FOR PRELIMS AND MAINS - DAILY NEWS DIARY 31.08.2021
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DAILY NEWS DIARY 31.08.2021
DAILY NEWS DIARY
Of
31.08.2021
FOR PRELIMS AND MAINS
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DAILY NEWS DIARY 31.08.2021
Warm Greetings.
➢ DnD aims to provide every day news analysis in sync with the UPSC pattern.
➢ It is targeted at UPSC – Prelims & Mains.
➢ Daily articles are provided in the form of Question and Answers
• To have a bank of mains questions.
• And interesting to read.
• Providing precise information that can be carried straight to the exam, rather than over
dumping.
Enjoy reading.
THE HINDU - TH
INDIAN EXPRESS - IE
BUSINESS LINE - BL
ECONOMIC TIMES - ET
TIMES OF INDIA - TOI
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DAILY NEWS DIARY 31.08.2021
INDEX
Essay Paper
1. Explosion of unicorns is a salute to Indian entrepreneurship………………………………………………………04
GS 1
1. Pashmina Shawl ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………05
2. Why Dara Shikoh matters……………………………………………………………………………………………………….07
GS 2
1. Gaming de-addiction techniques……………………………………………………………………………………………..09
2. Ire about the Centre’s proposed monetisation …………………………………………………………………………10
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DAILY NEWS DIARY 31.08.2021
ESSAY PAPER
Editorial
Q- The explosion of unicorns is a salute to Indian entrepreneurship, and investor fear of China.
Elucidate?
INTRODUCTION = Unicorn, a term to describe a privately-held startup that’s valued at over $1
billion, has come to represent the promise of India’s economic potential. In January, Nasscom said
India added 12 unicorns last year to take the total to 39, the third largest globally. In a mere six
months of 2021, records have been broken. Around $12.1 billion of private capital was raised by
startups, exceeding last year’s fund-raising by more than $1 billion. The unicorn count at the end
of year will be well past 50.
What’s driving this boom?
Mainly, a combination of three factors –
1. Fast-paced internet penetration, a smooth transition of retail transactions from offline to
online and the phenomenon RBI’s called ‘fomo’ (fear of missing out). The fomo factor for
foreign investors loomed large following the Chinese government’s crackdown on its
technology companies.
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DAILY NEWS DIARY 31.08.2021
2. Chinese firms may have raised about $26 billion in new listings in the US since the start of
2020, but recent events have heightened risks and made Indian firms relatively more
attractive. There are other reasons too.
3. China’s technology ecosystem is a product of a state industrial policy. Recent policies have
emphasised artificial intelligence (AI), the domain where the strategic rivalry with the US
is being played out. America’s National Security Commission on AI said that China is an AI
peer in many areas and a leader in some applications. Given this background, the
technology ecosystems of China and India are not strictly comparable.
But what is a cause for cheer is the backing India’s young entrepreneurs have received and its
positive impact on jobs. Perhaps, economic historians in future will look back and dub 2021
the year of the unicorn.
GS 1
❖ Art & Culture
Q- What is a Pashmina Shawl and why is it in recent news?
BACKGROUND = Over a period, the number of women associated with hand-spinning of yarns for
Pashmina shawls has dwindled significantly in Kashmir.
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Thus recently a rare initiative to double the wages and ensure round-the-year orders is likely to
see the re-engagement of women artisans in a critical production process of the world-famous
hand-made shawls.
I. The Centre For Excellence (CFE) has been set up by shawl trader Mujtaba Kadri, who
owns the ‘Me&K’ brand and Aadhyam-Aditya Birla Group at the old city’s Narwara area
to restore the lost hand-driven processes involved in the intricate shawl weaving
industry here. It will start enrolling women weavers from September 1.
Challenge -
▪ Old techniques of weaving are fading fast in Kashmir. Poor wages and machines have
played a role in driving away women who used to spin the finest yarns in the world. This
initiative is aimed at reviving the lost sheen of the hand-made shawls.
CFE Includes -
1. The CFE has decided to double the wages for women from ₹1 per knot, of 10 threads with
10-inch-long yarn, to ₹2.
2. Unlike the past, the first bulk of Pashmina wool tufts will be given to women spinners
without any charge. This will not force them for any investment.
Need for the Centre -
We are hopeful that it will attract women to the old style of spinning rather than mill spinning.
Spinning on a traditional Kashmiri charkha allows longer threads of Pashmina wool with fine hair-
like size, unlike machines, and adds to the softness and warmth of the product.
A Kashmiri woman can spin up to five grams of wool a day.
We have the potential to engage around 1,000 spinners.
According to one estimate, women’s participation in shawl weaving has come down significantly
from one lakh to just around 10,000 in the Kashmir Valley.
It has impacted the processes involved in hand-made shawls such as sorting, dusting, de-hairing,
combing, spinning and finishing; all these were dominated by the female workforce.
Added Aid -
II. In the backdrop of this trend, the Directorate of Handicrafts and Handloom, Kashmir,
has announced a Minimum Support Price (MSP) for geographical indication (GI)-
certified hand-made Pashmina shawls “to sustain the old techniques”.
“The minimum wage for a spinner has been fixed at ₹1.25 now. The proposed Minimum Support
Price of ₹12,000 for GI-certified plain Pashmina hand-spun and hand-woven shawls.
The government was making all necessary interventions to ensure that those who employ old
techniques and processes are “incentivised and promoted”.
The fixing of wages for the first time will help in reviving hand-spinning and hand-weaving, which
make Kashmiri shawls famous.
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The move is likely to generate employment and improve the economic prospects of women
weavers, who have for generations sustained the intricate and fancied Kashmiri shawls.
❖ History
Q- At a time when incidents of intolerance in the name of faith are being reported from
Afghanistan, Explain why Dara Shikoh matters?
BACKGROUND = Dara Shikoh, one of India’s most enlightened thinkers was a champion of
interfaith understanding, philosopher, artist, architect, translator, poet and administrator.
Although in 1655 his father and Mughal emperor Shah Jahan declared him the Crown Prince, he
was assassinated by his younger brother, Aurangzeb, in a bitter struggle for the throne on August
30, 1659. Dara Shikoh was 44 at the time of his death.
Even though he lost the battle against Aurangzeb, he won the war for India. It is that victory we
are celebrating as a proud nation, representing the best example in the world for unity in
diversity.
Though Dara Shikoh had very little military experience as Shah Jahan had kept him in the court,
his father chose him as successor over his other sons who were sent as governors of various
states. Shah Jahan was aware that due to India’s deep spiritual roots, it could not be governed
by force alone, but only by upholding the ideals of peaceful coexistence, tolerance and winning
the hearts of people. It is these values that bind the people of a nation together.
What might have been the history of the Indian subcontinent had Dara Shikoh prevailed over
Aurangzeb in the battle for succession has been debated for centuries. Though he could not
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become an emperor, his imprint on Indian civilisation is no less than that of any emperor in the
Subcontinent’s history.
▪ Dara Shikoh, who had a deep understanding and knowledge of major religions,
particularly Islam and Hinduism, is known as a pioneer of the academic movement for
interfaith understanding in India.
▪ He strove to develop cordial relationships between people by finding commonalities
between Hinduism and Islam and bringing their cultures into dialogue.
▪ His most important works, Majma-ul-Bahrain (Mingling of Two Oceans) and Sirr-i-Akbar
(Great Mystery), are devoted to the cause of establishing connections between Hinduism
and Islam.
▪ He not only discovered commonalities but even said that the foundation of the two
religions is the same, which is the belief, “One Reality and One God”.
▪ He had a pluralistic outlook and understood India’s syncretic culture. Dara Shikoh
acquired proficiency in Sanskrit and Persian, which enabled him to play a key role in
popularising Indian culture and Hindu religious thought.
▪ He translated the Upanishads and other important sources of Hindu religion and
spirituality from Sanskrit to Persian. Through these translations, he was responsible for
taking the Hindu culture and spiritual traditions to Europe and the West. During those
years, the Europeans did not read Sanskrit but were able to read Persian, and so they read
the texts in Persian that were later translated into Latin. This is how a new movement of
studying India’s religious and cultural texts spread in the world.
▪ After this, the Europeans also started to study Sanskrit. In this way, it was Dara Shikoh’s
pioneering work that led to the dissemination of India’s culture outside the Subcontinent.
This is his outstanding contribution to India’s intellectual and religious heritage.
Subsequently, it became fashionable among the philosophical circles to admire the
Upanishads.
▪ Dara Shikoh had a keen interest in the fine arts and architecture. An album he dedicated
to his wife is a treasure of Indian art. A rare miniature painting showing him with his
spiritual masters is preserved in the library of the Aligarh Muslim University (AMU).
▪ As a talented architect, he designed the beautiful Pari Mahal Garden Palace in Srinagar,
and many other monuments.
Recently -
To foster a culture of tolerance and national integration by bringing communities together, AMU,
in its centenary year, has started the Dara Shikoh Centre for Interfaith Dialogue and
Understanding. While history may not have given Dara Shikoh his due, AMU has initiated course
correction by taking up the task of popularising his legacy.
1. The Centre has started undertaking important milestones such as translation of Dara
Shikoh’s works in other languages,
2. Creation of a repository of writings and research undertaken in India and abroad on the
life and works of Dara Shikoh,
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3. Formulation of bibliographies of works done on Hindu religious texts by Muslim authors
and vice-versa, among others.
4. This is an initiative undertaken with a liberal mind and vision. AMU’s founder Sir Syed
Ahmad Khan, himself undertook the work of understanding scriptures of other faiths by
writing commentaries on them.
Dara Shikoh, as a true child of India, is an icon for tolerance, harmony and togetherness. It is due
to these values that we Indians, despite many diversities, have been living in unity and oneness
for centuries. India’s neighbours and their regimes can learn from this.
GS 2
❖ International Relations
Q- Discuss the gaming de-addiction techniques China has introduced on its minors?
BACKGROUND = Chinese regulators slashed the amount of time players under the age of 18 can
spend on online games to an hour of gameplay on Fridays, weekends and holidays, in response
to growing concern over gaming addiction.
The rules, published by the National Press and Publication Administration, said users under the
age of 18 will only be able to play games from 8 p.m. to 9 p.m. local time on those days.
Online gaming companies will be barred from providing gaming services to them in any form
outside those hours and need to ensure they have put real name verification systems in place,
said the regulator, which oversees the country's video games market.
Previously, China limited the total length of time minors could access online games to three hours
on holiday or 1.5 hours on other days.
Crackdown on tech firms
The new rules come amid a broad crackdown by Beijing on China's tech giants, such as Alibaba
Group and Tencent Holdings, which has unnerved investors, hammering Chinese shares traded
at home and abroad.
The National Press and Publication Administration also told Xinhua it would increase the
frequency and intensity of inspections for online gaming companies to ensure they were putting
in place time limits and anti-addiction systems.
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Snippets
❖ Governance
Q- Write a short note on the ire about the Centre’s proposed monetisation of the Darjeeling
Himalayan Railways (DHR)?
▪ There are four fully functional and operational railways networks in mountains and hilly
terrains in India — the Darjeeling Himalayan Railway located in the foothills of the
Himalayas in West Bengal; the Nilgiris Mountain Railways located in the Nilgiri Hills of
Tamil Nadu; the Kalka Shimla Railway located in the Himalayan foothills of Himachal
Pradesh; and the Matheran Railway located in Maharashtra.
▪ A section of people in the Darjeeling hills of West Bengal are protesting against the
Centre’s proposed monetisation of the Darjeeling Himalayan Railways (DHR). They have
staged protests at 10 stations of the heritage railway that connects New Jalpaiguri with
Darjeeling, across 87.48 km.
▪ DHR is the only surviving, fully functional two-feet gauge railway in the world and that it
was the pride of the people of Darjeeling.
▪ The protests against the proposed monetisation of the DHR were led by supporters of
Anit Thapa, the chairperson of Gorkhaland Territorial Administration. Nipen Chettri, one
of leaders who participated in the protests, said private companies’ focus would be on
profit, and local aspirations of the people would be ignored.
▪ The protest is not against privatisation, but it could not be a unilateral decision. “The
Railways, the UNESCO and the local people should sit together and create guidelines, so
that the heritage site can be preserved and sustained
▪ The Question to address was - why private companies would invest in a Railway whose
earnings were ₹5 crore while the investment required to sustain it was ₹20 crore??
▪ Built in the British era between 1879 and 1881, the Darjeeling toy train was declared a
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UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1999.
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Q- The Centre had prepared the National Action Plan on Climate Change (NAPCC) in 2009 and asked
the states to prepare their own specific plans. On those lines which of the following state was the
last to submit it in 2019?
a. Bihar
b. Nagaland
c. Delhi
d. Karnataka
Q- What is that best defines the idea of ‘equality/ in a liberal democratic society?
a. Elimination of all forms of differences.
b. Opportunities enjoy by citizens must not be pre-determined by birth or socioeconomic contribution
c. Unrestricted access to all public and private goods and services to all citizens.
d. Both a and b
Answer: B
Explanation: The concept of equality implies that all people, as human beings, are entitled to the same rights
and opportunities to develop their skills and talents, and to pursue their goals and ambitions This means that in
a society people may differ with regard to their choices and preferences. They may also have different talents
and skills which results in some being more successful in their chosen careers than others. But, just because
only some become ace cricketers or successful lawyers, it does not follow that the society should be considers
unequal. In other words, it is not the lack of equality of status or wealth or privilege that is significant but the
inequalities in people’ access to such basic goods, as education, health care, safety housing, that make for an
unequal and unjust society.
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