Daily Current Affairs : 15/1/2019

Daily Current Affairs for UPSC CSE

Topics Covered

1. Devdasi System in India
2. Retail Inflation
3. Fjord
4. UDAN Scheme
5. Facts for Prelims

1 . Devdasi System in India

Context : More than thirty-six years after the Karnataka Devadasis (Prohibition of Dedication) Act of 1982 was passed, the State government is yet to issue the rules for administering the law. Meanwhile the practice of dedicating young girls to temples as an offering to appease the gods persists not just in Karnataka, but has also spread to neighbouring Goa.

What is Devdasi System

• Devadasi system is a religious practice in parts of southern India, including Andhra Pradesh, whereby parents marry a daughter to a deity or a temple after that they are forbidden to enter into a real marriage.

Background

• The definite origin of Devdasi tradition is unknown to history. There appears no mention of such tradition in the ancient works of Buddhist Jatak, Kaultilya and Vatsyayana 
• Many scholars have noted that the tradition has no basis in scriptures. Altekar states, “the custom of association of dancing girls with temples is unknown to Jataka literature.
• The link of dancing girls with temples is said to be developed during the 3rd century AD.
• The mention of such dancing girls is found in the Meghadūta of Kalidas, a classical poet and Sanskrit writer of the GuptEmpire in ancient India.
• Other sources include the works of authors such as Xuanzang, a Chinese traveller, and Kalhana, a Kashmiri historian.
• An inscription dated to the 11th century suggests that there were 400 Devdasi attached to the temple at Tanjore in South India.
• Similarly, there were 500 Devdasi at Someshwer shrine of Gujarat.
• Between the 6th and 13th centuries, Devdasi had a high rank and dignity in society and were exceptionally affluent, who were seen as the protectors of music and dance. During this period, royal patrons provided them with gifts of land, property and jewellery

Issue with Devdasi System

• During the 19th century C.E. and 20th century C.E. the availability of the new knowledge system in the Indian subcontinent questioned much on the superstitions and beliefs of the native customs and practices. Today we use the blanket term devadasis for all the girls attached to the temples.
• By the time we come to the British period most of these women were prostitutes or had taken up prostitution as the temples had lost the royal patronage and were no longer able to support them.
• Reformist or Abolitionists conceived Devadasi practice as a social evil and considered every devadasi to be a prostitute.
• The institutional collapse of the temple system, the lack of patronage and social negligence have weakened the livelihood of the devadasis.
• The Indian social reformers considered the system was one of the chief causes for the exploitation of the women by the caste based Indian society. 

Legislative Measures

• The reformers and section of the devadasis insisted the colonial government to legally abolish the system. In 1930 C.E., with effort of Muthulakshmi Reddy the Madras Legislative Council banned the pottu ceremony (the processes of the dedication of the devadasi to the particular deity) in Madras Presidency (modern Tamilnadu).
• Bombay Prevention of the Dedication of Devadasis Bill (1934 C.E.), Madras Devadasi (Prevention of Devadasi) Act of 1947, The Karnataka Devadasis (Prohibition of Dedication) Act of 1982, Andhra Pradesh Devadasi (Prohibition Dedication) Act,1989 and Goa’s Children Act, 2003 were implemented to abolish the system of devadasi in India.

2 . Retail Inflation

Context : Inflation in December eased at both the retail and wholesale levels, with the Consumer Price Index (CPI) recording an 18-month low, while the Wholesale Price Index (WPI) registered an eight-month low driven primarily by falling fuel prices

What is Consumer Price Index

• Consumer Price Index is a measure of change in retail prices of goods and services consumed by defined population group in a given area with reference to a base year.
• This basket of goods and services represents the level of living or the utility derived by the consumers at given levels of their income, prices and tastes.
• The consumer price index number measures changes only in one of the factors; prices.
• This index is an important economic indicator and is widely considered as a barometer of inflation, a tool for monitoring price stability and as a deflator in national accounts.
• The dearness allowance of Government employees and wage contracts between labour and employer is based on this index.
• Consumer price indices compiled in India are CPI for Industrial workers CPI(IW), CPI for Agricultural Labourers CPI(AL) and; Rural Labourers CPI(RL) and (Urban) and CPI(Rural).

CPI(IW) and CPI(AL& RL)

• The CPI(IW) and CPI(AL& RL) compiled are occupation specific and centre specific and are compiled by Labour Bureau.
• This means that these index numbers measure changes in the retail price of the basket of goods and services consumed by the specific occupational groups in the specific centres.

CPI(Urban) and CPI(Rural)

• CPI(Urban) and CPI(Rural) are new indices in the group of Consumer price index and has a wider coverage of population.
• This index compiled by Central Statistical Organisation tries to encompass the entire population and is likely to replace all the other indices presently compiled.
• In addition to this, Consumer Food Price Indices (CFPI) for all India for rural, urban and combined separately are also released w.e.f May, 2014.

Other Important Points

• The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has started using CPI-combined as the sole inflation measure for the purpose of monetary policy.

Whole sale Price Index

• Wholesale Price Index (WPI) measures the average change in the prices of commodities for bulk sale at the level of early stage of transactions.
• The index basket of the WPI covers commodities falling under the three major groups namely Primary Articles, Fuel and Power and Manufactured products. (The index basket of the present 2011-12 series has a total of 697 items including 117 items for Primary Articles, 16 items for Fuel & Power and 564 items for Manufactured Products.)
• The prices tracked are ex- factory price for manufactured products, mandi price for agricultural commodities and ex-mines prices for minerals. Weights given to each commodity covered in the WPI basket is based on the value of production adjusted for net imports. WPI basket does not cover services
• In India WPI is also known as the headline inflation rate .
• In India, Office of Economic Advisor (OEA), Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion, Ministry of Commerce and Industry calculates the WPI.

The main uses of WPI are the following:

1. to provide estimates of inflation at the wholesale transaction level for the economy as a whole. This helps in timely intervention by the Government to check inflation in particular, in essential commodities, before the price increase spill over to retail prices.
2. WPI is used as deflator for many sectors of the economy including for estimating GDP by Central Statistical Organisation (CSO).
3. WPI is also used for indexation by users in business contracts.
4. Global investors also track WPI as one of the key macro indicators for their investment decisions.

3 . Fjord

Context : In one of the most inhospitable places on Earth, the southernmost part of Chile’s Patagonia region, scientists are studying whales, dolphins and algae in order to help predict how climate change will affect the world’s oceans. For the study, four researchers from the Austral University of Chile embarked from Punta Arenas for the remote Seno Ballena fjord.

What is a Fjord

• A fjord is a deep, narrow and elongated sea or lakedrain, with steep land on three sides.
• The opening toward the sea is called the mouth of the fjord, and is often shallow. The fjord’s inner part is called the sea bottom.
• If the geological formation is wider than it is long, it is not a fjord. Then it is a bay or cove.

Formation

• A fjord is formed when a glacier retreats, after carving its typical U-shaped valley, and the sea fills the resulting valley floor.
• This forms a narrow, steep sided inlet (sometimes deeper than 1300 metres) connected to the sea. The terminal moraine pushed down the valley by the glacier is left underwater at the fjord’s entrance, causing the water at the neck of the fjord to be shallower than the main body of the fjord behind it.
  
• Fjords are often natural harbors. 

Longest Fjord

• The longest fjord in the world is Scoresby Sund in Greenland (350 km), but the Western Norway region (Fjord Norway) boasts the next two spots on the list, with the Sognefjord (203 km), and the Hardanger Fjord (179 km)

4 . UDAN

Context : The Union Ministry of Civil Aviation will shortly award new regional connectivity routes under UDAN (Ude Desh ka Aam Nagarik) III, Union Minister for Commerce, Industry & Civil Aviation Suresh Prabhu

What is UDAN Scheme

• UDAN is an innovative scheme to develop the regional aviation market. It is a market-based mechanism in which airlines bid for seat subsidies. This first-of-its-kind scheme globally will create affordable yet economically viable and profitable flights on regional routes so that flying becomes affordable to the common man even in small towns. 
• The scheme UDAN envisages providing connectivity to un-served and under-served airports of the country through revival of existing air-strips and airports. The scheme would be in operation for a period of 10 years. 

Process

• Interested airline and helicopter operators can start operations on hitherto un-connected routes by submitting proposals to the Implementing Agency. T
• he operators could seek a Viability Gap Funding (VGF) apart from getting various concessions.
• All such route proposals would then be offered for competitive bidding through a reverse bidding mechanism and the route would be awarded to the participant quoting the lowest VGF per Seat.
• The operator submitting the original proposal would have the Right of First Refusal on matching the lowest bid in case his original bid is within 10% of the lowest bid.
• The successful bidder would then have exclusive rights to operate the route for a period of three years. Such support would be withdrawn after a three year period, as by that time, the route is expected to become self-sustainable. 

Features

• The selected airline operator would have to provide a minimum of 9 and a maximum of 40 UDAN Seats ( subsidized rates )on the UDAN Flights for operations through fixed wing aircraft and a minimum of 5 and a maximum of 13 Seats on the Flights for operations through helicopters.
• On each such route, the minimum frequency would be three and maximum of seven departures per week. Route networks would also be encouraged under the scheme to achieve economies of scale and optimal usage of aircraft. 
• The fare for a one hour journey of appx. 500 km on a fixed wing aircraft or for a 30 minute journey on a helicopter would now be capped at Rs. 2,500, with proportionate pricing for routes of different stage lengths / flight duration. 
• This would be achieved through (1) a financial stimulus in the form of concessions from Central and State governments and airport operators and (2) a Viability Gap Funding to the interested airlines to kick-off operations from such airports so that the passenger fares are kept affordable. 
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5 . Facts for Prelims (Map Marking)

• Sagar Island – West Bengal
• Seno Ballena Fjord – Chile