Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Shekatkar Committee
Mains level: Significance of the Border Infrastructure
Government has accepted and implemented three important recommendations of the Committee of Experts (CoE) under the chairmanship of Lt General D B Shekatkar (Retd.) relating to border Infrastructure.
Practice question for mains:
Q. India’s unique geo-strategic location needs an all-weather and efficient border infrastructure. Comment.
About Shekatkar Committee
- The military reforms committee – under Lt General (retd.) DB Shekatkar – was set up by then Raksha Mantri Manohar Parrikar in 2015.
- The committee was established with a mandate for Enhancing Combat Capability and Rebalancing Defence Expenditure.
- Shekatkar Committee had made recommendations on enhancing the combat potential of India’s three armed forces, rationalizing the defence budget etc.
- The committee submitted its report on December 21, 2016. It had apparently exceeded its brief with some 200 recommendations.
- A major recommendation is that the defence budget should be 2.5% to 3% of the GDP.
Recommendations on border infrastructure
- On the matter related to creating border infrastructure, the Government has implemented the recommendation of CoE to outsource road construction work beyond the optimal capacity of Border Roads Organisation (BRO).
- These were related to speeding up road construction, leading to socio-economic development in the border areas.
- The other recommendation relating to the introduction of modern construction plants, equipment and machinery has been implemented.
Back2Basics: Border Roads Organisation (BRO)
- The BRO develops and maintains road networks in India’s border areas and friendly neighboring countries and functions under the Ministry of Defence.
- It is entrusted for construction of Roads, Bridges, Tunnels, Causeways, Helipads and Airfields along the borders.
- Officers from the Border Roads Engineering Service (BRES) and personnel from the General Reserve Engineer Force (GREF) form the parent cadre of the Border Roads Organisation.
- It is also staffed by officers and troops drawn from the Indian Army’s Corps of Engineers on extra regimental employment.
- The BRO operates and maintains over 32,885 kilometers of roads and about 12,200 meters of permanent bridges in the country.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: National Migrant Information System (NMIS)
Mains level: Inter-state workers migration
The National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) has developed an online Dashboard – National Migrant Information System (NMIS).
Did you notice, the peculiarity of the NMIS? The portal is developed and maintained by the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) not Ministry of Labour & employment or Labour bureau.
About NMIS
- The NMIS aims to capture the information regarding the movement of migrants and facilitate the smooth movement of stranded persons across States.
- The key data pertaining to the persons migrating has been standardized for uploading such as name, age, mobile no., originating and destination district, date of travel etc., which States are already collecting.
- States will be able to visualize how many people are going out from where and how many are reaching destination States.
- The mobile numbers of people can be used for contact tracing and movement monitoring during COVID-19.
Benefits
- The portal helps maintain a central repository on migrant workers and help in speedy inter-State communication/co-ordination to facilitate their smooth movement to native places.
- It has additional advantages like contact tracing, which may be useful in overall COVID-19 response work.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Iron-Manganese based Biodegradable Alloy
Mains level: Affordable medical devices and implants in India
Indian scientists have jointly developed new generation Iron-Manganese based alloys for biodegradable metal implants for use in humans.
Do you remember the Johnson and Johnson’s faulty hip implants case?? The alloy mentioned in the newscard can prove to be a gamechanger in the field of medical implants.
Iron-Manganese based Biodegradable Alloy
- Biodegradable materials (Fe, Mg, Zn, and polymer) can participate in the healing process and then degrade gradually by maintaining mechanical integrity without leaving any implant residues in the human body.
- They are better alternatives to currently used metallic implants which remain permanently in the human body and can cause long-term side effects like systemic toxicity, chronic inflammation, and thrombosis.
- The ARCI team employed both conventional melting and powder metallurgy techniques in the manufacturing of the new Fe-Mn based biodegradable alloys.
- The alloy Fe-Mn (having Mn composition of more than 29% by weight) is a promising biodegradable metallic implant which exhibits a single austenitic phase (a non-magnetic form of iron) with MRI compatibility.
Easy degradation
- The alloy also showed a degradation rate in the range of 0.14-0.026 mm per year in the simulated body fluid.
- It means that the Fe-Mn alloy exhibits mechanical integrity for 3-6 months and completely, disappears from the body in 12-24 months.
- During the degradation process, calcium phosphate deposits on the implant due to local alkalization and saturation of calcium and phosphate, allow cells to adhere onto the surface to form tissues.
Benefits
- The Fe-Mn alloy produced at ARCI exhibited 99% density with impressive mechanical properties and behaved as a nonmagnetic material even under a strong magnetic field.
- These properties are comparable to presently used permanent Titanium (Ti) and stainless-steel metallic implants (which is very costly).
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Defence Testing Infrastructure Scheme (DTIS)
Mains level: Defence manufacturing promotion measures
In order to give a boost to domestic defence and aerospace manufacturing, Raksha Mantri has approved the launch of the Defence Testing Infrastructure Scheme (DTIS).
Practice question for mains:
Q. Self-reliance in defence manufacturing is one of the key objectives of ‘Make in India’. Discuss.
Defence Testing Infrastructure Scheme (DTIS)
- The DTIS would run for the duration of five years and envisages set up six to eight new test facilities in partnership with private industry.
- The scheme has been allocated with an outlay of Rs 400 crore for creating a state of the art testing infrastructure for this sector.
- This will facilitate indigenous defence production, consequently, reduce imports of military equipment and help make the country self-reliant.
- While the majority of test facilities are expected to come up in the two Defence Industrial Corridors (DICs), the Scheme is not limited to setting up Test Facilities in the DICs only.
Funding pattern
- The projects under the Scheme will be provided with up to 75 per cent government funding in the form of ‘Grant-in-Aid’.
- The remaining 25 per cent of the project cost will have to be borne by the Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) whose constituents will be Indian private entities and State Governments.
- The SPVs under the Scheme will be registered under Companies Act 2013 and shall also operate and maintain all assets under the Scheme, in a self-sustainable manner by collecting user charges.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan
Mains level: Significance and need for such a mission
The PM has announced the Atma-nirbhar Bharat Abhiyan (or Self-reliant India Mission) and said that in the days to come the government would unveil the details of an economic package — worth Rs 20 lakh crore or 10% of India’s GDP in 2019-20 — aimed towards achieving this mission.
Try a question:
‘Doubling Farmer’s Income’ and ‘USD 5 trillion economy’ seems more like slogans today in wake of COVID pandemic. Comment on the statement with keeping in view the Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan of the government.
Atmanirbhar Bharat: With a special package
- PM has announced a special economic package and gave a clarion call for Self-reliant India.
- The package will provide a much-needed boost towards achieving self-reliance.
- This package, taken together with earlier announcements by the government during COVID crisis and decisions taken by RBI, is to the tune of Rs 20 lakh crore, which is equivalent to almost 10% of India’s GDP.
- The package will also focus on land, labour, liquidity and laws. It will cater to various sections including cottage industry, MSMEs, labourers, middle class, and industries, among others.
Five pillars of a self-reliant India
PM iterated that a self-reliant India will stand on five pillars viz.
1) Economy, which brings in quantum jump and not incremental change
2) Infrastructure, which should become the identity of India
3) System, based on 21st-century technology-driven arrangements
4) Vibrant Demography, which is our source of energy for a self-reliant India and
5) Demand, whereby the strength of our demand and supply chain should be utilized to full capacity
Is this a new package?
- The PM did not give the details, but he specified that this calculation of Rs 20 lakh crore includes what the government has already announced and the steps taken by the RBI.
- This means the total amount of additional money — that is over and above what the government would have spent even in the absence of a Covid crisis — will not be Rs 20 lakh crore.
- It would be substantially less.
Why?
- That’s because the PM has included the actions of RBI, India’s central bank, as part of the government’s “fiscal” package, even though only the government controls the fiscal policy and not the RBI (which controls the ‘monetary’ policy).
- Government expenditure and RBI’s actions are neither the same nor can they be added in this manner.
What did the RBI provide earlier?
- A rough estimate suggests that the RBI’s decisions have provided additional liquidity of Rs 5-6 lakh crore since the start of the Covid-19 crisis.
- Add this to the Rs 1.7 lakh crore of the first fiscal relief package announced by the Centre on March 26. Together, the two already account for 40 per cent of the Rs 20-lakh crore package.
- That leaves an effective amount of Rs 12 lakh crore.
- However, if the government is including RBI’s liquidity decisions in the calculation, then the actual fresh spending by the government could be considerably lower than Rs 12 lakh crore.
- That’s because RBI has been coming out with long term bond-buying operations (long term repo operation or LTRO, to infuse liquidity into the banking system) worth Rs 1 lakh crore at a time.
- If for argument’s sake, RBI comes out with another LTRO of Rs 1 lakh crore, then the overall fiscal help falls by the same amount.
Why shouldn’t RBI’s package be included in the overall package?
- That is because direct expenditure by a government — either by way of wage subsidy or direct benefit transfer or any, immediately and necessarily stimulates the economy.
- In other words, that money necessarily reaches the people — either as someone’s salary or someone’s purchase.
- But credit easing by the RBI — that is, making more money available to the banks so that they can lend to the broader economy — is not like government expenditure.
- That’s because, especially in times of crisis, banks may take that money from RBI and elsewhere and, instead of lending it, park it back with the RBI.
Back2Basics: Long Term Repo Operations (LTRO)
- The LTRO is a tool under which the RBI provides 1-3 year money to banks at the prevailing repo rate, accepting government securities with matching or higher tenure as the collateral.
- Funds through LTRO are provided at the repo rate.
- But usually, loans with higher maturity period (here like 1 year and 3 years) will have a higher interest rate compared to short term (repo) loans.
- According to the RBI, the LTRO scheme will be in addition to the existing Liquidity Adjustment Facility (LAF) and the Marginal Standing Facility (MSF) operations.
- The LAF and MSF are the two sets of liquidity operations by the RBI with the LAF having a number of tools like repo, reverse repo, term repo etc.
What are Repo and Reverse Repo rates?
- The repo rate is the rate at which the RBI lends money to the banking system (or banks) for short durations.
- The reverse repo rate is the rate at which banks can park their money with the RBI.
- With both kinds of the repo, which is short for repurchase agreement, transactions happen via bonds — one party sells bonds to the other with the promise to buy them back (or repurchase them) at a later specified date.
- In a growing economy, commercial banks need funds to lend to businesses.
- One source of funds for such lending is the money they receive from common people who maintain savings deposits with the banks. Repo is another option.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: CHAMPIONS Portal
Mains level: Not Much
In a major initiative, Union Ministry of MSME has launched CHAMPIONS portal for assisting Indian MSMEs march into the big league as National and Global Champions.
MSME sector has been hit badly by COVID. Initiatives like CHAMPIONS portal are crucial for this sector.
CHAMPIONS Portal
- ‘CHAMPIONS’ is a technology-driven Control Room-Cum-Management Information System.
- The CHAMPIONS is an acronym for Creation and Harmonious Application of Modern Processes for Increasing the Output and National Strength
- As the name suggests, the portal is basically for making the smaller units big by solving their grievances, encouraging, supporting, helping and handholding.
- It is a technology-packed control room-cum-management information system.
Three basic objectives of the CHAMPIONS
1) How to help the MSMEs in this difficult situation in terms of finance, raw materials, labour, permissions, etc.
2) How to help them capture new opportunities like manufacturing of medical accessories and products like PPEs, masks, etc.
3) How to identify the sparks, i.e., the bright MSMEs who can not only withstand but can also become national and international champions.
Technology imbibed in the portal
- In addition to ICT tools including telephone, internet and video conference, the system is enabled by Artificial Intelligence, Data Analytics and Machine Learning.
- It is also fully integrated on a real-time basis with GOI’s main grievances portal CPGRAMS and MSME Ministry’s own other web-based mechanisms.
- The entire ICT architecture is created in house with the help of NIC in no cost. Similarly, the physical infrastructure is created in one of the ministry’s dumping rooms in record time.
A hub and spoke model of network
- As part of the system, a network of control rooms is created in a Hub & Spoke Model.
- The Hub is situated in New Delhi in the Secretary MSME’s office.
- The spokes will be in the States in various offices and institutions of Ministry.
- As of now, 66 state-level control rooms are created as part of the system.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: APY, NPS, PFRDA
Mains level: Old age security concerns addressed by APY
The flagship social security scheme ‘Atal Pension Yojana’ (APY) has completed five years of successful implementation.
Five years of successfull implemention of APY is a significant feat. A statement based prelims question on terms of enrolment of the APY can be asked.
Atal Pension Yojana
- APY is a government-backed pension scheme, primarily targeted at the unorganised sector.
- It is a social security scheme launched by the government on 9th May 2015 to provide a defined pension between Rs 1,000 to Rs 5,000.
- It aims of delivering old age income security particularly to the workers in the unorganised sector with a guarantee of minimum pension after 60 years of age.
Terms of enrolment
- APY can be subscribed by any Indian citizen in the age group of 18-40 years having a bank account and its uniqueness is attributable to three distinctive benefits.
- First, it provides a minimum guaranteed pension ranging from Rs 1000 to Rs 5000 on attaining 60 years of age,
- Secondly, the amount of pension is guaranteed for a lifetime to spouse on death of the subscriber.
- And lastly, in the event of the death of both the subscriber and the spouse, entire pension corpus is paid to the nominee.
Success of the scheme
- The scheme has now 2.23 crores enrolment.
- Apart from remarkable enrolments, the scheme has been implemented comprehensively across the country covering all states and UTs with male to a female subscription ratio of 57:43.
About PFRDA
- Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA) is the statutory authority established by an enactment of the Parliament.
- It aims to regulate, promote and ensure orderly growth of the National Pension System (NPS) and pension schemes to which this Act applies.
- NPS was initially notified for central government employees recruits w.e.f. 1st Jan 2004 and subsequently adopted by almost all State Governments for its employees.
- NPS was extended to all Indian citizens (resident/non-resident/overseas) on a voluntary basis and to corporates for its employees.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: SwasthVayu
National Aerospace Laboratories (NAL) Bangalore, a constituent of the lab of CSIR has developed a Non-Invasive BiPAP Ventilator ‘SwasthVayu ’in a record time of 36 days to treat COVID-19 patients.
The name ‘SwasthVayu’ can be tricky to guess, specially after some days. In prelims, UPSC may throw some options related to air pollution.
SwasthVayu
- A ventilator is a machine that provides mechanical ventilation by moving breathable air into and out of the lungs, to deliver breaths to a patient who is physically unable to breathe, or breathing insufficiently.
- BiPAP (Bilevel Positive Airway Pressure) Non-Invasive ventilator is a microcontroller-based precise closed-loop adaptive control system.
- It is a built-in biocompatible “3D printed manifold & coupler” with HEPA filter (Highly Efficient Particulate Air Filter).
Benefits of SwasthVayu
- The major advantage of this machine is that it is simple to use without any specialized nursing, cost-effective, compact and configured with the majority of indigenous components.
- This is ideal for treating COVID -19 patients in Wards, Makeshift Hospitals, dispensaries and home in current Indian COVID 19 scenario.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Various passes in news, BRO
Mains level: India's border connectivity and the role of BRO
The Border Roads Organisation (BRO) has completed the construction of road from Dharchula to Lipulekh along the China Border, famously known as Kailash-Mansarovar Yatra Route.
We can expect a prelims question asking to arrange few passes from West to East or vice versa. Click here to get through all such Himalayan Passes.
Darchula – Lipulekh road
- The road is an extension of Pithoragarh-Tawaghat-Ghatiabagarh road. In this 80 Km road, the altitude rises from 6000 feet to 17,060 feet.
- It originates from Ghatiabagarh in Uttarakhand and terminates at Lipulekh Pass, the gateway to Kailash Mansarovar.
- With the completion of this project, the arduous trek through treacherous high-altitude terrain can now be avoided by the Pilgrims of Kailash Mansarovar Yatra and the period of journey will be reduced by many days.
(Note: The Lipulekh Pass links Uttarakhand with China’s Tibetan Autonomous Region.)
Significance
- At present, the travel to Kailash Mansarovar takes around two to three weeks through Sikkim or Nepal routes.
- Lipulekh route had a trek of 90 Km through high altitude terrain and the elderly yartris faced lot of difficulties.
- Now, this yatra will get completed by vehicles.
Also read:
The Northern and Northeastern Mountains | Part 2
Back2Basics: Border Roads Organisation (BRO)
- The BRO develops and maintains road networks in India’s border areas and friendly neighboring countries and functions under the Ministry of Defence.
- It is entrusted for construction of Roads, Bridges, Tunnels, Causeways, Helipads and Airfields along the borders.
- Officers from the Border Roads Engineering Service (BRES) and personnel from the General Reserve Engineer Force (GREF) form the parent cadre of the Border Roads Organisation.
- It is also staffed by officers and troops drawn from the Indian Army’s Corps of Engineers on extra regimental employment.
- The BRO operates and maintains over 32,885 kilometers of roads and about 12,200 meters of permanent bridges in the country.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Glaciers mentioned in the newscard
Mains level: Glacial surges and their impacts
Indian researchers have found a seasonal advancement in 220 surge-type glaciers in the Karakoram Range of Ladakh.
Points to note:
1) Open you map and revise the glaciers of Himalayan region.
2) Glacial landforms as Geographic phenomenon.
What are Glacial Surges?
Click here to see the animated view
- Glacial surges are short-lived events where a glacier can advance substantially, moving at velocities up to 100 times faster than normal.
- Until recently, most glaciologists believed that a glacier’s physical characteristics, such as its thickness and shape, and the properties of the terrain it sits on determining whether it can surge.
- Now, it is proved to believe an external factor also plays a major role: water from precipitation and melting.
- Pooling on the surface, it can infiltrate the glacier through crevasses and reach its base, warming, lubricating, and, ultimately, releasing the ice.
Why surging in the Karakoram is a concern?
- The behaviour of these glaciers, which represent 40% of the total glaciated area of the Karakoram, goes against the normal trend.
- Surging of glaciers is potentially catastrophic as it can lead to the destruction of villages, roads and bridges.
- It can also advance across a river valley and form the ice-dammed lake.
- These lakes can form catastrophic outburst floods.
- Therefore, monitoring of glacier surges, ice-dammed lake formation, and drainage is of paramount importance.
Which are these glaciers?
- The scientists focused on the Shispare and Muchuhar glaciers, former tributaries of the once larger Hasanabad Glacier situated in Hunza Valley, Gilgit-Baltistan.
Significance of the study
- The Surge-type glaciers oscillate between brief (months to years) rapid flow and lengthy (tens to hundreds of years) slow flow or stagnation, which are called the ‘active’ (or ‘surge’) and ‘quiescent’ phases, respectively.
- This unsteady glacier flow makes it difficult to accurately assess individual glacier mass balances using in-situ observations.
- The study will help to understand the diversity of glacial behaviour and help make accurate assessments of individual glacier mass balances for disaster planning and management.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Various schemes mentioned in the newscard
Mains level: Energy saving and its significance in carbon emissions reduction
The Union Ministry of Power has released a Report on “Impact of energy efficiency measures for the year 2018-19”.
Things to note:
1) UJALA Scheme
2) PAT Scheme
3) Standards & Labeling Programme
Possible mains question:
Q. Discuss the role of Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE) in “institutionalizing” energy efficiency services in India.
About the report
- This report was prepared by an Expert agency PWC Ltd, who was engaged by the Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE).
- The objective of this study is to evaluate the performance and impact of all the key energy efficiency programmes in India, in terms of total energy saved and the related reduction in CO2 emissions.
Data on energy savings
- With our energy efficiency initiatives, we have already reduced the energy intensity of our economy by 20% compared to 2005 levels. This includes both the Supply Side and Demand Side sectors of the economy.
- The implementation of various energy efficiency schemes has led to total electricity savings to the tune of 113.16 Billion Units in 2018-19, which is 9.39% of the net electricity consumption.
- Energy savings (electrical + thermal), achieved in the energy-consuming sectors is to the tune of 16.54 Mtoe, which is 2.84% of the net total energy consumption in 2018-19.
- Overall this has translated into savings worth INR 89,122 crores against last year’s savings of INR 53,627 crore.
- These efforts have also contributed to reducing 151.74 Million Tonnes of CO2 emissions, whereas last year this number was 108 MTCO2.
(Note: Mtoe= million Tonne of Oil Equivalent)
What led to this significant savings?
- The study has identified the following major programmes, viz. Perform, Achieve and Trade Scheme, Standards &Labelling Programme, UJALA Programme, Municipal Demand Side Management Programme, etc.
- There is huge capacity still for bringing efficiencies especially in MSME sector and a Housing sector that has now been taken up.
About the Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE)
- The Bureau of Energy Efficiency is an agency under the Ministry of Power created in March 2002 under the provisions of the nation’s 2001 Energy Conservation Act.
- Its function is to develop programs which will increase the conservation and efficient use of energy in India.
- The mission of BEE is to “institutionalize” energy efficiency services, enable delivery mechanisms in the country and provide leadership to energy efficiency in all sectors of the country.
Back2Basics
1) PAT Scheme
- Perform Achieve and Trade (PAT) scheme is a flagship programme of the Bureau of Energy Efficiency under the National Mission for Enhanced Energy Efficiency (NMEEE).
- NMEEE is one of the eight national missions under the National Action Plan on Climate Change (NAPCC) launched in the year 2008.
- The scheme aims to reduce specific energy consumption in energy-intensive industries through certification of excess energy saving which can be traded.
- It refers to the calculation of Specific Energy Consumption (SEC) in the baseline year and projected SEC in the target year covering different forms of net energy going into the boundary of the designated consumers’ plant and the products leaving it over a particular cycle.
- Those eight Energy Intensive Sectors included are Chlor-alkali, Pulp & Paper, Textile, Aluminum, and Thermal Power plants, Fertilizer, Iron & Steel and Cement.
2) Standards & Labeling Programme
- It is one of the major thrust areas of BEE.
- A key objective of this scheme is to provide the consumer with an informed choice about the energy-saving and thereby the cost-saving potential of the relevant marketed product.
- The scheme targets display of energy performance labels on high energy end-use equipment & appliances and lay down minimum energy performance standards.
3) UJALA Scheme
- Launched in 2015, the Unnat Jyoti by Affordable LEDs for All (UJALA), in a short span of time, has emerged as the world’s largest domestic lighting programme.
- The main objective is to promote efficient lighting, enhance awareness on using efficient equipment which reduces electricity bills and helps preserve the environment.
- The Electricity Distribution Company and Energy Efficiency Services Limited (EESL) a public sector body of the Ministry of Power is implementing the programme.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Photodetectors and their applications
Mains level: NA
Indian scientists have fabricated an economical and energy-efficient wafer-scale photodetector using gold – silicon interface, for security applications.
A basic question on the working principle of Photodetectors can be asked in the Prelims.
What are Photodetectors?
- Photodetectors, also called photosensors, are sensors of light or other electromagnetic radiation.
- A photodetector has a p–n (positive-negative) junction that converts light photons into the current.
- The absorbed photons make electron-hole pairs in the depletion region.
- Photodiodes and phototransistors are a few examples of photodetectors. Solar cells convert some of the light energy absorbed into electrical energy.
- The material cost and the intricate fabrication processes involved in realizing high-performance detectors make them unaffordable for day to day applications.
Applications
- Photodetectors are the heart of any optoelectronic circuit that can detect light.
- They are employed for a wide variety of applications ranging from controlling automatic lighting in supermarkets to detecting radiation from the outer galaxy as well as security-related applications.
- They range from simple devices that automatically open supermarket doors, to receivers on the TV remote controls.
What did Indian researchers achieve?
- The scientists have fabricated gold (Au) – silicon (Si) interface, which showed high sensitivity towards light demonstrating the photodetection action.
- The Au–Si interface was brought about by galvanic deposition, a technique for electroplating of metals, wherein water-based solutions (electrolytes) are used, which contain the metals to be deposited as ions.
- In addition, a nanostructured Au film also was deposited on top of p-type silicide (having an excess of positive charges), which acts as a charge collector.
Benefits
- Being a solution-based technique, the method is highly economical and enabled large-area fabrication without compromising the detector response.
- The process is quick, taking only minutes to fabricate a detector of any arbitrary area and exhibited a rapid response of 40 microseconds.
- This photodetector displayed long-term environmental stability.
- The Indian invention provides a simple and cost-effective solution-based fabrication method for high-performance photodetector.
- It could help detect weak scattered light as an indication of unwanted activity.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Abutilon ranadei
Mains level: NA
Scientists at the Agharkar Research Institute (ARI), Pune have come up with plant data of the Northern Western Ghats which indicates that plateaus, in addition to the forests, should be prioritized for the conservation of the Northern Western Ghats.
Last year one species from our newscard : Species in news: Hump-backed Mahseer made it into the CSP 2019. The ‘Abutilon ranadei’ flower in the newscard creates such a vibe yet again.
A stand-alone species being mentioned in the news for the first time often find their way into the prelims. Make a special note here.
Why conserve Plateaus?
- The Western Ghats of India is one of the global biodiversity hotspots owing to the endemism that is sheltered by a chain of mountains.
- The northern part of this along with the Konkan region is considerably different from its southern and central counterparts on account of lesser precipitation and extended dry season.
- It is the plateaus and the cliffs that harbour most of the endemic species.
What did the study find?
- The study found that the Northern Western Ghats has 181 local endemic plant species, including four monospecific genera.
- They have found that a majority of the endemic species are therophytes, which complete their life cycle in a short period during monsoon.
- A notable geographical feature of the Northern Western Ghats is the presence of plateaus and cliffs that display maximum endemic species, unlike forests.
- It is the region of rapid diversification of specific herbaceous endemic genera like Ceropegia, Glyphochloa, Dipcadi, and Eriocaulon.
One such specie is-
Abutilon ranadei
- Abutilon ranadei is a shrub, measuring 2.5-3.5 m high and bears star-shaped hairs.
- It is a Critically Endangered endemic species from the northern Western Ghats.
Bonus:
Consider the following pairs:
| Wildlife |
Naturally found in |
| 1. Blue-finned Mahseer |
Cauvery River |
| 2. Irrawaddy Dolphin |
Chambal River |
| 3. Rusty-spotted Cat |
Eastern Ghats |
Which of the pairs given above are correctly matched?
(a) 1 and 2 only
b) 2 and 3 only
c) 1 and 3 only
d) 1, 2 and 3
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Saras Collection, GeM
Mains level: Not Much
The Union Ministry for Rural Development and Panchayati Raj and Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare has launched “The Saras Collection” on the Government e-Marketplace (GeM) portal.
Possible prelim question:
‘The Saras Collection’ recently seen in news is a:
a) Subsidy on beekeeping and apiculture projects
b) Indigenous light transport aircraft
c) Database on wetland birds
d) Collection of products made by SHGs
The Saras Collection
- It is a unique initiative by the GeM, Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana-National Rural Livelihoods Mission (DAY-NRLM) and Ministry of Rural Development.
- The collection showcases daily utility products made by rural Self-Help Groups (SHGs) and aims to provide SHGs in rural areas with market access to Central and State Government buyers.
- The on-boarding of the SHGs has been initially piloted in the states of Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Kerala, Himachal Pradesh, Maharashtra, Odisha, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal.
- SHGs from all the states and Union Territories (UTs) will be covered rapidly in the upcoming phases.
It’s functioning
- For Functionaries: They will be provided dashboards at the national, state, district and block level for real-time information about the number of products uploaded, their value and volume of orders received and fulfilled.
- Government buyers: They will be sensitized through system-generated messages/ alerts in the Marketplace about the availability of SHG products on the portal.
Benefits offered
- The Saras Collection will provide SHGs with direct access to Government buyers which will do away with intermediaries in the supply chain.
- Thus it would ensure better prices for SHGs and spurring employment opportunities at the local level.
Back2Basics: Government e-Marketplace
- The GeM is a one-stop National Public Procurement Portal to facilitate online procurement of common use Goods & Services required by various Government Departments / Organizations / PSUs.
- It was launched in 2016 to bring transparency and efficiency in the government buying process.
- GEM aims to enhance transparency, efficiency and speed in public procurement.
- It is a completely paperless, cashless and system driven e-marketplace that enables procurement of common use goods and services with minimal human interface.
- It provides the tools of e-bidding, reverse e-auction and demand aggregation to facilitate the government users to achieve the best value for their money.
- The purchases through GeM by Government users have been authorized and made mandatory by the Ministry of Finance by adding a new Rule No. 149 in the General Financial Rules, 2017.
- It has been developed by Directorate General of Supplies and Disposals (Ministry of Commerce and Industry) with technical support of National e-governance Division (MEITy).
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: UV germicidal irradiation
Mains level: Can always be used as an example
The DRDO has developed an Ultra Violet (UV) Disinfection Tower for rapid and chemical-free disinfection of high infection-prone areas.
GYAN:
We have a UV filter in our home based water filter. Ever wondered, how do UV rays kill viruses/bacteria?
UV Blaster
- The UV blaster is a UV based area sanitizer designed and developed by Laser Science & Technology Centre (LASTEC), the Delhi based premier laboratory of DRDO.
- It is useful for high tech surfaces like electronic equipment, computers and other gadgets in laboratories and offices that are not suitable for disinfection with chemical methods.
- The product is also effective for areas with a large flow of people such as airports, shopping malls, metros, hotels, factories, offices, etc.
How does it work?
- The UV based area sanitizer may be used by remote operation through laptop/mobile phone using wifi link.
- The equipment has six lamps each with 43 watts of UV-C power at 254 nm wavelength for 360-degree illumination.
- For a room of about 12 x 12 feet dimension, the disinfection time is about 10 minutes and 30 minutes for 400 square feet area by positioning the equipment at different places within the room.
- This sanitizer switches off on the accidental opening of a room or human intervention.
Back2Basics: UV germicidal irradiation
- UV irradiation is a disinfection method that uses short-wavelength ultraviolet rays to kill or inactivate microorganisms by destroying nucleic acids and disrupting their DNA, leaving them unable to perform vital cellular functions.
- UVGI is used in a variety of applications, such as food, air, and water purification.
- UVGI devices can produce strong enough UVC light in circulating air or water systems to make them inhospitable environments to microorganisms such as bacteria, viruses, moulds, and other pathogens.
- UVGI can be coupled with a filtration system to sanitize air and water.
- It has been used primarily in medical sanitation and sterile work facilities.
- Increasingly, it has been employed to sterilize drinking and wastewater since the holding facilities are enclosed and can be circulated to ensure a higher exposure to the UV.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Sariska Tiger Reserve
Mains level: Not Much
The Ministry of Tourism’s Dekho Apna Desh webinar featured a presentation and virtual tour of ‘Destination- Sariska Tiger reserve’.
Tourism and tourist sites carry high stakes for possible prelims questions. Take time to quickly revise the Swadesh Darshan , PRASHAD Schemes. Click here for the repository of all such initiatives.
Sariska Tiger Reserve
- It is located in the Aravalli Hills, 35 km from Alwar, 250 km SW of Delhi and 110 km NE of Jaipur.
- The former hunting reserve of the Maharaja of Alwar, the Sariska valley is home to a variety of flora and fauna.
- The park has populations of tigers, leopards, Nilgai, Sambar, chital etc.
- The place is a paradise for bird lovers as it shelters a large population of Indian peafowl, crested serpent eagles, sand grouse, golden-backed woodpeckers, great Indian horned owls, tree pies, vultures and many others.
- It is the first reserve in the world with successfully relocated tigers. It is an important biodiversity area in the Northern Aravalli leopard and wildlife corridor.
Features of this episode
- Alwar is a city dotted with heritage buildings, Forts, tombs and palaces. Some of the important sights not to be missed are Bala Qila, Vijai Mandir Lake Palaces, Fateh Jung ki Gumbad, Moti Doongri etc.
- The sanctuary is strewn with ruins of ancient temples dating back to the 10th and 11th centuries.
- Some of the highlights are the ruins of the Kankwari Fort and the 10th-century Neelkanth temples, which have Khajuraho-like carvings as key features.
- Neelkanth Mahadeva houses the ruins of over 300 Hindu and Jain temples constructed between the 8th and 12th Centuries.
- Chand Baoli (stepwell) at Abhaneri is enormous with 3500 steep steps built by the Nikhumbha dynasty is one of the largest step-wells in the world.
About DekhoApnaDesh
- Under this, a series of webinars will showcase the diverse and remarkable history and culture of India through a documentary series on various cities.
- It will be including various monuments, cuisine, arts, dance forms, natural landscapes, festivals and many other aspects of the rich Indian civilization.
- The objective of the webinar series is to create awareness about and promote various tourism destinations of India – including the lesser-known destinations and lesser-known facets of popular destinations.
- The webinar will be available in the public domain through the Ministry’s social media handles- “Incredible India” on Instagram and Facebook.
Back2Basics: Project Tiger
- Project Tiger is a tiger conservation programme launched in April 1973 by during PM Indira Gandhi’s tenure.
- It is administered by the National Tiger Conservation Authority.
- The project aims at ensuring a viable population of Bengal tigers in their natural habitats, protecting them from extinction, and preserving areas of biological importance as a natural heritage forever represented as close as possible the diversity of ecosystems across the distribution of tigers in the country.
- The project’s task force visualized these tiger reserves as breeding nuclei, from which surplus animals would migrate to adjacent forests.
- The government has set up a Tiger Protection Force to combat poachers and funded relocation of villagers to minimize human-tiger conflicts.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Kashmir Saffron
Mains level: GI tags and their significance
Kashmir saffron has been given the Geographical Indication (GI) tag by the Geographical Indications Registry.
Must read:
GI Tags in news for 2020 Prelims
All time GI tags in news
Kashmir saffron
- It is cultivated and harvested in the Karewa (highlands) in some regions of Kashmir, including Pulwama, Budgam, Kishtwar and Srinagar.
- It is a very precious and costly product. Iran is the largest producer of saffron and India is a close competitor.
- It rejuvenates health and is used in cosmetics and for medicinal purposes.
- It has been associated with traditional Kashmiri cuisine and represents the rich cultural heritage of the region.
- Saffron cultivation is believed to have been introduced in Kashmir by Central Asian immigrants around 1st Century BCE. In ancient Sanskrit literature, saffron is referred to as ‘bahukam’.
3 Types
The saffron available in Kashmir is of three types —
- ‘Lachha Saffron’, with stigmas just separated from the flowers and dried without further processing;
- ‘Mongra Saffron’, in which stigmas are detached from the flower, dried in the sun and processed traditionally; and
- ‘Guchhi Saffron’, which is the same as Lachha, except that the latter’s dried stigmas are packed loosely in air-tight containers while the former has stigmas joined together in a bundle tied with a cloth thread
Whats’ so special about Kashmir Saffron?
- The unique characteristics of Kashmir saffron are its longer and thicker stigmas, natural deep-red colour, high aroma, bitter flavour, chemical-free processing, and high quantity of crocin (colouring strength), safranal (flavour) and picrocrocin (bitterness).
- It is the only saffron in the world grown at an altitude of 1,600 m to 1,800 m AMSL (above mean sea level), which adds to its uniqueness and differentiates it from other saffron varieties available the world over.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Himalayan rivers, Zanskar Padam
Mains level: Read the attached story
Indian researchers have studied rivers in Ladakh Himalaya, bringing out 35 thousand-year histories of river erosion and identified hotspots of erosion and wide valleys that act buffer zones.
Click here to read more about the Himalayan river systems and its orogeny
Erosion hotspot: Ladakh region
- The Ladakh Himalaya forms a high altitude desert between Greater Himalayan ranges and Karakoram Ranges.
- The Indus and its tributaries are major rivers flowing through the terrain.
- The Zanskar River is one of the largest tributaries of the upper Indus catchment, draining orthogonally through highly deformed Zanskar ranges.
Zanskar: A major river in Ladakh
- Two prominent tributaries of Zanskar River are the Doda and Tsrap Lingti Chu, which confluence at Padam village in the upper valley to form the Zanskar River.
- Zanskar catchment was explored to understand the landform evolution in the transitional climatic zone, using morpho-stratigraphy and study of landforms like valley fill terraces, alluvial fans (triangle-shaped deposit of gravel, sand, and even smaller pieces of sediment, such as silt).
Zanskar Padam
- Zanskar river makes a deep gorge in its lower reaches with the headwaters in upper Zanskar makes wide basin called as Padam.
- The basin stores large amount of sediments in form of fans and river terrace deposits
- The research suggested that the wide valley of Padam, with an area of 48 square km, in the upper Zanskar, has stored a vast amount of sediments in these landforms.
- Thus Padam valley is a hotspot of sediment buffering in the Zanskar.
Sediment study reveals the erosion
- The study suggested that most sediments were derived from Higher Himalayan crystalline that lies in the headwater region of Zanskar.
- It was found out that dominant factors responsible for sediment erosion were deglaciation and Indian Summer Monsoon derived precipitation in the headwaters despite the presence of a geomorphic barrier (the deep, narrow gorge).
Significance of the study
- The scientists have traced where the rivers draining Himalaya and its foreland erode the most and identify the zones that receive these eroded sediments and fill up.
- The study will help understand river-borne erosion and sedimentation, which are the main drivers that make large riverine plains, terraces, and deltas that eventually become the cradle to evolving civilizations.
- It will also help study the dynamics of devastating floods created by these Himalayan rivers in recent times.
- Thus, the understanding of water and sediment routing becomes crucial while developing infrastructure and for other development works in the river catchment area.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: YASH Program
Mains level: NA
National Council for Science & Technology Communication (NCSTC) has launched a programme on health and risk communication ‘Year of Awareness on Science & Health (YASH)’ with focus on COVID-19.
There are various initiatives named with Hindi acronyms. YASH is newer among them. It is very unlikely to frame a prelim question on it. Still, we should know it for the sake of general awareness.
YASH Program
- YASH is a comprehensive and effective science and health communication effort for promoting grass-root level appreciation and response to health.
- The current pandemic scenario has posed concerns and challenges all around, where scientific awareness and health preparedness play a significant role to help combat the situation.
- This requires translation and usage of authentic scientific information to convey the risks involved and facilitates communities to overcome the situation.
- The programme will encompass the development of science, health, and risk communication software, publications, audio-visual, digital platforms, folk performances, trained communicators, especially in regional languages to cater to various cross-sections of the society in the country.
- It would help to save and shaping the lives of people at large, as well as build confidence, inculcate a scientific temper and promote health consciousness among them.
Activities under YASH
- The programme is aimed at minimizing risks at all levels with the help of public communication and outreach activities.
- It would promote public understanding of common minimum science for community care and health safety measures like personal sanitation and hygiene, physical distancing, maintaining desired collective behaviour and so on.
- It also includes information dissemination mechanisms to reduce the fear of risks and build confidence with necessary understanding for adopting sustainable healthy lifestyles and nurturing scientific culture among masses and societies.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Kisan Sabha App and its purpose
Mains level: Technology intervention for supply-chain dynamics of farm produces in India
Kisan Sabha App developed by CSIR to connect farmers to supply chain and freight transportation management system was recently launched.
Initiatives as such are less likely to be asked in the prelims as the name and purpose create no different analogy. But for the sake of information and mains perspective, it is vital to remember such technology interventions while emphasizing on Agricultural marketing reforms.
Kisan Sabha App
- Kisan Sabha aims to provide the most economical and timely logistics support to the farmers and increase their profit margins by minimizing the interference of middlemen and directly connecting with the institutional buyers.
- It will also help in providing the best market rates of crops by comparing nearest mandis, booking of freight vehicle at the cheapest cost thereby giving maximum benefit to the farmers.
- The portal connects the farmers, transporters, Service providers (like pesticides/ fertilizer/ dealers, cold store and warehouse owner), mandi dealers, customers and other related entities for a timely and effective solution.
- The app has 6 major modules taking care of Farmers/Mandi Dealers/Transporters/Mandi Board Members/ Service Providers/Consumers.
Facilities provided by the app
- The portal acts as a single stop for every entity related to agriculture, be they a farmer who needs better price for the crops or mandi dealer who wants to connect to more farmers or truckers who invariably go empty from the mandis.
- It provides a platform for people who want to buy directly from the farmers.
- It would also prove to be useful for those associated with cold store(s) or godown(s).
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