28 August 2024

• Culture: centres for classical language promotion demanded autonomy from the Central Institute of Indian Languages. Six languages hold classical status. Tamil and Sanskrit centres function independently while four others are under CIIL.
• Governance: CPGRAMS (centralised public grievance portal) set a 21-day resolution timeline and saw grievances grow from 2.29 lakh in 2015 to 18.31 lakh in 2020.
• Biodiversity: Hollongapar Gibbon Wildlife Sanctuary in Assam faces threats from a Vedanta oil and gas project approved in its eco-sensitive zone.
• Ladakh: the creation of five new districts in Ladakh was announced, bringing the total to seven. The new districts are Zanskar, Drass, Sham, Nubra and Changthang.

GS area: Art and Culture, Governance

Centres for Telugu, Kannada, Malayalam and Odia languages demanded independent status and direct Education Ministry funding, on par with the Tamil and Sanskrit classical language centres:

• Six classical languages: Tamil (2004), Sanskrit (2005), Kannada (2008), Telugu (2008), Malayalam (2013), Odia (2014). Classical status is conferred by the Union government based on criteria including high antiquity (over 1,500 years of documented history), an independent tradition of literature and a body of ancient texts.
• Current structure: the four less autonomous centres operate under the Central Institute of Indian Languages (CIIL) in Mysuru. Tamil and Sanskrit centres have direct funding and reporting to the Ministry of Education.
• The disparity: CIIL-dependent centres have fewer staff and less funding. The Malayalam Centre reportedly has only 2 staff members.
• Funding comparison: Rs 1,074 crore was allocated for Sanskrit promotion between 2017 and 2022. Tamil, the oldest classical language with the longest unbroken literary tradition, also has an autonomous structure.
• Benefits of classical status: international awards for scholars, establishment of Chairs of Excellence in universities abroad, grants for advanced research and translation.

Static linkage: art and culture, language policy, federal governance.

GS area: Governance, Polity

The Union government issued new guidelines for public grievance handling through the Centralised Public Grievance Redress and Monitoring System (CPGRAMS):

• CPGRAMS: the online platform for filing complaints against central government departments and ministries, accessible at pgportal.gov.in.
• New timeline: grievances must be resolved within 21 days. Earlier timelines were less standardised.
• Monthly performance index: ministries and departments will be ranked monthly based on grievance resolution speed and quality.
• AI analysis: artificial intelligence is being used to analyse feedback and identify systemic issues.
• Scale: public grievances filed rose from 2,29,612 in 2015 to 18,31,507 in 2020 (nearly 8-fold increase), reflecting both growing awareness and growing dissatisfaction. CPGRAMS resolved 60 lakh grievances between 2022 and 2024.
• Constitutional basis: there is no specific fundamental right to grievance redressal, but the right to approach government under Article 19(1)(a) (freedom of speech and expression) and the right to petition (recognised in practice) underpin grievance mechanisms.

Static linkage: governance mechanisms, e-governance, citizen services.

GS area: Biodiversity, Environment, Governance

The Hollongapar Gibbon Wildlife Sanctuary in Assam faces an approved Vedanta oil and gas exploration project in its eco-sensitive zone:

• Location: Jorhat district, Assam. Established in 1997.
• Ecology: isolated patch of semi-evergreen forest dominated by hollong (Dipterocarpus macrocarpus) and nahar trees. The sanctuary covers 17.82 sq km.
• Species: India's only ape (the hoolock gibbon, Hoolock hoolock), listed as Endangered on IUCN Red List. Wild Asian elephants also present.
• Project threat: the eco-sensitive zone around the sanctuary was supposed to provide a buffer protecting the core area from development. Oil exploration drilling within the ESZ would disrupt habitat connectivity and cause noise and vibration stress on gibbons.
• Eco-Sensitive Zone: a zone notified under the Environment Protection Act 1986 around protected areas. Activities are regulated or prohibited. Eco-Sensitive Zones were recommended by the Gadgil-Navrekar Committee.
• Conflict of regulatory purpose: approving extractive industry within an ESZ undermines the purpose of the ESZ designation. The Hollongapar case illustrates this tension between economic extraction and conservation.

Static linkage: biodiversity, wildlife protection, eco-sensitive zones.

• Five new districts in Ladakh: the government created Zanskar, Drass, Sham, Nubra and Changthang as new districts. Ladakh previously had two districts (Leh and Kargil). The expansion to seven aims to improve administrative reach in the vast, thinly populated UT, which is larger than many Indian states.
• Mass wasting processes: downhill movement of soil and rock under gravity. Types include landslides (rapid, coherent mass movement), rockfalls, debris flows and slow-moving creep. Triggered by rainfall, earthquakes and freeze-thaw cycles. Relevant in the context of the 2024 Wayanad landslide and ongoing Himalayan hazard assessments.
• Literacy definitions (Ministry of Education): the Ministry redefined literacy to include reading, writing, computing with comprehension AND digital and financial literacy. A state or UT achieves "full literacy" when 95 per cent of the population meets this standard. The NILP (New India Literacy Programme) targets full literacy by 2030.
• Leptospirosis: a zoonotic bacterial disease (caused by Leptospira bacteria) that spreads through water contaminated with urine of infected animals (rats most commonly). Human-to-human transmission is rare. Seasonal peaks during monsoon floods when people wade through contaminated water. Preventable with protective clothing. No human vaccine widely available in India.