Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: ISS
Mains level: Decommissioning of ISS
Western sanctions against Russia could cause the International Space Station (ISS) to crash, the head of Russian space agency Roscosmos has warned.
What is the ISS?
- The ISS was launched in 1998 as part of joint efforts by the U.S., Russia, Japan, Canada and Europe.
- The idea of a space station originated in the 1984 State of the Union address by former U.S. President Ronald Reagan.
- The space station was assembled over many years, and it operates in low-earth orbit.
- Since its inception, it has served as a laboratory suspended in space and has aided multiple scientific and technological developments.
- The ISS was originally built to operate for 15 years.
Why was ISS launched?
- A space station permits quantum leaps in research in science, communications, and in metals and lifesaving medicines which could be manufactured only in space.
- ISS has consistently maintained human presence for the past 21 years, providing astronauts with sophisticated technologies for scientific research.
What is Russia’s role in maintaining the ISS?
- The ISS is built with the co-operation of scientists from five international space agencies — NASA of the U.S., Roscosmos of Russia, JAXA of Japan, Canadian Space Agency and the European Space Agency.
- Each agency has a role to play and a share in the upkeep of the ISS.
- Both in terms of expense and effort, it is not a feat that a single country can support.
- Russia’s part in the collaboration is the module responsible for making course corrections to the orbit of the ISS.
- They also ferry astronauts to the ISS from the Earth and back.
- Until SpaceX’s dragon spacecraft came into the picture the Russian spacecrafts were the only way of reaching the ISS and returning.
Why does the orbit of the ISS need to be corrected?
- Due to its enormous weight and the ensuing drag, the ISS tends to sink from its orbit at a height of about 250 miles above the Earth.
- It has to be pushed up to its original line of motion every now and then.
- This is rather routine, even for smaller satellites.
- Approximately once a month this effort has to be made.
- The other reason for altering the path of the ISS is to avoid its collision with space debris, which can damage the station.
What is the extent of effort and expense involved in this?
- Manoeuvring the ISS is expensive.
- In a year, 7-8 tonnes of fuel may need to be spent, with each manoeuvre costing nearly a tonne of fuel.
- If a manoeuvre is put off for later, the ISS may sink a little more and the delayed operation would cost more as a larger correction needs to be made.
Risks of crashing
- The orbit of the ISS does not fly over the Russian territory mostly.
- Places that are closer to the equator run a greater risk of it falling in their domain.
- The orbit is at about 50 degrees and so most probably, the ISS will fall in that level.
- But this is only a probability, as it can move or disintegrate.
- But in case of this eventuality, people in the ISS will be brought back, modules can be detached thereby making it much smaller which will ensure that it disintegrates before touching the earth.
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From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: BrahMos Missile
Mains level: Not Much
India has acknowledged a malfunction led to accidental firing of a missile, which Pakistan says landed in its territory.
Conducting Missile Tests: NOTAM and NAVAREA Warnings
- Under the pre-notification of flight testing of ballistic missiles agreement signed in 2005, a country must provide the other an advance notification on flight test it intends to take for any land or sea launched, surface-to-surface ballistic missile.
- Before the test, the country must issue Notice to Air Missions (NOTAM) or Navigational Warning (NAVAREA) to alert aviation pilots and seafarers, respectively.
- Also, the testing country must ensure that the launch site is not within 40 km, and the planned impact area is not within 75 km of either the International Boundary (IB) or the Line of Control (LoC).
- The planned trajectory should not cross the IB or the LoC and must maintain a horizontal distance of at least 40 km from the border.
Pre-notifications to the neighbours
- The testing country must notify the other nation “no less than three days in advance of the commencement of a five day launch window within which it intends to undertake flight tests.
- The pre-notification has to be conveyed through the respective Foreign Offices and the High Commissions, as per the format annexed to this Agreement.
What is the recent case of misfire?
- Neither country has spelt this out; Pakistan has only called it a “supersonic” missile.
- Some experts have speculated that it was a test of one of India’s top missiles, BrahMos, jointly developed with Russia.
- Their assessment is based on information that it travelled 200 km, manoeuvred mid-air and travelled at 2.5 times to 3 times the speed of sound at an altitude of 40,000 feet.
| Note: BrahMos has a top speed of Mach 3, a range of around 290 km, and a cruising altitude of 15 km (around 50,000 feet). It can be fired from anywhere, is nuclear-capable, and can carry warheads of 200-300 kg. |
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From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Sohrai Murals
Mains level: NA
Santhali communities of Odisha and Jharkhand are changing their ways of painting traditional Sohrai murals to modernity.
What is Sohrai?
- Sohrai is a harvest festival of the Indian states of Bihar, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Odisha, and West Bengal.
- It also called cattle festival. It is celebrated after harvest and coincide with festival of Diwali.
What are Sohrai Murals?
- Sohrai Mural is an indigenous art form is practised by the women of Santhal Community.
- Ritualistic art is done on mud walls to welcome the harvest and to celebrate the cattle.
- The women clean their houses and decorate their walls with murals of Sohrai arts.
- This art form has continued since 10,000-4,000 BC. It was prevalent mostly in caves, but shifted to houses with mud walls.
Features of this art
- This Sohrai art form can be monochromatic or colorful.
- The people coat the wall with a layer of white mud, and while the layer is still wet, they draw with their fingertips on it.
- Their designs range from flowers and fruits to various other nature-inspired designs.
- The cow dung that was earlier used to cake the walls of the house is used to add colour.
- The dark outline is visible due to the previously applied contrasting white mud coat.
- The artists are spontaneous in their drawing. The designs are usually drawn from the artist’s memory.
- The personal experience of the artist and their interaction with nature are the biggest influence.
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From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: National Land Monetisation Corporation (NLMC)
Mains level: Asset Monetization
The Union Cabinet has approved the setting up of a new government-owned firm National Land Monetisation Corporation (NLMC) for pooling and monetizing sovereign and public sector land assets.
What is NLMC?
- The National Land Monetisation Corporation (NLMC) is being formed with an initial authorised share capital of ₹5,000 crore and paid-up capital of ₹150 crore.
- The government will appoint a chairman to head the NLMC through a “merit-based selection process” and hire private sector professionals with expertise.
- The NLMC will undertake monetization of surplus land and building assets of Central public sector enterprises (CPSEs) as well as government agencies.
How will it function?
- NLMC will own, hold, manage and monetise surplus land and building assets of CPSEs under closure and surplus non-core land assets of Government-owned CPSEs under strategic disinvestment.
- This will speed up the closure process of CPSEs and smoothen the strategic disinvestment process of Government-owned CPSEs, the statement said.
- NLMC will undertake surplus land asset monetisation as an agency function, and assist and provide technical advice to the Centre in this regard.
- The NLMC board will comprise senior Government officers and eminent experts, while its chairman and non-Government directors will be appointed through a merit-based selection process, the statement said.
- The Corporation will have minimal full-time staff, hired directly from the market on a contract basis.
Stipulated tasks
- CPSEs have referred around 3,400 acres of land and other non-core assets to the Department of Investment and Public Asset Management (DIPAM) for monetisation.
- Monetisation of non-core assets of MTNL, BSNL, BPCL, BEML, HMT, is currently at various stages of the transaction, as per latest data in the Economic Survey 2021-22.
Significance of NLMC
- The government would be able to generate substantial revenues by monetizing unused and under-used assets.
- The new corporation will also help carry out monetization of assets belonging to public sector firms that have closed or are lined up for a strategic sale.
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From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Karewa
Mains level: Land degradation
Kashmir’s highly fertile alluvial soil deposits called ‘karewas’ are being destroyed in the name of development, much to the peril of local people
What are Karewas?
- The Kashmir valley is an oval-shaped basin, 140 km long and 40 km wide, trending in the NNW–SSE direction.
- It is an intermountain valley fill, comprising of unconsolidated gravel and mud.
- A succession of plateaus is present above the Plains of Jhelum and its tributaries.
- These plateau-like terraces are called ‘Karewas’ or ‘Vudr’ in the local language.
- These plateaus are 13,000-18,000 metre-thick deposits of alluvial soil and sediments like sandstone and mudstone.
- This makes them ideal for cultivation of saffron, almonds, apples and several other cash crops.
Significance of Karewas
- Today, the karewa sediments not only hold fossils and remnants of many human civilisations and habitations, but are also the most fertile spots in the valley.
- Kashmir saffron, which received a Geographical Indication (GI) tag in 2020 for its longer and thicker stigmas, deep-red colour, high aroma and bitter flavour, is grown on these karewas.
How are they formed?
- The fertility of these patches is believed to be the result of their long history of formation.
- When formed during the Pleistocene period (2.6 million years to 11,700 years ago), the Pir Panjal range blocked the natural drainage in the region and formed a lake spanning 5,000 sq km.
- Over the next few centuries, the water receded, making way for the valley and the formation of the karewas between the mountains.
Threats to Karewas
- Despite its agricultural and archaeological importance, karewas are now being excavated to be used in construction.
- Between 1995 and 2005, massive portions of karewas in Pulwama, Budgam and Baramulla districts were razed to the ground for clay for the 125-km-long Qazigund-Baramulla rail line.
- The Srinagar airport is built on the Damodar karewa in Budgam.
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From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Pal-Dadhvav Massacre
Mains level: Major tribal uprisings in freedom struggle
The Gujarat government has marked 100 years of the Pal-Dadhvav killings, calling it a massacre “bigger than the Jallianwala Bagh”.
Pal-Dadhvav Massacre
- The massacre took place on March 7, 1922, in the Pal-Chitariya and Dadhvaav villages of Sabarkantha district, then part of Idar state.
- The day was Amalki Ekadashi, which falls just before Holi, a major festival for tribals.
- Villagers from Pal, Dadhvav, and Chitariya had gathered on the banks of river Heir as part of the ‘Eki movement’, led by one Motilal Tejawat.
- The movement was to protest against the land revenue tax (lagaan) imposed on the peasants by the British and feudal lords.
- Tejawat, who belonged to Koliyari village in the Mewad region of Rajasthan, had also mobilised Bhils from Kotda Chhavni, Sirohi, and Danta to participate.
The fateful day
- Tejawat had been outlawed by the Udaipur state, which had announced a Rs-500 reward on his head.
- The Mewad Bhil Corps (MBC), a paramilitary force raised by the British that was on the lookout for Tejawat, heard of this gathering and reached the spot.
- On a command from Tejawat, nearly 2000 Bhils raised their bows and arrows and shouted in unison- ‘We will not pay the tax’.
- The MBC commanding officer, HG Sutton, ordered his men to fire upon them creating a huge stampede.
- Nearly 1,000 tribals (Bhils) fell to bullets. While the British claimed some 22 people were killed, the Bhils believe 1,200-1,500 of them died.
Must read:
Important Rebellions and Peasant Movements
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From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Stagflation
Mains level: Economic impact of Russian invasion
Reports suggest that crude oil prices soared and touched almost $140 per barrel mark amid Russian invasion of Ukraine. This has posed a risk of causing Stagflation in India.
What is Stagflation?
- Stagflation is a stagnant growth and persistently high inflation. It, thus, describes a rather rare and curious condition of an economy.
- Iain Macleod, a Conservative Party MP in the United Kingdom, is known to have coined the phrase during his speech on the UK economy in November 1965.
- Typically, rising inflation happens when an economy is booming — people are earning lots of money, demanding lots of goods and services and as a result, prices keep going up.
- When the demand is down and the economy is in the doldrums, by the reverse logic, prices tend to stagnate (or even fall).
- But stagflation is a condition where an economy experiences the worst of both worlds — the growth rate is largely stagnant (along with rising unemployment) and inflation is not only high but persistently so.
How does one get into Stagflation?
- The best-known case of stagflation is what happened in the early and mid-1970s.
- The OPEC (Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries), which works like a cartel, decided to cut crude oil supply.
- This sent oil prices soaring across the world; they were up by almost 70%.
- This sudden oil price shock not only raised inflation everywhere, especially in the western economies but also constrained their ability to produce, thus hampering their economic growth.
- High inflation and stalled growth (and the resulting unemployment) created stagflation.
Is India facing stagflation?
- In the recent past, this question has gained prominence since late 2019, when retail inflation spiked due to unseasonal rains causing a spike in food inflation.
- In December 2019, it was also becoming difficult for the government to deny that India’s growth rate was witnessing a secular deceleration.
- As revised estimates, released in January end, now show, India’s GDP growth rate decelerated from over 8% in 2016-17 to just 3.7% in 2019-20.
- However, the answer to this question in December 2019 was a clear no.
- For one, in absolute terms, India’s GDP was still growing, albeit at a progressively slower rate.
Why this is a cause of concern?
- Russia is the world’s second-largest oil producer and, as such, if its oil is kept out of the market because of sanctions, it will not only lead to prices spiking, but also mean they will stay that way for long.
- While India is not directly involved in the conflict, it will be badly affected if oil prices move higher and stay that way.
- India imports more than 84% of its total oil demand. At one level, that puts into perspective all the talk of being Atmanirbhar (or self-reliant).
- Without these imports, India’s economy would come to a sudden halt — both metaphorically as well as actually.
Expected impact on Indian Economy
- Higher inflation would rob Indians of their purchasing power, thus bringing down their overall demand.
- In other words, people are not demanding enough for the economy to grow fast.
- Private consumer demand is the biggest driver of growth in India.
- Such aggregate demand — the monetary sum of all the soaps, phones, cars, refrigerators, holidays etc. that we all spend on in our personal capacity — accounts for more than 55% of India’s total GDP.
- Higher prices will reduce this demand, which is already struggling to come back up to the pre-Covid level.
- Fewer goods and services being demanded will then disincentivise businesses from investing in new capacities, which, in turn, will exacerbate the unemployment crisis and lead to even lower incomes.
Back2Basics: Inflation and its impact
- Depression: It is Economic depression is a sustained, long-term downturn in economic
- Deflation: It is the general fall in the price level over a period of time.
- Disinflation: It is the fall in the rate of inflation or a slower rate of inflation. Example: a fall in the inflation rate from 8% to 6%.
- Reflation: It is the act of stimulating the economy by increasing the money supply or by reducing taxes, seeking to bring the economy back up to the long-term trend, following a dip in the business cycle. It is the opposite of disinflation.
- Skewflation: It is the skewed rise in the price of some items while remaining item prices remain the same. E.g. Seasonal rise in the price of onions.
- Stagflation: The situation of rising prices along with falling growth and employment, is called stagflation. Inflation accompanied by an economic recession.
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From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Jyotiba Phule
Mains level: NA
Maharashtra Governor has recently received flak for his remarks on the social reformist couple Jyotirao and Savitribai Phule.
Who were the Phules?
- Mahatma Jyotirao and Savitribai Phule stand out as an extraordinary couple in the social and educational history of India.
- They spearheaded path-breaking work towards female education and empowerment, and towards ending caste- and gender-based discrimination.
- In 1840, at a time when child marriages were common, Savitri at the age of ten was married to Jyotirao, who was thirteen years old at the time.
- The couple later in life strove to oppose child marriage and also organised widow remarriages.
The Phules’ endeavors and legacy
- Education: Jyotirao, the revolutionary that he was, observed the lack of opportunities for education for young girls and women.
- Leaders of the masses: He started to educate his wife at home and trained her to become a teacher. Together, by 1848, the Phules started a school for girls, Shudras and Ati-Shudras in Poona.
- Widow shelter: The historic work was started by Jyotirao when he was just 21 years old, ably supported by his 18-year-old wife. In 1853, Jyotirao-Savitribai opened a care centre for pregnant widows to have safe deliveries and to end the practice of infanticide owing to social norms.
- Prevention of infanticide: The Balhatya Pratibandhak Griha (Home for the Prevention of Infanticide) started in their own house at 395, Ganj Peth, Pune.
The Satyashodhak Samaj:
- Literally meaning ‘The Truth-Seeker’s Society’ was established on September 24, 1873 by Jyotirao-Savitribai and other like-minded people.
- The Samaj advocated for social changes that went against prevalent traditions, including economical weddings, inter-caste marriages, eradication of child marriages, and widow remarriage.
- The Phules also had far-sighted goals — popularising female education, establishing an institutional structure of schools in India, and to have a society where women worked in tandem with men.
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From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Tiger Density in India
Mains level: Man-Animal Conflict
Preliminary findings of a study by the Wildlife Institute of India (WII) suggest that the density of tigers in the Sunderbans may have reached the carrying capacity of the mangrove forests, leading to frequent dispersals and a surge in human-wildlife conflict.
Tiger Density of India
- In the Terai and Shivalik hills habitat — think Corbett tiger reserve, for example — 10-16 tigers can survive in 100 sq km.
- This slides to 7-11 tigers per 100 sq km in the reserves of north-central Western Ghats such as Bandipur, and to 6-10 tigers per 100 sq km in the dry deciduous forests, such as Kanha, of central India.
- The correlation between prey availability and tiger density is fairly established.
- There is even a simple linear regression explaining the relationship in the 2018 All-India Tiger report that put the carrying capacity in the Sunderbans “at around 4 tigers” per 100 sq km.
- A joint Indo-Bangla study in 2015 pegged the tiger density at 2.85 per 100 sq km after surveying eight blocks spanning 2,913 sq km across the international borders in the Sunderbans.
Conflict: cause or effect
- The consequence, as classical theories go, is frequent dispersal of tigers leading to higher levels of human-wildlife conflict in the reserve peripheries.
- Physical (space) and biological (forest productivity) factors have an obvious influence on a reserve’s carrying capacity of tigers.
- What also plays a crucial role is how the dispersal of wildlife is tolerated by people — from the locals who live around them to policymakers who decide management strategies.
- More so when different land uses overlap and a good number of people depend on forest resources for livelihood.
Why tiger corridors are not a solution?
- But though vital for genes to travel and avoid a population bottleneck, wildlife corridors may not be the one-stop solution for conflict.
- First, not all dispersing tigers will chance upon corridors simply because many will find territories of other tigers between them and such openings.
- Even the lucky few that may take those routes are likely to wander to the forest edges along the way.
- Worse, the corridors may not lead to viable forests in reserves such as Sunderbans, bounded by the sea and villages.
Way ahead
- Artificially boosting the prey base in a reserve is often an intuitive solution but it can be counter-productive.
- To harness the umbrella effect of tigers for biodiversity conservation, it is more beneficial to increase areas occupied by tigers.
- For many, the prescription is to create safe connectivity among forests and allow tigers to disperse safely to new areas.
Try this PYQ from CSP 2020:
Q.Among the following Tiger Reserves, which one has the largest area under “Critical Tiger Habitat” ?
(a) Corbett
(b) Ranthambore
(c) Nagarjunasagar- Srisailam
(d) Sunderbans
Post your answers here.
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From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Exercise Vayu Shakti
Mains level: NA
The Indian Air Force (IAF) has decided to postpone its firepower demonstration, Ex Vayu Shakti, scheduled in the Pokhran ranges in Rajasthan.
Exercise Vayu Shakti
- It is conducted once in three years which is participated by fighters, helicopters, force enablers and support systems.
- The aim of the exercise is to detect and identify targets and neutralise them in day, dusk and night capability demonstrations.
- The Indian Air Force showcases repower capability of indigenously developed aircrafts and its missile arsenal in this exercise.
- Fighter aircraft including Jaguar, Rafale, Sukhoi-30, MIG-29, light combat aircraft Tejas, MIG-21 Bison, Hawk 32, M200 participates in the exercise.
Also read
Various Defence Exercises in News
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From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Kavach
Mains level: Highs speed railways in India and safety parameters
Kavach, this indigenously developed Automatic Train Protection System is earmarked for aggressive rollout on 2,000 km in 2022-23, according the Budget proposals.
What is Kavach?
- It is India’s very own automatic protection system in development since 2012, under the name Train Collision Avoidance System (TCAS), which got rechristened to Kavach or “armour”.
- Simply put, it is a set of electronic devices and Radio Frequency Identification devices installed in locomotives, in the signalling system as well the tracks.
- They connect to each other using ultra high radio frequencies to control the brakes of trains and also alert drivers, all based on the logic programmed into them.
Key features of Kavach
- One of its features is that by continuously refreshing the movement information of a train, it is able to send out triggers when a loco pilot jumps signal, called Signal Passed at Danger (SPAD).
- The devices also continuously relay the signals ahead to the locomotive, making it useful for loco pilots in low visibility, especially during dense fog.
- It includes the key elements from already existing, and tried and tested systems like the European Train Protection and Warning System, and the indigenous Anti Collison Device.
- It will also carry features of the high-tech European Train Control System Level-2 in future.
- The current form of Kavach adheres to the highest level of safety and reliability standard called Safety Integrity Level 4.
What is the upgrade?
- In the new avatar, India wants to position Kavach as an exportable system, a cheaper alternative to the European systems in vogue across the world.
- While now Kavach uses Ultra High Frequency, work is on to make it compatible with 4G Long Term Evolution (LTE) technology and make the product for global markets.
- Work is on to make the system such that it can be compatible with other already installed systems globally.
How far is the rollout?
- So far, Kavach has been deployed on over 1,098 km and 65 locomotives in ongoing projects of the South Central Railway.
- In future it will be implemented on 3000 km of the Delhi-Mumbai and Delhi-Howrah corridors where the tracks and systems are being upgraded to host a top speed of 160 kmph.
- Further, over 34,000 km on the High Density Network (HDN) and Highly Utilized Network (HUN) of on the Golden Quadrilateral have been included in its sanctioned plans.
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From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Theyyam ritual dance
Mains level: NA
Ritual dance Agni Kandakarnan Theyyam performing at the Kaliyattam festival has begun in Kannur, Kerala.
What is Theyyam?
- Theyyam is a popular thousand-year-old ritual form of dance worship in Kerala and Karnataka, India.
- The people of these districts consider Theyyam itself as a channel to a god and they thus seek blessings from Theyyam.
- There are about 456 types of Theyyam.
- Theyyam is performed by males, except the Devakoothu theyyam; the Devakoothu is the only Theyyam ritual performed by women.
- It is performed only in the Thekkumbad Kulom temple.
Major types of performances
- Vishnumoorthi: It is the most popular Vaishnava Theyyam. This theyyam narrates and performs the story of Hiranyakashipu’s death by the Lord Vishnu in his avatar of Narasimham.
- Sree Muthappan Theyyam: It consists of two divine figures is considered as the personification of two divine figures— the Thiruvappana or Valiya Muttapan (Vishnu) and the Vellatom or Cheriya Muttapan (Shiva).
- Padikutti Amma: It is believed to be the mother of Muthapan. The Padikutti Amma Theyyam is performed in the Palaprath Temple in Kodallur near Parassini Kadavu in the Meenam (a Malayalam month)
Thee
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From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Perini Dance
Mains level: NA
A Perini dance performance by artistes in Hyderabad has left the audience awestruck.
Perini Dance
- Perini Sivathandavam is an ancient dance form, from Telangana, which has been revived in recent times.
- It originated and prospered in Telangana, during the Kakatiya dynasty.
- It is performed in honour of Lord Siva, the hindu god of destruction and it is believed that in ancient times this was performed before the soldiers set to war.
- One can find evidence of this dance in the sculptures near Garbha Gudi (Sanctum Sanctorum) of the Ramappa Temple at Warangal.
Performance details
- The Perini siva Thandavam is a dance form usually performed by males.
- It is called ‘Dance of Warriors’. Warriors before leaving to the battlefield enact this dance before the idol of Lord Śiva (Siva).
- The dance form, Perini, reached its pinnacle during the rule of the ‘Kakatiyas’ who established their dynasty at Warangal and ruled for almost two centuries.
- It is believed that this dance form invokes ‘Prerana’ (inspiration) and is dedicated to supreme dancer, Lord Siva.
Answer this PYQ in the comment box:
Q.Which one of the following was a very important seaport in the Kakatiya kingdom? (CSP 2017)
(a) Kakinada
(b) Motupalli
(c) Machilipatnam (Masulipatnam)
(d) Nelluru
Post your answers here.
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From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Cluster Bombs and Thermobaric Weapons
Mains level: Not Much
Human rights group Amnesty International has accused Russia of using cluster bombs and vacuum bombs in the ongoing war.
What are Cluster Munitions?
- According to the 2008 Convention on Cluster Munitions, a cluster munition means a “conventional munition that is designed to disperse or release explosive submunitions each weighing less than 20 kilograms, and includes those explosive submunitions”.
- Essentially, cluster munitions are non-precision weapons that are designed to injure or kill human beings indiscriminately over a large area.
- They are often designed to destroy vehicles and infrastructure such as runways, railway or power transmission lines.
- They can be dropped from an aircraft or launched in a projectile that spins in flight, scattering many bomblets as it travels.
- Many of these bomblets end up not exploding, but continue to lie on the ground, often partially or fully hidden and difficult to locate and remove, posing a threat to the civilian population.
- The Convention on Cluster Munitions specifically identifies “cluster munition remnants”, which include “failed cluster munitions, abandoned cluster munitions, unexploded submunitions and unexploded bomblets”.
And what is a Thermobaric Weapon?
- Thermobaric weapons — also known as aerosol bombs, fuel air explosives, or vaccum bombs — use oxygen from the air for a large, high-temperature blast.
- A thermobaric weapon causes significantly greater devastation than a conventional bomb of comparable size.
- The weapons, which go off in two separate stages, can be fired as rockets from tank-mounted launchers or dropped from aircraft.
- As they hit their target, a first explosion splits open the bomb’s fuel container, releasing a cloud of fuel and metal particles that spreads over a large area.
- A second explosion then occurs, igniting the aerosol cloud into a giant ball of fire and sending out intense blast waves that can destroy even reinforced buildings or equipment and vaporise human beings.
Is it legal to use these weapons?
- Countries that have ratified the Convention on Cluster Munitions are prohibited from using cluster bombs.
- As of date, there are 110 state parties to the convention, and 13 other countries have signed up but are yet to ratify it.
- Neither Russia nor Ukraine are signatories.
- These bombs are not prohibited by any international law or agreement, but their use against civilian populations in built-up areas, schools or hospitals, could attract action under the Hague Conventions of 1899 and 1907.
- International humanitarian law prohibits the use of inherently indiscriminate weapons such as cluster munitions.
- Launching indiscriminate attacks that kill or injure civilians constitutes a war crime.
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From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Viswabharati University
Mains level: NA
The stalemate continues in Visva-Bharati University as students demand the reopening of hostels and conducting of online examinations.
Visva-Bharati
- Visva-Bharati is a central research university and an Institution of National Importance located in Shantiniketan, West Bengal, India.
- It was founded by Rabindranath Tagore who called it Visva-Bharati, which means the communion of the world with India.
- Until independence, it was a college.
- Soon after independence, the institution was given the status of a central university in 1951 by an act of the Parliament.
Its establishment
- The origins of the institution date back to 1863 when Debendranath Tagore was given a tract of land by the zamindar of Raipur, zamindar of Kirnahar.
- He set up an ashram at the spot that has now come to be called chatim tala at the heart of the town.
- The ashram was initially called Brahmacharya Ashram, which was later renamed Brahmacharya Vidyalaya.
- It was established with a view to encouraging people from all walks of life to come to the spot and meditate.
- In 1901 his youngest son Rabindranath Tagore established a co-educational school inside the premises of the ashram.
- From 1901 onwards, Tagore used the ashram to organize the Hindu Mela, which soon became a center of nationalist activity.
Try this PYQ from CSP 2021:
Q. With reference to Madanapalle of Andhra Pradesh, which one of the following statements is correct?
(a) Pingali Venkayya designed the tricolour Indian National Flag here.
(b) Pattabhi Sitaramaiah led the Quit India Movement of Andhra region from here.
(c) Rabindranath Tagore translated the National Anthem from Bengali to English here.
(d) Madame Blavatsky and Colonel Olcott set up headquarters of Theosophical Society fi rst here.
Post your answers here.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Deocha Pachami Coal Block
Mains level: NA
The West Bengal government’s ambitious Deocha Pachami coal block mining project in Birbhum district has run into hurdles over land acquisition and other issues.
Deocha Pachami Coal Block
- The State government is planning to start mining at the Deocha Pachami coal block, considered to be the largest coal block in the country with reserves of around 1,198 million tonnes of coal.
- It is spread over an area of 12.31 sq. km, which is around 3,400 acres.
- There are around 12 villages in the project area with a population of over 21,000, comprising Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes.
Why are locals upset?
- The project is facing protests over land acquisition of which a significant part is forest land.
- Locals, mostly Santhal tribals, have close affinity with the land, with forests and waterways, and rely on it for their needs.
- The tribals were harassed and had been arrested under false and serious charges for protesting.
- Also, the project details have not yet been made public; and the environment clearance is awaited.
Back2Basics:
Coal
- This is the most abundantly found fossil fuel. It is used as a domestic fuel, in industries such as iron and steel, steam engines and to generate electricity. Electricity from coal is called thermal power.
- The coal which we are using today was formed millions of years ago when giant ferns and swamps got buried under the layers of earth. Coal is therefore referred to as Buried Sunshine.
- The leading coal producers of the world include China, US, Australia, Indonesia, India.
- The coal-producing areas of India include Raniganj, Jharia, Dhanbad and Bokaro in Jharkhand.
- Coal is also classified into four ranks: anthracite, bituminous, sub-bituminous, and lignite. The ranking depends on the types and amounts of carbon the coal contains and on the amount of heat energy the coal can produce.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: ICJ, ICC
Mains level: Not Much
Ukraine has filed an application before the International Court of Justice (ICJ), instituting proceedings against the Russian Federation for committing Genocide.
International Court of Justice
- The ICJ is the principal judicial organ of the United Nations (UN).
- It was established in June 1945 by the Charter of the United Nations and began work in April 1946.
- The court is the successor to the Permanent Court of International Justice (PCIJ), which was brought into being through, and by, the League of Nations.
- It held its inaugural sitting at the Peace Palace in The Hague, Netherlands, in February 1922.
Its establishment
- After World War II, the League of Nations and PCIJ were replaced by the United Nations and ICJ respectively.
- The PCIJ was formally dissolved in April 1946, and its last president, Judge José Gustavo Guerrero of El Salvador, became the first president of the ICJ.
- The first case, which was brought by the UK against Albania over concerning incidents in the Corfu channel — the narrow strait of the Ionian Sea between the Greek island of Corfu and Albania.
Seat and role
- Like the PCIJ, the ICJ is based at the Peace Palace in The Hague.
- It is the only one of the six principal organs of the UN that is not located in New York City.
- The other five organs are:
- General Assembly
- Security Council
- Economic and Social Council
- Trusteeship Council
- Secretariat
- The court as a whole must represent the main forms of civilization and the principal legal systems of the world.
- The judges of the court are assisted by a Registry, the administrative organ of the ICJ. English and French are the ICJ’s official languages.
Jurisdiction of ICJ
- All members of the UN are automatically parties to the ICJ statute, but this does not automatically give the ICJ jurisdiction over disputes involving them.
- The ICJ gets jurisdiction only if both parties consent to it.
- The judgment of the ICJ is final and technically binding on the parties to a case.
- There is no provision of appeal; it can at the most, be subject to interpretation or, upon the discovery of a new fact, revision.
- However, the ICJ has no way to ensure compliance of its orders, and its authority is derived from the willingness of countries to abide by them.
Judges of the court
- The ICJ has 15 judges who are elected to nine-year terms by the UN General Assembly and Security Council, which vote simultaneously but separately.
- To be elected, a candidate must receive a majority of the votes in both bodies, a requirement that sometimes necessitates multiple rounds of voting.
- Elections are held at the UNHQ in New York during the annual UNGA meeting.
- A third of the court is elected every three years.
- The judges elected at the triennial election commence their term of office on February 6 of the following year.
- The president and vice-president of the court are elected for three-year terms by secret ballot. Judges are eligible for re-election.
India in ICJ
- Four Indians have been members of the ICJ so far.
- Justice Dalveer Bhandari, former judge of the Supreme Court, has been serving at the ICJ since 2012.
- Former Chief Justice of India R S Pathak served from 1989-91, and former Chief Election Commissioner of India Nagendra Singh from 1973-88.
- Singh was also president of the court from 1985-88, and vice-president from 1976-79.
- Before him, Sir Benegal Rau, who was an advisor to the Constituent Assembly, was a member of the ICJ from 1952-53.
Indian cases at the ICJ
- India has been a party to a case at the ICJ on six occasions, four of which have involved Pakistan.
- They are:
- Right of Passage over Indian Territory (Portugal v. India, culminated 1960);
- Appeal Relating to the Jurisdiction of the ICAO Council (India v. Pakistan, culminated 1972);
- Trial of Pakistani Prisoners of War (Pakistan v. India, culminated 1973);
- Aerial Incident of 10 August 1999 (Pakistan v. India, culminated 2000);
- Obligations concerning Negotiations relating to Cessation of the Nuclear Arms Race and to Nuclear Disarmament (Marshall Islands v. India, culminated 2016); and
- (Kulbhushan) Jadhav (India v. Pakistan, culminated 2019).
Back2Basics:
| BASIS |
INTERNATIONAL CRIMINAL COURT |
INTERNATIONAL COURT OF JUSTICE |
| Relationship with the United Nations |
Independent; UN Security Council may refer matters to it |
Primary judicial branch of the UN. |
| Members |
105 members |
193 members (all members of the United Nations). |
| Derives authority from |
The Rome Statute |
Charter of the United Nations and the Statute of the International Court of Justice. |
| Scope of work |
Criminal matters – investigating and prosecuting crimes of genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes |
Civil matters- settling legal disputes between the member-states and giving advisory opinions on international legal issues |
| Jurisdiction |
Only the member nations of the ICC, which means around 105 countries. Can try individuals. |
All the member nations of the UN, which means 193 countries. Cannot try individuals and other private entities. |
| Composition |
1 prosecutor and 18 judges, who are elected for a 9-year term each by the member-states which make up the Assembly of State Parties with all being from different nations |
15 judges who are elected for a 9-year term each and are all from different nations. |
| Funding |
Funded by state parties to the Rome Statute and voluntary contributions from the United Nations, governments, individual corporations, etc. |
Funded by the UN. |
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From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: International Monsoons Project Office (IMPO)
Mains level: Not Much
Union Minister of Science & Technology has launched the International Monsoons Project Office (IMPO).
International Monsoons Project Office (IMPO)
- IMPO will be hosted at the Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology (IITM), Pune, an institution under the Ministry of Earth Sciences, Govt of India, initially for five years.
- Setting up the IMPO reiterates the importance of monsoons for the national economy.
- It would encompass activities and connections related to international monsoon research that would be identified and fostered under the leadership of the World Climate Research Programme.
- Both the World Climate Research Programme and World Weather Research Programme are international programmes coordinated by the United Nations World Meteorological Organisation (WMO).
Significance of IMPO
- Setting up the IMPO in India would mean expanding an integrated scientific approach to solve the seasonal variability of monsoons, enhancing the prediction skill of monsoons and cyclones.
- It would promote knowledge sharing and capacity building in areas of monsoon research crucial for agriculture, water resources and disaster management, hydropower and climate-sensitive socio-economic sectors.
- It is a step towards making India a global hub for monsoon research and coordination in a seamless manner for addressing common and region-specific aspects of the monsoons around the world.
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Back2Basics:
Various terms related to Indian Monsoon
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: An-225
Mains level: NA
Amid Moscow’s assault on Ukraine, the world’s largest cargo aircraft, the Antonov AN-225 or ‘Mriya’, was destroyed by Russian troops during an attack on an airport near Kyiv.
Antonov AN-225
- With a wingspan of over 290-feet, the unique Antonov AN-225 was designed in what was then the Ukrainian USSR during the 1980s amid a tense race to space between the US and the Soviet Union.
- The plane, nicknamed ‘Mriya’ or ‘dream’ in Ukrainian, is very popular in aviation circles, and is known to attract huge crowds of fans at air shows around the world.
- It was initially designed as part of the Soviet aeronautical program to carry the Buran, which was the Soviet version of the US’ Space Shuttle.
- After the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, when the Buran program was cancelled, the aircraft was instead used to transport massive cargo loads.
Its manufacturing
- Only one AN-225 was ever built by the Kyiv-based Antonov Company, the defence manufacturers who originally designed the plane.
- It is essentially a large version of another design by the Antonoc Company — the four-engine An-124 ‘Condor’, which is used by the Russian Air Force.
- The aircraft first took flight in 1988 and has been in use ever since.
- In the recent past, it has been used for delivering relief supplies during calamities in neighbouring nations.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Munich Security Conference
Mains level: NA
The latest edition of MSC a week ago assumed significance as it was here that the Ukrainian President appealed for help ahead of the Russian invasion.
Munich Security Conference
- The Munich Security Conference is an annual conference on international security policy that has been held in Munich, Bavaria, Germany since 1963.
- It brings together heads of state, diplomats and business leaders from the world’s leading democracies for three days of meetings and presentations.
- It is the world’s largest gathering of its kind.
- Over the past four decades the MSC has become the most important independent forum for the exchange of views by international security policy decision-makers.
How did it begin?
- When the MSC was founded in 1963, it was envisioned as a way for leaders, mostly from the West, to discuss threats and dangers in an informal setting.
- Most of the concerns at the time stemmed from the Cold War, which had dominated world politics for nearly a half-century.
- Over time, the conference evolved into a platform for airing grievances and workshopping political agreements, some of them outside the realm of East-West relations.
- In recent years, the conference has often invited leaders from authoritarian countries, and even adversaries, to speak.
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