UPSC 2018 November Current Affairs Unique IAS Academy - Coimbatore NAVY PLANNING TO INDUCT WOMEN AS SAILORS GS PAPER - 01 SOCIETY - Social empowerment Context: In a first, the Navy is looking at recruiting women in the rank of sailors. The matter was discussed at the three-day Naval Commanders Conference that concluded on Friday. Navy chief (Sunil Lanba) confirmed that enrolment of women in the sailor rank. Inclusion of women as sea-going cadres is also being looked at in the near future. Women in Navy: At present, women are deployed in different branches of the Navy but are not sent at sea. They, however, work as observers in Navy's Dornier aircraft, IL-38 and P-8i reconnaissance aircraft. There are over 639 women personnel in Navy, including 148 medical officers and two dental officers. The women officers are deployed in areas like education, law, naval construction. Currently, women are recruited only as officers in all the three services. Source:- The Hindu GOOGLE OUTLINES STEPS TO TACKLE WORKPLACE HARASSMENT GS PAPER - 01 SOCIETY - Social empowerment Context: Google on 8th November, outlined changes to its handling of sexual misconduct complaints, hoping to calm outrage that triggered a worldwide walkout of workers last week. More about the News: Transparent: o Arbitration of harassment claims will be optional instead of obligatory, according to Pichai, a move that could end anonymous settlements that fail to identify those accused of harassment. o Pichai promised that Google will be more transparent with how concerns are handled, and provide better support and care to those who raise such issues with the company. Consolidating the complaint system: o Google will provide "more granularity," regarding sexual harassment investigations and their outcomes o A section of an internal "Investigations Report" will focus on sexual harassment to show numbers of substantiated concerns as well as trends and disciplinary actions o Google is consolidating the complaint system and that the process for handling concerns will include providing support people and counselors. o Google will update its mandatory sexual harassment training, and require it annually instead of every two years as had been the case. Alcohol is no excuse: o Google is also putting the onus on team leaders to tighten the tap on booze at company events, on or off campus, to curtail the potential for drunken misbehavior. o Harassment is never acceptable and alcohol is never an excuse," Google said in a released action statement. o Google policy already bans excessive consumption of alcohol on the job; while on company business, or at work-related events. Improving workplace diversity: ○ The company also promised to "recommit" to improving workplace diversity through hiring, retention, and career advancement.' ○ Thousands of Google employees joined a coordinated worldwide walkout a week ago to protest the US tech giant's handling of sexual harassment. UPSC 2018 November Current Affairs Unique IAS Academy - Coimbatore Call for change: o The protest took shape after Google said it had fired 48 employees in the past two years including 13 senior executives as a result of allegations of sexual misconduct. o Demands posted by organisers included an end to forced arbitration in cases of harassment and discrimination for all current and future employees, along with a right for every Google worker to bring a co-worker, representative, or supporter when filing a harassment claim. Source:- The Hindu ODISHA HOUSE PASSES 33% RESERVATION FOR WOMEN GS PAPER - 01 - SOCIETY - Social empowerment Context: The Odisha Assembly has unanimously passed a resolution seeking 33 percent reservation for women in legislative assemblies and Parliament. While moving the resolution, Patnaik had termed the proposal as "historic". The resolution was passed ahead of the Winter Session of Parliament, which begins on December 11. The Women's Reservation Bill is pending in the parliament. Constitutional provisions - 73rd and 74th Amendment Act of the Constitution, which reserves one-third of all seats in panchayats and urban local bodies for women. 108 Constitutional Amendment Bill: o The bill seeks to reserve one-third of all seats for women in the Lok Sabha and the state legislative assemblies. The allocation of reserved seats shall be determined by such authority as prescribed by Parliament. o One third of the total number of seats reserved for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes shall be reserved for women of those groups in the Lok Sabha and the legislative assemblies. o Reserved seats may be allotted by rotation to different constituencies in the state or union territory. o Reservation of seats for women shall cease to exist 15 years after the commencement of this Amendment Act. Source:- The Hindu Cabinet clears renaming Jharsuguda aerodrome as Veer Surendra Sai airport GS PAPER- 01 - Freedom Struggle | Various stages and important contributors /contributions from different parts of the country. Context The Union Cabinet has approved renaming Jharsuguda aerodrome in Odisha as ‗Veer Surendra Sai Airport‘. Veer Surendra Sai is a well-known freedom fighter of Odisha. About Veer Surendra Sai (1809-1884) Surendra Sai was an Indian freedom fighter and tribal leader who sacrificed his life fighting against the British East India Company. Surendra Sai and his associates resisted the British and successfully protected most parts of Western Odisha region for some time from the British rule. By virtue of the Doctrine of Lapse, Lord Dalhousie annexed Sambalpur in 1849 and ignored the claim of Surendra Sai for succession to throne of Sambalpur. The aim of Surendra Sai‘s revolt was to drive the British out of Sambalpur. The resistance to British continued in Sambalpur under the leadership of Surendra Sai. He was supported by his brothers, sons, relatives and some Zamindars. His revolution against the British commenced from 1827 when he was only 18 years of age and continued till 1862 when he surrendered and even after that, until he was finally arrested in 1864 Source:- The Hindu UPSC 2018 November Current Affairs Unique IAS Academy - Coimbatore BURIAL URN OF MEGALITHIC ERA UNEARTHED IN KERALA GS PAPER - 01 HISTORY - Indian culture will - salient aspects of Art Forms, Literature and Architecture from ancient to modern times. Context: A huge burial urn dating back to the Megalithic era that was unearthed in Kerala. The burial urns belonged to 1,00 BCE and 500 BCE. The urn is said to be the largest one unearthed from the region so far. More about the news: It is believed to be one of the major findings that would shed light on life in the pre-historic era on the western side of the Western Ghats. There are art works on it. However, they were comparatively small in size and did not have notable decorative works, said V.M. Safeer, Head, Department of History, MES College, Nedumkandam. A large number of burial urns have been unearthed from Ramakkalmedu, Mundieruma and Puzhpakandam nearby in the recent past. Source:- The Hindu GOVERNMENT OF INDIA TO OBSERVE THE REMEMBRANCE OF100 YEARS OF THE HISTORICAL JALLIAN WALLA BAGH MASSACRE GS PAPER - 01 HISTORY - Modern Indian history;significant events, personalities Context: Government of India has decided to mark the remembrance of 100 years of the historical Jallianwalla Bagh Massacre. 100 years of Jallianwala Bagh Massacre - 2019: The Minister of State for Culture(I/c), Dr Mahesh Sharma visited the Jallianwalla Bagh in Amritsar, Punjab along with Minister of State (IC) for Housing and Urban Affairs, Shri Hardeep Singh Puri and officials from ASI and NBCC to review the preparations for remembrance of 100 years of ‗Jallianwalla Bagh Massacre‘ , in 2019. Jallianwala Bagh shall continue to remind the young generation about the sacrifices made in freedom struggle. The commemorative coin and postage stamps will be released on 13th April, 2019 (the day the incident took place 100 years ago). Ministry of Culture will organise cultural activities such as kavi sammelan, plays, exhibition, seminars, etc. across the country. Jallianwala Bagh: Jallianwala Bagh is a public garden in Amritsar famous for one of the most tragic yet landmark events in the history of India. The Jallianwala Bagh massacre, also known as the Amritsar massacre, took place on 13 April 1919. April 13,1919, a large crowd of people mostly from neighbouring villages, unaware of the prohibitory orders in the city, had gathered in the small park of Jallianwala to protest against the arrest of their leaders, Saifuddin Kitchlew and Dr. Satyapal. when troops of the British Indian Army under the command of Colonel Reginald Dyer fired rifles into a crowd of Baishakhi pilgrims, who had gathered in Jallianwala Bagh, Amritsar, Punjab. The army under orders from General Dyer surrounded the gathering and blocked the only exit point and opened fire on the peaceful unarmed crowd killing around 1000 people. The killing was followed by uncivilised brutalities on the inhabitants of Amritsar. The entire nation was stunned. The Bengali poet and Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore renounced the knighthood that he had received in 1915. Gandhi was overwhelmed by the total atmosphere of violence and withdrew the movement of Satyagraha on April 18,1919 which was launched on April 6,1919. Source:- PIB UPSC 2018 November Current Affairs Unique IAS Academy - Coimbatore SC REFUSES TO STAY SABARIMALA RULING GS PAPER - 01 SOCIAL ISSUES - Effects of globalization on Indian society Social empowerment, communalism, regionalism & secularism. Context: The Supreme Court on Wednesday refused to stay its September 28 verdict allowing women of all ages into Kerala‘s Ayyappa temple. The Supreme Court Tuesday agreed to hear, in open court, a clutch of review petitions on the matter on January 22. Background: Five-judge bench headed by the then Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra and comprising Justices R F Nariman, A M Khanwilkar, D Y Chandrachud and Indu Malhotra had, in a 4:1 verdict on September 28, ended the entry ban on women between the ages of 10 and 50 to the temple.