DAILY CURRENT AFFAIRS ANALYSIS

07^th April 2022

. No.	Topic Name	Prelims/Mains
1.	ABOUT THE BUDDHIST SITE OF KUSHINAGAR	Prelims & Mains
2.	ABOUT THE UDAN SCHEME	Prelims & Mains
3.	WHO ARE UIGHURS	Prelims & Mains
4.	ABOUT THE SINGAPORE INTERNATIONAL ARBITRATION CENTRE	Prelims Specific
5.	CLIMATE RESILIENCE INFORMATION SYSTEM AND PLANNING TOOL	Prelims Specific

 

1. ABOUT THE BUDDHIST SITE OF KUSHINAGAR: 

GS I

Topic – Indian Culture:

• Historical significance of Kushinagar:
• Among one of the most important Buddhist pilgrimages, Kushinagar is where the Buddha discovered the Mahaparinirvana (great salvation) in c. 483 BC.
• Modern-day Kushinagar is identified in Kushinara, the capital of the ancient Republic of Malla, which was one of the 16 mahajanapadas of the 6th-4th century BC.
• The area continued to be part of the Mauryas, Shungas, Kushanas, Gupta, Harshavardhana and Palala kingdoms.
• The first excavations in Kushinagar were made by Alexander Cunningham and ACL Carlleyle, who unearthed the main stupa and a six-foot-tall statue of the Reclining Buddha in 1876.
• Kushinagar is among the very few places in India where the Buddha is shown in the reclining form.
• About the Buddhist Circuit:
• In 2016, the Department of Tourism announced the Buddhist Circuit as the first national tourism destination in the country, covering Nepal and Sri Lanka alongside those in India.
• The Buddhist Circuit Service Map includes Bodh Gaya, Vaishali, and Rajgir in Bihar, Kushinagar, Sarnath, and Shravasti in the UP, and Lumbini in Nepal.
• Source – Indian Express

2. ABOUT THE UDAN SCHEME:

GS II

Topic – Government Policies and Interventions for the vulnerable sections

• About the UDAN scheme (Ude Desh Ka Aam Nagrik) Scheme:
• The program aims to improve air connectivity in remote and regional parts of the country and to make air travel cheaper.
• It is an integral part of the National Aviation Policy led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and launched in June 2016.
• Under the scheme, around 50 % of the seats are reserved at subsidized rates, and the air carrier companies are provided the requisite viability gap funding.
• The cost is borne by the central government and the concerned states.
• The plan will be valid for ten years and may be extended thereafter.
• UDAN 4.0:
• The fourth version of the UDAN Scheme was launched in December 2019 with a strong focus on the North-Eastern regions, the Hilly States and the Islands.
• Airports already built by the Airports Authority of India (AAI) are prioritized for the provision of VGF (Viability Gap Funding) under the Scheme.
• Under UDAN 4.0, the operationalization of helicopters and marine aircrafts are also included.
• Source – Press Information Bureau

3. WHO ARE UIGHURS:

GS II

Topic – International Relations:

• Who are the Uighurs:
• The Uighurs are a small Turkic group of Muslims, whose origins can be traced to Central and East Asia.
• The Uighurs speak their language, similar to Turkish, and consider themselves culturally and ethnically close to Central Asian countries.
• China sees them only as a minority and denies that it is an indigenous group.
• Currently, a large number of Uighur people live in the Xinjiang region of China.
• Many Uighurs also live in neighbouring Central Asian countries, such as Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, and Kazakhstan.
• Uighur Muslims for decades have been placed under false accusations by the Chinese government for terrorism and segregation and have faced torture including persecution, forced imprisonment, intensive surveillance, surveillance and even slavery.

Source – The Hindu

4. About the Singapore International Arbitration Centre:

GS II

Topic – International Relations:

• The parties to the SIAC agreement usually sign a contract that specifies about:
• A mediation center that regulates mediation.
• Applicable rules.
• Chair of mediation.
• In the event that Amazon and Future Group under their agreement have agreed to transfer their dispute to SIAC, Singapore may be the contractor to choose a seat / venue arbitrator.
• How is the dispute being discussed at SIAC? What process should be followed:
• Once the dispute has been referred to arbitration, a court-appointed arbitration process takes place.
• Composition: Generally, in the case of a three-member panel, both parties nominate one member for each member of the board, while a third party collects the nominees jointly or two, if they fail to agree, by the SIAC.
• Appointment of Emergency Mediator:
• The appointment of an arbitral tribunal usually takes time.
• Therefore, under SIAC rules, parties may submit to the SIAC to appoint an emergency mediator for temporary emergency assistance, as the arbitral tribunal’s appointment process continues.
• What happens if the parties do not voluntarily obey the order:
• Currently under Indian law, there is no obvious way to enforce the orders of the Emergency Arbitrator.
• However, if the parties do not voluntarily comply with the order, the emergency casee-winning party, in this case the Amazon, may appeal to the Supreme Court of India under Section 9 of the Conciliation and Mediation Act, 1996, for the same exemption as granted by the Emergency Mediator.
• Does India have an international mediation centre:
• India now has its own international mediation centre located in Mumbai.
• Source – Indian Express