s recent Political Academy in Tunisia trained women candidates on local governance, the missions and roles of municipal councils, and media relations.

Road Ahead:

“Where women are more educated and empowered, economies are more productive and stronger. Where women are fully represented, societies are more peaceful and stable” (UNSC 2013), this quote from United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon emphasises the significance of education in achieving gender equality and making countries more affluent.

NAVAL EXERCISE MILAN CONCLUDES IN VISAKHAPATNAM The Indian Navy has just concluded its multilateral naval exercise, ‘Milan’ in Vishakhapatnam.

About Milan: Multilateral Naval Exercise

For the first time, more than 40 navies from around the world, including the US Navy participated.
Convened since 1995, the exercise this year was conducted in two phases—harbour phase (25-28 February) and sea phase (1-4 March).
This flagship exercise has not only enabled the navy to develop professional relationships but also has become an important tool to project India’s soft military power.
Most Southeast Asian states—Indonesia, Malaysia, Vietnam, Brunei, Singapore, Cambodia, Thailand, and Myanmar, participated in this year’s Milan exercise. Of these, Singapore, Thailand, and Indonesia had participated in the inaugural edition of the exercise in 1995.
The Milan exercise’s expanding size of participants and complexity of drills is symbolic of India’s expanding defence diplomacy imprint from West to Southeast Asia.
This diplomacy includes a more advanced naval engagement, greater military exercises, and enhanced efforts for defence exports. As a result, they have improved interoperability with partner militaries, built partnerships, and earned diplomatic heft for India.

Significance of Milan Exercise in Defence Diplomacy

In the domain of international relations, military diplomacy has, in recent years, emerged as a major tool to further diplomatic interests of nations.
Participation in international level military exercises is an indication of the highest level of trust and confidence between the member nations.
It is a key confidence building measure (CBM) and an indication of the faith reposed by India on another nation or a group of member nations.
On the operational side, it enables militaries to understand each other’s drills and procedures, overcome language barriers, and facilitate familiarisation with equipment capabilities.
It also facilitates understanding and familiarisation with new technologies that other countries may be utilising and enables on-the-job training of each other’s crews.
This is particularly useful in the event of joint operations whether in war or in operations other than war (OOTW) - humanitarian aid, disaster relief, anti-piracy, etc. – when nations come together for a common cause. A fine example was the aid assistance provided by a host of nations during the tsunami in South East Asia where a massive land, air and sea rescue effort was successfully executed to provide relief to the affected countries.
Perhaps, the most important advantage of joint military exercises is ‘strategic signalling’. A joint exercise with one or more nations serves the purpose of signalling to a third country of the influence we have in the region and a demonstration of our resolve to further our diplomatic objectives.
On the intangible side, military exercises promote brotherhood and camaraderie between soldiers and militaries.
Besides goodwill, it is a tool for projection of a nation’s soft power – culture, language, customs, beliefs, food habits and lifestyle.
Soldiers all over the world have almost similar rank and organisational structures, which helps establish a unique spirit of bonding and friendship between their communities irrespective of the country of origin.

Defence exports

Unlike in the past, we are now willing to look at opportunities to export arms as a means of strengthening our diplomatic footprint abroad.
India is keen to export the Akash surface-to-air missile (SAM) system to countries in Asia and Africa. We are looking at countries like Vietnam, Bangladesh, Philippines and Oman to export defence material such as bridging equipment, missiles, warships, OPVs and Self-Propelled Artillery Guns.
We have gone as far as Latin America., supplying armoured vehicles to Guyana, 4×4 trucks to Honduras, Argentina, Uruguay and Belize, two Dhruv helicopters to Peru, seven Dhruv helicopters to Ecuador and three Chetak helicopters to Suriname.
The recent US $375 million Brahmos missiles deal with the Philippines—the first such export order for the missile—has come as a shot in the arm for India’s defence industry. Under the contract, India will provide three missile batteries to the Philippine Navy and potentially a follow-up order.
With a target of US $5 billion for defence exports by 2024, India has intensified its efforts to sell weapons to Southeast Asia and Africa, where Chinese defence companies dominate.
Besides the measures to expand the domestic defence industrial base and boost exports, the government has strengthened the role of defence attaches located in Indian embassies abroad.
The government has allocated them an annual budget of up to US$50,000 to promote Indian defence equipment in their respective markets. Moreover, to reinforce their sales pitch, the government has cleared multiple ‘Made-in-India’ equipment, including the Tejas combat aircraft and Astra missile for export to friendly countries.
Beyond exports, India has also helped its immediate neighbours to build their naval capability by donating and transferring equipment. This includes off-shore patrol vessels to Mauritius (2015), Sri Lanka (2018), Maldives (2019), and Seychelles (2021), as well as two Dornier aircraft to Seychelles (2013 & 2018).

Humanitarian Assistance

A key element of being a ‘net security provider’ is the ability to launch Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief (HADR) operations in the region.
For long, India has been leading on the HADR operations front, as seen during the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, 2015 Nepal earthquake, and 2020 floods in Madagascar.
The acquisition of equipment like the INS Jalashwa transport dock and C17 transport aircraft in the last decade has empowered the Indian military to execute such operations.
As extreme weather events in the region increase the propensity for natural disasters, particularly in the Bay of Bengal region, India is coordinating with partner countries to enhance its response mechanism.
HADR remains an important focus area within the Quad, but India has also undertaken initiatives like the PANEX-21 exercise with the BIMSTEC (Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation) countries to envisage contingencies for such operations in the backdrop of the pandemic.

Role of Military Diplomacy as Part of India’s Foreign Policy

The military has a role that goes beyond security and defence of the country against external threats and spills into avoidance of conflict and promotion of peace, building sustainable cooperative relationships and trust, perception management, changing mind-sets, clarifying elements of our foreign policy to interlocutors and generally improving understandings with those they interact with externally.
“Military diplomacy” also assumes that the three Services, the Army, Navy and Air Force, have a coordinated view of their diplomatic role and mechanisms exist to produce a shared and coherent perspective.
It might be conceptually more appropriate to speak of the role of the Armed Forces in India’s foreign policy, the use of the military arm to make our diplomacy more effective and how Indian diplomacy can better integrate our military assets into policy making, rather than “military diplomacy” as such.
As a general proposition it can be said that the military strength of a country bolsters its diplomatic posture. The US, as the strongest military power in the world, with a defence budget that is larger that of the combined budgets of the next seven countries, has the capacity to intervene across continents.
Russia too relies on its military assets to expand the room for its diplomacy despite its fall from super power status. The massive military exercise it has just held in the Vladivostok area with large Chinese participation, military exercises within the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) format, its military outreach to Pakistan that has sent uncomfortable signals to us, the establishment of the Collective Security Treaty Organisation (CSTO) to maintain its influence in some of the erstwhile constituent states of the Soviet Union.
China, with its growing military strength, is broadening its diplomatic foot-print across the globe, the demonstration of its capacity to sustain its naval forces far away from its shores, the appearance of its submarines in the Indian Ocean and especially in Colombo port, its increasing arms exports, participation in UN peacekeeping operations, financial contribution to Organisation of African Unity (OAU’s) peace keeping operations in Africa, arms supplies to our neighbours, especially Pakistan, the close ties between its armed forces and the Pakistani military, military exercises with Nepal are all examples of an active use of the military instrument in advancing foreign policy goals.
In India’s case, the content of our military outreach abroad cannot be as wide-ranging as those of the principal big powers given our relatively limited military capacities and our general political outlook. We are traditionally against military alliances and establishment of military bases on our territory or seeking them abroad, though some evolution of thinking with regard to a more active maritime policy and access to ports for our Navy has taken place.
With Nepal, our military diplomacy has a special dimension, with Gurkha soldiers from Nepal serving in the Indian Army and retired soldiers receiving pensions delivered locally in Nepal that help sustain the livelihood of significant numbers, which establishes unique bonds and earns goodwill, though in diplomatic terms this has not yielded adequate returns, with Nepal continuing to pursue unfriendly and insensitive policies towards India and deliberately using the China card against us.
The supply of arms to Myanmar was intended to build bridges with the military and government and retrieve lost ground to some extent. The overall situation has evolved with the restoration of democracy in Myanmar. To manage our troubled northeast, military to military ties between India and Myanmar are most important and we have seen some cross-border operations in the area that requite Myanmar’s cooperation and understanding.
As another instance of activism on the military front in our diplomacy, we have in the past helped set up military academies and provided military training to many countries in Africa. A large number of African military officers have been trained over the years in our military institutions. We have military to military cooperation with about 18 African countries. We could increase military to military engagement, especially in the training area, with countries like South Africa, Nigeria, Angola, Ghana, Kenya, Ethiopia, Mozambique and Lesotho through institutionalised defence cooperation mechanisms.
To promote more synergy between our defence and foreign policies towards countries considered important we have instituted 2+2 dialogues. These are at Foreign and Defence Secretaries level with Japan and Australia, but with the US the dialogue is at the level of Defence and Foreign Ministers.

Engagement with Southeast Asia

A key driver for India’s defence diplomacy has been China’s persistent aggressiveness in the region, particularly in the South China Sea.
India has intensified collaboration with many Southeast Asian states. They, too, are keen to expand their security ties with India to balance China and bolster their maritime security.
The Indian Navy has supported this engagement by participating in multilateral exercises in the region like the Indonesian Navy’s Komodo and the US-led Southeast Asia Cooperation and Training exercises.
India is utilising this collaborative approach to stimulate defence exports and counter China, which has leveraged its defence supplies to entrench itself in the region.

Building relationships on India’s West

India has crafted a distinct partnership with the West Asian monarchies. Defence diplomacy has constituted a critical part of this relationship.
When the region is witnessing epochal shifts with the Abraham Accords and a growing profile of China, India has advanced its security cooperation by focusing on naval engagement. For instance, India conducted joint naval exercises with the United Arab Emirates (Zayed Talwar exercise), Bahrain (Maritime Partnership Exercise), and Saudi Arabia (Al-Mohed Al-Hindi exercise).
Notably, the India-Saudi Arabia exercise was the first joint exercise between the two. Both countries have also had high-level military exchanges with respective army chiefs undertaking maiden visits.
Oman has served as an important anchor for India’s military engagement in the region. Besides the regular military exchanges between the two militaries, Oman has granted the Indian Navy access to the Duqm port for logistics and support.
This has facilitated the navy’s sustained long-term presence in the western Indian Ocean, which for years has served as a hotspot for piracy. Though piracy incidents have declined lately, other challenges have emerged, like drug trafficking and illegal fishing, that demand maritime vigilance.

Tackling Afghan challenge

Since the return of the Taliban regime in August 2021, India has been working with its partners to contain the adverse fallout of the unstable security situation in Afghanistan. The inaugural India-Central Asia summit of January 2022 and the Regional Security Dialogue of November 2021 underlined India’s approach towards the Afghan challenge, focusing on preventing the spread of terrorism and drug trafficking.
Towards this, India is exploring holding joint counter-terrorism exercises with interested Central Asian states, which will equip their respective security forces to deal with potential terrorist violence.
Meanwhile, India has also taken a sympathetic view of the 80 Afghan cadets who recently graduated from different Indian military training institutions. New Delhi has now offered these stranded cadets a year-long training course under the Indian Technical and Economic Cooperation programme.

Conclusion

With a focus on containing the adverse regional fallout of the unfolding security situation in Afghanistan while simultaneously tackling the growing Chinese maritime assertiveness in the Indo-Pacific, India has increasingly leveraged its defence forces to shape regional diplomacy. These initiatives are helping India build a sustained cooperative engagement and create a web of partnerships throughout the region. Sustaining these partnerships will require India to invest more in its naval, expeditionary, and logistic capabilities.

6 SURPRISING FACTS ABOUT THE GLOBAL GENDER PAY GAP Women globally earn around 37% less than men in similar roles, according to the Global Gender Gap Report 2021 from the World Economic Forum.

Highlights of Global Gender Gap Report

In its index of 156 countries, the Forum finds progress on closing the gender gap is painfully slow. In fact, based on the current trajectory, women are 267.6 years away from gender parity in the area of economic participation and opportunity – which includes equal pay.
Timor-Leste, an island country in the Indonesian archipelago in Southeast Asia, is one of a handful of developing countries where women are estimated to earn the same as men. It ranks 64th globally in the Forum’s gender gap rankings and is one of the three most-improved countries, after boosting its overall score by 5.8%.
Rwanda in East Africa has closed 80.9% of its wage equality gap. This helped it secure 7th place in the world’s top 10 gender-equal countries in the Forum’s 2021 Global Gender Gap Index. The country, which has a population of around 13 million, has the highest gender gap performance among Sub-Saharan African countries.
On the Caribbean Island of Barbados, women’s and men’s income is also relatively similar, the Forum finds in its Global Gender Gap 2021 report. Women earn about 86.8% of their male counterparts.
Suriname, one of the smallest countries in South America, was previously one of only six economies worldwide without any form of paid leave for new parents. It has now introduced 16 weeks of paid maternity leave and eight days of paid paternity leave.
The Global Gender Gap Report by World Economic Forum shows that only 29.2 per cent of technical roles are held by women in India; in fact, India has fallen 28 places in its ranking to 140. Despite the fact that the number of women enrolled in STEM programmes has increased over the years, the increased education levels have not translated into increased employability or career opportunities.

What are the causes of Low Participation of Women?

One of the many reasons were family and societal pressure, lack of awareness and post-marriage responsibilities.
Two significant challenges stand out when it comes to women’s under-representation in STEM in India. The first concerns women’s entry into and retention in science in higher education, while the second involves variations in career attainment between men and women candidates in STEM in the country, with women displaying lower levels of attainment than their male counterparts.
In India, women, in particular, quit their jobs in the middle of their careers, owing to the dual stress of combining work and family obligations. According to a NITI Aayog poll of women in science, 30 per cent of them believe their careers have harmed their family commitments and household responsibilities.
STEM occupations are frequently perceived as masculine, and teachers and parents frequently undervalue girls’ ability beginning in kindergarten.
Digital illiteracy and unfamiliarity with digital platforms deterred women entrepreneurs from moving to online marketplaces post COVID-19. Women Self-Help Group (SHG) members across states like Maharashtra, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, and Gujarat shared that even though women in their community were using phones for personal use, they were unable to make financial transactions online, and did not use phones for their businesses.
The gendered digital divide is also preventing women and girls from accessing government social security benefits and even booking COVID-19 vaccination slots.
The political sphere shows inequality between men and women diminishing in some ways. For example, the United Nations reports that, globally, the number of women who hold political office has doubled compared to 20 years ago. But there are still disparities.
Women also have less access to formal financial tools, like bank accounts. The United Nations found that, as of 2018, 65% of men have a formal bank account while only 58% of women do.
Gender prejudice and resulting gender discrimination begin in childhood. From the moment they’re born, girls and boys face unequal gender norms regarding expectations and access to resources and opportunities, with lifelong consequences – in their homes, schools and communities.
Child marriage is a form of gender-based violence and a result and driver of gender inequality and gender discrimination. Gender-based violence occurs everywhere around the world across all economic and social groups.
According to research from the World Bank, over one billion women don’t have legal protection against domestic sexual violence or domestic economic violence. Both have a significant impact on women’s ability to thrive and live in freedom.
In addition to limited access to contraception, women overall receive lower-quality medical care than men. This is linked to other gender inequality reasons such as a lack of education and job opportunities, which results in more women being in poverty. They are less likely to be able to afford good healthcare.
There’s also been less research into diseases that affect women more than men, such as autoimmune disorders and chronic pain conditions. Many women also experience discrimination and dismissal from their doctors, broadening the gender gap in healthcare quality.

The Benefits of Gender Equality in the Workplace

McKinsey estimates that were more women to be able to fully participate in paid work, and earn equal pay, that could add $28 trillion to the global gross domestic product (GDP). That would be a 26% increase by 2025.
One of the major benefits of improved gender equality in the workplace is a more cohesive and more productive workforce. A University of Greenwich study suggests that providing more child care and elder care would free more skilled women to return to work, which is good for productivity.
An empowering, bias-free and supportive gender equal workplace leads to an innovation mindset. Key aspects of this are willingness to get inspiration from beyond the organization, to work across the organization, and to be willing to experiment.
A more diverse approach gives your company the chance to benefit from views that fall outside the norm. That's another major benefit of gender equality.
It's also important to make it clear that there are routes into leadership and management for people of all genders, not just men. For example, Oracle has a program designed to encourage and support women leaders.
Gender equality isn't just good for women. In fact, as Global Women points out, it makes the whole workforce happier. Any steps you take to level the playing field for women level it for all genders. For example, Flexjobs research suggests that offering the chance to work remotely means employees are 57% more likely to be satisfied with their jobs, and 80% of employees are less likely to be stressed.
It goes without saying that a company with flexible work, equal pay, diverse hiring and is continuing to innovate, grow and be productive leads to a better quality of life for employees of all genders.

What Can be Done to Ensure Higher Working Women Participation?

We need to present women role models to the younger generation at district levels, state levels where they see and know what heights they can achieve by pursuing STEM education.
Mentorship programmes should be introduced in schools, where successful alumni mentor these kids on career development. Social media can also be roped in to promote women in science that can encourage young girls to choose their careers confidently.
In order to create a more appealing and welcoming atmosphere for women in STEM, organisations should take a top-down, multi-pronged strategy. More women-friendly environment, facilities of a creche, period leaves, maternity leaves should be induced in the working system.
Career breaks need to be accommodated, as women scientists have dual commitments. Seniority based on the total number of years of work experience or service rather than continuous service may help to retain talent and experience by allowing for re-entry of women scientists, which would otherwise be lost permanently.
The efforts for enhancing digital literacy and financial support for accessing devices at the community level can improve women’s livelihoods.
Easing access to mobile devices, e.g., by providing free mobiles/tablets to school-going girls, female health workers (including Accredited Social Health Activists, Anganwadi Workers, and Auxiliary Nurse Midwives), female teachers and female community leaders and the rural/urban poor; or offering affordable smartphone loans for women through corporate social responsibility and government schemes.
Providing equitable access to smartphones and the internet will equip women with the knowledge and resources they need to effectively participate in the national economy.

DEGRADATION, LOSS OF CORAL REEFS CAN AFFECT 4.5 MILLION PEOPLE IN SOUTHEAST ASIA: IPCC REPORT Degradation, loss of coral reefs can affect 4.5 million people in southeast Asia, said IPCC report.

Highlights of the Report

Degradation and loss of coral reefs can affect about 4.5 million people in southeast Asia and the Indian Ocean, according to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)’s Sixth Assessment Report on Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability.
The report talks about the effects of global warming and anthropogenic activities on Asia’s coral reefs. The reefs are being bleached and are dying due to changes in the beneficial microorganisms of coral, caused by environmental stress.
In the coral reef fisheries sector, there are about 3.35 million fishers in southeast Asia and 1.5 million fishers in the Indian Ocean.
Corals occupy only 0.1 per cent of the global sea surfaces. But more than 25 per cent of marine biodiversity is supported by them, which includes fisheries as well. They are the first that get affected by high temperatures.
The economic loss under different climate change scenarios were estimated to range from $27.78 million to $31.72 million annually in Nharang Bay, Vietnam. In Bangladesh, the coral reefs of St. Martin’s Island contribute $33.6 million per year to the local economy. Climate change, along with other anthropogenic activities, has been identified as a threat these habitats.
Some 571 coral species have been severely impacted in the South China Sea by global climate changes and anthropogenic activities.
The oceans absorb more than 93 per cent of the excessive heat from global warming and lot of this heat is going to the Indian Ocean and surrounding seas, where our fisheries are.
We are now having marine heatwaves that can have an anomaly of three-four degrees. These can last for a few days to weeks to months and even to years. In the North-East Pacific Ocean, there is a blob that has stayed for more than a year and led to the collapse of fisheries in the region.
The report added that regional long-term trends and inter-decadal variations were observed in coral growth and sea surface temperatures in the South China Sea.
Relative risk has been found to be high in the province of Papua in Indonesia, the Philippines, Japan, India, northern Maldives, the Persian Gulf and the Red Sea.
In the last four decades, there has been a two- to three-fold increase in the marine heatwaves in the Bay of Bengal.

About Corals

Coral is actually a living animal. Coral has a symbiotic relationship with ‘zooxanthellae’ microscopic algae which live on coral [i.e., instead of living on the sea floor, the algae live up on the coral which is closer to the ocean surface and so that the algae get adequate light].
Zooxanthellae assist the coral in nutrient production through its photosynthetic activities. These activities provide the coral with fixed carbon compounds for energy, enhance calcification, and mediate elemental nutrient flux.
The tissues of corals themselves are actually not the beautiful colors of the coral reef, but are instead clear (white). The corals receive their coloration from the zooxanthellae living within their tissues.
The host coral polyp in return provides its zooxanthellae with a protected environment to live within, and a steady supply of carbon dioxide for its photosynthetic processes.
There are two types of corals: hard corals and soft corals, such as sea fans and gorgonians. Only hard corals build reefs.
The builders of coral reefs are tiny animals called polyps. As these polyps thrive, grow, then die, they leave their limestone (calcium carbonate) skeletons behind. The limestone is colonized by new polyps. Therefore, a coral reef is built up of layers of these skeletons covered ultimately by living polyps. The reef-building, or hermatypic corals can form a wide range of shapes. Coral reefs may be branched, table-like, or look like massive cups, boulders or knobs.
While the majority of coral reefs are found in tropical and sub-tropical water, there are also deep-water corals in colder regions. Cold-water corals inhabit deep, cold (39-55 degrees F), water. The United Nations Environment Programme reports that there are more cold-water coral reefs worldwide than tropical reefs.
There are only about 6 different coral species associated in building with these reefs. The largest cold water coral reef is the Rost Reef off Norway.

Features

They occur in shallow tropical areas where the sea water is clean, clear and warm.
The coral reef cover in Indian waters is roughly estimated up to 19,000 sq. Km.
Coral reefs are one of the most productive and complex coastal ecosystems with high biological diversity.
The high productivity is owing to the combination of its own primary production and support from its surrounding habitat.
Reef building corals are a symbolic association of polyps (coral animals) and ‘zooxanthellae’ (the microscopic algae)
The corals are generally slow growing colonies of animals while zooxanthellae are fast growing plants.
Even though corals live in nutrient poor waters, their capability to recycle the scarce nutrients (by the whole nutrient community) is enormous.
In coral reef ecosystem, many invertebrates, vertebrates, and plants live in close association to the corals, with tight resource coupling and recycling, allowing coral reefs to have extremely high productivity and biodiversity, such that they are referred to as ‘the Tropical Rainforests of the Oceans’.

Classification and their location

The coral reefs are classified depending on their locations into fringing, patch, barrier and atoll.
The fringing reefs are contiguous with the shore and they are the most common - by occurring reef form, found in Andamans.
Patch reefs are isolated and discontinuous patches, lying shoreward of offshore reef structures as seen in the Palk Bay, Gulf of Mannar and Gulf of Kachchh.
Barrier reefs are linear offshore reef structures that run parallel to coastlines and arise from submerged shelf platforms. The water body between the reef and the shore is termed as lagoon. Barrier reefs are seen in Nicobar and Lakshadweep.
Atolls are circular or semi-circular reefs that arise from subsiding sea floor platforms as coral reef building keeps ahead of subsidence. The examples are the atolls of Lakshadweep and Nicobar.
When the reef building does not keep pace with subsidence, reefs become submerged banks as seen in Lakshadweep.
Sea grasses grow on Kavaratti atoll, mangroves are prevalent on Andaman and Nicobar coral reefs.
Among the four major reef areas of India, Andaman and Nicobar Islands are found to be very rich in species diversity followed by the Lakshadweep Islands, the Gulf of Mannar and finally the Gulf of Kachchh.

Functions of Coral Reefs

Coral reefs are natural protective barriers against erosion and storm surge.
The coral animals are highly adapted for capturing plankton from the water, thereby capturing nutrients
Largest biogenic calcium carbonate producer
They provide substrate for mangroves
Coral reefs provide habitat for a large variety of animals and plants including avifauna.

Coral Bleaching

Bleaching, or the paling of coral colour occurs when the densities of zooxanthellae decline and / or the concentration of photosynthetic pigments within the zooxanthellae fall. When corals bleach, they commonly lose 60-90% of their zooxanthellae and each zooxanthella may lose 50- 80% of its photosynthetic pigments.
If the stress-causing bleaching is not too severe and if it decreases in time, the affected corals usually regain their symbiotic algae within several weeks or a few months.
If zooxanthellae loss is prolonged, i.e., if the stress continues and depleted zooxanthellae populations do not recover, the coral host eventually dies.
High temperature and irradiance stressors have been implicated in the disruption of enzyme systems in zooxanthellae that offer protection against oxygen toxicity.
Photosynthesis pathways in zooxanthellae are impaired at temperatures above 30 degrees C, this effect could activate the disassociation of coral / algal symbiosis.
Low- or high-temperature shocks results in zooxanthellae low as a result of cell adhesion dysfunction.
This involves the detachment of cnidarian endodermal cells with their zooxanthellae and the eventual expulsion of both cell types.

Threat

Natural causes may be due to the outbreak of reef destroying mechanisms, “bleaching” and depletion of essential symbionts.
Anthropogenic causes – may be due to chemical pollution (pesticides, cosmetics, etc), industrial pollution, mechanical damage, nutrient loading or sediment loading, Dredging, shipping, tourism, mining or collection, thermal pollution, intensive fishing, etc.
Coral reef ecosystems world-wide have been subject to unprecedented degradation over the past few decades. Disturbances affecting coral reefs include anthropogenic and natural events. Recent accelerated coral reef decline seems to be related mostly to anthropogenic impacts (overexploitation, overfishing, increased sedimentation and nutrient overloading).
Natural disturbances which cause damage to coral reefs include violent storms, flooding, high and low temperature extremes, El Nino Southern Oscillation (ENSO) events, subaerial exposures, predatory outbreaks and epizootics.
Coral species live within a relatively narrow temperature margin, and anomalously low and high sea temperatures can induce coral bleaching. Bleaching is much more frequently reported from elevated sea water temperature.
Bleaching events also occur during sudden temperature drops accompanying intense upwelling episodes, seasonal cold-air outbreaks.
Bleaching during the summer months, during seasonal temperature and irradiance maxima often occurs disproportionately in shallow-living corals and on the exposed summits of colonies. Solar radiation has been suspected to play a role in coral bleaching. Both photosynthetically active radiation (PAR, 400-700nm) and ultraviolet radiation (UVR, 280-400nm) have been implicated in bleaching.
Relatively few instances of coral bleaching have been linked solely to sediment. It is possible, but has not been demonstrated, that sediment loading could make zooxanthellate species more likely to bleach.
Rather than causing coral reef bleaching, an increase in ambient elemental nutrient concentrations (e.g., ammonia and nitrate) actually increases zooxanthellae densities 2-3 times. Although eutrophication is not directly involved in zooxanthellae loss, it could cause secondary adverse effects such as lowering of coral resistance and greater susceptibility to diseases.
Zooxanthellae loss occurs during exposure of coral to elevated concentrations of various chemical contaminants, such as Cu, herbicides and oil. Because high concentrations of xenobiotics are required to induce zooxanthellae loss, bleaching from such sources is usually extremely localized and / or transitory.
Increased seawater temperature has been found to affect the functioning of symbiotic algae of corals and its bacterial consortia, leading to coral bleaching and mortality.
Coastal habitats of Asia are diverse and the impacts of climate change including rising temperature, ocean acidification and sea level rise has been known to affect the services and the livelihood of people depending on it. The risk of irreversible loss of many marine and coastal ecosystems increases with global warming, especially at 2 degrees Celsius (°C) or more.
Increasing Marine Heatwaves led to death of Coral Reefs. Some recent studies have shown that the intensity and area the marine heatwaves are covering have increased decade by decade.
Littering can also cause harm or even kill the fish that populate coral reefs. The technical term for this kind of litter is "marine debris." Marine debris also damages other organisms on coral reefs that are necessary for their survival.

What Can be Done to Protect Corals?

UN Environment Programme (UNEP) has been promoting international cooperation and evidence to support the protection management and restoration of coral reefs, and related ecosystems such as seagrass and mangroves. UNEP provides leadership and encourages partnership in caring for the environment by inspiring, informing and enabling nations and people to improve their quality of life without compromising that of future generations.
Coral reef protection and restoration is central to the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration (2021-2030) geared towards the restoration of degraded and destroyed ecosystems to enhance food security, clean our air quality, secure water supply, address the climate crisis and protect habitats that support life on earth as we know it. The UN Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development (2021-2030) also puts a spotlight on coral reefs to inspire advances in science and technology to improve ocean health.
Do not discharge wastewater from your boat into the ocean. Find an acceptable wastewater discharge facility in the area instead.
Fishing lines, nets, and fishing hooks all cause damage to coral reefs. This is just another reason why it's best to take your fishing elsewhere. Figure out where coral reefs are located before you venture into the ocean.
Some organizations sponsor beach clean-ups. If you help pick up other people's litter on beaches, in addition to not littering yourself, you will help coral reefs.
Do not get close to a coral reef while wearing a lot of sunscreens. The oils from the lotion causes coral reefs damage.
It is illegal to sell coral in some countries. Coral can take a long time to grow, so taking it for your aquarium or jewellery box can have a lasting effect that will take years to undo.
Hotels that have programs to treat sewage and offer recycling and other sustainability measures can help protect coral reefs by improving the overall environment around them.
Tourism associated with coral reefs is one of the fastest growing segments of the tourism industry, so it could make a big difference if more hotels are pressured by consumers to adopt sustainable practices.
Reduce your carbon footprint. This really matters. Increasing carbon dioxide in the air can lead to global warming, which can harm coral reefs. It's all interconnected. Ways to reduce your carbon footprint include biking to work and using a clothes line.
Use organic fertilizer to avoid chemicals running into the ecosystem. Don't assume that chemicals in your garden or on your farm won't find their way back into the ocean just because you don't live near it.
Metals, pesticide, herbicide and other chemicals associated with mining, and runoff from landfills, agricultural, and urban development projects can damage corals as well as the fish around them.
The Coral Reef Alliance, Reef Relief, and Planetary Coral Reef Foundation are examples of private organizations trying to save coral reefs. The organizations, and others like them, offer numerous ways for people to get involved.
You can sign up as a volunteer for a coral reef organization and become involved in events and education. Join a reef cleanup.
The Coral Reef Alliance urges people to educate others about the importance of reefs, and has free social media badges available that people can share to alert others to their support for protecting coral. They also offer e-cards.

CABINET APPROVES AMENDMENT IN MMDR ACT TO FIX ROYALTY OF CERTAIN MINERALS Recently, the cabinet approves Amendment of the Second Schedule to the Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Act, 1957 for specifying rate of royalty in respect of certain minerals.

Proposals of Amendment

The proposal for the amendment of the Act specifying the rate of royalty in respect of Glauconite, Potash, Emerald, Platinum Group of Metals (PGM), Andalusite, Sillimanite and Molybdenum.
The approval would ensure auction of mineral blocks in respect of Glauconite, Potash, Emerald, Platinum Group of Metals, Andalusite and Molybdenum thereby reducing import of these minerals, generating empowerment opportunity in the mining sector as well as manufacturing sector which will help in ensuring inclusive growth of a large section of the society. Rate of royalty for Andalusite, Sillimanite and Kyanite which are mineral polymorphs are kept at the same level.
The approval would ensure auction of mineral blocks in respect of Glauconite, Potash, Emerald, Platinum Group of metals, Andalusite and Molybdenum for the first time in the country.
The rates have been fixed after extensive consultations with the State Governments and various Ministries/ Department of the Central Government. The Ministry of Mines will also provide methodology for calculation of Average Sale Price (ASP) of these minerals required for enabling auction of these mineral blocks.
Minerals like Glauconite and Potash are used as fertilizer in agriculture. Platinum Group of Metals (PGM) are high value metal used in various industries and new innovative applications. Minerals like Andalusite, molybdenum are vital minerals used in industrial applications.
In the last 4-5 years, Central Agencies like Geological Survey of India and Mineral Exploration Corporation Ltd. have carried out exploration and handed over reports to the State Governments of several blocks of minerals which are hitherto not mined in the country.
When it comes to minerals such as Glauconite/ Potash, Emerald, Platinum Group of Metals (PGM), Andalusite and Molybdenum, the country is totally dependent on import of these minerals for meeting our requirements.

Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Act, 1957

The Mines and Minerals (Regulation and Development) Act (1957) is an Act of the Parliament of India enacted to regulate the mining sector in India. This act forms the basic framework of mining regulation in India.
This act is applicable to all mineral except minor minerals and atomic minerals. It details the process and conditions for acquiring a mining or prospecting licence in India. Mining minor minerals comes under the purview of state governments.
River sand is considered a minor mineral. For mining and prospecting in forest land, prior permission is needed from the Ministry of Environment and Forests.

The Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Amendment Act, 2015

The act was amended by The Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Amendment Act, 2015 replacing the ordinance promulgated on 12 January 2015.
The Act was amended in 2015 to usher in new regime of granting mineral concessions through auction to ensure transparency and non-discrimination in allocation of mineral wealth of the country.
The amendment was proposed to bring transparency to the allocation of mining licence process by auctions. Auction regime has matured since then. To give further impetus to the mineral sector, the Act has been further amended in 2021.
Under the reforms, the Government has given major boost to auction of mineral blocks, increasing production, improving ease of doing business in the country and increasing contribution of mineral production to Gross Domestic Product (GDP).
The bill sought to bring transparency to the allocation of mining licence process by auctions. The amendment seeks to introduce a system of auctions to allocate mining licenses.
A fixed percentage to the revenue of any mine will be allocated to development of the area around it, to be called a District Mineral Foundation. The state government will set the rates and it will be in addition to the royalty.
A National Mineral Exploration Trust will be set up to explore and promote non-coal minerals. It will have a starting fund of ?500 crore and will be funded by a 2% levy from mining license holders.
The licences will have a validity of 50 years, compared to the previous 30 years. There will be no renewal of licences, only re-auction. The bill contains a new license for prospecting-cum-mining, replacing a two-stage process.
The mining and prospecting-cum-mining licences may be transferred to another party by notifying the state government. The state government may charge a fee for such transfers.
Notified minerals like iron ore, limestone, manganese, and bauxite, will not require a prospecting licence. The mining licence will be auctioned. For non-notified minerals, a prospecting-cum-mining licence will be required.
The amendment will make illegal mining, trespassing and violation of norms, cognisable offences punishable by 2 years imprisonment and/or fine. The state government will be allowed to set up special courts for such trials.
The Union Cabinet of India approved amendments in March 2016. The amendment will allow transfer of captive mining leases not granted through auction.
Transfer of captive mining leases, granted otherwise than through auction, would allow mergers and acquisitions of companies and facilitate ease of doing business for companies to improve profitability and decrease costs of the companies' dependent on supply of mineral ore from captive leases.
The transfer provisions will also facilitate banks and financial institutions to liquidate stressed assets where a company or its captive mining lease is mortgaged.

The Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Amendment Bill, 2021 Removal of restriction on end-use of minerals:

The Act empowers the central government to reserve any mine (other than coal, lignite, and atomic minerals) to be leased through an auction for a particular end-use (such as iron ore mine for a steel plant). Such mines are known as captive mines. The Bill provides that no mine will be reserved for particular end-use.

Sale of minerals by captive mines:

The Bill provides that captive mines (other than atomic minerals) may sell up to 50% of their annual mineral production in the open market after meeting their own needs.
The central government may increase this threshold through a notification. The lessee will have to pay additional charges for mineral sold in the open market.

Auction by the central government in certain cases:

Under the Act, states conduct the auction of mineral concessions (other than coal, lignite, and atomic minerals). Mineral concessions include mining lease and prospecting license-cum-mining lease.
The Bill empowers the central government to specify a time period for completion of the auction process in consultation with the state government. If the state government is unable to complete the auction process within this period, the auctions may be conducted by the central government.

Transfer of statutory clearances:

Upon expiry of a mining lease (other than coal, lignite, and atomic minerals), mines are leased to new persons through auction. The statutory clearances issued to the previous lessee are transferred to the new lessee for a period of two years.
The new lessee is required to obtain fresh clearances within these two years. The Bill replaces this provision and instead provides that transferred statutory clearances will be valid throughout the lease period of the new lessee.

Allocation of mines with expired leases:

The Bill adds that mines (other than coal, lignite, and atomic minerals), whose lease has expired, may be allocated to a government company in certain cases.
This will be applicable if the auction process for granting a new lease has not been completed, or the new lease has been terminated within a year of the auction.
The state government may grant a lease for such a mine to a government company for a period of up to 10 years or until the selection of a new lessee, whichever is earlier.

Rights of certain existing concession holders:

In 2015, the Act was amended to provide that, mines will be leased through an auction process. Existing concession holders and applicants have been provided with certain rights including:
- right to obtain prospecting license or mining lease to a holder of reconnaissance permit or prospecting license (issued before commencement of the 2015 Amendment Act), and
- right for grant of mining lease where the central government had given its approval or letter of intent was issued by the state government before the commencement of the 2015 Amendment Act.
The Bill provides that the right to obtain a prospecting license or a mining lease will lapse on the date of commencement of the 2021 Amendment Act. Such persons will be reimbursed for any expenditure incurred towards reconnaissance or prospecting operations.

Extension of leases to government companies:

The Act provides that the period of mining leases granted to government companies will be prescribed by the central government.
The Bill provides that the period of mining leases of government companies (other than leases granted through auction) may be extended on payment of additional amount prescribed in the Bill.

Conditions for lapse of mining lease:

The Act provides that a mining lease will lapse if the lessee:

is not able to start mining operations within two years of the grant of a lease, or
has discontinued mining operations for a period of two years.

However, the lease will not lapse at the end of this period if a concession is provided by the state government upon an application by the lessee. The Bill adds that the threshold period for lapse of the lease may be extended by the state government only once and up to one year.

Non-exclusive reconnaissance permit:

The Act provides for a non-exclusive reconnaissance permit (for minerals other than coal, lignite, and atomic minerals).
Reconnaissance means preliminary prospecting of a mineral through certain surveys. The Bill removes the provision for this permit.

Benefits

Encouraging indigenous mining of these minerals is in the National interest that would lead to reduction in imports in potash fertilizers and other minerals.
This step taken by the Ministry of Mines is also expected to increase generation of employment in mining sector. It will also ensure increased availability of mineral for the downstream industries and support agriculture.
Ministry of Mines, led by the vision of Atmanirbhar Bharat, has also taken steps for increasing exploration of minerals in the country, which has led to availability of more blocks for auction.
Exploration activities have increased not only for traditional minerals such as iron ore, bauxite, limestone but also for deep-seated minerals, fertilizer minerals, critical minerals and minerals which are imported.
As a major step towards mineral self-sufficiency, many State Governments have identified such mineral blocks for auction. However, the rate of royalty for these minerals were not separately provided and was not appropriate for giving impetus to mining of these minerals.
Amendment Act, 2021 appears to be an earnest attempt by the Government in the right direction to facilitate the existing shackled and underexploited mining scenario.
It amplifies an objective to abundantly utilise the potential and capacity of the mineral sector so as to intensify employment opportunities and investment in the mining sector including coal.
The consequential intention also includes increasing the revenue to the States along with the flow in production as well as time bound operationalisation of mines including sustaining endurance in mining operations after change of lessee, increasing the pace of exploration and auction of mineral resources.
The approval will lead to import substitution in respect of many important minerals for the economy of the country thereby saving valuable forex reserves. It will reduce country’s foreign dependency through the local production of minerals.

Challenges Associated

The reforms in the act unshackle the mining sector of India, as much it is beneficial for the development of the country. Mining is harmful from the environmental point of view.
Several tribal communities and Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups (PVTGs) fall into the mining zones. Their residence is also threatened by an increase in mining. Their rehabilitation & compensation is another major issue.
Auction of a mine is a process where the power rests in the hands of state governments. There might exist ambiguity in the case where there are two different political parties in power at centre & state.
The state governments may object to the fixing of the royalties for extensions of leases to the government companies as this may lead to lower revenues as compared to a transparent process of auction.
Moreover, the involvement of the central government in directing the expenditure of district mineral funds is also a matter of concern for the states.

Road Ahead:

The new legal regime in the mining and mineral sectors does nullify several restrictive and covert provisions as they existed in the erstwhile Act, 1957. However, any public policy and legislation, no matter how worthwhile and timely they are projected to be, have to stand the test of time and judicial review.

MINISTRY OF EDUCATION TO RELEASE REPORT ON UNIFIED DISTRICT INFORMATION SYSTEM FOR EDUCATION PLUS (UDISE+) 2020-21 Ministry of Education is releasing a report on Unified District Information System for Education Plus (UDISE+) 2020-21 on school education of India.

Findings of the Report Students and Teachers in schools:

In 2020-21 total students enrolled in school education from primary to higher secondary stood at 25.38 crore. There is an increase of 28.32 lakh enrolments as compared to the 25.10 crore enrolment in 2019-20.
Gross Enrolment Ratio (GER) which measure the general level of participation has improved in 2020-21 at all levels of school education compared to 2019-20.
96.96 lakh teachers are engaged in school education during 2020-21. This is higher by about 8800 in comparison with number of teachers in school education in 2019-20.
In 2020-21 the Pupil Teacher Ratio (PTR) stood at 26 for primary, 19 for upper primary, 18 for secondary and 26 for higher secondary, showing an improvement since 2018-19. The PTR for primary, upper primary, secondary and higher secondary was 28, 20, 21, and 30 respectively during 2018-19.
In 2020-21 over 12.2 crore girls are enrolled in primary to higher secondary showing an increase of 11.8 lakh girls compared to the enrolment of girls in 2019-20.

Non-teaching staffs

The number of non-teaching staffs has also improved over the years. Total non-teaching staffs during 2020-21 stood at 15.8 lakh as compared to 12.37 lakhs in 2018-19.
Among, the non-teaching staffs, number of accountants, library assistants, laboratory assistants, head clerks, LDC/UDC staffs has grown from 5.79 lakh to 7.8 lakh by adding 2.05 lakh from 2018-19 to 2020-21.

School Infrastructure:

Schools with functional electricity have made impressive progress during 2020-21 with net addition of 57,799 schools provided electricity. Now 84% of the total schools have functional electricity facility in comparison with 73.85% in 2018-19 showing remarkable improvement of 10.15% during the period.
Percentage of the schools with functional drinking water has increased to 95.2 % in 2020-21 from 93.7 % in 2019-20.
Percentage of the school with functional girl’s toilet facility has increased to 93.91 % in 2020-21 in comparison with 93.2 % in 2019-20 by adding the facility in additional 11,933 schools during the year.
Percentage of schools with hand wash facilities has also improved during 2020-21 and now stands at 91.9 % as compared to 90.2 % in 2019-20.
Number of schools having functional computers increased to 6 lakhs in 2020-21 from 5.5 lakh in 2019-20 showing an increasing of 3 %. Now, 40% of the schools have functional computers.
Number of schools having internet facility increased to 3.7 lakh in 2020-21 from 3.36 lakh in 2019-20 with an increase of 2.6%.

Impact of COVID-19 Pandemic on enrolment:

During 2020-21, 39.7 lakh students of government aided, private school students shifted to Government schools

About UDISE+

Unified District Information System for Education (UDISE) initiated in 2012-13 integrating DISE for elementary and secondary education is one of the largest Management Information Systems on School Education covering more than 1.5 million schools, more than 9.6 million teachers and more then 264 million children.
UDISE+ is an updated and improved version of UDISE. The entire system is now online and has been collecting data in real-time since 2018-19.
The UDISE+ system of online data collection from the schools was developed by Department of School Education & Literacy to overcome the issues related to erstwhile practice of manual data filling in paper format and subsequent feeding on computer at the block or district level in the UDISE data collection system since 2012-13.
In UDISE+ system, improvements have been made particularly in the areas related to data capture, data mapping and data verification.
The School Education system in India is one of the largest in the world comprising more than 1.5 million schools, 9.6 million teachers, and over 264 million students from varied socio-economic backgrounds across 28 States and 8 Union Territories (UTs).
It becomes essential to have a robust, real-time, and credible information collection mechanism for an objective evaluation of the system, based on which specific interventions for improvement can be designed.
In view of the above, the Indian Government has decided to develop an application, “Unified District Information System for Education Plus” (UDISE+) under the Ministry of Education, to collect the school details about factors related to a school and its resources.
UDISE+ has a mandate of collecting information from all recognized and unrecognized schools imparting formal education from Pre-primary to XII.
Information collected through the digital platform of UDISE+, is utilized for the planning, optimized resource allocation and implementation of various education-related programs and assessments of progress made.
UDISE+, collects information through an online Data Collection Form (DCF) on parameters ranging from school, Infrastructure, teachers, enrolments, examination results etc. spread across 11 sections.
The schools which get onboarded successfully on the platform are provided a UDISE Code, which acts as a national level unique identifier. UDISE+ has the school as the unit of data collection and district as the unit of data distribution.
Ever since its introduction, UDISE+ has acquired the status of the official statistics system of the 'Ministry of Education' and is now operational in all the districts of the country.

Expected Outcomes & Benefits

Enables real-time exchange of information and provides a platform for online uploading of school related details (UDISE+ data).
Provides a platform to organize and classify all school data across the country, and build a credible database of school data.
Provides unique UDISE code to schools to uniquely identify them.
Improved monitoring, measurement and tracking of vital KPIs related to school performance.
Enables leveraging data analytics on school data to identify factors affecting school performances.
Time-series data allows to study the trend over years and monitor improvement/growth.
Rationalizes the capturing of school data - improves consistency and reduces error.
Provides traceability and audit trails of officials uploading the school data, Provides improved security of the sensitive school/student data.
Provides improved security of the sensitive school/student data.
Provides insights on the status of school education in states/UTs including key performance levers and areas for improvement.

Road Ahead:

Quality Education is the right of every student, without any discrimination. With thriving competition from private schools, there have been significant efforts from the Indian Government to offer improved facilities and infrastructure in government schools.
Timely and accurate data is the basis of sound and effective planning and decision-making. Towards this end, the establishment of a well-functioning and Sustainable Educational Management Information System is of utmost importance today.

SAHITYOTSAV LITERATURE FESTIVAL Recently, Sahityotsav, the Festival of Letters of Sahitya Akademi, India’s most inclusive literature festival will be held in New Delhi.

About Sahityotsav

Festival of Letters 2022 will be a part of the celebrations to commemorate 75th anniversary of India’s Independence. The events will have one or the other theme pertaining to Independence or Independence movement.
At the Festival, there will be a special corner to display the books related to the India’s Freedom Movement and other materials relevant to the Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav.
The festival will commence with the inauguration of Akademi Exhibition by Minister of State for Culture. The Exhibition will showcase Akademi‘s achievements and seminal events held in the previous year.
26 young writers representing 24 Indian languages recognized by Akademi will participate in “The Rise of Young India” event. Yeshe Dorjee Thongchi, eminent Assamese writer, will inaugurate the Meet.
Reputed publishers and authors representing different Indian languages will participate in the “Panel Discussion on Publishing in Indian Languages”.
“Tribal Writers’ Meet” will be held with the representation of 24 tribal languages. Sri Akhone Asgar Ali Basharat, eminent Balti poet will inaugurate the Meet.
The prestigious Sahitya Akademi Awards will be presented to the 24 Award winners. All the 24 Award winners will assemble for the “Writers’ Meet” to share the creative process they underwent in writing their Award-winning titles. A symposium on “Evolution of Plays in India since 1947” will be inaugurated.
“Purvottari: North Eastern & Northern Writers’ Meet” will commence. Dr Arun Kamal, eminent Hindi poet will inaugurate & Dr Dhruba Jyoti Borah, eminent Assamese writer will be the Guest of Honour.
Ms. Mamang Dai, eminent English writer, will inaugurate and Ms. Anita Agnihotri, eminent Bengali poet & writer will deliver keynote address at the symposium on “Literature & Women Empowerment”.

About Sahitya Akademi Award

The Sahitya Akademi Award is a literary honour in India, which the Sahitya Akademi, India's National Academy of Letters, annually confers on writers of the most outstanding books of literary merit published in any of the 24 major Indian languages such as Tamil, English, Bengali, Punjabi and the 22 listed languages in the Eighth Schedule of the Indian Constitution recognised by the Sahitya Akademi, New Delhi.
The proposal to establish a National Academy of letters in India had been under the consideration of the British Government of the country long before independence. In 1944, the Government of India accepted in principle a proposal of the Royal Asiatic Society of Bengal that a National Cultural trust should be set up to encourage cultural activities in all fields.
The trust was to consist of three Academies, including the Academy of letters. After freedom, the proposal was pursued by the independent Government of India, while convened a series of conference to work out the details.
Consensus emerged in favour of establishing three National Academies one of letters, another of visual arts and the third of dance, drama and music. But deference of opinion persisted whether the Government should take the initiative and establish the Academies or whether it should wait for the advent of individuals who had the necessary moral authority to establish the Academies.
Abul Kalam Azad the union minister of education, was of the opinion that "if we had waited for the Academy to grow up from below, we might have had to wait till the Greek Kalends". It was felt that there was no alternative to Government taking the initiative to set up the Academies.
The Government's functioning in the process was to be that of a curtain raiser. The Government would set up the Academies, but once they were established, it would refrain from exercising any control and leave them to perform their function as autonomous institution.
The Government of India decided to establish a National Academy of letters to be called Sahitya Akademi by its resolution No F-6-4/51G2(A) dated December 1952.
The Government of India Resolution, which set forth the constitution of the Akademi, described it as a national organisation to work actively for the development of Indian letters and to set high literary standards, to foster and co-ordinate literary activities in all the Indian languages and to promote through them all the cultural unity of the country.
Though set up by the Government, the Akademi functions as an autonomous organisation. It was registered as a society on 7 January 1956, under the Societies Registration Act, 1860.
The Awards established in 1954, comprises a plaque and a cash prize of Rs. 1,00,000. The award's purpose is to recognise and promote excellence in Indian writing and also acknowledge new trends.
The annual process of selecting awardees runs for the preceding twelve months. The plaque awarded by the Sahitya Akademi was designed by the Indian film-maker Satyajit Ray.
Prior to this, the plaque occasionally was made of marble, but this practice was discontinued because of the excessive weight. During the Indo-Pakistan War of 1965, the plaque was substituted with national savings bonds.

HOW SATELLITES ARE HELPING US TO UNDERSTAND DEADLY AVALANCHES In February 2021, one of the most destructive rock-ice avalanches in Indian Himalaya, known as the Chamoli disaster, was unique in its magnitude.

The scale of the disaster attracted the attention of scientists around the world. In the past several months, more than ten research articles have been published covering investigations into possible causes and changes to the valley afterwards.

About Avalanche

An avalanche is a rapid flow of snow down a slope, such as a hill or mountain. Avalanches can be set off spontaneously, by such factors as increased precipitation or snow pack weakening, or by external means such as humans, animals, and earthquakes. Primarily composed of flowing snow and air, large avalanches have the capability to capture and move ice, rocks, and trees.
Avalanches occur in two general forms, slab avalanches made of tightly packed snow, triggered by a collapse of an underlying weak snow layer, and loose snow avalanches made of looser snow.
After being set off, avalanches usually accelerate rapidly and grow in mass and volume as they capture more snow. If an avalanche moves fast enough, some of the snow may mix with the air, forming a powder snow avalanche.
Though they appear to share similarities, avalanches are distinct from slush flows, mudslides, rock slides, and serac collapses. They are also different from large scale movements of ice.
Avalanches can happen in any mountain range that has an enduring snowpack. They are most frequent in winter or spring, but may occur at any time of year. In mountainous areas, avalanches are among the most serious natural hazards to life and property, so great efforts are made in avalanche control.
There are many classification systems for the different forms of avalanches, which vary according to their users' needs. Avalanches can be described by their size, destructive potential, initiation mechanism, composition, and dynamics.

Formation of Avalanche

Most avalanches occur spontaneously during storms under increased load due to snowfall and/or erosion. The second largest cause of natural avalanches is metamorphic changes in the snowpack such as melting due to solar radiation.
Other natural causes include rain, earthquakes, rockfall and icefall. Artificial triggers of avalanches include skiers, snowmobiles, and controlled explosive work. Contrary to popular belief, avalanches are not triggered by loud sound; the pressure from sound is orders of magnitude too small to trigger an avalanche.
Avalanche initiation can start at a point with only a small amount of snow moving initially; this is typical of wet snow avalanches or avalanches in dry unconsolidated snow.
However, if the snow has sintered into a stiff slab overlying a weak layer, then fractures can propagate very rapidly, so that a large volume of snow, that may be thousands of cubic meters, can start moving almost simultaneously.
A snowpack will fail when the load exceeds the strength. The load is straightforward; it is the weight of the snow. However, the strength of the snowpack is much more difficult to determine and is extremely heterogeneous.
It varies in detail with properties of the snow grains, size, density, morphology, temperature, water content; and the properties of the bonds between the grains.
These properties may all metamorphose in time according to the local humidity, water vapour flux, temperature and heat flux. The top of the snowpack is also extensively influenced by incoming radiation and the local air flow.
One of the aims of avalanche research is to develop and validate computer models that can describe the evolution of the seasonal snowpack over time. A complicating factor is the complex interaction of terrain and weather, which causes significant spatial and temporal variability of the depths, crystal forms, and layering of the seasonal snowpack.

Avalanche hot spot

The research started with an interesting observation, also reported by other studies: the Chamoli disaster site is a hotspot for avalanches. Scanning through past satellite images from the last 20 years, we identified two ice avalanches and several snow avalanches in the same valley.
Ice avalanches caused by breakage of a hanging glacier in early 2000 and again in September 2016 were massive, consisting of approximately 10 million m³ of glacial ice, filling around 3.5km of the valley floor with debris deposits that reached heights of up to 50m.
However, because the Chamoli disaster occurred within 4.5 years of the September 2016 ice avalanche, it makes the whole scenario even more intriguing.
The 2021 disaster was caused by an avalanche which, although more than 2.5 times more voluminous than the 2016 event, was made of 80% of rocks contrary to the pure icy composition of 2016’s avalanche.
Despite consisting of 80% of rock and only 20% of ice, the avalanche mass was able to travel around 13km downstream before it turned into a debris flow, causing a flash flood in the Rishiganga and Dhauliganga rivers.
The sequence of these two massive and constituently different ice avalanches, originating from the same elevation and hitting the same valley within a period of five years, is unique. It offered us an unprecedented natural testbed to understand how frequent avalanches, with varying degree of ice content, can vary in terms of their run-out and destructive power.

Applications of Satellite in Mapping Avalanches

Scientists from diverse disciplines utilize remote sensing tools to provide a birds-eye view of the landscape and efficiently collect valuable high-resolution data.
Uninhabited Aerial Systems (UAS), commonly known as “drones,” are used to photograph complex mountain terrain as the first step in creating high resolution maps of snow surface elevation. A map of snow depth is created by comparing the snow surface elevation at different times, known as “differencing.” Data collected this way in short intervals, such as before and after storm or wind events, provides avalanche specialists with detailed snow depth information critical for avalanche forecasting.
Structure from Motion (SfM) Photogrammetry is a method that approximates three-dimensional structure from high resolution photography and location information to create digital elevation or surface models. Images captured by UAS are processed using SfM to provide scientists with high spatial resolution mapping of complex terrain to study snow distribution and avalanche processes.
Lidar which stands for Light Detection and Ranging, is a technique that uses a pulsed laser to measure distances to create high-resolution three-dimensional elevation maps to compare snow depth change and detailed vegetation mapping in Pair of images: Google Earth satellite image with avalanche study paths outlined and Lidar output showing relative canopy height. Avalanche paths to assess changes in vegetation associated with different avalanche occurrence intervals.
Satellite imagery, which now spans decades, provides scientists with a record of landscape change. USGS scientists evaluate the efficacy of using satellite imagery to create a regional chronology of avalanche disturbance to complement research on avalanche frequency and magnitude. The use of pattern recognition techniques applied to remotely sensed products can be used to examine changes in vegetation within and around avalanche paths to provide a measure of avalanche frequency.

Remote sensing

Given the lack of field measurements due to the remote extreme terrain of this region, the published studies have extensively used Earth Observation (EO) data from remote sensing satellites.
Special cameras on EO satellites capture energy that is either emitted or reflected from the Earth’s surface or its atmosphere, so remote sensing helps monitor particular environments quickly and effectively.
Space agencies such as NASA and the European Space Agency and companies such as Planet Labs are providing free, medium-to-high resolution images of Earth, encouraging independent research and scientific investigations. In fact, Planet Lab’s PlanetScope satellites were able to capture the Chamoli disaster in real-time.
The increasing number and capabilities of these satellites are proving to be extremely useful in understanding high-mountain hazards.
Online geo-visualisation platforms such as Google Earth are offering repeat high-resolution images, enabling quick and effective visual analysis. In our study, we were able to simulate and reconstruct the Chamoli disaster and a previous ice avalanche at the same site thanks to the rich archive of remote sensing data.

Predicting the future

Adopting an integrative approach, researchers' study both the pre-event and during-event flow characteristics of the 2016 and 2021 avalanches. They observed short-term and long-term changes in the rate of surface movement which reaches up to hover around five times the normal values.
The estimation of surface movements has proven effective in observing the development and trajectory of ice avalanches in the past. In 1973, movements were measured for the first time on an unstable hanging glacier in order to predict its collapse.
The success of this field-based monitoring approach was demonstrated in 2014 by the accurate prediction of a hanging glacier “break-off” from the south face of the Grandes Jorasses in Italy, 10 days before the avalanche happened.
But logistics issues in these high-mountain areas mean these kinds of field-based efforts are limited. Our observations, particularly for the 2016 avalanche, highlight that remote sensing movement estimations not only have larger coverage, but can also represent a timely, cost-effective and safer way to monitor hanging glaciers, and possibly even predict large and dangerous ice avalanches.
But there are uncertainties associated with remote sensing observations, and any possible future predictability certainly requires more research to identify statistically significant trends in surface movements.
Using a thermomechanical model, we simulated the September 2016 event and the maximum pressure exerted by this event on the valley. We discovered it was 6,000 kilopascal (a measurement of compressive strength) – big enough to make visible changes in the valley profile by adding erodible sediments, which could worsen any future event.
Seasonal snow avalanches also keep this part of the valley sufficiently lubricated. We then simulated the 2021 event under two scenarios: the first without specifying the erosion characteristics of the remaining avalanche deposits from the past, and the second with the inclusion of defined erosional zones.
The results indicate that the remaining valley deposits from past ice and snow avalanches likely aided the volume and flow of the 2021 rock-ice avalanche – which would explain its exceptional reach to the downstream population.
Although the past ice avalanches of 2000 and 2016 did not inflict any direct damage to life and property, they are recurring events in this valley. But it is difficult to predict their future impact in combination with other glacial hazards, such as happened in the Chamoli disaster.

Way Forward

As climate change accelerates globally, such life-threatening scenarios are developing in other mountain regions too, with greater frequency and uncertainty. With satellites providing frequently updating images, understanding any patterns in these high-mountain hazards could help save many lives and protect expensive infrastructure in future.

Supplementary Information About Rishiganga

Rishiganga or Nikhil's River is a river in the Chamoli district, Uttarakhand, India. It springs from the Uttari Nanda Devi Glacier on the Nanda Devi Mountain.
It is also fed from the Dakshini Nanda Devi Glacier. Continuing through the Nanda Devi National Park, it flows into the Dhauliganga River near the village Rini.

About Dhauliganga

The Dhauliganga is a turbulent Himalayan River which rises in the border regions of India and China and flows south into the Garhwal region of Uttarakhand, India.
It joins the Alaknanda, the major source stream of the Ganges River.
Dhauliganga rises in the vicinity of the Niti Pass in the border regions between Garhwal and southwestern Tibet.
It flows 50 km (30 mi) southwards until it meets the Rishiganga on its left bank at Rini, in the vicinity of Tapovan in Chamoli district. It then flows 20 km (10 mi) westwards until it meets the Alaknanda at Vishnuprayag and terminates—the confluence just upstream of the city of Joshimath.
The upper Dhauliganga valley parts the East-West Himalayan axis, with Nanda Devi and its subsidiary peaks to its left and Kamet and its subsidiary peaks to its right.

About Nanda Devi Glacier

Nanda Devi Glacier is a glacier in Chamoli district, Uttarakhand, India. It is near Nanda Devi.
The Nanda Devi Group of glaciers is a reference to the cluster of seven glaciers namely Bartoli, Kururntoli, Nada Devi North, Nanda Devi South, Nandakna, Ramani and Trsul of Uttarakhand.
The glacier rose to fame, due to its breaking, which led to the 2021 Uttarakhand flood. Global warming has been blamed.

POSTED ON 10-03-2022 BY ADMIN

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