Current Affairs 21st April 2023 for UPSC Prelims Exam

Hakki Pikki Tribe

Context: More than 181 members of the Hakki Pikki tribal community from Karnataka are stuck in violence-hit Sudan.

About Hakki Pikki Tribe

Hakki Pikkis (Hakki in Kannada means ‘bird’ and Pikki means ‘catchers’) are a semi-nomadic tribe, traditionally of bird catchers and hunters.
They live in several states in west and south India, especially near forest areas. According to the 2011 census, the Hakki Pikki population in Karnataka is 11,892, and they live majorly in Davangere, Mysuru, Kolar, Hassan and Shivmogga districts.
In different regions, they are known by different names, such as Mel-Shikari in northern Karnataka and Maharashtra.
Livelihood
- Traditionally, Hakki Pikkis lived in forest areas, leading a nomadic life for nine months a year and coming back to their permanent camps for three.
- Earlier, they killed animals to make a living. However after wildlife protection laws became stricter, the Hakki Pikkis in Karnataka started selling spices, herbal oils, and plastic flowers in local temple fairs.
- Discovering huge demand for Ayurvedic products in the African continent, they started selling their products in Africa.
Culture
- Hakki Pikkis in Karnataka follow Hindu traditions and celebrate all Hindu festivals. They are non-vegetarians.
- Language: They converse in ‘Vaagri’, an Indo-Aryan group of language.
- Marriages: The tribe prefers cross-cousin marriages. The society is matriarchal, where the groom gives dowry to the bride’s family. Monogamy is the norm.

Current Affairs 20th April 2023 for UPSC Prelims Exam

Eat Right India Movement

Context: Union Health Ministry, in partnership with the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, has asked states and union territories to implement healthy street food initiatives, to promote Eat Right Movement.

About Eat Right India Movement

FSSAI launched ‘The Eat Right Movement’ on 10th July, 2018.
It is a large-scale effort to transform the country’s food system into safer and healthier eating habits.
It is a Pan-India cycle movement aimed to create consumer awareness about eating safe and nutritious food
- Aims at good food habits for the people of the country but also promotes food that is good for the planet.
It adopts a judicious mix of regulatory, capacity building, collaborative and empowerment approach to ensure that both the parameters are followed.
It is built on three broad pillars of ‘Eat Healthy’, ‘Eat Safe’ and ‘Eat Sustainably’
It adopts an integrative or ‘whole of the government’ approach since the movement brings together food-related mandates of the agriculture, health, environment and other ministries.

About Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI):

It is a statutory organisation under the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW). It was established under Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006.
Its main role is to protect and promote public health through the regulation and supervision of food safety.

PSLV-C55 Mission

Context: ISRO is scheduled to launch the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle C55 (PSLV-C55) mission on April 22.

About PSLV-C55

The PSLV-C55 mission is a dedicated commercial mission through New Space India Limited (NSIL).
NSIL is a commercial arm of the Indian space agency.

Payload on PSLV-C55

POEM: PSLV-C55 mission has the PSLV Orbital Experimental Module (POEM), where the spent PS4 (fourth and final stage of PSLV) of the launch vehicle would be utilized as an orbital platform to carry out scientific experiments through non-separating payloads.
- This is the third time that PS4 will be used after satellite separation as a platform for experiments.
POEM experimental non-separable payloads:
- PiLOT (PSLV In orbitaLObc and Thermals), a package from Indian Institute of Space and Technology (IIST).
- ARIS-2 (Advanced Retarding Potential analyser for Ionospheric Studies) experiment from IIST.
- HET-based ARKA200 Electric Propulsion System from Bellatrix.
- DSOD-3U and DSOD-6U deployer units along with DSOL-Transceiver in S- & X- bands from Dhruva Space.
- Starberry Sense Payload from Indian Institute of Astrophysics.

TeLEOS-2 satellite

It is developed under a partnership between DSTA (representing the government of Singapore) and ST Engineering.
It will be used to support the satellite imagery requirements of various agencies within the government of Singapore.
TeLEOS-2 carries a Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) payload.
TeLEOS-2 will be able to provide all-weather day and night coverage, and be capable of imaging at 1m full-polarimetric resolution.

LUMELITE-4satellite

It has also been developed by Singapore and is an advanced 12U satellite designed for the technology demonstration of the High-Performance Space-borne VHF Data Exchange System (VDES).
It aims to augment Singapore’s e-navigation, and maritime safety and benefit the global shipping community.

The Vaccine Confidence Project

Context: India is one among three countries (out of 55 countries studied) where perception of the importance of vaccines for children has shown increase, according to the Vaccine Confidence Project.

More on the News:

A decline in vaccine confidence has been observed in over a third of the studied countries, including the Republic of Korea, Papua New Guinea, Ghana, Senegal, and Japan after the start of the pandemic.
Vaccine hesitancy has seen an increase due to factors such as access to misleading information and declining trust in vaccine efficacy.

What is Vaccine Confidence Project?

The Vaccine Confidence Project (VCP) was established by Professor Heidi Larson in 2010 at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine to combat misinformation and hesitancy regarding vaccine use.
Goals: The VCP’s objective is to map and monitor public confidence in vaccination at a global scale. It is dedicated to understand the roots, trends over time, and impacts of vaccine.
Functions: VCP acts as an early warning system to identify and evaluate public confidence in vaccines, in order to tackle the problem early, and make it manageable.

UNICEF:

United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund (now United Nations Children’s Fund) is an UN agency that is responsible for providing humanitarian and developmental aid to children across the globe.
Origin: It was formed in New York by the U.N. Relief Rehabilitation Administration in 1946 to provide immediate relief to children and mothers affected by World War II.
Funding: UNICEF funds are obtained entirely from voluntary contributions from governments and private donors.
Governance structure: It is governed by a 36-member executive board decides policies, approves programs, and oversees administrative and financial plans.
- The board is made up of government representatives elected by the United Nations Economic and Social Council, usually for three-year terms.
Objectives of UNESCO include:
- Providing immunizations and disease prevention
- Enhancing childhood and maternal nutrition
- Providing treatment for children and mothers with HIV
- Promoting education
- Improving sanitation
- Providing emergency relief during disasters
Honours: UNICEF has been honoured with prizes such as the Nobel Peace Prize in 1965, the Indira Gandhi Prize in 1989 and the Princess of Asturias Award in 2006.

Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO)

Context: Saudi Arabia will be joining the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) as a “dialogue partner”.

About SCO

Origin	Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) is an intergovernmental organisation established on June 15, 2001, in Shanghai, China. The Headquarters of SCO is in Beijing. Official languages of SCO are Mandarin and Russian.
Objective	SCO aims to form a multilateral association to ensure security and maintain stability across the Eurasian region, come together to counteract emerging challenges and threats, and enhance trade, as well as cultural and humanitarian cooperation.
Members	China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, India and Pakistan. India is currently the chair of SCO.
Observers	Afghanistan, Iran, Belarus, and Mongolia. The process of granting Iran “Member State” status has already been started.
Dialogue partners	Armenia, Azerbaijan, Cambodia, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Turkey. Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Egypt will also be granted the status soon.
Functions of SCO	The primary function of SCO is to address security-related concerns, with special focus on regional terrorism, ethnic separatism and religious extremism at the top. Through Regional Anti-Terrorist Structure (RATS), which was founded in 2004, the SCO members share crucial intelligence, knowledge, legal expertise as well as allow for extradition of terrorists. SCO also has a form of military cooperation with Member States holding joint military exercises and ‘war games’. SCO promotes cooperation in the fields of economics and culture, with focus on regional development for tackling security issues. SCO has closely worked with various UN organizations to address various serious global issues.
Structure	Heads of State Council – It is the main body of SCO which decides its internal functioning and its interaction with other States & international organisations and considers international issues. Council of Ministers of Foreign Affairs – It is responsible for issues related to day-to-day activities. Heads of Government Council – It is responsible for approving the budget, considers and decides upon issues related to economic spheres of interaction within SCO. Regional Anti-Terrorist Structure (RATS) – It is responsible for combating terrorism, separatism and extremism. It facilitates coordination between the SCO member states in the fight against terrorism, extremism and separatism. Headquarters of RATS is located in Tashkent, Uzbekistan.
Miscellaneous	The SCO states make up 40%of the global population, nearly 20% of the global GDP and 22% of the world’s land mass. It is located at a strategic point between Asia and Europe. SCO aims to limit the American influence in the region. It is being seen as a counterweight to the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation.

Buddha’s Teachings

Context: During the inauguration of the first Global Buddhist Summit, the Prime Minister emphasized that contemporary global challenges, such as war, terrorism, and climate change, can be addressed through the teachings of the Buddha.

About the Global Buddhist Summit

Conducted by: The Ministry of Culture and International Buddhist Confederation (IBC)
Theme: “Responses to Contemporary Challenges: Philosophy to Praxis.”
Aim: The summit aims to enhance cultural and diplomatic relationships with other countries and mark the significance and importance of India in Buddhism, as Buddhism was born in India.

Buddhist Philosophy/Teachings of the Buddha

Buddha asked his followers to avoid the two extremes of indulgence in worldly pleasure and the practice of strict abstinence and asceticism.
- He ascribed instead the ‘Madhyam Marg’ or the middle path which was to be followed.
According to Buddha, everyone was responsible for their own happiness in life, stressing upon the individualistic component of Buddhism.
The main teachings of Buddhism are encapsulated in the basic concept of four noble truths or ariya-sachchani and eightfold path or astangika marg.

Four noble truths or Ariya-sachchani	Eight-Fold Path or Astangika marg.
Suffering (dukkha) is the essence of the world. Every suffering has a cause – Samudya. Suffering could be extinguished – Nirodha.	Right view Right intention Right speech Right action Right livelihood Right mindfulness Right effort Right concentration

The essence of Buddhism is the attainment of enlightenment. It points to a way of life that avoids self-indulgence and self-denial. There is no supreme god or deity in Buddhism.
The ultimate goal of Buddha’s teaching was the attainment of nibbana which was not a place but an experience and could be attained in this life.
Buddha also established code of conduct both for the monastic order and the laymen to follow which are also known as the Five Precepts or Panchsheel and refrain from them.
- Violence
- stealing
- sexual misconduct
- lying or gossip
- Taking intoxicating substances e.g., drugs or drink.