Daily Quiz: UPSC Prelims Marathon (Polity (Social Justice)) – August 5, 2020

In India, around eight percent of the population belongs to the category of Scheduled Tribes.

• The tribes inhabit areas spread over the states of Rajasthan, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Orissa, Jharkhand, West Bengal and the Northeastern States of Mizoram, Meghalaya, Nagaland, Assam, Manipur, Tripura and Arunachal Pradesh.
• The term “tribes” were first included in the Government of India Act 1935.
• The term “Scheduled Castes” was used in this Act to define, “such castes, races or tribes or parts of groups within castes, races or tribes, which appear to His Majesty in Council to correspond to the classes of persons formerly known as the ‘Depressed Classes’, as His Majesty in Council may prefer.”
• After Independence, the Constituent Assembly of India reserved the prevailing definition of Scheduled Castes and Tribes and conferred the responsibility of compiling a full listing of castes and tribes and also the power to edit this later, on the President of India and the Governors of states.
• Hence, ‘tribes’ were placed in a separate schedule in the schedules to the Presidential Order of 1950 and are today known as ‘Scheduled Tribes’.
• Article 342 of the Constitution of India defines a ‘tribe’ as “an endogamous group with an ethnic identity; who have retained their traditional cultural identity; they have a distinct language or dialect of their own; they are economically backward and live in seclusion, governed by their own social norms and largely having a self-contained economy.”

India’s female Labour Force Participation Rate (LFPR)—the share of working-age women who report either being employed, or being available for work—has fallen to a historic low of 23.3% in 2017-18, meaning that over three out of four women over the age of 15 in India are neither working nor seeking work. (The age of 15 is the cut-off used for global comparisons by the International Labour Organization.)

• This would imply that they are most likely running the house and taking care of children.
• Among men, caste and religion make no real difference to workforce participation rates. But among women, Muslim women have the lowest LFPR while among Hindu women, forward caste women have the lowest LFPR, implying that social norms and religious conservatism might play a role in women being “allowed” to work.
• Among Indian states, Bihar has by far the lowest rates of female workforce participation, while the southern and eastern states do better.

Recently ‘Global Migration Report 2020’ was published by the International Organisation for Migration.

• In 2019 international migrants are estimated at 270 million where more than half of all international migrants (141 million) live in Europe and North America.
• Top destination remains the United States at nearly 51 million.

Article 244 in Part X of the Constitution envisages a special system of administration for certain areas designated as ‘scheduled areas’ and ‘tribal areas’.

• The Fifth Schedule of the Constitution deals with the administration and control of scheduled areas and scheduled tribes in any state except the four states of Assam, Meghalaya, Tripura and Mizoram.
• The Sixth Schedule of the Constitution, on the other hand, deals with the administration of the tribal areas in the four northeastern states of Assam, Meghalaya, Tripura and Mizoram.

The Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) has released its report titled Economic Outlook for South East Asia;

• The report said that India’s reliance on consumption will continue due to large informal labor share which indicates that there is room to strengthen the consumption base.
• India’s gross domestic product (GDP) is projected to grow at 6.6% in 2020-24 lower than its 2013-17 average of 7.4%.

Union Human Resource Development (now ministry of education ) Minister has launched the Atal Ranking of Institutions on Innovation Achievements (ARIIA) 2020.

It aims to systematically rank all major educational institutions and universities on indicators related to promotion of Innovation and Entrepreneurship Development amongst their students and faculties.

Khelo India Programme was introduced by the Ministry of Sports and Youth affairs to revive sports culture in India at grass-root level.

• The objective of the programme is to build a strong framework for all sports played in our country and establish India as a great sporting nation.
• The programme is the merger of following schemes (a) Rajiv Gandhi Khel Abhiyan (RGKA) (b) Urban Sports Infrastructure Scheme (USIS) and (c) National Sports Talent Search Scheme (NSTSS).

Atal Bimit Vyakti Kalyan Yojana is a welfare measure being implemented by the Employees State Insurance (ESI) Corporation. The scheme was launched in 2018.

• It is implemented on pilot basis for a period of two years initially.
• It offers a relief payable in cash directly to the Bank Account in case an insured person is rendered unemployed and is in search for new engagement.
• The scheme is for Insured Persons covered under the Employees’ State Insurance Act, 1948.

Vigyan Jyoti Scheme is launched by the Department of Science & Technology (DST).

• It is an initiative that will create a level-playing field for the meritorious girls in high school to pursue Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) in their higher education.
• The programme ‘Vigyan Jyoti’ aims to tap 100 girl students in 550 districts from 2020-2025, the officials said.

Union Ministry of State for Culture & Tourism has launched the E-Portal of Centre for Cultural Resources and Training (CCRT) ‘Digital Bharat Digital Sanskriti’.

• The ‘Digital Bharat Digital Sanskriti’ is an E-portal that will enable dissemination of cultural education through digital interactive medium into classrooms all over the country.
• The portal will provide a platform for specifically dropout children so that they can join the mainstream and pursue their dreams by making a career out of be it music, painting, or any other art forms.
• For this initiative,CCRT has tied up with Routes 2 Roots, an NGO for connecting seamlessly all the CCRT Regional Centres.