Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: CAPSTONE satellite
Mains level: Not Much
NASA has launched CAPSTONE, a microwave oven-sized CubeSat weighing just 55 pounds (25 kg).
What is CAPSTONE?
- CAPSTONE, short for Cislunar Autonomous Positioning System Technology Operations and Navigation Experiment, is designed to test a unique, elliptical lunar orbit.
- It aims to help reduce risk for future spacecraft by validating innovative navigation technologies, and by verifying the dynamics of the halo-shaped orbit.
Its launch
- It is heading toward an orbit intended in the future for Gateway, a Moon-orbiting outpost that is part of NASA’s Artemis program.
- The orbit is known as a near-rectilinear halo orbit (NRHO).
- It is significantly elongated, and is located at a precise balance point in the gravities of Earth and the Moon.
- This offers stability for long-term missions like Gateway, NASA said on its website.
Mission details
- CAPSTONE will enter NRHO, where it will fly within 1,600 km of the Moon’s North Pole on its near pass and 70,000 km from the South Pole at its farthest.
- The spacecraft will repeat the cycle every six-and-a-half days and maintain this orbit for at least six months to study dynamics.
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From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Salmonella Typhi
Mains level: Not Much
The bacteria causing typhoid fever is becoming increasingly resistant to some of the most important antibiotics for human health.
What is the news?
- The largest genome analysis of Salmonella Typhi (S. Typhi) also shows that resistant strains — almost all originating in South Asia — have spread to other countries nearly 200 times since 1990.
- The researchers noted that typhoid fever is a global public health concern, causing 11 million infections and more than 1,00,000 deaths per year.
- Antibiotics can be used to successfully treat typhoid fever infections, but their effectiveness is threatened by the emergence of resistant S. Typhi strains.
What is Salmonella Typhi?
- Salmonella Typhi (S. Typhi) are bacteria that infect the intestinal tract and the blood.
- It is usually spread through contaminated food or water.
- Once S. Typhi bacteria are eaten or drunk, they multiply and spread into the bloodstream.
- The disease is referred to as typhoid fever. S. Paratyphi bacteria cause a similar, but milder illness, which comes under the same title.
- Paratyphoid has a shorter duration, generally, than typhoid.
- Typhi and S. Paratyphi are common in many developing countries where sewage and water treatment systems are poor.
How does it spread?
- Salmonella Typhi lives only in humans.
- Persons with typhoid fever carry the bacteria in their bloodstream and intestinal tract.
- Symptoms include prolonged high fever, fatigue, headache, nausea, abdominal pain, and constipation or diarrhoea.
- Some patients may have a rash. Severe cases may lead to serious complications or even death.
- Typhoid fever can be confirmed through blood testing.
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From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Corals, Coral Bleaching
Mains level: Not Much
Scientists have recorded four species of corals for the first time from Indian waters. These new species of azooxanthellate corals were found from the waters off the Andaman and Nicobar Islands.
What are Azooxanthellate Corals?
- The azooxanthellate corals are a group of corals that do not contain zooxanthellae and derive nourishment not from the sun but from capturing different forms of planktons.
- They are deep-sea representatives with the majority of species being reported from depths between 200 metres and 1,000 metres.
- They are also reported from shallow waters unlike zooxanthellate corals that are restricted to shallow waters.
Which are the news species found?
- Truncatoflabellum crassum, T. incrustatum, T. aculeatum, and T. irregulare under the family Flabellidae were previously found in Japan, the Philippines and Australian waters.
- Only T. crassum was reported with the range of Indo-West Pacific distribution.
Significance of the discovery
- Most studies of hard corals in India have been concentrated on reef-building corals while much is not known about non-reef-building corals.
- These new species enhance our knowledge about non-reef-building solitary corals.
Back2Basics: Coral Reefs
- Corals are marine invertebrates or animals not possessing a spine.
- Each coral is called a polyp and thousands of such polyps live together to form a colony, which grows when polyps multiply to make copies of themselves.
- Australia’s Great Barrier Reef is the world’s largest reef system stretching across 2,300 km.
- It hosts 400 different types of coral, gives shelter to 1,500 species of fish and 4,000 types of mollusc.
- Corals are of two types — hard coral and soft coral:
- Hard corals, also called hermatypic or ‘reef building’ corals extract calcium carbonate (also found in limestone) from the seawater to build hard, white coral exoskeletons.
- Soft coral polyps, however, borrow their appearance from plants, attach themselves to such skeletons and older skeletons built by their ancestors. Soft corals also add their own skeletons to the hard structure over the years and these growing multiplying structures gradually form coral reefs. They are the largest living structures on the planet.
How do they feed themselves?
- Corals share a symbiotic relationship with single-celled algae called zooxanthellae.
- The algae provides the coral with food and nutrients, which they make through photosynthesis, using the sun’s light.
- In turn, the corals give the algae a home and key nutrients.
- The zooxanthellae also give corals their bright colour.
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From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Sao Joao Festival
Mains level: Not Much
As in every monsoon, Catholics in Goa will celebrate Sao Joao, the feast of St John the Baptist.
Note: The name typically sounds like a North-Eastern festival, but it is not.
What is Sao Joao and where is it celebrated in Goa?
- In Goa, Catholics celebrate all the feasts of the Roman Catholic Church, which include the feast of St John the Baptist on June 24.
- John the Baptist is the person who he had baptised Jesus Christ on the river Jordan.
- Traditionally, there are spirited Sao Joao festivities in the villages of Cortalim in South Goa and Harmal, Baga, Siolim and Terekhol in North Goa.
- However, over the years, pool parties and private Sao Joao parties in Goa have been a “complete package of merriment and joy” for tourists.
Course of celebration
- The celebrations will include revellers sporting crowns made of fruits, flowers and leaves, and the major draw of the feast is the water bodies – wells, ponds, fountains, rivers – in which the revellers take the “leap of joy”.
- Enjoyed by children and adults alike, the festival also includes playing the traditional gumott (percussion instrument), a boat festival, servings of feni, and a place of pride for new sons-in-law.
What does jumping into water bodies symbolise?
- The youngsters in Goa celebrate this occasion with revelry and perform daredevil feats, by jumping into over flowing wells or rivulets.
- The boys are found merrily jumping into the water to commemorate the leap of joy, which St John is said to have taken in the womb of his mother St Elizabeth when virgin Mary visited her.
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From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Green mobility
Mains level: NA
Mo Bus, the bus service of Odisha’s Capital Region Urban Transport (CRUT) authority, has been recognized by the United Nations as one of 10 global recipients of its annual Public Service Awards for 2022.
Mo Bus service
- The Mo Bus service was launched on November 6, 2018.
- It aimed to ensure transformation of the urban public transport scenario in the city and its hinterland through use of smart technology, service benchmarking and customer satisfaction.
- The buses are designed to integrate smart technologies such as free on-board Wi-Fi service, digital announcements, surveillance cameras, and electronic ticketing.
- CRUT says that to increase women’s participation in the workforce, and to make women riders feel safer, it is committed to ensuring that 50% of Mo Bus Guides (conductors) are women.
What is the recent award?
- The public transport service has been recognised for its role in “promoting gender-responsive public services to achieve the SDGs (Sustainable Development Goals)”.
- The “impact” is that 57 per cent of the city’s commuters now use the Mo Bus, the UN said.
- Mo E-Ride is estimated to reduce pollution by 30-50 per cent.
About UN Public Service Award
- The UN describes its Public Service Awards as the “most prestigious international recognition of excellence in public service”.
- The first Awards ceremony was held in 2003, and the UN has since received “an increasing number of submissions from all around the world”.
- It is intended to reward the creative achievements and contributions of public service institutions that lead to a more effective and responsive public administration in countries worldwide.
- Through an annual competition, the UN Public Service Awards promotes the role, professionalism and visibility of public service.
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From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Summer Solstice
Mains level: NA
Yesterday, June 21 was the day of the summer solstice in the northern hemisphere.
What is Summer Solstice?
- Solstice means “sun stands still” in Latin.
- The longest day of 2021 for those living north of the Equator is June 21.
- This day is characterized by a greater amount of energy received from the sun.
- In technical terms, this day is referred to as the summer solstice, the longest day of the summer season.
- It occurs when the sun is directly over the Tropic of Cancer, or more specifically right over 23.5-degree north latitude.
The Southern Hemisphere receives most sunlight on December 21, 22 or 23 when the northern hemisphere has its longest nights– or the winter solstice.
Why do we have summer solstice?
- Since Earth rotates on its axis, the Northern Hemisphere gets more direct sunlight between March and September over the course of a day.
- This also means people living in the Northern Hemisphere experience summer during this time.
- The rest of the year, the Southern Hemisphere gets more sunlight.
- During the solstice, the Earth’s axis — around which the planet spins, completing one turn each day — is tilted in a way that the North Pole is tipped towards the sun and the South Pole is away from it.
Answer this PYQ in the comment box:
Q.On 21st June, the Sun (CSP 2019):
(a) Does not set below the horizon at the Arctic Circle
(b) Does not set below the horizon at Antarctic Circle
(c) Shines vertically overhead at noon on the Equator
(d) Shines vertically overhead at the Tropic of Capricorn
Post your answers here.
Some interesting facts
- During the June solstice compared to any other time of the year, the North Pole is tipped more directly toward the sun, and the south pole is tipped more directly away from the sun.
- As a result, all locations north of the equator see days longer than 12 hours and all locations south see days shorter than 12 hours.
- The sun’s path across the sky is curved—NOT a straight line on the summer solstice.
- Based on Earth’s current orbit, the summer solstice date rotates between June 20, 21 and 22 and is not fixed since it depends on the physics of our solar system and not on human calendar.
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From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: BRICS Plus
Mains level: Chinese push for expansion of BRICS
Chinese President Xi Jinping will host a virtual summit of the leaders of the BRICS countries. PM Modi is expected to join.
Why in news?
- China is keen for the grouping to explore expansion and include new developing country members.
- Under the “BRICS Plus” format, the forthcoming summit is also expected to be attended by leaders of invited emerging countries.
What is BRICS?
- BRICS is an acronym for the grouping of the world’s leading emerging economies, namely Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa.
- The BRICS Leaders’ Summit has convened annually. It does not exist in form of an organization, but it is an annual summit between the supreme leaders of five nations.
Its inception
- On November 30, 2001, Jim O’Neill, a British economist who was then chairman of Goldman Sachs Asset Management, coined the term ‘BRIC’ to describe the four emerging economies of Brazil, Russia, India, and China.
- He made a case for BRIC on the basis of econometric analyses projecting that the four economies would individually and collectively occupy far greater economic space and become among the world’s largest economies in the next 50 years or so.
How it has formed?
- The grouping was formalized during the first meeting of BRIC Foreign Ministers on the margins of the UNGA in New York in September 2006.
- The first BRIC Summit took place in 2009 in the Russian Federation and focused on issues such as reform of the global financial architecture.
Who are the members?
- South Africa was invited to join BRIC in December 2010, after which the group adopted the acronym BRICS. South Africa subsequently attended the Third BRICS Summit in Sanya, China, in March 2011.
- The Chairmanship of the forum is rotated annually among the members, in accordance with the acronym B-R-I-C-S.
- The importance of BRICS is self-evident: It represents 42% of the world’s population, 30% of the land area, 24% of global GDP and 16% of international trade.
- The five BRICS countries are also members of G-20.
Also read
[Burning Issue] BRICS and its relevance in today’s world
Back2Basics: BRICS Plus
- The BRICS outreach to Africa began at the last summit hosted by South Africa, in 2013. It has picked up momentum now but African leaders want more.
- They need big loans from the New Development Bank (NDB) for their infrastructure projects.
- China introduced the “BRICS Plus” format at the Xiamen summit last year by inviting a few countries from different regions.
- South Africa emulated it, arranging the attendance of top-level representation of five nations of its choice: Argentina, Jamaica, Turkey, Indonesia and Egypt.
- The precise role of “BRICS Plus” countries will take time to evolve but an immediate benefit is the immense opportunities it provides for networking among leaders.
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From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Lightening and Thunderstorms
Mains level: Disaster management
At least 70 people died in lightning strikes across Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan.
What is lightning?
- Scientifically, lightning is a rapid and massive discharge of electricity in the atmosphere some of which is directed towards earth.
- The discharges are generated in giant moisture-bearing clouds that are 10-12 km tall.
- The base of these clouds typically lie within 1-2 km of the Earth’s surface, while the top is 12-13 km away.
- Temperatures in the top of these clouds are in the range of –35° to –45°C.
Its formation
- As water vapour moves upward in the cloud, the falling temperature causes it to condense.
- As they move to temperatures below 0°C, the water droplets change into small ice crystals.
- They continue to move up, gathering mass until they are so heavy that they start to fall to Earth.
- This leads to a system in which, simultaneously, smaller ice crystals are moving up and bigger crystals are coming down.
- Collisions follow and trigger the release of electrons, a process that is very similar to the generation of sparks of electricity.
- As the moving free electrons cause more collisions and more electrons, a chain reaction ensues.
- This process results in a situation in which the top layer of the cloud gets positively charged, while the middle layer is negatively charged.
- The electrical potential difference between the two layers is huge, of the order of a billion to 10 billion volts.
- In very little time, a massive current, of the order of 100,000 to a million amperes, starts to flow between the layers.
Types of lightning
- Broadly, there are three forms of lightning:
- Inter-cloud
- Intra-cloud
- Cloud-to-ground
- It is the cloud-to-ground form of lightning that kills humans, as well as animals and livestock, and can substantially damage property.
- While the Earth is a good conductor of electricity, it is electrically neutral.
- However, in comparison to the middle layer of the cloud, it becomes positively charged.
- As a result, about 15%-20% of the current gets directed towards the Earth as well.
- It is this flow of current that results in damage to life and property on Earth.
How intensely does it strike?
- A typical lightning flash is about 300 million volts and 30,000 amps.
- To put it in perspective, household current is 120 volts and 15 amps.
- A flash of lightning is enough to light a 100-watt incandescent bulb for about three months.
Why does lightning kill so many people in India?
- The reason for the high number of deaths is due to people being caught unawares and more than 70% of fatalities happened due to people standing under isolated tall trees.
- About 25 per cent of the people were struck in the open.
- Also, lightning is the direct promulgation of climate change extremities.
Mitigating lightning incidents
- Lightning is not classified as a natural disaster in India.
- But recent efforts have resulted in the setting up of an early warning system that is already saving many lives.
- More than 96% of lightning deaths happen in rural areas.
- As such, most of the mitigation and public awareness programmes need to focus on these communities.
- Lightning protection devices are fairly unsophisticated and low-cost. Yet, their deployment in the rural areas, as of now, is extremely low.
- States are being encouraged to prepare and implement lightning action plans, on the lines of heat action plans.
- An international centre for excellence on lightning research to boost detection and early warning systems is also in the process of being set up.
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From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Private Captive Networks
Mains level: 5G Rollout
The Cellular Operators’ Association of India (COAI) wrote a letter urging the government against allotting 5G spectrum to private captive networks, claiming that it will diminish their revenue to the point where offering 5G will pointless.
What is a Private Captive 5G Network?
- A private captive 5G network is basically a network set up by a private entity for the use of just one organisation.
- It is similar to a captive coal mine in that the 5G service offered by this captive network will only be utilised by the enterprise concerned, and no one else.
Why are telecom providers against it?
- The COAI’s argument is that enterprises are the biggest users of 5G networks.
- If private entities are allowed to offer captive networks to enterprises, the TSPs (telecom service providers) retail revenues will fall.
- COAI implied that there is no great demand for 5G right now as “the needs of voice and data of the entire nation is being adequately met by the TSPs through their 4G networks today”.
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From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Enemy Property
Mains level: Not Much
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has registered some cases on allegations that huge losses to the exchequer was caused by leasing out prime-value land under the Custodian of Enemy Property for India (CEPI) on forged documents.
Why in news?
- Hectares of commercial land located in Uttar Pradesh were leased out at nominal rates in favour of the lessees through manipulation.
What is “Enemy Property”?
- In the wake of the India-Pakistan wars of 1965 and 1971, there was the migration of people from India to Pakistan.
- Under the Defence of India Rules framed under The Defence of India Act, 1962, the Government of India took over the properties and companies of those who took Pakistani nationality.
- These “enemy properties” were vested by the central government in the Custodian of Enemy Property for India.
- The same was done for property left behind by those who went to China after the 1962 Sino-Indian war.
- The Tashkent Declaration of January 10, 1966 included a clause that said India and Pakistan would discuss the return of the property and assets taken over by either side in connection with the conflict.
- However, the Government of Pakistan disposed of all such properties in their country in the year 1971 itself.
Dealing with enemy property
- The Enemy Property Act, enacted in 1968, provided for the continuous vesting of enemy property in the Custodian of Enemy Property for India (CEPI).
- The central government, through the Custodian, is in possession of enemy properties spread across many states in the country.
- Some movable properties too, are categorised as enemy properties.
- In 2017, Parliament passed The Enemy Property (Amendment and Validation) Bill, 2016, which amended The Enemy Property Act, 1968, and The Public Premises (Eviction of Unauthorised Occupants) Act, 1971.
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From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Theri Desert in Tamil Nadu
Mains level: Desertification of land and preventive measures
Most of us may not know the small desert situated in the state of Tamil Nadu. It consists of red sand dunes and is confined to the Thoothukudi district.
Theri Desert
- The red dunes are called theri in Tamil.
- They consist of sediments dating back to the Quaternary Period and are made of marine deposits.
- They have very low water and nutrient retention capacity.
- The dunes are susceptible to aerodynamic lift.
- This is the push that lets something move up. It is the force that is the opposite of weight.
Mineral composition of Theris
- The analysis of the red sand dunes reveal the presence of heavy and light minerals.
- These include Ilmenite, Magnetit, Rutile, Garnet, Zircon, Diopside, Tourmaline, Hematite, Goethite, Kyanite, Quartz, Feldspar, Biotite.
- The iron-rich heavy minerals like ilmenite, magnetite, garnet, hypersthene and rutile present in the soil had undergone leaching by surface water.
- They were then oxidised because of the favourable semi-arid climatic conditions.
How did they form?
- Theris appear as gentle, undulating terrain.
- The lithology of the area shows that the area might have been a paleo (ancient) coast in the past.
- The presence of limestone in many places indicates marine transgression.
- The present-day theris might have been formed by the confinement of beach sand locally, after regression of the sea.
- When high velocity winds from the Western Ghats blew east, they induced migration of sand grains and accumulation of dunes.
Another story of their formation
- Another view is that these are geological formations that appeared in a period of a few hundred years.
- The red sand is brought from the surface of a broad belt of red loam in the plains of the Nanguneri region (about 57 kilometres) by south west monsoon winds during May-September.
- The winds after draining the moisture behind the Mahendragiri hill and the Aralvaimozhi gap of the Western Ghats become dry and strike the plains in the foothills, where vegetation is sparse.
- Deforestation and the absence of vegetative cover in the Aralvaimozhi gap and the Nanguneri plains are considered to be the major causes of wind erosion.
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From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Black Death
Mains level: NA
In a study published in the Science journal, researchers have claimed that the bubonic plague was originated in modern day northern Kyrgyzstan around 1338-1339 – nearly 7-8 years before it ravaged large parts of the world.
What is Black Death?
- The term Black Death refers to the bubonic plague that spread across Western Asia, Northern Africa, Middle East and Europe in 1346-53.
- Most scholars agree that the Black Death, which killed millions, was caused by bacterium Yersinia pestis and was spread by fleas that were carried by rodent hosts.
- The microorganism Y. pestis spread to human populations, who at some point transmitted it to others either through the vector of a human flea or directly through the respiratory system.
Why this plague was called the Black Death?
- It is commonly believed that the term Black Death gets its name from the black marks that appeared on some of the plague victims’ bodies.
- In the 14th century, the epidemic was referred to as the ‘great pestilence’ or ‘great death’, due to the demographic havoc that it caused.
- The world black also carried a dark, gloomy emotional tone, due to the sheer amount of deaths generated by the plague.
Why is the new discovery significant?
- The geographical origin point of the plague has been debated for centuries.
- Some historians have argued that the plague originated in China, and spread across Europe by Italian merchants who first entered the continent in trading caravans through Crimea.
- Another story argues that Mongol army hurled plague-infested bodies into the city during the siege of Caffa (Crimea) and led to the spread of the disease.
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From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: 5G technology
Mains level: Not Much
The Union Cabinet has approved the auction of airwaves capable of offering fifth generation, or 5G, telecom services, including ultra-high-speed Internet, and gave its nod for setting up of captive 5G networks by big tech firms.
What is the news?
- The auction of over 72 GHz of the spectrum will be held by July-end.
- Auctions will be held at reserve prices recommended by the sector regulator, Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI).
- TRAI had earlier recommended about a 39% reduction in the reserve or floor price for the sale of 5G spectrum for mobile services.
What is 5G technology?
- 5G or fifth generation is the latest upgrade in the long-term evolution (LTE) mobile broadband networks.
- It mainly works in 3 bands, namely low, mid and high-frequency spectrum — all of which have their own uses as well as limitations.
Three bands of 5G
(1) Low band spectrum
- It has shown great promise in terms of coverage and speed of internet and data exchange, the maximum speed is limited to 100 Mbps (Megabits per second).
- This means that while telcos can use and install it for commercial cellphones users who may not have specific demands for very high-speed internet, the low band spectrum may not be optimal for the specialized needs of the industry.
(2) Mid-band spectrum
- It offers higher speeds compared to the low band but has limitations in terms of coverage area and penetration of signals.
- Telcos and companies, which have taken the lead on 5G, have indicated that this band may be used by industries and specialized factory units for building captive networks that can be molded into the needs of that particular industry.
(3) High-band spectrum
- It offers the highest speed of all the three bands, but has extremely limited coverage and signal penetration strength.
- Internet speeds in the high-band spectrum of 5G have been tested to be as high as 20 Gbps (gigabits per second), while, in most cases, the maximum internet data speed in 4G has been recorded at 1 Gbps.
Where does India stand in the 5G technology race?
- On par with the global players, India had, in 2018, planned to start 5G services as soon as possible, with an aim to capitalize on the better network speeds and strength that the technology promised.
- Indian private telecom players have been urging the DoT to lay out a clear road map of spectrum allocation and 5G frequency bands so that they would be able to plan the rollout of their services accordingly.
- One big hurdle, however, is the lack of flow of cash and adequate capital with some companies due to their AGR dues.
Global progress on 5G
- More than governments, global telecom companies have started building 5G networks and rolling it out to their customers on a trial basis.
- In countries like the US, some companies have taken the lead when it comes to rolling out commercial 5G for their users.
- A South Korean company, which had started researching on 5G technology way back in 2011, has, on the other hand, take the lead when it comes to building the hardware for 5G networks for several companies.
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From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Bharat Gaurav Scheme
Mains level: Pilgrim tourism
The ‘Bharat Gaurav’ train service from Coimbatore to Shirdi, a first of its kind in the country, was inaugurated at the Coimbatore North Railway Station.
What are Bharat Gaurav trains?
- Bharat Gaurav express trains are operated by private players, who have the right to use the rail infrastructure provided by the Indian Railways.
About Bharat Gaurav Scheme
- Under this Scheme, theme-based tourist circuit trains, on the lines of the Ramayana Express, can be run either by private or State-owned operators.
- Till now, the Railways had passenger segments and goods segments.
- Now, it will have a third segment for tourism under the Bharat Gaurav.
- The scheme has been developed after extensive stakeholder discussions and a lot of State Governments, including Odisha, Rajasthan, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu, have shown interest.
Key features
- Service providers, who can be an individual, company, society, trust, joint venture or consortium will be free to decide themes/circuits.
- They will offer an all-inclusive package to tourists including rail travel, hotel accommodation and sightseeing arrangement, visit to historical/heritage sites, tour guides etc.
- They have full flexibility to decide the package cost.
- The service providers will also be able to design/furnish the interior of the coaches based on the theme and put branding or advertising inside and outside of the train.
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From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Prithvi-II Missile
Mains level: Not Much
Successfully test-fire of indigenously developed, nuclear-capable Prithvi-II Missile was recently held.
Prithvi-II Missile
- The Prithvi-II surface-to-surface missile has a strike range of 350 km.
- It is capable of carrying 500-1,000 kilogram of warheads and is powered by liquid propulsion twin engines.
- It was inducted into the armory of Indian defence forces in 2003.
- It is a nine-metre-tall, single-stage liquid-fuelled missile.
- The state-of-the-art missile uses advanced inertial guidance system with manoeuvering trajectory to hit its target.
- It is the first missile to have been developed by the DRDO under the Integrated Guided Missile Development Programme (IGMDP).
Other variants of Prithvi
- The Prithvi missile project encompassed developing three variants for use by the Indian Army, Indian Air Force and the Indian Navy.
- The initial project framework of the Integrated Guided Missile Development Program outlines the variants in the following manner:
- Prithvi I (SS-150) – Army version, 150 km range with a payload of 1,000 kg
- Prithvi II (SS-250) – Air Force version, 350 km range with a payload of 500 kg
- Prithvi III (SS-350) – Naval version, 350 km range with a payload of 1,000 kg
Significance of the test-fire
- Developed as a battlefield missile, it can carry a nuclear warhead in its role as a tactical nuclear weapon.
- This is the second such test fire of nuclear capable highly manoeuvrable missile in weeks.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Archaeological Survey of India (ASI), AMSAR Act
Mains level: Not Much
Union Culture Minister said the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) was working on an amendment to make the law that provides for the preservation of monuments and archaeological sites “more flexible and people-friendly”.
What is the news?
- The ASI is working to amend Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Sites and Remains (AMASR) Act 1958.
- It particularly seeks to change the current 100-metre prohibited area around protected monuments to site-specific limits.
What is the AMASR Act?
- The AMASR Act provides for the preservation of ancient and historical monuments and archaeological sites and remains of national importance.
- It also provides for the regulation of archaeological excavations and for the protection of sculptures, carvings and other like objects.
- The Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) functions under the provisions of this act.
- The rules stipulate that area in the vicinity of the monument, within 100 metres is prohibited area.
- The area within 200 meters of the monument is regulated category. Any repair or modifications of buildings in this area requires prior permission.
About Archaeological Survey of India (ASI)
- The ASI is an attached office of the Ministry of Culture.
- It was founded in 1861 by Alexander Cunningham who also became its first Director-General.
- Under the provisions of the AMASR Act of 1958, the ASI administers more than 3650 ancient monuments, archaeological sites and remains of national importance.
- These can include everything from temples, mosques, churches, tombs, and cemeteries to palaces, forts, step-wells, and rock-cut caves.
- The Survey also maintains ancient mounds and other similar sites which represent the remains of ancient habitation.
- The ASI is headed by a Director-General who is assisted by an Additional Director General, two Joint Directors General, and 17 Directors.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Article 142
Mains level: Read the attached story
The Supreme Court has crafted a victory for a disabled student by using its special powers under Article 142 to declare the successful completion of her Master of Designs course from the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT).
What is Article 142?
Article 142 titled ‘Enforcement of decrees and orders of the Supreme Court and orders as to discovery, etc.’ has two clauses:
[1] Article 142(1)
- The Supreme Court in the exercise of its jurisdiction may pass such decree or make such order as is necessary for doing complete justice in any cause or matter pending before it.
- Any decree so passed or order so made shall be enforceable throughout the territory of India.
- It may be in such manner as may be prescribed by or under any law made by Parliament and, until provision in that behalf is so made, in such manner as the President may by order prescribe.
[2] Article 142(2)
- The Supreme Court shall have all and every power to make any order for the purpose of securing the attendance of any person, the discovery or production of any documents, or the investigation or punishment of any contempt of itself.
Important instances when Article 142 was invoked
- Bhopal Gas tragedy case: The SC awarded a compensation of $470 million to the victims and held that “prohibitions or limitations or provisions contained in ordinary laws cannot, ipso facto, act as prohibitions or limitations on the constitutional powers under Article 142.”
- Babri Masjid demolition case: The Supreme Court ordered framing of a scheme by the Centre for formation of trust to construct Ram Mandir at the Masjid demolition site in Ayodhya.
- Liquor sale ban case: The Supreme Court banned liquor shops within a distance of 500 metres from National as well as State highways in order to prevent drunken driving.
- Ex-PM Assassin case: In the case of Perarivalan, the Supreme Court invoked Article 142(1) under which it was empowered to pass any order necessary to do complete justice in any matter pending before it.
Try this PYQ from CSP 2019:
Q.With reference to the Constitution of India, prohibitions or limitations or provisions contained in ordinary laws cannot act as prohibitions or limitations on the constitutional powers under Article 142. It could mean which one of the following?
(a) The decisions taken by the Election Commission of India while discharging its duties cannot be challenged in any court of law.
(b) The Supreme Court of India is not constrained in the exercise of its powers by laws made by the Parliament.
(c) In the event of grave financial crisis in the country, the President of India can declare Financial Emergency without the counsel from the Cabinet.
(d) State Legislatures cannot make laws on certain matters without the concurrence of Union Legislature.
Post your answers here.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Diabetes , its types
Mains level: Not Much
Last week, the Indian Council of Medical Research (IMCR) released guidelines for the diagnosis, treatment, and management for type-1 diabetes.
Why such move?
- India is considered the diabetes capital of the world, and the pandemic disproportionately affected those living with the disease.
- Type 1 or childhood diabetes, however, is less talked about, although it can turn fatal without proper insulin therapy.
- Type 1 diabetes is rarer than type 2. Only 2% of all hospital cases of diabetes in the country are type 1.
What is Diabetes?
- Diabetes is a chronic (long-lasting) health condition that affects how your body turns food into energy.
- Most of the food you eat is broken down into sugar (also called glucose) and released into your bloodstream.
- When your blood sugar goes up, it signals your pancreas to release insulin.
What is Type 1 Diabetes?
- Type 1 diabetes is a condition where the pancreas completely stops producing insulin.
- Insulin is the hormone responsible for controlling the level of glucose in blood by increasing or decreasing absorption to the liver, fat, and other cells of the body.
- This is unlike type 2 diabetes — which accounts for over 90% of all diabetes cases in the country — where the body’s insulin production either goes down or the cells become resistant to the insulin.
How lethal diabetes is?
- Type 1 diabetes is predominantly diagnosed in children and adolescents.
- Although the prevalence is less, it is much more severe than type 2.
- Unlike type 2 diabetes where the body produces some insulin and which can be managed using various pills, if a person with type 1 diabetes stops taking their insulin, they die within weeks.
How rare is it?
- There are over 10 lakh children and adolescents living with type 1 diabetes in the world, with India accounting for the highest number.
- Of the 2.5 lakh people living with type 1 diabetes in India, 90,000 to 1 lakh are under the age of 14 years.
- For context, the total number of people in India living with diabetes was 7.7 crore in 2019.
- Among individuals who develop diabetes under the age of 25 years, 25.3% have type 2.
Who is at risk of type 1 diabetes?
- The exact cause of type 1 diabetes is unknown, but it is thought to be an auto-immune condition where the body’s immune system destroys the islets cells on the pancreas that produce insulin.
- Genetic factors play a role in determining whether a person will get type-1 diabetes.
- The risk of the disease in a child is 3% when the mother has it, 5% when the father has it, and 8% when a sibling has it.
- The presence of certain genes is also strongly associated with the disease.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Web and its evolution
Mains level: Not Much
Former Twitter CEO recently announced his vision for a new decentralized web platform that is being called Web 5.0 and is being built with an aim to return “ownership of data and identity to individuals”.
Various versions of Web
- Web 1.0 was the first generation of the global digital communications network. It is often referred to as the “read-only” Internet made of static web-pages that only allowed for passive engagement.
- Web 2.0 was the “read and write” Internet. Users were now able to communicate with servers and other users leading to the creation of the social web. This is the World Wide Web that we use today.
- Web 3.0 is an evolving term that is used to refer to the next generation of Internet – a “read-write-execute” web – with decentralization as its bedrock. It leverages the blockchain technology and will be driven by Artificial Intelligence and machine learning.
- Web 4.0 is not really a new version, but is a alternate version of what we already have. Web needed to adapt to its mobile surroundings. Web 4.0 connects all devices in the real and virtual world in real-time.
What is Web 5.0?
- Web 5.0 is aimed at building an extra decentralized web that puts you in control of your data and identity.
- Simply put, Web 5.0 is Web 2.0 plus Web 3.0 that will allow users to ‘own their identity’ on the Internet and ‘control their data’.
- Both Web 3.0 and Web 5.0 envision an Internet without threat of censorship – from governments or big tech, and without fear of significant outages.
What are the use cases for Web 5.0?
There can be two use cases for how Web 5.0 will change things in the future.
- Control of identity: A digital wallet that securely manages user identity, data, and authorizations for external apps and connections.
- Control over own data: Say, we can grant any music app access to settings and preferences, enabling the app to take our personalized music experience across different music apps.
Try this question from CSP 2022:
With reference to Web 3.0, consider the following statements:
- Web 3.0 technology enables people to control their own data.
- In Web 3.0 world, there can be blockchain based social networks.,
- Web 3.0 is operated by users collectively rather than a corporation.
Which of the statements given above are correct?
(a) 1 and 2 only
(b) 2 and 3 only
(c) 1 and 3 only
(d) 1, 2 and 3
Post your answers here.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: National e-Vidhan Application (NeVA)
Mains level: Parliamentary efficiency
A delegation of MLAs from Gujarat visited the UP Legislative Assembly to learn about the novel e-Vidhan system for paperless proceedings that has been recently adopted by the UP state assembly.
E-Vidhan System
- The National e-Vidhan Application (NeVA) is a system for digitising the legislative bodies of all Indian states and the Parliament through a single platform.
- It includes a website and a mobile app.
- The house proceedings, starred/unstarred questions and answers, committee reports etc. will be available on the portal.
- Nagaland became the first state to implement NeVA, in March this year.
Significance of NeVA
- There has been a shift towards digitisation in recent years by the government.
- NeVA aims for streamlining information related to various state assemblies, and to eliminate the use of paper in day-to-day functioning.
- PM Modi mentioned the idea of “One Nation One Legislative Platform” in November 2021.
- A digital platform not only gives the necessary technological boost to our parliamentary system, but also connects all the democratic units of the country.
Has this been done elsewhere?
- Himachal Pradesh’s Legislative Assembly implemented the pilot project of NeVA in 2014, where touch-screen devices replaced paper at the tables of the MLAs.
- Though both Houses of Parliament have not gone fully digital yet, governments world over are heading towards embracing the digital mode.
- In December last year, the Government of Dubai became the world’s first government to go 100 percent paperless.
- It announced all procedures were completely digitised.
- This, as per a government statement, would cut expenditure by USD 350 million and also save 14-million-man-hours.
What are the challenges?
- Access to devices and reliable internet and electricity was an issue particularly for legislators representing rural constituencies.
- Lack of training and heightened concerns over security are some more recent issues in the road to digitization.
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