Matangini Hazra

Matangini Hazra was remembered on the 81st anniversary of her martyrdom.

About Matangini Hazra:-

Birth: 1869.

Birth place Tamluk, West Bengal.

Death:1942.

Matangini Hazra was 73 when she fell to British bullets, leading a protest march in 1942 in Tamluk, Bengal.

Her death made her a martyr for many, inciting revolutionaries to establish their own parallel government in Medinipur, which functioned till 1944.

Early Life:-

She was married at a young age and became widowed at 18.

After her husband’s death, she dedicated herself to social causes.

Ideology:-

She supported Mahatma Gandhi’s ideals.  (Mahatma Gandhi)

People fondly called her Gandhi Buri (Old Lady Gandhi) for her dedication to Gandhian principles. (India and Mahatma Gandhi)

Political Participation:–

She became an active member of the Indian National Congress and took to spinning her own Khadi.

She participated in the Civil Disobedience Movement, the Salt March, and the Quit India Movement.

1933: When Sir John Anderson, Governor of Bengal visited Tamluk to address a public gathering, Matangini craftily managed to avoid the security and reached the dais where she waved a black flag.

She was awarded six months of rigorous imprisonment for her bravado.

1942: During the Quit India Movement in 1942, at the age of 73, she led a large procession of around 6,000 protesters, advocating for the takeover of the Tamluk police station.

In the ensuing clash with British authorities, she was shot and killed, becoming a martyr for the cause of Indian independence.

UN Convention against Transnational Organized Crime (UNTOC)

India expressed commitment towards combating organized crimes at the UN Convention against Transnational Organized Crime (UNTOC) recently.

About the UN Convention against Transnational Organized Crime( UNTOC):-

Adopted by the UN General Assembly: 15 November 2000.

Entry into force: 29 September 2003.

Signatories: 147.

Parties: 191 (as of 20 February 2023)

The United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime, is the main international instrument in the fight against transnational organized crime.

It is also known as the Palermo Convention.

Objective: combatting transnational organized crime, fostering international cooperation, and strengthening legal frameworks.

UNTOC enables cooperation between member states for tackling international organized crime.

All member parties to the convention must take measures including:

Creating domestic criminal offenses.

Adopting frameworks for extradition, mutual legal assistance, and law enforcement cooperation.

Promoting training and technical assistance for upgrading or building the adequate capacity of national authorities.

The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) is the custodian of the UNTOC.

Three protocols of UNTOC:-

The UNTOC is supplemented by three Protocols, namely:-

Protocol to Prevent, Suppress, and Punish Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children

Adopted in 2003, it is the first global legally binding instrument with an agreed definition of trafficking in persons.

Protocol against the Smuggling of Migrants by Land, Sea and Air

Adopted in 2004, this protocol deals with the problem of organized criminal groups who smuggle migrants, often at high risk to the migrants and at great profit for the offenders.

Protocol against the Illicit Manufacturing of and Trafficking in Firearms, their Parts and Components and Ammunition

Adopted in 2001, its objective is to promote, facilitate, and strengthen cooperation among States in order to prevent, combat, and eradicate the illicit manufacturing of and trafficking in firearms, their parts and components, and ammunition.

India and UNTOC:-

India ratified the UNTOC in 2011 becoming the fourth South Asian country to do so.

The nodal agency for all dealings with UNTOC is the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).

About UNODC:-

Establishment:

HQ: Vienna, Austria.

The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) contributes to global peace and security, sustainable development, and human rights by helping to make the world safer from drugs, crime, corruption, and terrorism.

It provides technical assistance, research, and normative support to Member States to help them develop and implement comprehensive, evidence-based solutions to the complex and interconnected threats that they face at the national, regional, and global levels. In today’s challenging times, our work is needed more than ever.

Functions:-

Tackling the world drug problem

Preventing corruption

Countering terrorism

Counter-Terrorism Strategy

Combating organized crime

Preventing crime and promoting

Funding:-

UNODC relies on voluntary contributions, mainly from governments, to carry out the majority of our work.

Pygmy hogs

18 rare pygmy hogs were reintroduced in their historical home in Assam recently.

Background:-

Eighteen captive-bred pygmy hogs, the smallest and rarest pigs on earth, were released in western Assam’s Manas National Park and Tiger Reserve on Saturday, September 30.

It was the fourth such exercise undertaken under the Pygmy Hog Conservation Programme (PHCP) annually since 2020, helping up the total number of this critically endangered species released at the park to 54.

The PHCP target is to reintroduce 60 pygmy hogs in Manas, its historical habitat, by 2025.

Backed by the United Kingdom-based Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust, the PHCP was started near Guwahati in 1996 with two males and two females captured from the Bansbari Range of Manas National Park.

The reintroduction of captive-bred hogs to the wild began in 2008.

The PHCP has so far successfully bred and reintroduced 170 pygmy hogs that belong to a unique genus without any close relatives.

About Pygmy hogs:-

Scientific Name: Porcula salvinia.

Habitat: Pygmy Hogs prefer undisturbed patches of grassland.

Distribution: The species was historically known from only a few locations in northern West Bengal and northwestern Assam in India.

Pygmy Hogs measure about 65 cm in length.

The pygmy hog is the smallest and rarest wild pig in the world.

Females are a little smaller.

Pygmy Hogs differ from members of the genus Sus in the extreme reduction in body, ears, and tail size, and relatively short medial false hooves.

Their snout disc is perpendicular to the axis of the head.

It is one of the very few mammals that build its own home, or nest, complete with a ‘roof’.

It is also an indicator species.

Indicator species: Its presence reflects the health of its primary habitat, the tall, wet grasslands of the region.

Threats: loss and degradation, and illegal hunting.

Conservation Status:-

IUCN: Critically Endangered.

Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972: Schedule I. (Animal Welfare Board of India (AWBI))

CITES: Appendix I

Intelligent Grievance Monitoring System (IGMS) 2.0

Intelligent Grievance Monitoring System (IGMS) 2.0 was launched recently.

About Intelligent Grievance Monitoring System (IGMS) 2.0:-

Developed by IIT Kanpur.

Ministry: Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions.

Objectives: Provide instant tabular analysis of Grievances Filed and disposed of. Offer State-wise and district-wise Grievances Filed data. Offer Ministry-wise data. Enhance grievance redressal process with AI capabilities.

IGMS 2.0, is an Intelligent Grievance Monitoring System. (Grievance Appellate Committee (GAC) portal)

It is for upgrading DARPG Information Systems (CPGRAMS) with Artificial Intelligence capabilities.

CPGRAMS, or Centralised Public Grievance Redress and Monitoring System, serves as an online platform for citizens to lodge grievances with government authorities 24/7, streamlining the process for efficient service delivery.

The Dashboard provides instant tabular analysis of Grievances Filed and disposed of, State-wise and district-wise Grievances Filed, and ministry-wise data.

It also helps the officials identify the root cause of the grievance.

This portal falls under the Department of Administrative Reforms and Public Grievances (DARPG).

It offers real-time analysis of grievances filed and resolved, categorizing data by state, district, and ministry.

The system leverages artificial intelligence (AI) to identify the root causes of grievances and facilitates drafting letters for scheme or ministry selection, expediting grievance resolution.

Bojjannakonda

Recently, Andhra Pradesh’s Bojjannakonda got a major facelift to draw more tourists.

About Bojjannakonda:-

Location: Andhra Pradesh.

Bojjannakonda is a historic Buddhist site in Andhra Pradesh near Visakhapatnam.

It is renowned for its votive stupas, caves, brick structures, early historic pottery, and Satavahana coins.

It Dates back to the 3rd century BC.

Buddhist monks used to practice on the hill about 2,000 years ago.

It was originally known as ‘Buddhuni konda’ (hill of the Buddha), but it came to be known as ‘Bojjannakonda’ in the course of time.

Visakhapatnam hosts other Buddhist sites like Thotlakonda, Appikonda, and Bavikonda. Bojjannakonda and Lingalametta are ancient Buddhist monasteries from the 3rd century BC.

These are ancient Buddhist monasteries.

They feature various rock-carved stupas, Buddha sculptures, and rock-cut monolithic stupas.

These sites reflect the evolution of Buddhism through its three phases: Theravada, Mahayana, and Vajrayana.

Theravada: Lord Buddha was considered a teacher.

Mahayana: Buddhism was more devotional.

Vajrayana: Buddhist tradition was more practiced as Tantra and in esoteric form. (Neo-Buddhism)

The main stupa at Bojjannakonda is a rock-carved structure covered with bricks and adorned with Buddha sculptures.

To the west of Bojjannakonda, another hillock, Lingalakonda or Lingalametta, is present.

It boasts rows of rock-cut monolithic stupas.

The Buddhist temple at Barabodur in Java has been constructed on the lines of the structures on Lingalametta, according to Buddhist monks.

It is also known as ‘Sankaram’, perhaps, a corruption of the Buddhist ‘Sangraha’.