Indian National Movement
100 years of Jallianwala Bagh Massacre

Relevance IN - Prelims ( about Jallianwala bagh massacre) + Mains ( GS I Indian national movement)

What's the NEWS

• The Year 2019 marks 100 years of the Jallianwala Bagh Massacre, also known as the Amritsar Massacre that occurred on April 13, 1919.

• On the fateful afternoon of April 13, 1919, the troops of the British Indian Army under the command of Colonel Reginald Dyer fired ruthlessly into a crowd of Indian civilians gathered at Jallianwala Bagh, Amritsar, Punjab. The massacre is remembered as one of the deadliest attacks in Indian history.

Know! all about the massacre

• The Jallianwala Bagh Massacre was the result of the Anarchical and Revolutionary Crimes Act of 1919, famously known as the Rowlatt Act.

• The Act came into force a month before the massacre. It shocked most Indians who had expected to be rewarded, not punished, for willingly fighting alongside the British in the First World War.

• The Act allowed political cases to be tried without jury, and imprisonment of suspects without trial. The Act resulted in furious protests throughout the country.

• Gandhi started a campaign against Rowlatt Act. There were violent protests that resulted in the burning of the Town Hall and Railway station, disruption of telegraphs and communication system.

• As part of these protests, thousands of people gathered at Jallianwala Bagh in Amritsar, Punjab on April 13, 1919. The civilians assembled for a peaceful protest to condemn the arrest and deportation of two national leaders, Satya Pal and Saifuddin Kitchlew.

• That was also the day of Sikh festival Baisakhi and many villagers had also gathered in the Bagh.

• Under the command of Colonel Reginald Dyer, over 50 troops of the British Indian Army began firing rifles into the crowd.

• The narrow exits from the bagh were blocked; no one could escape the ill-fated incidence. Over 1200 got injured and more than 350 people died. Some of them jumped into the well in the bagh to escape dying by the bullets.

• As per the records of the British Government, the massacre killed 379 and caused 1200 injuries. However, as per the Indian Nation Congress, around 1000 died and 1500 got injured.

• Following the massacre, the Hunter Commission was appointed to investigate into the matter. The Commission in 1920 held Dyer guilty for his actions. He was relieved of his command and prematurely retired from the army.

• Udham Singh, a Punjabi revolutionary, killed Michael O' Dwyer, former Lieutenant Governor of Punjab, on March 13, 1940 in London in revenge for the Jallianwalla Bagh Massacre. He was subsequently convicted and hanged in July 1940.

• Bengali poet and Nobel laureate, Rabindranath Tagore renounced the knighthood he had received in 1915.

• The massacre marked the start of a new rebellion and liberation struggle under Mahatma Gandhi to free India from the British rule.

State Specific
UN award for 2 Bengal projects 
Utkarsh Bangla' and ‘Sabooj Sathi'
Relevance IN - Prelims ( about the scheme)

What's the NEWS

• The Bengal government has won the UN's World Summit on Information Society (WSIS) award for Utkarsh Bangla and Sabooj Sathi projects.

Know! more about the schemes

• The Utkarsh Bangla and Sabooj Sathi projects are for youngsters - skill development training for increasing employment opportunities for 6 lakh youth every year under Utkarsh Bangla and environment-friendly bicycles to school students of Classes IX to XII under Sabooj Sathi.

• The Bengal government has distributed nearly 1 crore bicycles since the inception of this project.

• Utkarsh Bangla got the topmost award and emerged as a winner in the Capacity Building category and the Sabooj Sathi was ranked in the first five as a champion project under ICT application: E-Government category.

Utkarsh Bangla

• Utkarsh Bangla Scheme is aimed at providing vocational training to school dropouts. The beneficiaries of the scheme will be trained in driving, tailoring, repairing television and other electronic equipment's, beautician courses etc.

Sabooj Sathi

• Sabooj Sathi is a scheme of West Bengal government for distribution of bicycles to the students of class IX to XII studying in Govt. run and Govt. aided Schools and Madrashas.The scheme was launched in September 2015.

World Summit on the Information Society Awards

• World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) Awards were instituted as per requests from the WSIS stakeholders to create an effective mechanism to evaluate and recognize individuals, governments, civil society, local, regional and international agencies, research institutions and private-sector companies for outstanding success in implementing development oriented strategies that leverage the power of ICTs as an enabler of the development.

• WSIS is a global multi-stakeholder platform facilitating the implementation of the WSIS Action Lines for advancing sustainable development.

• The summit is co-organized by ITU, UNESCO, UNDP and UNCTAD, in close collaboration with other UN organizations.

Bamboo rice
Four decades later, bamboo rice shows up in Odisha
The rare variety, which was last harvested in Chandaka-Dampara Wildlife Sanctuary in 1979, grows twice or thrice in a century

Relevance In - Prelims( about the bamboo rice)

Know! more about bamboo rice
• The bamboo rice, which grows only twice or thrice in a century is being harvested now.
• The gates of Chandaka-Dampara Wildlife Sanctuary in Cuttack district have been opened for forest dwellers to come and collect the rice, because otherwise it will be attacked by rats.
• The rare rice grows out of a dying bamboo shoot. "Whenever bamboo blossoms, the rat population increases.
• To prevent rats from running the rice, we allow local villagers and forest dwellers to collect bamboo rice. Also, the rice then becomes a major source of income and food for villagers living near the forest
• The variety looks like paddy rice and tastes more like wheat. It is believed to have low glycaemic index compared to other varieties and it is good for

Environment Conservation
The Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute (CMFRI) and the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) agreement on wetland protection
Relevance IN - Prelims ( about the agreement ) + Mains ( GS III environment conservation)

What's the NEWS

• The Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute (CMFRI) and the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) have signed an MoU to map, validate and protect smaller wetlands in the coastal region and restore them through coastal livelihood programmes.

• Smaller wetlands (which were smaller than 2.25 hectares) cover an area of more than 5 lakh hectares across the country, with Kerala alone having as many as 2,592 such wetlands.

Know! more about the MoU

• As per the MoU, a mobile app and a centralised web portal with a complete database of wetlands in the country which were smaller than 2.25 hectares will be developed.

• The two institutes will identify and demarcate the wetlands and restore the degraded ones through suitable livelihood options such as coastal aquaculture.

• A mobile app will be used for real-time monitoring of the wetlands and giving advisories to the stakeholders and the coastal people.

• The collaboration is part of the national framework for fisheries and wetlands recently developed under the National Innovations in Climate Resilient Agriculture (NICRA).

• As per the agreement, National Wetland Atlas which has been already developed by the Space Applications Centre of ISRO will be updated with real-time data of physical, chemical and biological parameters of the wetlands to be provided by the CMFRI.

• The collaboration will aid in developing a comprehensive wetland information system which could facilitate the village-level wetland advisories to the local people by scientific communities.

• The National Innovations in Climate Resilient Agriculture (NICRA) is aimed at finding ways and means to mitigate the impact of climate change on marine fisheries and coastal region

Prelims Practise Questions

Consider the following statements regarding Jallianwala Bagh Massacre

1. The Jallianwala Bagh Massacre was the result of the Anarchical and Revolutionary Crimes Act of 1919, famously known as the Rowlatt Act.

2. The Act allowed political cases to be tried without jury, and imprisonment of suspects without trial.

3. Following the massacre, the Hunter Commission was appointed to investigate into the matter. The Commission in 1920 acquitted Dyer.

4. Bengali poet and Nobel laureate, Rabindranath Tagore renounced the knighthood he had received in 1915.

Find the correct statement from the option given below

a. 1 2 and 4
b. 3 and 4
c. 1 2 3 and 4
d. None

Consider the following statements regarding Bamboo rice

1. The rare variety of Bamboo rice which was last harvested in Chandaka-Dampara Wildlife Sanctuary in 1979, grows twice or thrice in a century

2. This Chandaka-Dampara Wildlife Sanctuary is located in West Bengal

Find the correct statement from the option given below

a. 1 only
b. 2 only
c. None
d. Both

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