After weeks of intense campaigning, the BJP staved off a strong

Congress challenge to secure a sixth straight victory in Gujarat, while

the Saffron party triumphed the Congress government to return to

power in hilly State of Himachal Pradesh.

New Government in Gujaratand Himachal Pradesh

February 2018MCurrent A fa rs6

The results of the Gujarat andHimachal Pradesh electionswill have a huge impact onthe run-up to the 2019national polls for theBharatiya Janta Party (BJP).

Gujaratl Bharatiya Janata Party(BJP) has won GujaratLegislative Assembly electionsfor the sixth straight timedespite a strong challengefrom Rahul Gandhi-ledCongress.l Assembly elections wereheld in Gujarat in two phases– on December 9 and 14,2017. BJP has been in powerin Gujarat since 1995.l BJP’s victory margin in thiselection reduced considerably.In 182-member GujaratAssembly, BJP won 99 seats.l This marks a loss of 16 seatsas compared to 2012elections. Congress won 77seats in this election, gaining16 seats as compared to 2012elections.l In terms of percentage ofvotes, BJP secured 49.1%,while Congress got 41.4%.l In election campaign,Congress received strongsupport from Patidar leaderHardik Patel and Dalit leadersAlpesh Thakor and JigneshMewani.

ChiefMinisterandHisCabinetl VijayRupani tookoath as theChiefMinister ofGujarat for

the second time onDecember 26, 2017. He wassworn-in along with hisdeputy Nitin Patel.l The Cabinet Ministers whotook oath wereBhupendrasinh Chudasama,RC Faldu, Kaushik Patel,Saurabh Patel, VestabhaiVasava, Vithalbhai Radadiya,Dilipkumar Thakor andIshwarbhai Parmar.

Himachal Pradeshl BJP also won StateAssembly election inHimachal Pradesh. In the 68member Himachal PradeshState Assembly, BJP won on44 seats.l The incumbent Congressgovernment only won21 seats in this election.Highlights of the election

n BJP’s win on 44 seats

was quite remarkable as in

2012 election it had won

only 26 seats while

Congress had attained

majority with 36 seats.

n However, BJP’s Chief

Ministerial candidate,

Prem Kumar Dhumal lost

to Congress’ Rajinder Rana

on Sujanpur constituency

seat.

n With this win, BJP has

attained power in 19 out of

29 States.

Chief Minister andHis Cabinetl BJP’s five-time MLA Jai RamThakur was sworn-in as the14th Chief Minister ofHimachal Pradesh. Along withhim 11 other Ministers werealso sworn in.l They administered the oath ofoffice and secrecy by GovernorAcharya Dev Vrat as perprovisions of Article-164 (3) atthe Ridge ground in Shimla.For the first time in the historyof the State, Prime Ministerhad attended an oath takingceremony.l Ministers who took oath were- Mahendra Singh, SureshBhardwaj , Kishan Kapoor, AnilSharma, Sarveen Chowdhury,Ram Lal Markanda, VipinSingh Parmar, VirendraKanwar, Bikram Singh, GobindSingh and Rajeev Saijal .

About the BJPl The Bharatiya Janata Party(BJP) is one of the two majorpolitical parties in India, alongwith the Indian NationalCongress. As of 2016, it is thecountry's largest political partyin terms of representation inthe National Parliament andState Assemblies and it is theworld's largest party in terms ofprimary membership.l As of December, 2017, the BJPhas Chief Ministers in 14 States:Arunachal Pradesh, Assam(with Asom Gana Parishad andBodoland People's Front),Chhattisgarh , Goa (with GoaForward Party andMaharashtrawadi GomantakParty) , Gujarat , Haryana ,Himachal Pradesh, Jharkhand(with All Jharkhand StudentsUnion), Madhya Pradesh,

Maharashtra (with Shiv Sena), Manipur (with Naga People'sFront, National People's Partyand Lok Janshakti Party),Rajasthan , Uttar Pradesh andUttarakhand.l In five other States, itshares power with otherpolitical parties. In all theseStates, the BJP is junior allyin the ruling alliance. TheStates are : Andhra Pradesh(with TDP), Bihar (withJDU), Lok Janshakti Party,Rashtriya Lok Samta Partyand Hindustani AwamMorcha), Jammu andKashmir (with PDP andJammu and Kashmir People'sConference), Nagaland (withNaga People's Front) andSikkim (with SikkimDemocratic Front).

February 2018MCurrent A fa rs

WRESTLING

CommonwealthChampionships 2017l Double Olympic medallist Sushil

Kumar on December 14, 2017 made a

glorious return to the international

arena by clinching a gold at the

Commonwealth Wrestling

Championships in Johannesburg,

South Africa.

l The freestyle wrestling team won 10

gold, seven silver and two bronze

medals. India won an impressive 59

medals with a total of 29 gold, 24

silver and 6 bronze medals from the

championships.

CRICKET

Ranji Trophy 2017l Vidarbha has won the Ranji Trophy

title on January 1, 2018 for the first

time by defeating Delhi in the final

match at Holkar Stadium in Indore.

l Rajneesh Gurbani was declared the

Man of the Match in Vidarbha's

nine-wicket win over Delhi. Rajneesh

Gurbani becomes 2nd bowler to take

hat-trick in Ranji final.

l The Ranji Trophy is a domestic

first-class cricket championship

played in India between teams

representing regional and state

cricket associations.

India-Sri-Lanka Seriesl India won the T20I series 3–0 on

December 24, 2017 against

Sri-Lanka. Previously, India also

won the Test series 1–0, after the

first and third matches were

drawn and the ODI series 2–1.

l Virat Kohli was named as India's

captain for the Test series.

l He scored his sixth double

century, his third in 2017 and the

most as captain in Tests (6).

l Rohit Sharma (Ind) and Thisara

Perera (SL) both made their ODI

captaincy debuts. Rohit Sharma

(Ind) became the first batsman to

score three double centuries in

ODIs and also became the first

batsman to score two double

centuries against the same

opposition.

l Rohit Sharma (Ind) captained

India for the first time in T20Is

also.

l He became the first batsman of India

to score two centuries in T20Is and he

also became the highest total scorer

batsman for India in T20Is.

T10 League 2017l Kerala Kings became the first-ever T10

Cricket League champion on December

21,2017 at Sharjah Cricket Stadium, in

Sharjah, United Arab Emirates.

l Kerala Kings won the final match of

first T10 League against Punjabi

Legends by 8 wickets.

l Kerala Kings’ Eoin Morgan was

awarded Man of the Match and Spirit

of the Match and Beyond Boundaries

awards.

ICC IntercontinentalCup 2017l Afghanistan was crowned ICC

Intercontinental Cup champions on

December 5, 2017, defeating United

Arab Emirates on the final day at

the Sheikh Zayed Stadium in

Abu Dhabi.

l After seven matches of the four-day

competition, Afghanistan finished on

top of the eightteam table with 121

points. Ireland settled for the second

spot with 109 points.

23

Sports

Current Affairs

February 2018MCurrent A fa rs68

l It is generally presumedthat the commonly prevalentsystem of government inancient India was monarchyand instances of republicwere either exceptions orunexpected.l The view is based on theperception that since therewere kings in ancient India,the system was that ofmonarchy only.l While the existence ofrepublican States in India,at that time, has beenaccepted by all scholars,they are divided on theform of their organisation.There is no unanimityamong scholars regardingthe method of election andqualifications of voters.l The Buddhist sourcesprovide sufficientinformation regarding thethen republican State of theLichchhavis, yet thescholars are not unanimousregarding its form andConstitution.l In fact, the moreindependent Aryansrebelled against themonarchical rule andestablished republics whichwere more in keeping withthe tribal traditions.l In ancient India, theserepublics were given theterm Gana and Sangha.

Types of RepublicThe republics were basically of twotypes-the republics comprising asingle tribe like those of theSakyas, the Kolias and the Mallasand the republics comprising anumber of tribes or the republics ofconfederacy like the Vrijjis.l The Arthsashtra of Kautilyamentions a number of republicsincluding those of Lichchhavis, theVrijikas,the Kuru,the Panchalas,the Kamboj etc. The mostprominent and powerful of theserepublics was that of theLichchhavis with its capital atVaisali.l The period of Sixth century BCwas the age of the Buddha andtherefore, the Republican States ofthis period have been called‘Republics of the age of theBuddha’.

Categories of RepublicThese republics were divided into thefollowing three categories

1. Democracies or pure Gana,wherein the total adult-populationparticipated in the administration

2. Aristocracies or pure Kula,wherein only some selectedfamilies participated in theadministration

3. Mixed aristocracies anddemocracies or a mixure of Kulaand Gana, wherein theadministration was the mixure ofthe two

Functions ofGovernmentl In these republics, Sangha(local assemblies) enjoyedwide autonomy to look aftertheir respective localadministrations and thematters concerning the entirestate were decided by all theelected representatives of thelocal assemblies.l In each State, the membersof the assembly to frame lawsand the executives wereelected directly or indirectlyby a large number of thepeople.l Besides, in certain states,the local assemblies enjoyedwide autonomy to look aftertheir respective localadministrations and thematters concerning the entireState were decided by all theelected representatives of thelocal assemblies.l In certain others, thepowers to govern the entireState were handed over to anelected Central assembly andExecutive.l But with all thesedifferences among them eachof them was a republicanState because in each Statethe members of the assemblyto frame laws and theexecutives were electeddirectly or indirectly by alarge number of the populace.

l In all these States, thepeople who had the right torule according to settledlaws of the State used toassemble at an assembly-hall called the Santhagara.l Here discussed allimportant mattersconcerning the State,decided on issues by amajority vote, either byopen or secret ballot, ifthere was no unanimity ofopinion and elected themembers of the executive.l The members of thisassembly, which wasconstituted of theserepresentatives, enjoyedcertain special privilegesalso. The members of thisassembly elected themembers of the executive,the Commander-in-Chief ofthe forces, the Treasurer,etc.l They were consulted inall important matters of theState such as that of peaceand war. The members ofthe executive were calledRajana and the head ofexecutive was sometimesgiven the title of Raja(King).l In many republics theoffice of the Raja and alsothat of other executivemembers had becomehereditary, but they couldbe displaced by election.

From the Pages of History

THE REPUBLICS IN

ANCIENT INDIA

February 2018MCurrent A fa rs72

l The government of India always had a

wider vision for promoting social and

economic empowerment of women

through cross-cutting policies and

programmes, mainstreaming gender

concerns.

l Creating awareness about their rights

and facilitating institutional and

legislative support for enabling them

realise their human rights and develop to

their full potential.

l To empower women living with dignity

and contributing as equal partners in

development in an environment free from

violence and discrimination.

l Some of the important schemes of are as

follow

Support to Training andEmployment Programme(STEP) Scheme for Womenl This scheme aims to make a significant

impact on women by upgrading skills.

l The target group includes the

marginalised asset less rural women and

urban poor. This also includes wage

labourers, unpaid daily workers, women

headed households and families below

poverty line.

l It enables groups of women to take up

employment-cum- income generation

programmes and helps provide support for

further improving training and

employment conditions of women.

SWADHAR Greh Schemel The main aim of this scheme is to

provide temporary accommodation,

maintenance and rehabilitative services to

women and girls rendered homeless due

to family discord, crime, violence, mental

stress etc.

l It basically enables them to regain their

emotional strength that is affected due to

their encounter with unfortunate

circumstances.

l It also helps provide them with legal aid

and guidance to take steps for their

readjustment in family or society and to

rehabilitate them economically and

emotionally.

Mahila e-Haatl The aim of the scheme is to strengthen

financial inclusion of Women

Entrepreneurs in the economy by

providing continues sustenance and

support to their creativity.

l It acts as a catalyst by providing a

web-based marketing platform to the

women entrepreneurs to directly sell their

products.

National Mission forEmpowerment of Womenl It is an initiative of the government of

India for empowering women holistically

and overall development of women in

India.

l It aims to strengthen the conceptual and

programmatic basis of women-centric

schemes implemented.

l Training & Capacity Building is the main

emphasis to enhance and strengthen the

understanding of gender issues and build a

Resource Pool (trainers) at the National

and State level to bridge gaps between

knowledge and practice.

Beti Bachao Beti Padhaol Prime Minister Modi launched the

programme on January 22, 2015 from

Panipat, Haryana on the occasion of

International Day of the Girl Child.

l Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao (Save girl child,

educate girl child) is Central government

Sponsored Scheme by government of

India.

l The prime goal of this scheme is to

generate awareness and improving the

efficiency of welfare services meant for

women. Also, it aims to Celebrate the Girl

Child & Enable her Education.

l The Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao

(BBBP) Scheme has been introduced

to address the issue declining Child

Sex Ratio (CSR).

l This scheme is being implemented

through a national campaign and

focused multi-sectoral action in 100

selected districts low in CSR, covering

all States and UTs.

Sukanya Samriddhi Yojanal Sukanya Samriddhi Yojana (SSY) is

a small deposit scheme for the girl

child launched as a part of the ‘Beti

Bachao Beti Padhao’ campaign.

l A Sukanya Samriddhi Account can

be opened any time after the birth of a

girl till she turns 10, with a minimum

deposit of ` 1000. A maximum of ` 1.5

lakh can be deposited during the

financial year.

l The account can be opened in any

post office or authorised branches of

commercial banks.

l The account will remain operative

for 21 years from the date of its

opening or till the marriage of the girl

after she turns 18.

l To meet the requirement of her

higher education expenses, partial

withdrawal of 50% of the balance is

allowed after she turns 18.

One Stop Centre Schemefor Womenl Started in the year 2015, One Stop

Centres (OSC) are meant to support

women affected by violence, in private

and public spaces, within the family,

community and at the workplace.

l Women facing physical, sexual,

emotional, psychological and

economic abuse, irrespective of age,

class, caste, education status, marital

status, race, and culture will be

facilitated with support and redressal.

WOMEN EMPOWERMENT

SCHEMES IN INDIA