Daily Mains Practice Questions 27-02-2023

KEY POINTS

·        Many barriers on the road to gender equality have been removed, but many roadblocks remain.

·        Women have fought hard to get to the present when, thanks to higher education and work opportunities, they can dream of balancing work and home, though couple equity is still not a reality for many.

·        A petition had sought the Court’s direction to States to frame rules for granting menstrual pain leave for students and working women.

·        But there are apprehensions that these could entrench existing stigma and also result in furthering discrimination.

·        In India, Kerala and Bihar have menstrual pain leave; the food delivery app Zomato has also introduced it.

·        Between 2010 and 2020 the percentage of working women dropped from 26% to 19%, according to World Bank data.

·        To encourage more women to join the workforce, it is imperative they have access to higher education and more opportunities.

·        In a world that should strive to become a better place for all, it is the responsibility of the wider society and governments to ensure that no section is left behind.

·        Many countries are trying out four-day work days for a quality life, while others are offering paternity leave so that parenting can be, rightly, equally shared, and also to ensure employers do not see recruiting women as a disadvantage.

KEY POINTS

·        To bring about a positive change in the lives of the tribal groups, the government this year revised the Budget allocation for Eklavya Model Residential School (EMRS) under the Ministry of Tribal Affairs.

·        Budget allocation for EMRS this year has increased by 196.4 per cent [198.6 per cent increase over 2022-23 (RE)].

·        This is a huge step towards ensuring that the children from tribal groups get the opportunity to access and avail quality education.

·        Also, an announcement regarding recruitment of 38,800 teachers and support staff in the next three years in about 740 EMRS serving 3.5 lakh tribal children has been made.

·        In terms of fund allocation, the Budget for child-focused interventions has been hiked by 162.1 per cent to ?6,339 crore in 2023-24 (BE) from ?2,419 crore in 2022-23 (BE).

·        The total Budget for children for 2023-24 (BE) reflects an increase of 11.9 per cent over the 2022-23 (BE) and 16.6 per cent over the RE for 2022-23. There are components in the budget for children that have witnessed significant increases in fund allocation.

·        However, certain aspects, especially those related to education (scholarships), nutrition and protection, require more attention and allocation.

·        This is crucial to ensure that no factor needed to create an enabling environment for the holistic growth and development of children, especially from marginalised communities, goes unheeded.

KEY POINTS

·        The World Bank and the NITI Aayog have been putting out reports that India is going to face major problems due to water scarcity.

·        As India’s population continues to grow and with most people still engaged in agriculture, water scarcity can be all the more debilitating.

·        The ‘Compendium of Sedimentation on Reservoirs in India’, published by the Central Water Commission (2020), shows the water storage capacity of dams declines by 0.95 per cent per year due to silt deposit alone.

·        Considering the rapidly increasing demand for water and declining potential, steps must be taken to conserve every drop of rainwater.

·        As predicted by the IPCC, the climate change is causing major changes in the rainfall pattern.

·        Rainy days have decreased over the past few years, and in several parts of the country the amount of rainfall for a year falls in a day or two.

·        For example, in a single day, Mumbai received 950 mm of rainfall in 2005, Chennai 494 mm in 2015, and Mount Abu 770 mm in 2017.

·        Considering the reduced water storage capacity of most dams due to silting, urgent action is needed to remove them through various means.

·        If actions are not taken to harvest and store the rainwater during monsoon, water scarcity will become a perennial problem soon.

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