Daily Current Capsules - 09^th August 2019

Bilateral Relations
Pakistan suspends all bilateral trade with India over Kashmir

Relevance IN - Prelims ( about India - Pakistan relations and facts regarding bilateral trade) + Mains ( GS II bilateral relations)
What's the NEWS

• Pakistan announced a five-point plan that included suspension of bilateral trade in response to the Indian government's move to end special status for Jammu and Kashmir.
• The decision was taken after Pakistan's Prime Minister Imran Khan held a crucial meeting of the National Security Committee (NSC), attended by top civil and military leadership.
• It was decided in the meeting that Pakistan will suspend the bilateral trade and review the "bilateral arrangements" with India.

Know! more about it

• It was decided in the meeting that Pakistani ambassadors will no longer be in New Delhi and their counterparts in Pakistan will also be sent back.
• It was mentioned in a statement released by Govt. of Pakistan that the committee decided to downgrade of diplomatic relations with India and suspension of bilateral trade with India.
• Pakistan government has also decided to raise the issue in the United Nations including its Security Council.
• Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan asked armed forces of Pakistan to remain vigilant.
• As per the media reports, Pakistan decided to celebrate August 15 as a black day, however, August 14 is Pakistan's Independence Day.

Know! what would be the Impact on India

• Pakistan's decision to suspend trade relations with India would hardly impact India.
• According to the reports, the move will have minimal impact on India's overall trade scenario.
• A key reason for the nominal impact of trade suspension on the Indian economy is that a large part of the trade between the countries takes place through informal route.
• According to the recent report released by the Indian Council for Research on International Economic Relations (ICRIER), the total exports from India to Pakistan in the financial year 2018-2019 was around USD 2 billion.
• But the latest data of informal exports as per the ICRIER report which goes back to 2012-13, was USD 3.9 billion, nearly twice the current value of formal exports.

Indian National Movement
Quit India movement: India observes 77th anniversary of August Kranti Diwas

Prelims (about the facts of Quit India Movement) + Mains ( GS I the freedom struggle and its various stages)
What's the NEWS

• The 77th anniversary of Quit India movement, also known as August Kranti Diwas, was observed on August 8, 2019. The Quit India movement began with Mahatma Gandhi's clarion call of "Do or Die" to end the British rule in India.

Know! all about Quit India movement

• On August 8, 1942, Mahatma Gandhi gave the famous Quit India speech in which he called upon Indians to "do or die" to drive the British away from India and launched the Quit India movement at the Bombay session of the All-India Congress Committee (AICC) in Mumbai.
• Quit India movement is one of the most significant movements in the history of Indian freedom struggle. It was launched at the height of the Second World War.
• The Quit India movement was a civil disobedience movement, which began with Mahatma Gandhi's call for immediate self-rule by Indians. Mahatma Gandhi drafted a resolution calling for the British to Quit India.
• The Quit India resolution was passed at the Mumbai session of AICC on August 8, 1942, after the failure of the Cripps mission. Mahatma Gandhi gave his famous ‘Do or Die' Quit India speech at the Gowalia Tank Maidan in Bombay after the passing of the Quit India resolution.
• Following Mahatma Gandhi's call for "an orderly British withdrawal" from India, the AICC launched a mass protest. It was one of the most aggressive movements launched by the Indian National Congress.
• In his Quit India speech, Mahatma Gandhi asked all Indians including teachers to leave their jobs and take part in the movement.
• The Quit India movement called for India's immediate independence and was launched in protest against sending Indians to fight for the British in the Second World War. The movement aimed to force the British Government to come to the negotiating table by holding their war effort hostage.
• The movement demanded the British to leave India immediately and transfer their power to the Indian National Congress. The British, however, refused to grant immediate independence and said that it could only be granted after the end of the Second World War.

The British response

• The British responded to the Quit India movement by imprisoning almost the entire INC leadership including Mahatma Gandhi, Jawaharlal Nehru, and Vallabhbhai Patel without trial and most of them were kept there till the end of the Second World War in 1945.
• In addition to this, the INC was declared as an unlawful association and its offices across the country were raided and their funds were frozen.
• With the arrest of the main leaders, the Quit India movement turned violent with widespread acts of sabotage such as raiding of government buildings and setting them on fire.
• Due to weak coordination and lack of clear action plan, the movement wore out by 1943 and failed to have much impact on the Allied war effort.

Know the significance of Quit India movement

• Despite its failure, the Quit India movement is considered significant as it made the British Government realize that India was ungovernable in the long run.
• Post the Second World War, the question that was most prominent for the British was on how to exit India peacefully.

State Specific
Rajasthan launches new higher education model
Relevance IN - Prelims ( about Resource Assistance for Colleges with Excellence or RACE)
What's the NEWS

• A new higher education model has been launched in Rajasthan for distribution of faculties and movable assets among the government colleges at the district level to rationalise the availability of resources.
• The model will create a pool for sharing of facilities which will benefit the colleges lacking infrastructure.

Know! more about RACE

• The state government inaugurated the model, titled Resource Assistance for Colleges with Excellence through which all the colleges would get equal opportunities for imparting quality education with the adoption of the new model.
• Resource Assistance for Colleges with Excellence (RACE) RACE model will create a pool for sharing of facilities which will benefit colleges that lack infrastructure
• The colleges in need will submit their requirement to the nodal college in the district, which will send the teachers on deputation, if needed, and provide the facilities such as projectors, digital libraries, equipment and technicians.
• The model will help the colleges situated in small towns facing shortage of faculties and infrastructure.
• Though the sanctioned posts of teachers in the government colleges are 6,500, the State at present falls short by about 2,000 teachers.
• Until the additional posts are created and new appointments made, the RACE is expected to help channelise resources and ensure quality education.
• RACE will give autonomy to small colleges and help them nd solutions to their problems at local level. It will also help colleges situated in small towns facing shortage of faculties and infrastructure

Parliamentary Reforms
Parliament passes bill for speedy eviction from govt accommodations
Relevance in - Prelims ( about the new provisions of Public Premises (Eviction of Unauthorised Occupants)

What's the NEWS

• Parliament on August 6 passed a bill for speedy eviction of unauthorised occupants from government residential accommodations
• The bill, would enable the estate officer to apply summary proceedings for evicting the unauthorised occupants after a three-day notice.
• The Bill amends Public Premises (Eviction of Unauthorised Occupants) Act, 1971 which provides for eviction of unauthorised occupants from public premises in certain cases.

Know! more about the bill

• The upper house passed by voice vote the Public Premises (Eviction of Unauthorised Occupants) Amendment Bill, 2019, which has strict provisions to evict illegal occupants from government property allotted to members of Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha and government officials.
• The bill would enable the estate officer to apply summary proceedings for evicting the unauthorised occupants after a three-day notice.

What's the need

• Lok Sabha results were declared on May 23 and all members who lost elections were supposed to vacate the homes by June 23, but even after more than two months the ministry is still issuing routine notices
• The Centre has to evict unauthorised occupants from government accommodations under the provisions of the PPE Act, 1971. However, the eviction proceedings take unusually long time, thereby reducing the availability of government accommodations to new incumbents.
• Under the proposed bill, the estate officer will not be required to follow elaborate proceedings like serving notice, show cause, inquiry, rather he or she can initiate summary eviction proceedings.
• The proposed amendments would enable the estate officer to apply summary proceedings for evicting unauthorised occupants from residential accommodations and to levy damage charges for accommodation held during the period of litigation.
• The bill provides for strict provisions to evict illegal occupants from government property allotted to government officials and members of Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha.
• If person fails to comply with order, then estate officer may evict such person from residential accommodation and take possession of it.
• For this purpose, estate officer can also use such force as required. Also, estate officer now does not need to follow elaborate proceedings like serving notice, show cause, inquiry, rather he or she can initiate summary eviction proceedings.

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