Topic 1: Quote: The caste System is not merely a division of labour. It is also a division of labourers
Context: Dr BR Ambedkar’s 132nd birth anniversary was observed recently.
Key details:
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Full quote:
- The Caste System is not merely a division of labour. It is also a division of labourers. Civilised society undoubtedly needs division of labour. But in no civilised society is division of labour accompanied by this unnatural division of labourers into watertight compartments … it is a hierarchy in which the divisions of labourers are graded one above the other.
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Division of labour
- The basic point of social organisation is to share responsibilities.
- In other words, living in a society means that no one person has to perform all the tasks required for their sustenance.
- The burden of these tasks is distributed in society, through what we call ‘specialisation’.
- For example:
- a society has farmers who produce food, factory workers who produce goods, sweepers who clean buildings, cobblers who produce shoes, and so on.
- Over time, the division of labour has morphed and gained sophistication.
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Division of labourers
- Ambedkar acknowledges that the division of labour is necessary for society.
- However, caste goes far beyond being just that because of two basic features of the caste system.
- The caste system works on the principle of heredity – an individual inherits their caste, and thus their occupation, from their father.
- Through the principle of endogamy (marrying within one’s own community), the society is divided into clear, watertight compartments.
- This is why Ambedkar calls caste a division of labourers rather than labour as there is no scope for mobility and intermixing among castes (through taboos on things like interdining, untouchability, etc.)
- If caste were just a division of labour, it would be possible for a sweeper’s son to become a priest and a priest’s son to be a sweeper.
- But that is not how caste society works.
- For instance, as recently as 2021, then Minister of State of Social Justice and Empowerment told the Rajya Sabha that 73.31 per cent of all manual scavengers were from Scheduled Castes, who, as per the 2011 census, make roughly 16 per cent of the population.
- Ambedkar calls this an “unnatural” division.
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Gradation of these divisions
- Caste also grades these compartments on the notion of purity and pollution.
- For example, intellectual work, such as reading scriptures, is considered to be the purest while manual work like cleaning toilets is considered to be polluting.
- This is the basis of untouchability as people of castes who engage in certain tasks considered polluting are thus discriminated against as untouchables.
- Given that occupation is strictly passed down hereditarily, this gradation of individuals on the basis of the purity of their occupation is the ultimate injustice of caste.
- Caste also grades these compartments on the notion of purity and pollution.
Conclusion:
- While across the world, there are class divisions, which too treat some occupations as being better than others, the reason why caste is unique is that this treatment has a moral connotation, with certain tasks more virtuous than others.
- The justification for the caste system is done on moral terms – people are born into a caste based on the deeds/misdeeds of their previous life.
- As per Ambedkar this division of labour is not spontaneous, it is not based on natural aptitudes as it attempts to appoint tasks to individuals in advance, selected not on the basis of trained original capacities, but on that of the social status of the parents.
Topic 2: Voice testing and its value as evidence
Context: A Congress leader appeared before the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to submit samples of his voice in connection with his alleged role in three murders
How is a voice sample taken?
- An investigating agency generally moves court, seeking permission to collect a person’s voice sample in connection with a case.
- A voice sample is generally taken in an echo-proof room for a controlled and noise-free environment.
- A spectral analysis of the audio speech is undertaken where the pitch, energy and frequency of the voice are kept as the base to study and match the original audio sample.
- Forensic officials use international phonetic alphabets while recording a voice sample.
- International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA), an alphabet developed in the 19th century to accurately represent the pronunciation of languages.
- It provides a unique symbol for each distinctive sound in a language.
- Semi-automatic spectrographic method of voice sampling is used in Indian forensic labs.
- The spectrographic method for speaker recognition makes use of an instrument that converts the speech signal into a visual display.
What is the legality behind collecting voice samples?
- The Code of Criminal Procedure allows examination of accused by a medical practitioner at the request of a police officer.
- The word examination in this provision includes:
- the examination of blood, blood stains, semen, swabs in case of sexual offences, sputum and sweat, hair samples and fingernail clippings by the use of modern and scientific techniques including DNA profiling and such other tests which the registered medical practitioner thinks necessary in a particular case.
- The phrase “such other tests” is read to include a collection of voice samples.
- the examination of blood, blood stains, semen, swabs in case of sexual offences, sputum and sweat, hair samples and fingernail clippings by the use of modern and scientific techniques including DNA profiling and such other tests which the registered medical practitioner thinks necessary in a particular case.
- While delivering a split verdict in the 2013 case, the SC acknowledged that there is no specific law for collection of voice samples.
- The case was subsequently heard by a 3-judge bench in which the SC said that the fundamental rights of the accused will not be violated by collecting a voice sample for investigation.
- The Court held that fundamental right to privacy cannot be construed as absolute and must bow down to compelling public interest.
Topic 3: SpaceX and Starship
Context: Elon Musk’s SpaceX is about to take its most daring leap yet with a round-the-world test flight of its mammoth Starship.
SpaceX
- Space is a rocket company founded by Elon Musk.
- It was created with the mission of taking humans to Mars.
- Headquarters: Hawthorne, California.
- It was founded in 2002 by Elon Musk with the stated goal of reducing space transportation costs to enable the colonization of Mars.
Starlink:
- SpaceX is developing a satellite internet constellation named Starlink to provide commercial internet service.
- In January 2020, the Starlink constellation became the largest satellite constellation ever launched.
Starship:
- The company is also developing Starship, a privately funded, fully reusable, super heavy-lift launch system for interplanetary and orbital spaceflight.
- It is intended to become SpaceX’s primary orbital vehicle once operational.
- Starship is a super-heavy lift rocket that can transport large payloads to space.
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Applications:
- Deploy heavier payloads with greater range.
- To deploy larger swarms of Starlink internet satellites.
Topic 4: Vishu
Context: Kerala celebrates Vishu with traditional zeal
Key details:
- Vishu is celebrated in Kerala to mark the start of the Malayalam new year.
- The word “Vishu” in Sanskrit means “equal” and hence it celebrates the spring equinox, when day and night are nearly equal.
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Vishu Kani:
- Vishu Kani is an assortment of auspicious items.
- It is arranged using cucumber, coconut, rice, areca nuts, betel leaves, gold ornaments, coins, fruits, along with a lit metal lamp at the centre.
- The setting is then placed before an image of Lord Vishnu or Lord Krishna.
- A special yellow flower named Konna is integral to the Vishukkani.
- People also recite the Ramayana near the sacred Vishu Kani.
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Sadya:
- Another important feature of the festival is the ‘sadya’ feast including banana chips, curries, rice dishes, pickles and other items served on a banana leaf.
Topic 5: Wet Bulb Temperature
Context: The deaths of 11 people in Mumbai due to heatstroke, while they were attending a government meeting in an open space, is possibly the largest heatwave-related death toll from a single event.
Key details:
- According to the IMD, heatwave conditions are currently prevailing in some areas of Gangetic West Bengal, coastal Andhra Pradesh and Bihar.
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What is wet bulb temperature?
- The combination of high temperature and high humidity, referred to as the “wet bulb temperature”, is what makes heatwaves deadly.
- Wet-bulb temperature (WBT) combines dry air temperature with humidity in essence, it is a measure of heat-stress conditions on humans.
- The term comes from how it is measured.
- If you slide a wet cloth over the bulb of a thermometer, the evaporating water from the cloth will cool the thermometer down.
- This lower temperature is the WBT, which cannot go above the dry temperature.
- If humidity in the surrounding air is high, less evaporation will occur, so the WBT will be closer to the dry temperature.
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Significance of humidity:
- Humidity is a critical factor in heat exposure because high humidity does not allow sweat to evaporate off the surface of the skin, the primary way in which humans lose the heat generated within the body.
- The cooling effect that the evaporating sweat produces is essential in maintaining a stable body temperature.
- The resilience of people to heatwaves varies with age and depends on underlying health conditions.
Topic 6: Substack
Context: Users of the digital newsletter platform Substack reported they could not like or retweet Twitter posts with Substack links.
What is Substack?
- Substack, launched in 2017, is an online publishing platform that lets writers and podcasters publish and share content directly with their target audience.
- The platform allows content creators to generate income directly from subscribers on their terms.
- The platform provides an easy way to access content and support individual creators based on users’ needs and preferences.
Topic 7: A big fat problem in milk
Context: Prices of milk across country has gone up.
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Key details:
- The current price inflation in milk has mainly to do with a shortage of fat.
- It has led dairies to increase full-cream milk prices more or to cut down fat content through rebranding of existing products.
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Production statistics:
- The share of buffaloes to total output was about 46.4% in 2021-22.
- In 2000-01, it stood at 56.9%, even as the share of crossbred/exotic cows has risen (18.5% to 32.8%) and that of indigenous/non-descript cattle declined (24.6% to 20.8%) over this period.
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Export-induced inflation
- A more immediate reason for rising fat prices is exports.
- During 2021-22, India exported over 33,000 tonnes of ghee, butter, and anhydrous milk fat valued at Rs 1,281 crore.
- The supply-side pressures built up just when demand was returning with the lifting of lockdown restrictions and resumption of economic activity.
- Exports added fuel to the fire, exacerbating domestic shortages.
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Solutions:
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Alternative to imports
- October-March is normally the ‘flush’ season in milk, when supply exceeds demand.
- Dairies convert the surplus that they procure into skim milk powder (SMP) and butter fat.
- The same SMP and fat is reconstituted into whole milk during the ‘lean’ summer-monsoon months.
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Fixing GST anomaly
- Milk doesn’t attract any goods and services tax.
- But SMP is taxed at 5% and milk fat at 12%.
- While dairies pay no tax on milk procured from farmers, they have to shell out GST on solids.
- And input tax credit cannot be claimed, as there’s no GST on milk itself.
- The tax incidence goes up as the fat in the reconstituted milk increases.
- The GST component is ultimately passed on to the consumer.
- One way to avoid this is by doing away with GST on milk solids used for reconstitution purposes.
- Alternatively, the GST on milk fats can be reduced to 5%.
- Differential rates on SMP and fat probably make no sense, when both are derived directly from milk.
- A 12% GST on milk fat is also an anomaly when vegetable fat (edible oils) is taxed at 5%.
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Alternative to imports
Topic 8: Bailey Bridge
Context: Army may build Bailey bridges in Kaziranga to protect rhino’s domain
Key details:
- The Army may help build Bailey bridges in the Kaziranga National Park and Tiger Reserve for faster movement of forest guards in strategic, vulnerable pockets of the one-horned rhino domain.
- The Bailey bridges sought would essentially replace wooden structures in flood-prone vulnerable pockets in the park which is a UN World Heritage Site.
- The bridges are expected to shorten the routes to the vulnerable pockets and facilitate better coordination among the forest guards manning the anti-poaching camps.
What is Bailey bridge?
- A Bailey bridge is a type of portable, pre-fabricated, truss bridge.
- It was developed by the British for military use during the Second World War.
- A Bailey bridge has the advantages of requiring no special tools or heavy equipment to assemble.
- The wood and steel bridge elements were small and light enough to be carried in trucks and lifted into place by hand, without the use of a crane.
| About Kaziranga National ParkKaziranga National Park is located in the state of Assam.The park hosts two-thirds of the world’s great one-horned rhinoceroses.Rhino population:According to the census held in March 2018 the rhino population in Kaziranga National Park is 2,613.Conservation status:It is a World Heritage Site declared by UNESCO in 1985.Kaziranga National Park was declared a Tiger Reserve in 2006.Kaziranga is recognized as an Important Bird Area by BirdLife International for conservation of avifaunal species.Vegetation and water bodies:Kaziranga is a vast expanse of tall elephant grass, marshland, and dense tropical moist broadleaf forests.The Diphlu River runs through it.Other national parks in Assam are:Dibru-Saikhowa National ParkManas National ParkNameri National Park Rajiv Gandhi Orang National Park |
Topic 9: Traditional healing system
Context: Traditional healing system faces challenges of being lost and slid into oblivion
What is traditional healing?
- Traditional healing refers to the health practices, approaches, knowledge and beliefs that incorporate healing and wellness.
- These practices include using ceremonies, plant, animal or mineral-based medicines, energetic therapies and physical or hands-on techniques.
- Traditional healing practice is holistic and aims at the overall well-being of the person.
- It takes the body, self, and society within a framework of dynamic equilibrium.
- The holistic approach takes into consideration the values, passions, beliefs, social interactions, and spiritual orientation of a person.
- A traditional healer can be defined as a person without formal medical training but is considered (by the local tribal community) competent to provide healthcare using animal, plant and mineral substances.
- They use techniques based on their social, cultural and religious background as well as the knowledge, attitudes and beliefs prevalent in the community regarding disease and disability.
- Members of the Bonda tribe, a Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Group, rely heavily on traditional healers or dissahris for treating general and minor ailments in this village.
Case study: Andrahal village
- In Andrahal village, there are seven traditional healers, all aged 60 and above and all male.
- The healing practices are divided into three types:
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Soni:
- soni deals with cases of fits and paralysis
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rau:
- rau cures cases of extreme malnourishment and weakness
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pangan:
- pangan deals with instances where they feel that a person has been looked upon
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Soni:
- For all three types of practices, animal sacrifice is mandatory.
Threats and challenges:
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Deforestation:
- Herbs necessary for healing are slowly vanishing with degrading forests.
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Problem of identification:
- In certain tribes, the healers are identified based on their astrological prominence.
- As the idea of identification remains abstract, the question of sustaining these practices remains.
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Healthcare system delays and challenges
- A major question that arises from these practices is the efficacy of dealing with major ailments and the delays it causes.
- As it remains, the first point of healthcare remedy sought, diagnosis and subsequent treatment of many diseases get delayed, leading to deteriorating health parameters and mortality.
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Problem of quacks:
- In certain cases, people also rely on quacks masquerading as healers, jeopardising traditional practices.
Way forward:
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Mass awareness:
- The effective traditional medicines should be documented with scientific evidence and accordingly, materials can be prepared to create mass awareness to modify their health-seeking behaviours.
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Preserving this traditional heritage:
- Given the dependency of the tribal people on the healers, it is imperative to preserve their knowledge in order to maintain a healthy tribal population and preserve the endangered yet priceless knowledge of the tribal healers.
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Convergence with formal healthcare:
- Integrative medicine is one way to converge traditional healing practices with modern medical practices.
- The convergence can be an essential strategy for improving patient outcomes in healthcare, specifically for PVTGs.
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Obstacles to integration:
- A lack of understanding of traditional medicine,
- discrimination,
- high biomedical staff turnover,
- waning interest in healing as a profession and
- equipment shortage.
Conclusion:
- By doing so, healthcare providers can increase patient trust and satisfaction and help bridge the gap between traditional and modern medical practices.
- Through cultural competency training and integrative medicine, healthcare providers can provide a more individualised and holistic approach to care that combines the best of both.