Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Drift of Indian plate from Gondwanaland
Mains level: History of Indian Monsoon
Using leaf fossils, researchers have found that the Indian monsoon 25 million years ago resembled present-day Australia’s.
Try this PYQ:
Q.Which one of the following is the appropriate reason for considering the Gondwana rocks as the most important rock systems of India?
(a) More than 90% of limestone reserves of India are found in them
(b) More than 90% of India’s coal reserves are found in them
(c) More than 90% of fertile black cotton soils are spread over them
(d) None of the reasons given above is appropriate in this context
India’s drift
- About 180 million years ago, India separated from the ancient supercontinent Gondwana and took a long northward journey of about 9,000 km to join Eurasia.
- During this journey, the subcontinent moved from the southern hemisphere, crossed the Equator to reach its current position in the northern hemisphere.
- Due to these changing latitudes, it experienced different climatic conditions, and a new study has now tried to map these climatic variations using leaf fossils.
Clueless over the evolution of monsoon
- The evolution of the monsoonal climate in India is still debatable and not fully understood.
- Though recent data indicates that the monsoon system we experience now dates back to about 25 million years, it is still unclear how the climate was during its long voyage.
Indian research
- The researchers analysed the morphological characters of fossil leaves collected from Deccan Volcanic Province, East Garo Hills of Meghalaya, Gurha mine in Rajasthan and Makum Coalfield in Assam.
- The four fossil assemblages were found to be from four different geological ages.
- It has been observed from across the globe that plant leaf morphological characters such as apex, base and shape are ecologically tuned with the prevailing climatic conditions.
- The research applied this model to characterize the past monsoon from fossil leaves.
It’s finding
- The results indicated that the fossil leaves from India were adapted to an Australian type of monsoon and not the current Indian monsoon system during its voyage.
- The reconstructed temperature data show that the climate was warm (tropical to subtropical) at all the studied fossil sites with temperatures varying from 16.3–21.3 degrees C.
- All the fossil sites experienced high rainfall, which varied from 191.6 cm to 232 cm.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Lachit Borphukan
Mains level: Not Much
The Prime Minister (in an election campaign) has called 17th-century Ahom General Lachit Borphukan a symbol of India’s “atmanirbhar” military might.
Try this PYQ:
Q.What was the immediate cause for Ahmad Shah Abdali to invade and fight the Third Battle of Panipat:
(a) He wanted to avenge the expulsion by Marathas of his viceroy Timur Shah from Lahore
(b) The frustrated governor of Jullundhar Adina Beg khan invited him to invade Punjab
(c) He wanted to punish Mughal administration for non-payment of the revenues of the Chahar Mahal (Gujrat Aurangabad, Sialkot and Pasrur)
(d) He wanted to annex all the fertile plains of Punjab upto borders of Delhi to his kingdom
Who was Lachit Borphukan?
- The year was 1671 and the decisive Battle of Saraighat was fought on the raging waters of the Brahmaputra.
- On one side was Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb’s army headed by Ram Singh of Amer (Jaipur) and on the other was the Ahom General Lachit Borphukan.
- He was a commander in the Ahom kingdom, located in present-day Assam.
- Ram Singh failed to make any advance against the Assamese army during the first phase of the war.
- Lachit Borphukan emerged victorious in the war and the Mughals were forced to retreat from Guwahati.
Lachit Diwas
- On 24 November each year, Lachit Divas is celebrated statewide in Assam to commemorate the heroism of Lachit Borphukan.
- On this day, Borphukan has defeated the Mughal army on the banks of the Brahmaputra in the Battle of Saraighat in 1671.
- The best passing out cadet of National Defence Academy has conferred the Lachit gold medal every year since 1999 commemorating his valour.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: History of Delhi
Mains level: Delhi sultanate
The Union government has recently formed a committee to popularize the legacy of 11th-century Tomar king, Anangpal II.
Revision: Delhi Sultanate and their contemporaries
Who was Anangpal II?
- Anangpal II, popularly known as Anangpal Tomar, belonged to the Tomar dynasty that ruled parts of present-day Delhi and Haryana between the 8th and 12th centuries.
- The capital of Tomars changed many times from being initially at Anangpur (near Faridabad) during the reign of Anangpal I (who founded the Tomar dynasty in the 8th century), to Dhillikapuri (Delhi) during the reign of Anangpal II.
- The Tomar rule over the region is attested by multiple inscriptions and coins, and their ancestry can be traced to the Pandavas (of the Mahabharata).
- Anangpal Tomar II was succeeded by his grandson Prithviraj Chauhan, who was defeated by the Ghurid forces in the Battle of Tarain (present-day Haryana) after which the Delhi Sultanate was established in 1192.
His connection with Delhi
- Anangpal II is credited to have established and populated Delhi during his reign in the 11th century.
- He was instrumental in populating Indraprastha and giving it its present name, Delhi.
- The region was in ruins when he ascended the throne in the 11th century, it was he who built Lal Kot fort and Anangtal Baoli.
- He was the founder of Dhillikapuri, which eventually became Delhi.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Jaapi, Xorai and Gamosa
Mains level: NA
As the polling date draws closer, decorative jaapis (field hats), hand-woven gamosas and bell-metal xorais are making frequent appearances in Assam.
Primarily used to felicitate important people and guests, these important symbols of Assamese identity and culture are abundantly seen in political campaigns across the state.
Jaapi
- The jaapi is a conical hat made of bamboo and covered with dried tokou (a palm tree found in rainforests of Upper Assam) leaves.
- It is most often used in official functions to felicitate guests.
- The landscape of rural Assam features a more utilitarian version, which farmers wear to protect themselves from the harsh weather, both sun and rain, while working in the fields.
- The first possible recorded use of jaapi dates back to the Ahom-era buranjis, or chronicles. Kings and ministers would wear them then.
Gamosa
- The Gamosa, which literally translates to a cloth to wipe one’s body, is omnipresent in Assam, with wide-ranging uses.
- It can be used at home as a towel (uka gamosa) or in public functions (phulam/floral gamosa) to felicitate dignitaries or celebrities.
- The popularity of the gamosa has now traveled beyond Assam and is often used by a number of public figures.
- It was during the anti-foreigner Assam Agitation of the early 1980s, when Assamese nationalism reached its crescendo, that the gamosa assumed a new role.
Xorai
- Made of bell-metal, the xorai — essentially a tray with a stand at the bottom, with or without a cover — can be found in every Assamese household.
- While it is primarily used as an offering tray during prayers, or to serve tamale-paan (betel-nut) to guests, a xorai is also presented along with the jaapi and gamosa while felicitating someone.
- The bulk of xorais in Assam are made in the state’s bell metal hub Sarthebari in Bajali district.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Diatoms
Mains level: Not Much
The Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad has relied on a forensic test known as diatom tests for leads in an alleged murder case of a person inviting high stage political drama.
What are Diatoms?
- Diatoms are photosynthesizing algae that are found in almost every aquatic environment including fresh and marine waters, soils, in fact, almost anywhere moist.
- Diatoms have cell walls made of silica, each species has a distinct pattern of tiny holes in the cell wall (frustule) through which they absorb nutrients and get rid of waste.
- A diatom is a photosynthetic, single-celled organism which means they manufacture their own food in the same way plants do.
Diatoms are important as they:
- provide the basis of the food chain for both marine and freshwater micro-organisms and animal larvae
- are a major source of atmospheric oxygen responsible for 20-30% of all carbon fixation on the planet
- can act as environmental indicators of climate change
- form the basis of some household goods such as pest/mite prevention and mild abrasive
Never underestimate UPSC. Try this PYQ before you reach any conclusion.
Q.Which one of the following is the correct sequence of a food chain?
(a) Diatoms-Crustaceans-Herrings
(b) Crustaceans-Diatoms-Herrings
(c) Diatoms-Herrings-Crustaceans
(d) Crustaceans-Herrings-Diatoms
What is a diatom test?
- Diagnosis of death by drowning is deemed as a difficult task in forensic pathology.
- A number of tests have been developed to confirm the cause of such deaths with the diatom test emerging as one of the most important tests.
- The test entails findings if there are diatoms in the body being tested.
The science behind
- A body recovered from a water body does not necessarily imply that the death was due to drowning.
- If the person is alive when he enters the water, the diatoms will enter the lungs when the person inhales water while drowning.
- These diatoms then get carried to various parts of the body, including the brain, kidneys, lungs and bone marrow by blood circulation.
- If a person is dead when is thrown in the water, then there is no circulation and there is no transport of diatom cells to various organs.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Read the attached story
Mains level: NA
PM Modi will be on a two-day visit to Bangladesh where he will take part in commemorations of some epochal events there.
Bangabandhu shrine in Tungipara
- Located about 420 kilometres from Dhaka, Tungipara was the place of birth of Rahman, the architect of the 1971 Bangladesh War of Independence.
- This is also the place where he lies buried inside a grand tomb called the ‘Bangabandhu mausoleum’.
- Millions of people gather here every year on August 15, to observe the day when Rahman was assassinated by a group of disgruntled army officers.
Harichand Thakur’s shrine in Orakandi
- Thakur was the founder of the Matua Mahasangha, which was a religious reformation movement that originated in Orakandi in about 1860 CE.
- At a very early age, Thakur experienced spiritual revelation, following which he founded a sect of Vaishnava Hinduism called Matua.
- Members of the sect were the namasudras who were considered to be untouchables.
- The objective of Thakur’s religious reform was to uplift the community through educational and other social initiatives.
- Members of the community consider Thakur as God and an avatar of Vishnu or Krishna.
- After the 1947 Partition, many of the Matuas migrated to West Bengal.
‘Sugandha Shaktipith’ (Satipith) temple in Shikarpur
- Modi is also scheduled to visit the Sugandha Shaktipeeth which is located in Shikarpur, close to Barisal.
- The temple, dedicated to Goddess Sunanda is of immense religious significance to Hinduism.
- It is one of the 51 Shakti Pith temples.
- The Shakti Pith shrines are pilgrimage destinations associated with the Shakti (Goddess worship) sect of Hinduism.
Rabindra Kuthi Bari in Kushtia
- The Kuthi Bari is a country house built by Dwarkanath Tagore, the grandfather of Nobel laureate and Bengali poetic giant Rabindranath Tagore.
- The latter stayed in the house for over a decade in irregular intervals between 1891 and 1901.
- In this house Tagore composed some of his masterpieces like Sonar Tari, Katha o Kahini, Chaitali etc. He also wrote a large number of songs and poems for Gitanjali here.
- It was also in this house that Tagore began translating the Gitanjali to English in 1912, for which he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature.
Ancestral home of Bagha Jatin in Kushtia
- Jatindranath Mukherjee, better known as ‘Bagha Jatin’ (tiger Jatin) was a revolutionary freedom fighter.
- He was born in Kayagram, a village in Kushtia district, where his ancestral home is located.
- Jatin acquired the epithet ‘Bagha’ after he fought a Royal Bengal Tiger all by himself and killed it with a dagger.
- Jatin was the first commander-in-chief of the ‘Jugantar Party’ which was formed in 1906 as a central association dedicated to train revolutionary freedom fighters in Bengal.
- This was the period when Bengal was seething with nationalist furore against Lord Curzon’s declaration of Partition of the province.
- Inspired by Jatin’s clarion call, “amra morbo, jagat jagbe” (we shall die to awaken the nation), many young revolutionaries joined the brand of the freedom struggle that the Jugantar Party represented.
His legend:
- Jatin is most remembered for an armed encounter he engaged in with the British police at Balasore in Orissa.
- They were expecting a consignment of arms and funds from Germany to lead an armed struggle when the British found out about the plot and raided the spot where the revolutionaries were hiding. A
- lthough Jatin lost his life in the Battle of Balasore, his activities did have an impact on the British forces.
- The colonial police officer Charles Augustus Tegart wrote about Jatin: “If Bagha Jatin was an Englishman, then the English people would have built his statue next to Nelson’s at Trafalgar Square.”
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Artificial Photosynthesis
Mains level: Carbon sequestration through AP
Scientists have found a method to mimic nature’s own process of reducing carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, namely photosynthesis, to capture excess carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.
Artificial Photosynthesis
- Artificial photosynthesis (AP) is a chemical process that mimics the natural process of photosynthesis to convert sunlight, water, and carbon dioxide into carbohydrates and oxygen.
- The term artificial photosynthesis is commonly used to refer to any scheme for capturing and storing the energy from sunlight in the chemical bonds of fuel (a solar fuel).
- Photocatalytic water splitting converts water into hydrogen and oxygen and is a major research topic of artificial photosynthesis.
- Light-driven carbon dioxide reduction is another process studied that replicates natural carbon fixation.
Try this PYQ:
Which of the following adds/add carbon dioxide to the carbon cycle on the planet Earth?
- Volcanic action
- Respiration
- Photosynthesis
- Decay of organic matter
Select the correct answer using the code given below:
(a) 1 and 3 only
(b) 2 only
(c) 1, 2 and 4 only
(d) 1, 2, 3 and 4
Challenges in AP
- Research on this topic includes the engineering of enzymes and photoautotrophic microorganisms for microbial biofuel and biohydrogen production from sunlight.
- This AP harnesses solar energy and converts the captured carbon dioxide to carbon monoxide (CO), which can be used as a fuel for internal combustion engines.
- In AP, scientists are essentially conducting the same fundamental process in natural photosynthesis but with simpler nanostructures.
- However, there are plenty of hurdles to overcome as a successful catalyst to carry out AP.
What have Indian researchers achieved?
- Indian researchers have designed and fabricated an integrated catalytic system based on a metal-organic framework (MOF-808) comprising of a photosensitizer that can harness solar power and a catalytic centre that can eventually reduce CO2.
- A photosensitizer is a molecule that absorbs light and transfers the electron from the incident light into another nearby molecule.
- The scientists have immobilized a photosensitizer, which is a chemical called ruthenium bipyridyl complex ([Ru (bpy)2Cl2]) and a catalytic part which is another chemical called rhenium carbonyl complex ([Re(CO)5Cl]).
- They have fabricated it inside the nano space of a metal-organic framework for artificial photosynthesis.
Outcomes of the research
- The developed catalyst exhibited excellent visible-light-driven CO2 reduction to CO with more than 99% selectivity.
- The catalyst also oxidizes water to produce oxygen (O2).
- The Photocatalytic assembly, when assessed for CO2 reduction under direct sunlight in a water medium without any additives, showed superior performance of CO production.
- Being heterogeneous, the integrated catalytic assembly can be reused for several catalytic cycles without losing its activity.
Back2Basics: Photosynthesis
- It is the process by which green plants and certain other organisms transform light energy into chemical energy.
- It is a process used by plants and other organisms to convert light energy into chemical energy that, through cellular respiration, can later be released to fuel the organism’s metabolic activities.
- This chemical energy is stored in carbohydrate molecules, such as sugars, which are synthesized from carbon dioxide and water – hence the name photosynthesis.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: USIAI Initiative
Mains level: Not Much
The US India Artificial Intelligence (USIAI) Initiative was recently launched.
USIAI Initiative
- This initiative focuses on AI cooperation in critical areas that are priorities for both countries.
- It has been launched by the Indo-U.S. Science and Technology Forum (IUSSTF).
- The IUSSTF is a bilateral organisation funded by the Department of Science & Technology (DST), the GOI and the U.S. Department of States.
- USIAI will serve as a platform to discuss opportunities, challenges, and barriers for bilateral AI R&D collaboration, enable AI innovation, help share ideas for developing an AI workforce etc.
- AI R&D is being promoted and implemented in the country through a network of 25 technology hubs working as a triple helix set up under the National Mission on Interdisciplinary Cyber-Physical Systems (NM-ICPS).
Back2Basics: Artificial intelligence (AI)
- Artificial intelligence (AI) refers to the simulation of human intelligence in machines that are programmed to think like humans and mimic their actions.
- The term may also be applied to any machine that exhibits traits associated with a human mind such as learning and problem-solving.
- The ideal characteristic of artificial intelligence is its ability to rationalize and take actions that have the best chance of achieving a specific goal.
- A subset of artificial intelligence is machine learning, which refers to the concept that computer programs can automatically learn from and adapt to new data without being assisted by humans.
- Deep learning techniques enable this automatic learning through the absorption of huge amounts of unstructured data such as text, images, or video.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: INS Dhruv
Mains level: India's naval arsenal
India Navy is set to commission INS Dhruv to track satellites, strategic missiles and map the Indian Ocean bed later this year.
INS Dhruv is no ordinary vessel for the Indian Navy. Read its stealth capabilities and utilities.
INS Dhruv
- INS Dhruv has been developed with the help of the DRDO and Indian Navy with India’s Strategic Force Command and National Technical Research Organisation (NTRO) as main intelligence consumers.
- The indigenously-developed surveillance ship has been built by Hindustan Shipyard Ltd at its Visakhapatnam facility under the Atma Nirbhar Bharat Abhiyan initiative.
- The 15,000-tonne ship, part of a classified project, will not only create maritime domain awareness for India in the Indian Ocean but also act as an early warning system for adversary missiles headed towards India.
Stealth capabilities
- INS Dhruv is equipped with active electronically scanned array radars, or AESA considered a game-changer in radar technology.
- It can scan various spectrums to monitor satellites of adversaries that are watching over India.
- It can also understand the range and true missile capability of adversary nations that it finds in the Indo-Pacific.
Benefits offered
- Once the vessel is commissioned, India will be the only country outside the P-5 – the US, the UK, China, Russia and France – to have this capability
- It will act as a major force multiplier to India’s ocean surveillance capabilities.
- It will be able to provide the Indian Navy with an “ECG of the Indian Ocean”.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Mullaperiyar Dam
Mains level: Interstate river water disputes in India
The Supreme Court has warned the Tamil Nadu Chief Secretary against the failure to give information on the rule curve for Mullaperiyar dam.
Do you know?
The Mullaperiyar dam is located in Kerala on the river Periyar but is operated and maintained by the neighbouring state of Tamil Nadu.
What is the Rule Curve?
- A rule curve or rule level specifies the storage or empty space to be maintained in a reservoir during different times of the year.
- Here the implicit assumption is that a reservoir can best satisfy its purposes if the storage levels specified by the rule curve are maintained in the reservoir at different times.
- It decides the fluctuating storage levels in a reservoir.
- The gate opening schedule of a dam is based on the rule curve.
- It is part of the “core safety” mechanism in a dam.
Why such a move?
- During the high-voltage hearing, the Tamil Nadu government blamed Kerala for delaying the finalization of the rule curve for the 123-year-old dam.
- Kerala government has accused Tamil Nadu of adopting an “obsolete” gate operation schedule dating back to 1939.
About Mullaperiyar Dam
- Mullaperiyar Dam is a masonry gravity dam on the Periyar River in the Indian state of Kerala.
- It is located on the Cardamom Hills of the Western Ghats in Thekkady, Idukki District of Kerala.
- It was constructed between 1887 and 1895 by John Pennycuick and also reached an agreement to divert water eastwards to the Madras Presidency area (present-day Tamil Nadu).
- It has a height of 53.6 m from the foundation, and a length of 365.7 m.
- The Periyar National Park in Thekkady is located around the dam’s reservoir.
- The dam is built at the confluence of Mullayar and Periyar rivers.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Project RE-HAB
Mains level: Man-animal conflict
The forest authorities intend to mitigate human-elephant conflict by installing bee boxes along the periphery of the forest and the villages under the Project RE-HAB.
On similar lines, try this PYQ:
Q.The term ‘M-STrIPES’ is sometimes seen in the news in the context of:
(a) Captive breeding of Wild Fauna
(b) Maintenance of Tiger Reserves
(c) Indigenous Satellite Navigation System
(d) Security of National Highways
Project RE-HAB
- Project RE-HAB stands for Reducing Elephant-Human Attacks using Bees. It is an initiative of the Khadi and Village Industries Commission (KVIC).
- It intends to create “bee fences” to thwart elephant attacks in human habitations using honeybees.
- Bee boxes have been placed on the ground as well as hung from the trees.
- The boxes are connected with a string so that when elephants attempt to pass through, a tug causes the bees to swarm the elephant herds and dissuade them from progressing further.
- This idea stems from the elephants’ proven fear of the bees.
Areas covered by the project
- The pilot project was launched at four locations around Chelur village in the Kodagu district of Karnataka.
- These spots are located on the periphery of Nagarahole National Park and Tiger Reserve, known conflict zones.
Benefits offered
- The biggest advantage of Project RE-HAB is that it dissuades elephants without causing any harm to them.
- It is extremely cost-effective as compared to various other measures such as digging trenches or erecting fences.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Baralacha Pass
Mains level: Himalayan passes and tunnels of strategic importance
For the first time ever, the Border Roads Organisation (BRO) has started work on reopening the crucial Baralacha Pass in Himachal Pradesh much before schedule to restore connectivity to Leh in Ladakh.
Note all the Himalayan passes from their N-S sequences.
Baralacha Pass
- Bara-lacha la also known as Bara-lacha Pass is a high mountain pass in the Zanskar range connecting the Lahaul district in Himachal Pradesh to Leh district in Ladakh.
- It is situated along the Leh–Manali Highway.
- The Bhaga river, a tributary of the Chenab river, originates from Surya Taal lake, which is situated a few kilometres from the pass towards Manali.
- The native name of Chenab “Chandrabhaga” represents the union of Chandra and Bhaga rivers downstream.
- The pass also acts as a water-divide between the Bhaga River and the Yunan River.
Why is this pass so important?
- The BRO had kept crucial passes open for a longer duration to enable the Army to undertake advanced winter stocking for the thousands of additional troops deployed in Ladakh.
- The team has traversed a total distance of 20 km in super high-altitude conditions scrupulously crossing the Baralacha La in the Zanskar range on foot amidst sub-zero freezing conditions.
- Frequent avalanches and slides with 15 to 20 feet of snow accumulation.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Not Much
Mains level: E-commerce regulation in India
The Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) will soon come out with a common acceptable draft e-commerce policy.
Earlier policy
- The previous draft in July last year had proposed a regulator, an e-commerce law, periodic audit of companies that store or mirror Indian users’ data overseas.
- The latest draft calls for streamlining of regulatory processes to ease the burden of compliance for activities related to e-commerce and regulations for data that will provide for sharing mechanism.
What are the provisions of the new law?
Data Usage
- According to a revised draft, the government would lay down principles for the usage of data for industrial development, where such norms do not already exist.
- They aim to put in place safeguards to prevent misuse and access of data by unauthorized persons.
- Such safeguards may include regulating the cross-border flow of data pertaining to Indians and transactions taking place in India and the requirement of adequacy audits to be carried out by Indian firms.
- As per the recent draft policy, violation of safeguards shall be viewed seriously and attract heavy penalties.
Regulation, exports
- Conformity assessment procedures will be put in place to verify that goods and services sold on e-commerce platforms meet required standards and technical regulations.
- The government shall collect information from e-commerce platforms to aid it in making necessary decisions.
- In order to ensure that e-commerce is not used to defraud customers, registration with an authority identified by the Government shall be mandatory.
- The policy shall bring e-commerce exports on par with non-e-commerce exports by enabling online grant of drawbacks, advance authorization and GST refund.
Consumer protection
- As per the draft, e-commerce operators must ensure to bring out clear and transparent policies on discounts, including the basis of discount rates funded by platforms.
- Such a move aims to ensure fair and equal treatment.
- It said consumers have a right to be made aware of all relevant details about the goods and services offered for sale including country of origin, value addition in India etc.
- In case the seller fails to establish the genuineness of his products within a reasonable time frame, the e-commerce platform shall delist the seller.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Rigvedic rivers
Mains level: Not Much
The Centre has reconstituted an advisory committee to chalk out a plan for studying the mythical Sarasvati River for the next two years after the earlier panel’s term ended in 2019.
Do you know?
Rigveda describes India as a land of Sapta Sindhavah.
There is a verse in Nadistuti sukta of Rigveda , hymn of praise of rivers which mentions the following 10 rivers: Ganga, Yamuna, Sarasvati, Sutudri, Parusni, Asikni, Marudvrdha , Vitasta , Arjikiya , Susoma.
The Shutudri was Sutlej, Parushni was Ravi, Asikni was Chenab and Vitasta was Jhelum.
Sarasvati River
- The Sarasvati River is an extinct river mentioned in the Rig Veda and later Vedic and post-Vedic texts.
- As a physical river, it is described as a small river ending in “a terminal lake (Samudra).
- As the goddess Sarasvati, the main referent for the term “Sarasvati” which developed into an independent identity in post-Vedic times, she is described as a powerful river and mighty flood.
- The Sarasvati is also considered by Hindus to exist in a metaphysical form, in which it formed a confluence with the sacred rivers Ganges and Yamuna, at the Triveni Sangam.
Vedic reference of the river
- Rigvedic and later Vedic texts have been used to propose identification with present-day rivers, or ancient riverbeds.
- The Nadistuti hymn in the Rigveda (10.75) mentions the Sarasvati between the Yamuna in the east and the Sutlej in the west.
- Later Vedic texts like the Tandya and Jaiminiya Brahmanas, as well as the Mahabharata, mention that the Sarasvati dried up in a desert.
What led to its extinction?
- Since the late 19th-century, scholars have proposed to identify the Rig Vedic Saraswati river with the Ghaggar-Hakra river system.
- This flows through northwestern India and eastern Pakistan, between the Yamuna and the Sutlej.
- Recent geophysical research suggests that the Ghaggar-Hakra system was glacier-fed until 8,000 years ago, and then became a system of monsoon-fed rivers.
- ISRO has observed that major Indus Valley Civilization sites at Kalibangan (Rajasthan), Banawali and Rakhigarhi (Haryana), Dholavira and Lothal (Gujarat) lay along this course.
- The Indus Valley Civilisation may have declined as a result of climatic change when the monsoons that fed the rivers diminished at around the time civilisation diminished some 4,000 years ago.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: AT1 Bonds
Mains level: Not Much
The decision of the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) to slap restrictions on mutual fund (MF) investments in additional tier-1 (AT1) bonds has raised a storm in the MF and banking sectors.
What are AT1 Bonds?
- AT1 Bonds stand for additional tier-1 bonds. These are unsecured bonds that have perpetual tenure. In other words, the bonds have no maturity date.
- They have a call option, which can be used by the banks to buy these bonds back from investors.
- These bonds are typically used by banks to bolster their core or tier-1 capital.
- AT1 bonds are subordinate to all other debt and only senior to common equity.
- Mutual funds (MFs) are among the largest investors in perpetual debt instruments and hold over Rs 35,000 crore of the outstanding additional tier-I bond issuances of Rs 90,000 crore.
What action has been taken by the Sebi recently and why?
- In a recent circular, the Sebi told mutual funds to value these perpetual bonds as a 100-year instrument.
- This essentially means MFs have to make the assumption that these bonds would be redeemed in 100 years.
- The regulator also asked MFs to limit the ownership of the bonds to 10 per cent of the assets of a scheme.
- According to the Sebi, these instruments could be riskier than other debt instruments.
Try this PYQ:
Consider the following statements:
- The Reserve Bank of India manages and services the Government of India Securities but not any State Government Securities.
- Treasury bills are issued by the Government of India and there are no treasury bills issued by the State Governments.
- Treasury bills offer are issued at a discount from the par value.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
(a) 1 and 2 only
(b) 3 Only
(c) 2 and 3 only
(d) 1, 2 and 3
How MFs will be affected?
- Typically, MFs have treated the date of the call option on AT1 bonds as the maturity date.
- Now, if these bonds are treated as 100-year bonds, it raises the risk in these bonds as they become ultra long-term.
- This could also lead to volatility in the prices of these bonds as the risk increases the yields on these bonds rises.
- Bond yields and bond prices move in opposite directions and therefore, the higher yield will drive down the price of the bond, which in turn will lead to a decrease in the net asset value of MF schemes holding these bonds.
- Moreover, these bonds are not liquid and it will be difficult for MFs to sell these to meet redemption pressure.
What’s the impact on banks?
- AT1 bonds have emerged as the capital instrument of choice for state banks as they strive to shore up capital ratios.
- If there are restrictions on investments by mutual funds in such bonds, banks will find it tough to raise capital at a time when they need funds in the wake of the soaring bad assets.
- A major chunk of AT1 bonds is bought by mutual funds.
Why has the Finance Ministry asked Sebi to review the decision?
- The FM has sought withdrawal of valuation norms for AT1 bonds as it might lead to mutual funds making losses and exiting from these bonds, affecting capital raising plans of PSU banks.
- The government doesn’t want a disruption in the fund mobilization exercise of banks at a time when two PSU banks are on the privatization block.
- Banks are yet to receive the proposed capital injection in FY21 although they will need more capital to face the asset-quality challenges in the foreseeable future.
- Fitch’s own estimate pegs the sector’s capital requirement between $15 billion-58 billion under various stress scenarios for the next two years, of which state banks account for the bulk.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Martian blueberries
Mains level: Mars mission worldwide and their success
In 2004, NASA’s Mars exploration rover ‘Opportunity’ found several small spheres on the planet, informally named Martian blueberries which find a resemblance to the similar formation in India’s Kutch region.
There have been several missions to the red planet this year. Make a note of all of them.
Martian blueberries
- Opportunity’s mini spectrometers studied mineralogy and noted they were made of iron oxide compounds called haematites.
- This caused excitement, as the presence of haematites suggests that there was water present on Mars.
- The widely accepted formation mechanism of hematite concretion [hard solid mass] is precipitation from aqueous fluids.
- Hematite is known to form in oxidizing environments hence it can be inferred that water must have played a crucial role in the formation of grey hematite on Mars.
What makes them so special?
- Indian researchers have been studying hematite concretions in Kutch called the Jhuran formation.
- These formations are 145 and 201 million years old.
- Detailed geochemistry and spectroscopic investigations of the haematite concretions in this area revealed that they resemble the ones on Mars.
- They have similar morphology – spherical, often doublet and triplet – and similar mineralogy – a mixture of haematite and goethite.
- Hence, several types of research have shown that the Kutch area is a potential Martian analogue locality.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Raman Thermometry
Mains level: Discom issues
Researchers at IIT Madras have demonstrated that by using Raman thermometry on fibre optic cables, they can achieve the monitoring of power transmission cables.
What is Raman Thermometry?
- Raman spectroscopy is well known as an analytical method for identifying chemical compounds and characterizing the chemical bonding and solid-state structure of materials.
- Perhaps less well known is the fact that one can use Raman spectroscopy to determine the temperature of the material being analyzed.
For that, we need to get familiarized with Raman Effect
- India’s first and so far only Nobel laureate in physics, C.V. Raman, won the prize for his discovery of the Raman Effect.
- This consisted of experimental observations on the scattering of light.
- In the Raman Effect, when light is scattered off an object, say a molecule, two bands are observed, with a higher and lower frequency than the original light, called the Stokes and anti-Stokes bands, respectively.
- By studying the relative intensity of the two bands, it is possible to estimate the temperature of the object that scattered the light.
- The anti-Stokes component of Raman scattering is strongly dependent on the temperature that the material is subjected to.
Thus, by measuring the intensity of the anti-Stokes scattered light we can estimate the temperature. This is Raman thermometry.
Try this PYQ:
Q.Which Indian astrophysicist and Nobel laureate predicted rapidly rotating stars emit polarized light?
(a) Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar
(b) CV Raman
(c) Ramanujan
(d) Amartya Sen
What has IITM achieved?
- The temperature measurement was performed in not just one location, but in a distributed manner using an optical fibre.
- To achieve this, a pulse of light was launched into the optical fibre and the backscattered radiation was observed.
- The time of flight of the backscattered radiation provided an estimate of the distance from which the light is backscattered.
- This can go up to tens of kilometres. This technique is married to Raman thermometry to get the results for actual measurements over tens of kilometres.
What makes this experiment special?
- The distribution Sector considered the weakest link in the entire power sector.
- We are much aware of Transmission and Distribution loss that is incurred to our DISCOMS.
- This IITM technology helps analyze transmission efficiencies in a better way.
- The present method devised by the team is both economical and provides real-time information.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Human eye and the applied genetics
Mains level: NA
Researchers from London have found that eye colour in Asians with different shades of brown is genetically similar to eye colour in Europeans ranging from dark brown to light blue.
Human Eye Colour
- Human eye colour ranges from black, brown to blue, green, and even red.
- Eye colour is primarily determined by melanin abundance within the iris pigment epithelium, which is greater in brown than in blue eyes.
- There are two forms of melanin – eumelanin and pheomelanin – and the ratio of the two within the iris as well as light absorption and scattering by extracellular components are additional factors that give irises their colour.
- Absolute melanin quantity and the eumelanin–pheomelanin ratio is higher in brown irises, while blue or green irises have very little of both pigments and relatively more pheomelanin.
Try this PYQ:
Q.Recently, LASIK (Lasser Assisted In Situ Keratomileusis) procedure is being made popular for vision correction. Which one of the following statements in this context is not correct?
(a) LASIK procedure is used to correct refractive errors of the eye
(b) It is a procedure that permanently changes the shapes of the cornea
(c) It reduces a person’s dependence on glasses or contact lenses
(d) It is a procedure that can be done on the person of any age
What has the research found?
- Previously a dozen genes (mainly HERC2 and OCA2) were found to influence eye colour.
- The researchers have now identified 50 new genes for eye colour.
- Genetic analysis of nearly 0.2 million people across Europe and Asia helped the researchers to identify the new genes.
- The findings collectively explain over 53% of eye colour variation using common single-nucleotide polymorphisms.
Outcome of the research
- Overall, the study outcomes demonstrate that the genetic complexity of human eye colour considerably exceeds previous knowledge and expectations.
- These findings will help improve our understanding of eye diseases such as pigmentary glaucoma and ocular albinism where pigment levels play a role.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Benzene pollution
Mains level: Not Much
A joint committee appointed by the National Green Tribunal (NGT) to study air pollution in Kerala has pointed out that petrol refuelling stations were a major source of benzene emissions and volatile organic compounds (VOCs).
Why such a move?
- Benzene is a major constituent of evaporative emission due to its high volatility.
Try this PYQ:
Q.Consider the following:
- Carbon monoxide
- Methane
- Ozone
- Sulphur dioxide
Which of the above are released into atmosphere due to the burning of crop/biomass residue?
(a) 1 and 2 only
(b) 2, 3 and 4 only
(c) 1 and 4 only
(d) 1, 2, 3 and 4
What is Benzene?
- Benzene is a chemical that is a colourless or light yellow liquid at room temperature. It has a sweet odour and is highly flammable.
- It evaporates into the air very quickly. Its vapour is heavier than air and may sink into low-lying areas.
- It dissolves only slightly in water and will float on top of the water.
Its formation and uses
Benzene is formed from both natural processes and human activities.
- Natural sources of benzene include volcanoes and forest fires. Benzene is also a natural part of crude oil, gasoline, and cigarette smoke.
- Some industries use benzene to make other chemicals that are used to make plastics, resins, and nylon and synthetic fibres.
- It is also used to make some types of lubricants, rubbers, dyes, detergents, drugs, and pesticides.
Benzene emission
- The major sources of benzene exposure are tobacco smoke, automobile service stations, exhaust from motor vehicles, and industrial emissions.
- Benzene is present in both exhaust and evaporative emissions. Motor vehicles account for approximately 85% of the total benzene emissions.
- However, ingestion and dermal absorption of benzene can also occur through contact with contaminated water.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: 2001 FO32
Mains level: Study of asteroids and meteors
On March 21, the largest asteroid predicted to pass by Earth in 2021 will be at its closest. It is called 2001 FO32.
Try this PYQ:
Q.Which of the following is/are cited by the scientists as evidence/evidence for the continued expansion of the universe?
- Detection of microwaves in space
- Observation of redshirt phenomenon in space
- Movement of asteroids in space
- Occurrence of supernova explosions in space
Codes:
(a) 1 and 2 only
(b) 2 only
(c) 1, 3 and 4
(d) None of the above can be cited as evidence.
2001 FO32
- There is no threat of a collision with our planet now or for centuries to come.
- Scientists know its orbital path around the Sun very accurately since it was discovered 20 years ago and has been tracked ever since.
- It won’t come closer than 2 million km to Earth, but it will present a valuable scientific opportunity for astronomers who can get a good look at a rocky relic that formed at the dawn of our Solar System.
Proximity to Earth
- For comparison, when it is at its closest, the distance of 2 million km is equal to 5¼ times the distance from Earth to the Moon.
- Still, that distance is close in astronomical terms, which is why 2001 FO32 has been designated a “potentially hazardous asteroid”.
- The reason for the asteroid’s unusually speedy close approach is its highly eccentric orbit around the Sun, an orbit that is tilted 39° to Earth’s orbital plane.
- This orbit takes the asteroid closer to the Sun than Mercury, and twice as far from the Sun as Mars.
- Later, the asteroid slows after being flung back out into deep space and swinging back toward the Sun. It completes one orbit every 810 days (about 2¼ years).
Studying the visitor
- This asteroid will provide an opportunity for astronomers to get a more precise understanding of the asteroid’s size and albedo (i.e. how bright, or reflective, its surface is), and a rough idea of its composition.
- When sunlight hits an asteroid’s surface, minerals in the rock absorb some wavelengths while reflecting others.
- By studying the spectrum of light reflecting off the surface, astronomers can measure the chemical “fingerprints” of the minerals on the surface of the asteroid.
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