Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Devasahayam Pillai
Mains level: NA
Pope Francis canonised Devasahayam Pillai as a Catholic Saint during an event in St Peter’s Basilica.
Who was Devasahayam Pillai?
- Devasahayam was born on April 23, 1712 in Nattalam village in Kanyakumari district, and went on to serve in the court of Marthanda Varma of Travancore.
- After meeting a Dutch naval commander at the court, Devasahayam was baptised in 1745, and assumed the name ‘Lazarus’, meaning ‘God is my help’.
His works
- While preaching, he particularly insisted on the equality of all people, despite caste differences.
- His conversion did not go well with the heads of his native religion.
- False charges of treason and espionage were brought against him and he was divested of his post in the royal administration.
- On January 14, 1752, Devasahayam was shot dead in the Aralvaimozhy forest.
- Since then, he is widely considered a martyr, and his mortal remains were interred inside what is now Saint Francis Xavier’s Cathedral in Kottar, Nagercoil.
Other canonized saints in India
- Of the eleven, Gonsalo Garcia, born in India to Portuguese parents in Mumbai in 1557, is considered to have been the first India-born saint.
- In 2008, Kerala-born Sister Alphonsa was declared as the first woman Catholic saint from India.
- Mother Teresa had a fast track to sainthood when she was canonized in 2016.
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From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Iron Age
Mains level: Ancient Indian Civilizations
Carbon dating of excavated finds in Tamil Nadu pushes evidence of iron being used in India back to 4,200 years ago, the Tamil Nadu government announced this week on the basis of an archaeological report.
What is the news?
- Before this, the earliest evidence of iron use was from 1900-2000 BCE for the country, and from 1500 BCE for Tamil Nadu.
- The latest evidence dates the findings from Tamil Nadu to 2172 BCE! Much older.
- The results of dating, used accelerator mass spectroscopy.
Where were these objects found?
- The excavations are from Mayiladumparai near Krishnagiri in Tamil Nadu, about 100 km south of Bengaluru.
- Mayiladumparai is an important site with cultural material dating back between the Microlithic (30,000 BCE) and Early Historic (600 BCE) ages.
- The site is situated in the midst of several archaeological sites such as Togarapalli, Gangavaram, Sandur, Vedarthattakkal, Guttur, Gidlur, Sappamutlu and Kappalavadi.
Outcome: Varying span of Iron Age
- The dates when humans entered the Iron Age vary from one region of the world to another.
- In India, too, the date has been revised with successive findings over the decades.
When the Iron Age is considered in India?
- In 1979, use of iron was traced to 1300 BCE at Ahar in Rajasthan. This is what we have been reading in NCERTs.
- Later, samples at Bukkasagara in Karnataka, indicating iron production, were dated back to 1530 BCE.
- The date was subsequently pushed back to 1700-1800 BCE with excavations finding evidence of iron smelting at Raipura in the Mid-Ganga valley.
- It was then to 1900-2000 BCE based on investigations in sites at Malhar near Varanasi and Brahmagiri in North Karnataka.
- A series of dating results on finds from various parts in India have shown evidence of iron-ore technology before 1800 BCE.
- Before the latest discovery, the earliest evidence of iron use for Tamil Nadu was from Thelunganur and Mangadu near Mettur, dating back to 1500 BCE.
Historical significance
- Iron is not known to have been used in the Indus Valley, from where the use of copper in India is said to have originated (1500 BCE).
- But non-availability of copper for technological and mass exploitation forced other regions to remain in the Stone Age.
- When iron technology was invented, it led to the production of agricultural tools and weapons, leading to production required for a civilisation ahead of economic and cultural progress.
- While useful tools were made out of copper, these were brittle and not as strong as iron tools would be.
- With the latest evidence tracing our Iron Age to 2000 BCE from 1500 BC, we can assume that our cultural seeds were laid in 2000 BCE.
- And the benefit of socio-economic changes and massive production triggered by the iron technology gave its first fruit around 600 BCE — the Tamil Brahmi scripts.
Culture and politics
- The Tamil Brahmi scripts were once believed to have originated around 300 BCE, until a landmark finding in 2019 pushed the date back to 600 BCE.
- This dating narrowed the gap between the Indus Valley civilisation and Tamilagam/South India’s Sangam Age.
- This, and the latest findings, are politically significant.
- The dating of the scripts, based on excavations from sites including Keeladi near Madurai, became controversial when the ASI did not go for advanced carbon dating tests.
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From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: INSACOG
Mains level: NA
The PM has announced that the Indian SARS-CoV-2 Genomics Consortium (INSACOG) would be extended to India’s neighbouring countries.
What is INSACOG?
- INSACOG was established in December 2020 as a joint initiative of the Union Health Ministry of Health and Department of Biotechnology (DBT).
- It aims to expand the whole-genome sequencing of SARS-CoV-2, the coronavirus that causes the Covid-19 disease, across India with the aim of understanding how the virus spreads and evolves.
- It functions under the Ministry of Science and Technology with the Council for Scientific & Industrial Research (CSIR) and Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR).
Composition of INSACOG
- INSACOG started out with the participation of 10 national research laboratories of the central government, and gradually expanded to a network of 38 labs.
- It now includes private labs operating on a hub-and-spoke model.
- These works to monitor genomic variations in SARS-CoV-2 by a sentinel sequencing effort which is facilitated by the National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC).
- It now involves the Central Surveillance Unit (CSU) under the central government’s Integrated Disease Surveillance Programme (IDSP).
Working of the INSACOG
- The data from the genome sequencing laboratories is analysed as per the field data trends to study the linkages, if any, between the genomic variants and epidemiological trends.
- INSACOG helps to understand super spreader events and outbreaks, and strengthen public health interventions across the country to help break chains of transmission.
- Linking this data with IDSP data and the patient’s symptoms helps to better understand viral infection dynamics, and trends of morbidity and mortality.
- The data can be linked with host genomics, immunology, clinical outcomes, and risk factors for a more comprehensive outlook.
- Sequencing assumes added significance as the incidence of reinfections and vaccine breakthroughs increases.
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From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: India Hypertension Control Initiative (IHCI)
Mains level: Non-communicable diseases burden on India
A project called the India Hypertension Control Initiative (IHCI) finds that nearly 23% out of 2.1 million Indians have uncontrolled blood pressure.
What is the IHCI?
- Recognizing that hypertension is a serious, and growing, health issue in India, the Health Ministry, the ICMR, State Governments, and WHO-India began a five-year initiative to monitor and treat hypertension.
- The programme was launched in November 2017.
- In the first year, IHCI covered 26 districts across five States — Punjab, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Telangana, and Maharashtra.
- By December 2020, IHCI was expanded to 52 districts across ten States — Andhra Pradesh (1), Chhattisgarh (2), Karnataka (2), Kerala (4), Madhya Pradesh (6), Maharashtra (13), Punjab (5), Tamil Nadu (1), Telangana (13) and West Bengal (5).
What is Hypertension?
- Hypertension is defined as having systolic blood pressure level greater than or equal to 140 mmHg or diastolic blood pressure level greater than or equal to 90 mmHg.
- The definition also assumes taking anti-hypertensive medication to lower his/her blood pressure.
Why need IHCI?
- India has committed to a “25 by 25” goal, which aims to reduce premature mortality due to non-communicable diseases (NCDs) by 25% by 2025.
- To achieve India’s target of a 25%, approximately 4.5 crore additional people with hypertension need to get their BP under control by 2025.
What has the IHCI found so far?
- Its most important discovery so far is that nearly one-fourth of (23%) patients under the programme had uncontrolled blood pressure, and 27% did not return for a follow-up in the first quarter of 2021.
- There were an estimated 20 crore adults with hypertension in the country.
- There weren’t enough validated high-quality digital blood pressure monitors in several health facilities, which affected accuracy of hypertension diagnosis.
How prevalent is the problem of hypertension?
- About one-fourth of women and men aged 40 to 49 years have hypertension.
- Southern States have a higher prevalence of hypertension than the national average, according to the latest edition of the National Family Health Survey.
- While 21.3% of women and 24% of men aged above 15 have hypertension in the country, the prevalence is the highest in Kerala where 32.8% men and 30.9% women have been diagnosed with hypertension.
- Kerala is followed by Telangana where the prevalence is 31.4% in men and 26.1% in women.
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From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Cap on cash withdrawal
Mains level: Tax evasion
The government has made requirement of a Permanent Account Number (PAN) or Aadhaar number for depositing or withdrawing Rs 20 lakh or more in a financial year or for opening a current account mandatory.
Regulating high-value transactions
- The Central Board of Direct Taxes, in a notification, said furnishing PAN or biometric Aadhaar will be mandatory for such high-value cash deposits or withdrawals from banks in a financial year.
- The same will be applied for opening of a current account or cash credit account with a bank or post office.
- Banks, post offices and co-operative societies would be required to report the transactions of deposits and withdrawals aggregating to Rs 20 lakh or more in a financial year.
- As of now, PAN is required to be furnished for cash deposits of Rs 50,000 or more in a day.
- With these rules, a threshold of Rs 20 lakh has been defined for the full financial year.
How will this help tax department?
- This move will help the government in tracing the movement of cash in the financial system.
- It is expected to help the income tax department monitor deposits/withdrawals where tax would not be getting paid by the individual otherwise on his or her income.
Why PAN-Aadhaar interoperability?
- The PAN-Aadhaar interoperability will help banks to record details for those who don’t have PAN.
- The interchangeable provision in the rules would allow a bank or financial institution to ask for Aadhaar in case an individual states that he or she doesn’t have PAN.
- The Finance Act, 2019, has provided for the interchangeability of PAN with Aadhaar.
- It has been provided that every person who is required to furnish or intimate or quote his PAN under the Income-tax Act.
- Those who, has not been allotted a PAN but possesses the Aadhaar number, may furnish or intimate or quote his Aadhaar in lieu of PAN.
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From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Green Manure
Mains level: Soil Health Management
The Punjab agriculture department is promoting the cultivation of green manure these days.
What is the news?
- Punjab Agro is providing subsidy on the seed at the rate of Rs 2,000 per quintal, which costs Rs 6,300 per quintal without subsidy
- The farmers can avail its seed from the block level offices of the agriculture department as limited stock is available.
What is Green Manure?
- Green manures are crops grown specifically for maintaining soil fertility and structure.
- It is done by leaving uprooted or sown crops parts, allowing them to wither onto the field and serve as mulch and soil fertilizers.
- They are normally incorporated back into the soil, either directly, or after removal and composting.
- There are three main varieties of green manure, including
- Dhaincha
- Cowpea
- Sunhemp
- Also some crops such as summer moong, mash pulses and guar act as green manure.
- They can be sown after wheat cultivation
Characteristics of green manure
- Green manure must be leguminous in nature
- They must bear maximum nodules on its roots to fix large amount of atmospheric nitrogen in the soil.
Various policy initiatives
- Under Sub- Mission on Seed and Planting Material (SMSP), the govt. provides 50% cost assistance for the distribution of green manure required for a one-acre area per farmer.
- The Paramparagat Krishi Vikas Yojana (PKVY) promotes cluster-based organic farming with PGS (Participatory Guarantee System) certification.
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From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Highlights of State of the World’s Birds Report
Mains level: Not Much
The State of the World’s Birds, an annual review of environmental resources has revealed that the population of 48% of the 10,994 surviving species of birds is declining.
State of the World’s Birds
- The report is published by the Manchester Metropolitan University.
- It gives an overview of the changes in the knowledge of avian biodiversity and the extent to which it is imperilled.
- The study draws from BirdLife International’s latest assessment of all birds for the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s Red List.
What are the key findings of the study?
- The study found that 5,245 or about 48% of the existing bird species worldwide are known or suspected to be undergoing population declines.
- While 4,295 or 39% of the species have stable trends, about 7% or 778 species have increasing population trends.
- It shows 1,481 or 13.5% species are currently threatened with global extinction.
Where the birds are threatened the most?
- The more threatened bird species (86.4%) are found in tropical than in temperate latitudes (31.7%).
- Such hotspots are concentrated in the tropical Andes, southeast Brazil, eastern Himalayas, eastern Madagascar, and Southeast Asian islands.
What is the importance of birds to ecosystems and culture?
- Birds contribute toward many ecosystem services that either directly or indirectly benefit humanity.
- These include provisioning, regulating, cultural, and supporting services.
- The functional role of birds within ecosystems as pollinators, seed-dispersers, ecosystem engineers, scavengers and predators.
- They not only facilitate accrual and maintenance of biodiversity but also support human endeavours such as sustainable agriculture via pest control besides aiding other animals to multiply.
- For instance, coral reef fish productivity has been shown to increase as seabird colonies recovered following rat eradication in the Chagos archipelago.
- Wild birds and products derived from them are also economically important as food (meat, eggs).
What are the threats contributing to avian biodiversity loss?
- The study lists eight factors, topped by land cover and land-use change.
- The continued growth of human populations and of per capita rates of consumption lead directly to conversion and degradation of primary natural habitats.
- Deforestation has been driven by afforestation with plantations (often of non-native species) plus land abandonment in parts of the global North, with net loss in the tropics.
- The other factors are habitat fragmentation, degradation, hunting and trapping.
Try this PYQ from CSP 2020:
Q.With reference to India’s Biodiversity, Ceylon frogmouth, Coppersmith barbet, Gray-chinned minivet and White-throated redstart are
(a) Birds
(b) Primates
(c) Reptiles
(d) Amphibians
Post your answers here.
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From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Martand Sun Temple
Mains level: Not Much
After Prayers held at the ruins of the eighth-century Martand Sun Temple in Jammu and Kashmir’s Anantnag is deemed to be a violation of the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) rules.
About Martand Sun Temple
- The Martand Sun Temple is a Hindu temple located near the city of Anantnag in the Kashmir Valley.
- It dates back to the eighth century AD and was dedicated to Surya, the chief solar deity.
- The temple was destroyed by Sikandar Shah Miri in a bid to undertake mass conversion and execution of Hindus in the valley.
- According to Kalhana, the Temple was commissioned by Lalitaditya Muktapida in the eighth century AD.
- The temple is built on top of a plateau from where one can view whole of the Kashmir Valley.
- From the ruins the visible architecture seems to be blended with the Gandharan, Gupta and Chinese forms of architecture.
Why in news now?
- According to ASI, prayers are allowed at its protected sites only if they were “functioning places of worship” at the time it took charge of them.
- No religious rituals can be conducted at non-living monuments where there has been no continuity of worship when it became an ASI-protected site.
What are the living/non-living monument?
- If some activity, like any kind of worship, has been going on for years in the structure, then it is taken over as a living monument.
- But where no activity has taken place, say an abandoned building, then it is declared a dead monument.
- The latter is difficult to restore because it is generally covered by a lot of overgrowths.
- The best-known example of a living ASI monument is the Taj Mahal in Agra, where namaz is held every Friday.
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From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Pulitzer Prize
Mains level: NA
A team of four Indian photographers have won the 2022 Pulitzer Prize for feature photography for their coverage of the Covid-19 crisis in India.
About Pulitzer Prize
- The Pulitzer is the most coveted award for journalists from across the world.
- It is announced by America’s Columbia University and bestowed on the recommendation of the Pulitzer Prize Board.
Who was Joseph Pulitzer, after whom the awards are named?
- Born to a wealthy family of Magyar-Jewish origin in Mako, Hungary, in 1847, Joseph Pulitzer had a stint in the military before he built a reputation of being a “tireless journalist”.
- In the late 1860s he joined the German-language daily newspaper Westliche Post, and by 25 he had become a publisher.
- In 1884, he was elected to the US House of Representatives from New York’s ninth district as a Democrat.
When were the Pulitzer awards instituted?
- The awards were instituted according to Pulitzer’s will, framed in 1904, where he made a provision for the establishment of the Pulitzer Prizes as an incentive to excellence.
- Pulitzer specified solely four awards in journalism, four in letters and drama, one for education, and five travelling scholarships.
- After his death in 1911, the first Pulitzer Prizes were awarded in June, 1917.
Indians who have won the Pulitzer
- A member of the Ghadar Party in America, journalist Gobind Behari Lal, was the first from India to win the Prize in 1937.
- In 2000, London-born Indian-American writer Jhumpa Lahiri won the Pulitzer Prize in Fiction for her debut short story collection Interpreter of Maladies.
- In 2003, Mumbai-born Geeta Anand was part of the team at Wall Street Journal that won a Pulitzer Prize for reporting on corporate corruption.
- In 2016, Indian-American Sanghamitra Kalita, then managing editor of Los Angeles Times, won the Pulitzer.
The list goes on to date ….
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From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Tropical cyclones
Mains level: Frequent recurrence of Cyclones in India
Severe cyclonic storm ‘Asani’, packing winds above 105 kmph and setting off heavy rain, is likely to make landfall on the eastern coast of India.
What are tropical Cyclones?
- A tropical cyclone is an intense circular storm that originates over warm tropical oceans and is characterized by low atmospheric pressure, high winds, and heavy rain.
- Cyclones are formed over slightly warm ocean waters. The temperature of the top layer of the sea, up to a depth of about 60 meters, need to be at least 28°C to support the formation of a cyclone.
- This explains why the April-May and October-December periods are conducive for cyclones.
- Then, the low level of air above the waters needs to have an ‘anticlockwise’ rotation (in the northern hemisphere; clockwise in the southern hemisphere).
- During these periods, there is an ITCZ in the Bay of Bengal whose southern boundary experiences winds from west to east, while the northern boundary has winds flowing east to west.
- Once formed, cyclones in this area usually move northwest. As it travels over the sea, the cyclone gathers more moist air from the warm sea which adds to its heft.
Requirements for a Cyclone to form
There are six main requirements for tropical cyclogenesis:
- Sufficiently warm sea surface temperatures
- Atmospheric instability
- High humidity in the lower to middle levels of the troposphere
- Enough Coriolis force to develop a low-pressure centre
- A pre-existing low-level focus or disturbance
- Low vertical wind shear
How are the cyclones named?
- In 2000, a group of nations called WMO/ESCAP (World Meteorological Organisation/United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific) decided to name cyclones.
- It comprised Bangladesh, India, the Maldives, Myanmar, Oman, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Thailand, decided to start naming cyclones in the region.
- After each country sent in suggestions, the WMO/ESCAP Panel on Tropical Cyclones (PTC) finalised the list.
- The WMO/ESCAP expanded to include five more countries in 2018 — Iran, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates and Yemen.
Why is it important to name cyclones?
- Adopting names for cyclones makes it easier for people to remember, as opposed to numbers and technical terms.
- It’s easier and less confusing to say “Cyclone Titli” than remember the storm’s number or its longitude and latitude.
- Apart from the general public, it also helps the scientific community, the media, disaster managers etc.
- With a name, it is also easy to identify individual cyclones, create awareness of its development, rapidly disseminate warnings to increase community preparedness etc.
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From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Monkey Pox
Mains level: Zoonotic Diseases
The UK health authorities have confirmed a case of Monkeypox, which is a virus passed from infected animals such as rodents to humans, in someone with a recent travel history to Nigeria where they are believed to have caught it.
What is Monkeypox?
- The monkeypox virus is an orthopoxvirus, which is a genus of viruses that also includes the variola virus, which causes smallpox, and vaccinia virus, which was used in the smallpox vaccine.
- It causes symptoms similar to smallpox, although they are less severe.
- While vaccination eradicated smallpox worldwide in 1980, monkeypox continues to occur in a swathe of countries in Central and West Africa, and has on occasion showed up elsewhere.
- According to the WHO, two distinct clade are identified: the West African clade and the Congo Basin clade, also known as the Central African clade.
Its origin
- Monkeypox is a zoonosis, that is, a disease that is transmitted from infected animals to humans.
- Monkeypox virus infection has been detected in squirrels, Gambian poached rats, dormice, and some species of monkeys.
- According to the WHO, cases occur close to tropical rainforests inhabited by animals that carry the virus.
Symptoms and treatment
- Monkeypox begins with a fever, headache, muscle aches, back ache, and exhaustion.
- It also causes the lymph nodes to swell (lymphadenopathy), which smallpox does not.
- The WHO underlines that it is important to not confuse monkeypox with chickenpox, measles, bacterial skin infections, scabies, syphilis and medication-associated allergies.
- The incubation period (time from infection to symptoms) for monkeypox is usually 7-14 days but can range from 5-21 days.
- There is no safe, proven treatment for monkeypox yet.
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From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: El-Nino, La-Nina
Mains level: ENSO impact on Indian Monsson
This year the La Nina is being blamed for worsening the longest spell of heatwaves from March to April in north, west and Central India.
In most years, meteorologists considered the La Nina to be a friend of India.
What is El Nino and La Nina?
- While El Niño (Spanish for ‘little boy’), the more common expression, is the abnormal surface warming observed along the eastern and central regions of the Pacific Ocean (the region between Peru and Papua New Guinea).
- The La Niña (Spanish for ‘little girl’) is an abnormal cooling of these surface waters.
- Together, the El Niño (Warm Phase) and La Niña (Cool Phase) phenomena are termed as El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO).
- These are large-scale ocean phenomena which influence the global weather — winds, temperature and rainfall. They have the ability to trigger extreme weather events like droughts, floods, hot and cold conditions, globally.
- Each cycle can last anywhere between 9 to 12 months, at times extendable to 18 months — and re-occur after every three to five years.
- Meteorologists record the sea surface temperatures for four different regions, known as Niño regions, along this equatorial belt.
- Depending on the temperatures, they forecast either as an El Niño, an ENSO neutral phase, or a La Niña.
Impact on India
- El Nino during winter causes warm conditions over the Indian subcontinent and during summer, it leads to dry conditions and deficient monsoon.
- Whereas La Nina results in better than normal monsoon in India.
- It has been established that Indian summer monsoon is a fully coupled land-atmosphere-ocean system and that it is linked to ocean temperature variability.
- In an agricultural country like India, the extreme departure from normal seasonal rainfall seriously affects the agricultural output and thus the economy of the country.
Try this PYQ:
La Nina is suspected to have caused recent floods in Australia. How is La Nina different from El Nino?
- La Nina is characterized by unusually cold ocean temperature in equatorial Indian Ocean whereas El Nino is characterized by unusually warm ocean temperature in the equatorial Pacific Ocean.
- El Nino has an adverse effect on south-west monsoon of India, but La Nina has no effect on monsoon climate.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
(a) Only 1
(b) Only 2
(c) Both 1 and 2
(d) Neither 1 nor 2
Post your answers here.
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From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Indus valley civilization and its decline
Mains level: Not Much
DNA samples collected from two human skeletons unearthed at a necropolis of a Harappan-era city site in Rakhigarhi, Haryana have been sent for scientific examination.
Why in news?
- DNA analysis might tell about the ancestry and food habits of people who lived in the Rakhigarhi region thousands of years ago.
About Rakhi Garhi
- The ancient site of Rakhi-Khas and Rakhi-Shahpur are collectively known as Rakhigarhi, located on the right bank of the now dried up Palaeo-channel of Drishadvati.
- It is located in the Ghaggar-Hakra river plain in the Hissar district of Haryana.
- Seven mounds are located here.
- The site has yielded various stages of Harappan culture and is by far one of the largest Harappan sites in India.
- The site shows the sequential development of the Indus culture in the now dried up Saraswati basin.
Major findings at Rakhi Garhi
- Findings confirm both early and mature Harappan phases and include 4,600-year-old human skeletons, fortification and bricks.
- Digging so far reveals a well-planned city with 1.92 m wide roads, a bit wider than in Kalibangan.
- The pottery is similar to Kalibangan and Banawali.
- Pits surrounded by walls have been found, which are thought to be for sacrificial or some religious ceremonies.
- There are brick-lined drains to handle sewage from the houses.
- Terracotta statues, weights, bronze artefacts, comb, copper fish hooks, needles and terracotta seals have also been found.
- A bronze vessel has been found which is decorated with gold and silver.
- A granary belonging to the mature Harappan phase has been found here.
- Fire altars structures were revealed in Rakhigarhi.
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From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Shukrayan Mission
Mains level: Interplanetary missions
India’s Venus mission has been conceived. The project report for ‘Shukrayaan-I’ – the name given to ISRO’s Venus mission
About Venus
- Venus is the second planet from the Sun and is Earth’s closest planetary neighbor.
- It’s one of the four inner, terrestrial (or rocky) planets, and it’s often called Earth’s twin because it’s similar in size and density.
- Venus has a thick, toxic atmosphere filled with carbon dioxide and it’s perpetually shrouded in thick, yellowish clouds of sulphuric acid that trap heat, causing a runaway greenhouse effect.
- It’s the hottest planet in our solar system, even though Mercury is closer to the Sun.
- Surface temperatures on Venus are about 900 degrees Fahrenheit (475 degrees Celsius) – hot enough to melt lead.
- Venus has crushing air pressure at its surface – more than 90 times that of Earth – similar to the pressure you’d encounter a mile below the ocean on Earth.
Do you know?
Venus rotates on its axis backward, compared to most of the other planets in the solar system. This means that, on Venus, the Sun rises in the west and sets in the east, opposite to what we experience on Earth. (It’s not the only planet in our solar system with such an oddball rotation – Uranus spins on its side.)
What is Shukrayaan-I Mission?
- Shukrayaan will be India’s first orbiter mission to Venus after sending similar missions to the Moon and Mars.
- The mission aims to study the surface of the hottest planet in our solar system and unravel the mysteries under the Sulphuric Acid clouds enveloping it.
- The orbiter is the third mission announced to the inferno world of Venus after NASA announced two probes followed by a spacecraft by the European Space Agency.
- The probes will investigate the world looking for clues to understand the destructive past of Earth’s mysterious twin, which scientists believe once had vast reserves of water similar to our planet.
Stated objectives
- Investigation of the surface processes and shallow sub-surface stratigraphy, including active volcanic hotspots and lava flows
- Studying the structure, composition, and dynamics of the atmosphere
- Investigation of solar wind interaction with the Venusian Ionosphere
Delay with the launch
- The ISRO is eyeing the December 2024 window for launch with orbital maneuvers planned for the following year.
- This is when earth and Venus would be so aligned that the spacecraft could be put in the neighboring planet’s orbit using a minimum amount of propellant.
- The next similar window would be available in 2031.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: VPN, Cert-In
Mains level: Read the attached story
Recently, the Indian Computer Emergency Response Team (Cert-In) issued new directives that require Virtual Private Network (VPN) providers to store user data for five years.
What is VPN?
- VPN describes the opportunity to establish a protected network connection when using public networks.
- It encrypts internet traffic and disguise a user’s online identity.
- This makes it more difficult for third parties to track your activities online and steal data.
- The encryption takes place in real time.
How does a VPN work?
- A VPN hides your IP address by letting the network redirect it through a specially configured remote server run by a VPN host.
- This means that if you surf online with a VPN, the VPN server becomes the source of your data.
- This means your Internet Service Provider (ISP) and other third parties cannot see which websites you visit or what data you send and receive online.
- A VPN works like a filter that turns all your data into “gibberish”. Even if someone were to get their hands on your data, it would be useless.
Why do people use VPN?
- Secure encryption: A VPN connection disguises your data traffic online and protects it from external access. Unencrypted data can be viewed by anyone who has network access and wants to see it. With a VPN, hackers and cyber criminals can’t decipher this data.
- Disguising whereabouts: VPN servers essentially act as your proxies on the internet. Because the demographic location data comes from a server in another country, your actual location cannot be determined.
- Data privacy is held: Most VPN services do not store logs of your activities. Some providers, on the other hand, record your behaviour, but do not pass this information on to third parties. This means that any potential record of your user behaviour remains permanently hidden.
- Access to regional content: Regional web content is not always accessible from everywhere. Services and websites often contain content that can only be accessed from certain parts of the world.
- Secure data transfer: If you work remotely, you may need to access important files on your company’s network. For security reasons, this kind of information requires a secure connection. To gain access to the network, a VPN connection is often required.
What does the new CERT-IN directive say?
- VPN providers will need to store validated customer names, their physical addresses, email ids, phone numbers, and the reason they are using the service, along with the dates they use it and their “ownership pattern”.
- In addition, Cert is also asking VPN providers to keep a record of the IP and email addresses that the customer uses to register the service, along with the timestamp of registration.
- Most importantly, however, VPN providers will have to store all IP addresses issued to a customer and a list of IP addresses that its customers generally use.
What does this mean for VPN providers?
- VPN services are in violation of Cert’s rules by simply operating in India.
- That said, it is worth noting that ‘no logs’ does not mean zero logs.
- VPN services still need to maintain some logs to run their service efficiently.
Does this mean VPNs will become useless?
- The Indian government has not banned VPNs yet, so they can still be used to access content that is blocked in an area, which is the most common usage of these services.
- However, journalists, activists, and others who use such services to hide their internet footprint will have to think twice about them.
Why such move?
- Crime control: For law enforcement agencies, a move like this will make it easier to track criminals who use VPNs to hide their internet footprint.
- Curbing dark-net activities: Users these days are shifting towards the dark and deep web, which are much tougher to police than VPN services.
Back2Basics: Indian Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-IN)
- CERT-IN is an office within the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology.
- It is the nodal agency to deal with cyber security threats like hacking and phishing. It strengthens the security-related defense of the Indian Internet domain.
- It was formed in 2004 by the Government of India under the Information Technology Act, 2000 Section (70B) under the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: ISS
Mains level: Not Much
Russia is responding to the Western sanctions. It has decided to walk out of the International Space Station.
International Space Station
- 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.
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From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: ATAGS
Mains level: India's artillery arsenal
The indigenous Advanced Towed Artillery Gun System (ATAGS) developed by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) successfully completed the validation trials.
Why in news?
- The ATAGS has demonstrated a range of over 45 km, making it the “most consistent and accurate gun in the world”.
ATAG System
- The ATAGS is a 155-mm, 52-calibre artillery gun jointly developed by the DRDO in partnership with Bharat Forge of the Kalyani Group and the Tata Power SED.
- ATAGS has greater than 95% of indigenous content. It set a world record for the longest unassisted projectile range of 48 kilometres.
Its features
- The gun consists of a barrel, breech mechanism, muzzle brake and recoil mechanism to fire 155 mm calibre ammunition with a firing range of 48 km.
- It has an all-electric drive to ensure reliability and minimum maintenance over a long period of time.
- It has advanced features like high mobility, quick deployability, auxiliary power mode, advanced communication system, automatic command and control system with night capability in direct fire mode.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Autism
Mains level: Mental healthcare in India
The Centre for Autism and Other Disabilities Rehabilitation Research and Education (CADRRE), a not-for-profit organization will launch “Pay Autention — a different mind is a gifted mind”, India’s first bridgital autism support network.
Pay ‘Autention’
- The initiative shall pave the way for small towns and rural India to access specialised care and support and help create an auxiliary network of champions for the differently-abled.
- This platform shall also enable mentoring, skilling and meaningful livelihoods for people with autism.
- In the first phase, the initiative will primarily focus on supporting children with autism, and subsequently, in the second stage, it will focus on young adults, empowering them with life skills and career readiness.
- The content is designed and delivered in collaboration with specialists from CADRRE who have expertise in training children with autism.
- The project aims to create a network of grassroots champions, enable early identification, first-level care, teach social skills, ways to ease activities of daily living, hold workshops for sensory and motor development.
- It also focuses on art and craft, dance, music therapy, physical and mental fitness, communication skills and enable support for academics.
What is Autism?
- Autism, also called autism spectrum disorder (ASD), is a complicated condition that includes problems with communication and behaviour.
- It can involve a wide range of symptoms and skills.
- ASD can be a minor problem or a disability that needs full-time care in a special facility.
- People with autism have trouble with communication. They have trouble understanding what other people think and feel.
- This makes it hard for them to express themselves, either with words or through gestures, facial expressions, and touch.
- People with autism might have problems with learning. Their skills might develop unevenly.
- For example, they could have trouble communicating but be unusually good at art, music, math, or memory.
What are the signs of Autism?
Symptoms of autism usually appear before a child turns 3. Some people show signs from birth. Common symptoms of autism include:
- A lack of eye contact
- A narrow range of interests or intense interest in certain topics
- Doing something over and over, like repeating words or phrases, rocking back and forth, or flipping a lever
- High sensitivity to sounds, touches, smells, or sights that seem ordinary to other people
- Not looking at or listening to other people
- Not looking at things when another person points at them
- Not wanting to be held or cuddled
- Problems understanding or using speech, gestures, facial expressions, or tone of voice
- Talking in a sing-song, flat, or robotic voice
- Trouble adapting to changes in routine
What causes Autism?
- Exactly why autism happens isn’t clear. It could stem from problems in parts of your brain that interpret sensory input and process language.
- Autism is four times more common in boys than in girls. It can happen in people of any race, ethnicity, or social background.
- Family income, lifestyle, or educational level doesn’t affect a child’s risk of autism. But there are some risk factors:
- Autism runs in families, so certain combinations of genes may increase a child’s risk.
- A child with an older parent has a higher risk of autism.
- Pregnant women who are exposed to certain drugs or chemicals, like alcohol or anti-seizure medications, are more likely to have autistic children
- Other risk factors include maternal metabolic conditions such as diabetes and obesity.
Prevalence of Autism in India
- Prevalence and incidence statistics about autism in India is 1 in 500 or 0.20% or more than 2,160,000 people.
- According to a study, an estimated three million people live with autistic spectrum disorder (ASD) on the Indian subcontinent.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: ECGS
Mains level: Export promotion schemes in India
ECGC Ltd., the government enterprise that provides export credit insurance, will soon approach the Reserve Bank of India for approval to deal in foreign currency for the benefit of exporters.
What is ECGC?
- ECGC is an acronym for Export Credit Guarantee Corporation of India Ltd.
- It is a government owned export credit provider.
- It is under the ownership of Ministry of Commerce and Industry and is based in Mumbai.
- It provides export credit insurance support to Indian exporters.
- Its topmost official is designated as Chairman and Managing Director who is a central government civil servant under ITS cadre.
- The GoI had initially set up Export Risks Insurance Corporation (ERIC) in July 1957.
- It was transformed into Export Credit and Guarantee Corporation Limited (ECGC) in 1964 and to Export Credit Guarantee Corporation of India in 1983.
Functions of ECGC
- ECGC provides a range of credit risk insurance covers to exporters against loss in export of goods and services as well.
- It offers guarantees to banks and financial institutions to enable exporters to obtain better facilities from them.
- It provides Overseas Investment Insurance to Indian companies investing in joint ventures abroad in the form of equity or loan and advances.
Facilities by ECGC
- It offers insurance protection to exporters against payment risks.
- It provides guidance in export-related activities.
- It makes available information on different countries with its own credit ratings.
- It makes it easy to obtain export finance from banks/financial institutions.
- It assists exporters in recovering bad debt.
- It provides information on the creditworthiness of overseas buyers.
Why need export credit insurance?
- Payments for exports are open to risks even at the best of times.
- The risks have assumed large proportions today due to the far-reaching political and economic changes that are sweeping the world.
- An outbreak of war or civil war may block or delay payment for goods exported. Ex. Ukraine War.
- Economic difficulties or balance of payment problems may lead a country to impose restrictions on either import of certain goods or on transfer of payments for goods imported. Ex. Sri Lankan Crisis.
- In addition, the exporters have to face commercial risks of insolvency or protracted the default of buyers.
- Export credit insurance is designed to protect exporters from the consequences of the payment risks, both political and commercial, and to enable them to expand their overseas business without fear of loss.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Hatti tribe and its culture
Mains level: Not Much
The Centre is set to consider the Himachal Pradesh government’s request for inclusion of the Hatti community in the list of Scheduled Tribes in the state.
Who are the Hattis?
- The Hattis are a close-knit community who got their name from their tradition of selling homegrown vegetables, crops, meat and wool etc. at small markets called ‘haat’ in towns.
- The Hatti community, whose men generally don a distinctive white headgear during ceremonies, is cut off from Sirmaur by two rivers called Giri and Tons.
- Tons divides it from the Jaunsar Bawar area of Uttarakhand.
- The Hattis who live in the trans-Giri area and Jaunsar Bawar in Uttarakhand were once part of the royal estate of Sirmaur until Jaunsar Bawar’s separation in 1815.
- Due to topographical disadvantages, the Hattis living in the Kamrau, Sangrah, and Shilliai areas lag behind in education and employment.
Societal norms of Hattis
- The Hattis are governed by a traditional council called Khumbli, which like the khaps of Haryana, decide community matters.
- The Khumbli’s power has remained unchallenged despite the establishment of the panchayati raj system.
- The two clans have similar traditions, and inter-marriages are commonplace.
- There is a fairly rigid caste system among the Hattis — the Bhat and Khash are the upper castes, while the Badhois are below them.
- Inter-caste marriages have traditionally remained a strict no-no.
Who are Paharis?
- The proposal called for the inclusion of the “Paddari tribe”, “Koli” and “Gadda Brahman” communities to be included on the ST list of J&K.
- The suggestion for the inclusion had come from the commission set up for socially and educationally backward classes in the UT.
- The J&K delimitation commission has reserved six of the nine Assembly segments in the Pir Panjal Valley for STs.
Back2Basics: Scheduled Tribes
The above Article also provides for listing of scheduled tribes State/Union Territory wise and not on an all India basis.
- The term ‘Scheduled Tribes’ first appeared in the Constitution of India.
- Article 366 (25) defined scheduled tribes as “such tribes or tribal communities or parts of or groups within such tribes or tribal communities as are deemed under Article 342 to be Scheduled Tribes for the purposes of this constitution”.
- Article 342 prescribes procedure to be followed in the matter of specification of scheduled tribes.
How are STs notified?
- As per the current procedure, each proposal for the scheduling of a new community as ST has to originate from the relevant State Government.
- It is then sent to the Ministry of Tribal Affairs, which sends it to the Office of the Registrar General of India (RGI).
- Once approved by the Office of the RGI, it is sent to the National Commission for Scheduled Tribes (NCST), and only after its approval is it sent to the Cabinet.
Status of STs in India
- The Census 2011 has revealed that there are said to be 705 ethnic groups notified as Scheduled Tribes (STs).
- Over 10 crore Indians are notified as STs, of which 1.04 crore live in urban areas.
- The STs constitute 8.6% of the population and 11.3% of the rural population.
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