The document provides information about various topics: 1. It summarizes the key details about Geetanjali Shree becoming the first Indian author to win the International Booker Prize for her novel "Tomb of Sand" which was originally written in Hindi. 2. It outlines the background and issues related to the Katchatheevu island disputed between India and Sri Lanka. 3. It describes the contributions and philosophy of social reformer Sree Narayana Guru who fought against the oppressive caste system in India.

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2. The Booker Prize
First Indian language book to win the
International Booker Prize: Author
Geetanjali Shree’s translated Hindi novel,
Tomb of Sand
 The 2018 novel titled ‘Ret Samadhi’
was translated by Daisy Rockwell and
published as ‘Tomb of Sand’ in 2021.
The Booker Prize Award
 One of the best-known literary awards for fiction writing in English, including both novels
and collections of short stories.
 First awarded in 1969.
 Criteria: Must be written in English and published in the UK and Ireland.
 International Booker Prize: Awarded annually for a single book, written in another
language and translated into English. The £50,000 prize money is divided equally between
the author and translator each year.
Many Indian-origin writers have won the Booker in the past, such as
 Arundhati Roy (‘The God of Small Things’)
 Salman Rushdie (‘Midnight’s Children’)
 Kiran Desai (‘The Inheritance of Loss’)
 Aravind Adiga (‘The White Tiger’)
 Shree is the first Indian to win an international prize.
India and Sri Lanka’s Conflict on Katchatheevu Island
About the News:
Recently, during Prime Minister’s visit to Tamil
Nadu, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister has asked for
retrieval of Katchatheevu Island from Sri lanka.
Katchatheevu Island
 It is an uninhabited off-shore island in
the Palk Strait originally owned by a
king of Ramnad (present-day
Ramanathapuram, Tamil Nadu).
 The island is used by fishermen to dry their nets.
 During the British rule, it was administered jointly by India and Sri Lanka.
 In the early 20th century, Sri Lanka claimed territorial ownership over the islet, so in 1974
India ceded the island to Sri Lanka, through a joint agreement.

3.  Two years later through another accord, India further gave up its fishing rights in the region.
 Initially the 1974 border agreement did not affect fishing on either side of the border.
 In 1976, through an exchange of letters, both India and Sri Lanka agreed to stop fishing in
each other’s waters.
 In 1974 and 1976 treaties were signed between the two countries to demarcate
the International Maritime Boundary Line (IMBL).
 However, the agreement could not stop the fishermen from fishing in these waters, as
fishermen know no boundary.
 Despite the signing of maritime boundary agreements, fishermen communities of both the
countries continued their fishing in the Palk Bay area peacefully until the Eelam war
broke out in 1983.
 Nonetheless, after the end of War in 2009, the Sri Lankan fishermen have been raising
their objection to Indian fishermen fishing in their waters.
 The small islet of Katchatheevu, hitherto used by the fishermen for sorting their catch
and drying their nets, fell on the other side of the IMBL
 Fishermen often risk their lives and cross the IMBL rather than return empty-handed, but the
Sri Lankan Navy is on alert, and have either arrested or destroyed fishing nets and vessels of
those who have crossed the line.
Sree Narayana Guru
About the News:
The Karnataka government is caught in a controversy over the exclusion of text on
reformer Narayana Guru in the new social science textbook of class 10.
 However, references to Narayana Guru were present in the chapter in the earlier version of
the text.
Who is Narayan Guru?
Sree Narayana Guru was a catalyst and
leader who reformed the oppressive caste
system that prevailed in society at the time.
 He was born in 1856 in Chempazhanthy,
a village near Thiruvananthapuram,
Kerala.
 Belong to the Ezhava caste, Narayan
Guru had experienced discrimination
from the upper caste of society.
 His philosophy always advocated social equality, education for all, and spiritual
enlightenment.
Significant Contribution for Society:
 He gave the famous slogan “One Caste, One Religion, One God for All” (Oru Jathi, Oru
Matham, Oru Daivam, Manushyanu).

4.  In 1888, Narayana Guru consecrated the first temple of Lord Shiva, where an idol was
ordinated by a non-brahmin in Aruvippuram village of Kerala.
 His step sparked off the anti-caste revolution against the upper-caste Brahmin communities.
 In one temple he consecrated at Kalavancode, he kept mirrors instead of idols. This
symbolised his message that the divine was within each individual.
 In 1903, he established the Sree Narayana Dharma Paripalana Yogam (SNDP) as the
founder and president.
 He had set up more than 40 temples across the state as an act of protest to permit lower
caste people to enter temples.
Contribution to National Movement:
 He was in the forefront of the movement for universal temple entry and against the societal
ills like the social discrimination of untouchables.
 He provided the impetus for Vaikom agitation which was aimed at temple entry in
Travancore for the lower castes.
 He captured the essence of Indianness in his poems which highlighted the unity that lies
beneath the world’s apparent diversity.
Philosophy of Sree Narayana Guru:
 Sree Narayana Guru became one of the greatest proponents and re-evaluators of Advaita
Vedanta, the principle of non-duality put forward by Adi Shankara.
 In 1913, he founded the Advaita Ashram at Aluva. This was an important event in his
spiritual quest.
 This Ashram was dedicated to a great principle – Om Sahodaryam Sarvatra (all men are
equal in the eyes of God).
Literary Works:
He wrote various books in different languages. Few of them are: Advaitha Deepika, Asrama,
Thevarappathinkangal, Brahmavidya Panchakam etc.
Relevance of His Philosophy:
Sree Narayana Guru’s philosophy of Universal Oneness has special relevance in the contemporary
global context where the social fabric of many countries and communities are being eroded by
hatred, violence, bigotry, sectarianism and other divisive tendencies.
Parliamentary Privileges in India
About the News:
The Parliament’s Privileges and Ethics Committee has asked the Maharashtra Chief Secretary,
DGP Maharashtra, Mumbai Police Commissioner and Superintendent of Women District Prison,
Byculla (Mumbai) to appear before them for oral evidence, in connection with Navneet Rana’s
arrest case.

5. Background:
Navneet Kaur Rana, the Amravati MP, filed a complaint against several individuals and alleged that
she was illegally arrested and treated inhumanely at a police station in Mumbai during the
‘Matoshree-Hanuman Chalisa row.’
What are Parliamentary Privileges?
They are certain rights and immunities enjoyed by members of Parliament, individually and
collectively, so that they can “effectively discharge their functions”.
1. Article 105 of the Constitution expressly mentions two privileges, that is, freedom of
speech in Parliament and right of publication of its proceedings.
Sources:
1. The Constitution.
2. The Code of Civil Procedure, 1908.
 It provides for freedom from arrest and detention of members under civil process during the
continuance of the meeting of the House or of a committee thereof and forty days before its
commencement and forty days after its conclusion.
Motion against breaches:
When any of these rights and immunities are disregarded, the offence is called a breach of privilege
and is punishable under law of Parliament.
 A notice is moved in the form of a motion by any member of either House against those
being held guilty of breach of privilege.
Role of the Speaker/Rajya Sabha (RS) Chairperson:
The Speaker/RS chairperson is the first level of scrutiny of a privilege motion.
The Speaker/Chair can decide on the privilege motion himself or herself or refer it to the privileges
committee of Parliament.
 If the Speaker/Chair gives consent under relevant rules, the member concerned is given an
opportunity to make a short statement.
Law Commission of India
About the News:
The Law Commission is functioning without
a Chairperson.
 The Commission, constituted for a
term of three years, has not released
any report after the tenure of the last
Chairperson, Justice B.S. Chauhan,
ended in August 2018.

6. What’s the issue?
The 22nd Law Commission was constituted by the Government on February 21, 2020. However,
no progress has been made in the appointments till date.
About the law commission of India:
It is an executive body established by an order of the Government of India.
 Originally formed in 1955, the commission is reconstituted every three years and so far, 277
reports have been submitted to the government.
 The last Law Commission, under Justice B.S. Chauhan (retd.), had submitted reports and
working papers on key issues such as simultaneous elections to the Lok Sabha and the
Assemblies and a uniform civil code.
Composition:
 Apart from having a full-time chairperson, the commission will have four full-time members,
including a member-secretary.
 Law and Legislative Secretaries in the Law Ministry will be the ex-officio members of the
commission.
 It will also have not more than five part-time members.
 A retired Supreme Court judge or Chief Justice of a High Court will head the Commission.
Roles and functions:
 The Law Commission shall, on a reference made to it by the Central Government or suo
motu, undertake research in law and review of existing laws in India for making reforms and
enacting new legislation.
 It shall also undertake studies and research for bringing reforms in the justice delivery
systems for elimination of delay in procedures, speedy disposal of cases, reduction in cost of
litigation, etc.
Reforms needed:
The Law Commission should be brought under a statute with definite terms on appointments, its
functions and powers spelt out.
Collective Security Treaty Organisation
About the News:
The Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) has marked its 30th year, at anniversary
summit hosted by Moscow recently.
About Collective Security Treaty Organization:
 It is an intergovernmental military alliance (six countries) that came into effect in 2002.
 Its origin can be traced to the Collective Security Treaty, 1992 (Tashkent Treaty).
 The headquarters is located in the Russian capital of Moscow.

7.  The objectives of the CSTO is to strengthen peace, international and regional security
including cybersecurity and stability, the protection on a collective basis of the independence,
territorial integrity and sovereignty of the member states.
Composition:
Current CSTO members are Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, the Russian Federation and
Tajikistan.
What does membership entail?
1. CSTO membership means that member states are barred from joining other military alliances,
limiting, for example, their relationship with NATO.
2. Most importantly, membership presumes certain key security assurances – the most
significant of which is deterring military aggression by third countries.
3. In the CSTO, aggression against one signatory is perceived as aggression against all.
4. It however remains unclear whether this feature works in practice.
What are community forest rights?
About the News:
The Chhattisgarh government has become only the second state in the country to recognise
Community Forest Resource (CFR) rights of a village inside a national park.
 The CFR rights of tribals living in Gudiyapadar, a hamlet inside the Kanger Ghati National
Park in Bastar district, were recognised, giving the community power to formulate rules for
forest use.
What is a community forest resource?
 It is the common forest land that has been traditionally protected and conserved for
sustainable use by a particular community.

8.  The community uses it to access resources available within the traditional and customary
boundary of the village; and for seasonal use of landscape in case of pastoralist communities.
Community Forest Resource rights:
These rights are recognised under Section 3(1)(i) of the Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional
Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act (commonly referred to as the Forest Rights
Act or the FRA).
 They provide for recognition of the right to “protect, regenerate or conserve or manage” the
community forest resource.
 These rights allow the community to formulate rules for forest use by itself and others and
thereby discharge its responsibilities under Section 5 of the FRA.
Significance of these rights and their
recognition:
 CFR rights, along with Community
Rights (CRs) which include nistar
rights and rights over non-timber
forest products, ensure sustainable
livelihoods of the community.
 These rights give the authority to the
Gram Sabha to adopt local traditional
practices of forest conservation and
management within the community
forest resource boundary.
 It also underlines the integral role
that forest dwellers play in
sustainability of forests and in
conservation of biodiversity.