Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Allternative fibres to plastic
Mains level: Phasing out single use plastics
Researchers from the Department of Material Engineering, Indian Institute of Science, Bengaluru (IISc) have found a way to make a substitute for single-use plastic that can, in principle help mitigate the problem of accumulating plastic waste in the environment.
What is the new material?
- IISc has developed polymers using non-edible oil and cellulose extracted from agricultural stubble.
- These polymers can be moulded into sheets having properties suitable for making bags, cutlery or containers.
- The material so made is bio-degradable, leak-proof and non-toxic.
Key features
- In order to obtain sheets with properties like flexibility suitable for making different articles, the researchers played with the proportions of cellulose to non-edible oil.
- The more cellulose they added, and less non-edible oil, the stiffer was the material, so that it was more suitable to making tumblers and cutlery.
- The greater the proportion of oil, the more flexible was the material and it could be moulded into sheets for making bags.
Why needed?
Ans. Plastic waste menace in India
- According to a report by Central Pollution Control Board of India, for the year 2018-2019, 3.3 million metric tonnes of plastic waste are generated by Indians.
- The bad news is that this may well be an under-estimation of the problem.
- Another alarming statistic is that of all the plastic waste produced in the world, 79% enters the environment.
- Only 9% of all plastic waste is recycled.
- Accumulation of plastic waste is detrimental to the environment and when this waste finds its way into the sea, there can be major harm to aquatic ecosystems, too.
Agricultural stubble
- While plastic waste causes one type of pollution, agricultural stubble burning is responsible for air pollution in several States.
- In Delhi, for example, the air quality index dips to indicate “severe” or “hazardous” level of pollution every winter, and this is due in part to the burning of agricultural stubble in the surrounding regions.
Try this PYQ from CSP 2020:
Which of the following statements are correct regarding the general difference between plant and animal cells?
- Plant cells have cellulose cell walls whilst animal cells do not.
- Plant cells do not have plasma membranes unlike animal cells which do.
- Mature plant cell has one large vacuole whilst animal cell has many small vacuoles.
Select the correct answer using the code given below:
(a) 1 and 2 only
(b) 2 and 3 only
(c) 1 and 3 only
(d) 1, 2 and 3
Post your answers here.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Planet Nine, Dwarf Planets
Mains level: NA
A new study’s “treasure map” suggests that a planet several times more massive than Earth could be hiding in our solar system, camouflaged by the bright strip of stars that make up the Milky Way.
Do not wonder. This too was a PYQ:
Q.Which planet was downgraded to dwarf planet status?
(a) Pluto
(b) Mars
(c) Earth
(d) Venus
Post your answers here!
Planet 9
- Planet Nine is a hypothetical planet in the outer region of the Solar System.
- Its gravitational effects could explain the unlikely clustering of orbits for a group of extreme trans-Neptunian objects (ETNOs), bodies beyond Neptune that orbit the Sun at distances averaging more than 250 times that of the Earth.
- Based on earlier considerations, this hypothetical super-Earth-sized planet would have had a predicted mass of five to ten times that of the Earth, and an elongated orbit 400 to 800 times as far from the Sun as the Earth.
Curiosity for the ninth Planet
- In August 2006, the International Astronomical Union broke several hearts when it announced that it had reclassified Pluto as a dwarf planet. ‘
- The decision was based on Pluto’s size and the fact that it resides within a zone of other similarly-sized objects.
Is everyone convinced that Planet Nine exists?
- Researchers from across the globe have carried out several studies on Planet Nine and there are several theories about it, including one that stated Planet Nine could in fact be a black hole.
- Another research has argued that the unknown object causing anomalous orbits of the trans-Neptunian objects could be a primordial black hole.
- Yet another study noted that a trans-Neptunian object called 2015 BP519 had an unusual trajectory because it was affected by Planet Nine’s strong gravity.
Back2Basics: Dwarf Planet
- A dwarf planet is a small planetary-mass object that is in direct orbit of the Sun – something smaller than any of the eight classical planets, but still a world in its own right.
- As of today, there are officially five dwarf planets in our Solar System.
- The most famous is Pluto, downgraded from the status of a planet in 2006.
- The other four, in order of size, are Eris, Makemake, Haumea and Ceres. The sixth claimant for a dwarf planet is Hygiea, which so far has been taken to be an asteroid.
- These four criteria are – that the body orbits around the Sun, it is not a moon, has not cleared the neighborhood around its orbit, and has enough mass for its gravity to pull it into a roughly spherical shape.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Dengue
Mains level: NA
The Union Health Ministry has flagged the emerging challenge in 11 States across India of serotype 2 dengue, which it said is associated with “more cases and more complications” than other forms of the disease.
Try this PYQ from CSP 2015:
Q. Consider the following statements:
- In tropical regions, Zika virus disease is transmitted by the same mosquito that transmits dengue.
- Sexual transmission of Zika virus disease is possible.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
(a) 1 only
(b) 2 only
(c) Both 1 and 2
(d) Neither 1 nor 2
Post your answers here!
What is Dengue?
- Dengue is a mosquito-borne viral infection, found in tropical and sub-tropical climates worldwide, mostly in urban and semi-urban areas.
- It is transmitted by female mosquitoes mainly of the species Aedes aegypti and, to a lesser extent, Ae. albopictus.
- These mosquitoes are also vectors of chikungunya, yellow fever and Zika viruses.
- Dengue is widespread throughout the tropics, with local variations in risk influenced by rainfall, temperature, relative humidity and unplanned rapid urbanization.
Its transmission
- The virus is transmitted to humans through the bites of infected female mosquitoes, primarily the Aedes aegypti
- Other species within the Aedes genus can also act as vectors, but their contribution is secondary to Aedes aegypti.
- Mosquitoes can become infected from people who are viremic with dengue.
Various serotypes
- Dengue is caused by a virus of the Flaviviridae family and there are four distinct, but closely related, serotypes of the virus that cause dengue (DENV-1, DENV-2, DENV-3 and DENV-4).
- Recovery from infection is believed to provide lifelong immunity against that serotype.
- However, cross-immunity to the other serotypes after recovery is only partial and temporary.
- Subsequent infections (secondary infection) by other serotypes increase the risk of developing severe dengue.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Delhi-Mumbai Expressway
Mains level: NA
The Minister for Road Transport and Highways Union Minister Nitin Gadkari concluded the review of the work progress on the Delhi-Mumbai Expressway.
Delhi-Mumbai Expressway
- The ambitious infra project started in the year 2018 is being constructed at a cost of Rs 98,000 crore and is scheduled for completion by March 2023.
- States: Delhi, Haryana, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat and Maharashtra
- Once ready, the expressway will feature a spur to Noida International Airport and Jawaharlal Nehru Port to Mumbai through a spur in the financial capital.
- It will reduce travel time between certain cities to 12-12.5 hours from 24 hours.
- The project is expected to improve connectivity to economic hubs of India like Jaipur, Ajmer, Kishangarh, Chittorgarh, Kota, Udaipur, Ujjain, Bhopal, Indore, Vadodara, Ahmedabad, and Surat.
Key features of the expressway
- The expressway which is eight-lane access-controlled can be expanded to a 12-lane expressway depending on the traffic volume
- It will boast wayside amenities such as resorts, food courts, restaurants, fuel stations, logistics parks, facilities for truckers
- For accident victims, it will offer a helicopter ambulance service as well as a heliport, which will use drone services for business
- Along the highway, over two million trees and shrubs are planned to be planted
- The highway project is Asia’s first and the world’s second to include animal overpasses in order to facilitate unrestricted wildlife movement
- Besides, it will also involve two iconic eight-lane tunnels
- The project will result in annual savings of more than 320 million litres of fuel as well as reduce Carbon dioxide emissions by 850 million kg
- Over 12 lakh tonnes of steel will be consumed in the project’s construction, which is equivalent to constructing 50 Howrah bridges
- For the project, 80 lakh tonnes of cement will be consumed, which is around 2 percent of the country’s annual cement production capacity
- The ambitious Delhi-Mumbai Expressway project has also created job opportunities for thousands of trained civil engineers apart from generating over 50 lakh man-days of work
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From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Pigmentation of Tigers
Mains level: Not Much
A team of scientists has resolved the genetic mystery of Simlipal’s so-called black tigers.
What are Black Tigers?
- Tigers have a distinctive dark stripe pattern on a light background of white or golden.
- A rare pattern variant, distinguished by stripes that are broadened and fused together, is also observed in both wild and captive populations.
- This is known as pseudo-melanism, which is different from true melanism, a condition characterized by unusually high deposition of melanin, a dark pigment.
- This pseudo-melanism is linked to a single mutation in Transmembrane Aminopeptidase Q (Taqpep), a gene responsible for similar traits in other cat species.
Where are they mostly found?
- While truly melanistic tigers are yet to be recorded, pseudo-melanistic ones have been camera-trapped repeatedly, and only, in Simlipal, a 2,750-km tiger reserve in Odisha, since 2007.
- Launched in 2017, the study was the first attempt to investigate the genetic basis for this unusual phenotype (appearance).
Why they are rare?
- Mutants are genetic variations which may occur spontaneously, but not frequently, in nature.
- A cub gets two copies of each gene from both parents, and a recessive gene can show up only in the absence of the dominant one.
- So, two normal-pattern tigers carrying the recessive pseudo-melanism gene will have to breed together for a one-in-four probability of giving birth to a black cub.
- But recessive genes are rare and it is unlikely that two unrelated tigers will carry the same one and pass it on together to a cub.
Connection with Simlipal TR
- In an ideal tiger world, where far-ranging individuals are never short of choices for partners, that makes succession of black tigers a rarity.
- Under exceptional circumstances, a black tiger may succeed as part of a very small population that is forced to inbreed in isolation for generations.
- As it turned out, that is what happened at Simlipal.
- Pseudo-melanistic tigers are also present in three zoos in India — Nandankanan (Bhubaneswar), Arignar Anna Zoological Park (Chennai) and Bhagwan Birsa Biological Park (Ranchi) — where they were born in captivity.
- All of them have ancestral links to one individual from Simlipal.
What about natural selection?
- Natural selection eliminates the weakest from a gene pool, and the traits of the more successful get passed on.
- Niche modelling, the study said, shows higher frequency of melanistic leopards in darker tropical and subtropical forests than in drier open habitats.
- Likewise, darker coats may confer a selective advantage in both hunting and avoiding hunters in Simlipal’s tropical moist deciduous and semi-evergreen closed-canopy forest, with a relatively darker understory.
Try this PYQ:
Two important rivers – one with its source in Jharkhand (and known by a different name in Odisha), and another, with its source in Odisha – merge at a place only a short distance from the coast of Bay of Bengal before flowing into the sea. This is an important site of wildlife and biodiversity and a protected area.
Which one of the following could be this?
(a) Bhitarkanika
(b) Chandipur-on-sea
(c) Gopalpur-on-sea
(d) Simlipal
Post your answers here.
Back2Basics: Project Tiger
- Project Tiger is a tiger conservation program launched in April 1973 during PM Indira Gandhi’s tenure.
- In 1970 India had only 1800 tigers and Project Tiger was launched in Jim Corbett National Park.
- The project is administrated by the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA).
- It aims at ensuring a viable population of Bengal tigers in their natural habitats, protecting them from extinction etc.
- Under this project the govt. has set up a Tiger Protection Force to combat poachers and funded relocation of villagers to minimize human-tiger conflicts.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: General Sherman Tree
Mains level: NA
Two wildfires in California are burning through the Sequoia National Park in the Sierra Nevada that is home to some of the largest trees in the world.
Among these trees is the world’s largest tree popularly known as General Sherman, which firefighters are now trying to protect from the blaze.
About General Sherman
- The General Sherman tree is the world’s largest in terms of volume and exists in the Giant Forest sequoia grove of the national park.
- As per recent estimates, General Sherman is about 2,200 years old.
- It stands at a height of 275 feet (taller than the leaning tower of Pisa) and has a diameter of 36 feet at the base.
- Even 60 feet above the base, the tree has a diameter of 17.5 feet.
- Giant sequoia trees have existed in the national park for thousands of years and there are an estimated 2,000 such trees in the park.
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From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Shankhlipi Script, Gupta Period
Mains level: Zenith of arts and cultural development during Gupta Period
Last week, the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) discovered remains of an ancient temple dating back to the Gupta period (5th century) in a village in Uttar Pradesh’s Etah district.
Findings of the excavation
- The Bilsarh site was declared ‘protected’ in 1928.
- Every year, the ASI undertakes scrubbing work at the protected sites.
- This year, the team discovered two decorative pillars close to one another, with human figurines resembling an ancient temple.
- The stairs of the temple had ‘shankhalipi’ inscriptions, which were deciphered by the archaeologists as saying, ‘Sri Mahendraditya’, the title of Kumaragupta I of the Gupta dynasty.
You will find tons of PYQs on Gupta Period. Try this recent one:
Q. With reference to the period of Gupta dynasty in ancient India, the towns Ghantasala, Kadura and Chaula were well known as:
(a) ports handling foreign trade
(b) capitals of powerful kingdoms
(c) places of exquisite stone art and architecture
(d) important Buddhist pilgrimage centres
Post your answers here.
Who was Kumaragupta I?
- Kumaragupta I was an emperor of the Gupta Empire of Ancient India.
- A son of the Gupta emperor Chandragupta II and queen Dhruvadevi, he seems to have maintained control of his inherited territory, which extended from Gujarat in the west to Bengal region in the east.
- In the 5th century, Kumaragupta I ruled for 40 years over north-central India.
- Skandagupta, son and successor of Kumaragupta I is generally considered to be the last of the great Gupta rulers.
- He assumed the titles of Vikramaditya and Kramaditya.
What is the Shankhalipi script?
- Shankhalipi or “shell-script” is a term used by scholars to describe ornate spiral characters assumed to be Brahmi derivatives that look like conch shells or shankhas.
- They are found in inscriptions across north-central India and date to between the 4th and 8th centuries.
- Both Shankhalipi and Brahmi are stylised scripts used primarily for names and signatures.
- The inscriptions consist of a small number of characters, suggesting that the shell inscriptions are names or auspicious symbols or a combination of the two.
Chronology and meaning
- The script was discovered in 1836 on a brass trident in Uttarakhand’s Barahat by English scholar James Prinsep, who was the founding editor of the Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal.
- A year later, he came across two more similar scripts at Nagarjuna group of caves in the Barabar Hills near Gaya.
- Prominent sites with shell inscriptions include the Mundeshwari Temple in Bihar, the Udayagiri Caves in Madhya Pradesh, Mansar in Maharashtra and some of the cave sites of Gujarat and Maharashtra.
- In fact, shell inscriptions are also reported in Indonesia’s Java and Borneo.
- Scholars have tried to decipher shell script but have not been successful.
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Back2Basics: Gupta Empire
- The Gupta Empire was an ancient Indian empire which existed from the early 4th century CE to late 6th century CE.
- This period is considered as the Golden Age of India by historians.
- The ruling dynasty of the empire was founded by the king Sri Gupta; the most notable rulers of the dynasty were Chandragupta I, Samudragupta, and Chandragupta II alias Vikramaditya.
- The 5th-century CE Sanskrit poet Kalidasa credits the Guptas with having conquered about twenty-one kingdoms, both in and outside India, including the kingdoms of Parasikas, the Hunas, the Kambojas, tribes located in the west and east Oxus valleys, the Kinnaras, Kiratas, and others.
- Many of the literary sources, such as Mahabharata and Ramayana, were canonized during this period.
- The Gupta period produced scholars such as Kalidasa, Aryabhata, Varahamihira, and Vatsyayana who made great advancements in many academic fields.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Tarballs
Mains level: Oil spills and the threats posed
A beach in South Mumbai, saw black oil-emanating balls lying on the shore.
What are Tarballs?
- Tarballs are dark-coloured, sticky balls of oil that form when crude oil floats on the ocean surface.
- Tarballs are formed by weathering of crude oil in marine environments.
- They are transported from the open sea to the shores by sea currents and waves.
- Tarballs are usually coin-sized and are found strewn on the beaches. Some of the balls are as big as a basketball while others are smaller globules.
- However, over the years, they have become as big as basketballs and can weigh as much as 6-7 kgs.
How are tarballs formed?
- Wind and waves tear the oil slick into smaller patches that are scattered over a much wider area.
- Various physical, chemical and biological processes (weathering) change the appearance of the oil.
Why are tarballs found on the beaches during the monsoon?
- It is suspected that the oil comes from the large cargo ships in the deep sea and gets pushed to the shore as tarballs during monsoon due to wind speed and direction.
- All the oil spilt in the Arabian sea eventually gets deposited on the western coast in the form of tarballs in the monsoon season when wind speed and circulation pattern favour transportation of these tarballs.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Hybodont Shark
Mains level: Not Much
In a rare discovery, teeth of new species of Hybodont shark of Jurassic age have been reported for the first time from Jaisalmer by a team of officers from the Geological Survey of India (GSI).
Hybodont Shark
- Hybodonts, an extinct group of sharks, was a dominant group of fishes in both marine and fluvial environments during the Triassic and early Jurassic time.
- However, hybodont sharks started to decline in marine environments from the Middle Jurassic onwards until they formed a relatively minor component of open-marine shark assemblages.
- They finally became extinct at the end of the Cretaceous time 65 million years ago.
Significance of the fossil
- The newly discovered crushing teeth from Jaisalmer represents a new species named by the research team as Strophodusjaisalmerensis.
- These sharks have been reported for the first time from the Jurassic rocks (approximately, between 160 and 168 million years old) of the Jaisalmer region of Rajasthan.
- The genus Strophodus has been identified for the first time from the Indian subcontinent and is only the third such record from Asia, the other two being from Japan and Thailand.
- It opens a new window for further research in the domain of vertebrate fossils.
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Back2Basics: Geological time-scale
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: States reorganization
Mains level: Not Much
The Meghalaya Assembly has given an indigenous touch to the National Anthem ahead of the 50th anniversary of Meghalaya’s Statehood in 2022.
About Meghalaya
- Meghalaya meaning “abode of clouds” was formed by carving out two districts from the state of Assam: the United Khasi Hills and Jaintia Hills, and the Garo Hills on 21 January 1972.
- It was previously part of Assam, but on 21 January 1972, the districts of Khasi, Garo and Jaintia hills became the new state of Meghalaya.
- It is the wettest region of India, with the wettest areas in the southern Khasi Hills recording an average of 12,000 mm (470 in) of rain a year.
- About 70 percent of the state is forested.
- The Meghalaya subtropical forests ecoregion encompasses the state; its mountain forests are distinct from the lowland tropical forests to the north and south.
Note the chronology of reorganization states in India
| State |
Formation Year |
Status prior to the formation |
| Andhra |
1953 |
Part of the state of Madras |
| Gujarat |
1960 |
Part of the state of Bombay |
| Maharashtra |
1960 |
Part of the state of Bombay |
| Kerala |
1956 |
State of Travancore and Cochin |
| Nagaland |
1963 |
Union territory |
| Haryana |
1966 |
Part of Punjab |
| Karnataka |
1956 |
State of Mysore was formed in 1953, enlarged Mysore in 1956 which was renamed in 1973. |
| Himachal Pradesh |
1971 |
Union Territory |
| Manipur, Tripura |
1972 |
Union Territories |
| Meghalaya |
1972 |
Autonomous state within state of Assam |
| Sikkim |
1975 |
Associate state since 1974 and a protectorate of India before that. |
| Mizoram |
1987 |
District of Assam till 1972 and Union Territory from 1972 to 1987. |
| Arunachal Pradesh |
1987 |
Union Territory |
| Goa |
1987 |
Union Territory |
| Uttarakhand |
2000 |
Part of Uttar Pradesh |
| Chhattisgarh |
2000 |
Part of Madhya Pradesh |
| Jharkhand |
2000 |
Part of Bihar |
| Telangana |
2014 |
Part of Andhra Pradesh |
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: NFRA
Mains level: Not Much
Audit regulator National Financial Reporting Authority (NFRA) wants to be positioned as a regulator for the entire gamut of financial reporting, covering all processes and participants in the financial reporting chain.
What is NFRA?
- NFRA is an independent regulator to oversee the auditing profession and accounting standards in India under Companies Act 2013.
- It came into existence in October 2018.
- After the Satyam scandal took place in 2009, the Standing Committee on Finance proposed the concept of the National Financial Reporting Authority (NFRA) for the first time in its 21st report.
- Companies Act, 2013 then gave the regulatory framework for its composition and constitution.
Functions
- NFRA works to improve the transparency and reliability of financial statements and information presented by listed companies and large unlisted companies in India.
Powers & duties
- NFRA is responsible for recommending accounting and auditing policies and standards in the country.
- It may undertake investigations, and impose sanctions against defaulting auditors and audit firms in the form of monetary penalties and debarment from practice for up to 10 years.
- Since 2018, the powers of the NFRA were extended to include the governing of auditors of companies listed in any stock exchange, in India or outside of India, unlisted public companies above certain thresholds.
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From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Social reformers in Colonial India
Mains level: Not Much
The PM has laid the foundation stone of Raja Mahendra Pratap Singh State University in Aligarh, Uttar Pradesh.
UPSC is exploring deeper for social reformers involved in the freedom struggle. This is very much visible from the questions based on Rakhmabai, Gopal Baba Walangkar, Sakharam Deuskar etc. in CS Prelims 2020.
Raja Mahendra Pratap Singh (1886-1979)
- Raja Mahendra Pratap Singh was an Indian freedom fighter, journalist, writer and a revolutionary.
- He was President in the Provisional Government of India, which served as the Indian Government in exile during World War I from Kaabul in 1915.
- He also formed the Executive Board of India in Japan in 1940 during the Second World War.
- He also took part in the Balkan War in the year 1911 along with his fellow students of Muhammedan Anglo College.
- In recognition of his services, the government of India issued postage stamps in his honor. He is popularly known as “Aryan Peshwa”.
- He was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize in 1932.
Involvement in Swadeshi Movement
- He met several leaders involved in the Swadeshi movement, deciding to promote small industries with indigenous goods and local artisans.
- He was influenced by the speeches of Dadabhai Naoroji, Bal Gangadhar Tilak, Maharaja of Baroda, and Bipin Chandra Pal, helping to make him a patriot who turned Swadeshi.
Formation of provisional govt in exile
- On 1 December 1915 during World War I Pratap established the first Provisional Government of India at Kabul in Afghanistan as a government-in-exile of Free Hindustan, with himself as President, Maulavi Barkatullah as Prime Minister, and Maulana Ubaidullah Sindhi as Home Minister, declaring jihad on the British.
- Due to his revolutionary ideas Pratap had a good relationship with Lenin, who invited him to Russia after its liberation and welcomed him.
- By this time, the British had noticed his activities, and the British Government of India put a bounty on his head, attached/confiscated his entire estate, and declared him a fugitive, causing him to flee to Japan in 1925.
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From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Battle of Saragarhi
Mains level: Anglo-Afghan Wars
This September 12 marks the 124th anniversary of the Battle of Saragarhi that has inspired a host of armies, books and films, both at home and abroad.
What is the Battle of Saragarhi?
- The Battle of Saragarhi is considered one of the finest last stands in the military history of the world.
- Twenty-one soldiers were pitted against over 8,000 Afridi and Orakzai tribals but they managed to hold the fort for seven hours.
- Though heavily outnumbered, the soldiers of 36th Sikhs (now 4 Sikhs), led by Havildar Ishar Singh, fought till their last breath, killing 200 tribals and injuring 600.
What was Saragarhi, and why was it important?
- Saragarhi was the communication tower between Fort Lockhart and Fort Gulistan.
- The two forts in the rugged North-West Frontier Province (NWFP), now in Pakistan. were built by Maharaja Ranjit Singh but renamed by the British.
- Though Saragarhi was usually manned by a platoon of 40 soldiers, on that fateful day, it was being held by only 21 soldiers from 36th Sikh (now 4 Sikh) and a non-combatant called Daad, a Pashtun who did odd jobs for the troops.
- Saragarhi helped to link up the two important forts which housed a large number of British troops in the rugged terrain of NWFP.
- Fort Lockhart was also home to families of British officers.
What transpired on that day?
- Around 9 am that day, the sentry at Saragarhi saw a thick haze of dust and soon realized that it was caused by a large army of tribals marching towards the fort.
- The 8,000 and 15,000 tribals wanted to isolate the two forts by cutting off the lines of communication between them.
- Unfortunately, the Pathans had cut the supply route between Fort Lockhart and Saragarhi.
Who was Havildar Ishar Singh who led the troops?
- Havildar Ishar Singh was born in a village near Jagraon.
- He joined the Punjab Frontier Force in his late teens after which he spent most of his time on various battlefields.
- Soon after it was raised in 1887, Ishar was drafted into the 36th Sikhs.
- He was in his early 40s when he was given independent command of the Saragarhi post.
- Ishar Singh was quite a maverick who dared to disobey his superiors but he was loved by his men for whom he was always ready to go out on a limb.
How was the news of the battle received in Britain?
- Making a departure from the tradition of not giving gallantry medals posthumously, Queen Victoria awarded the 21 dead soldiers — leaving out the non-combatant/
- They were awarded the Indian Order of Merit (comparable with the Victoria Cross) along with two ‘marabas’ (50 acres) and Rs 500 each.
How are the slain soldiers remembered?
- In 2017, the Punjab government decided to observe Saragarhi Day on September 12 as a holiday.
- Even today the Khyber Scouts regiment of the Pakistani army mounts a guard and salutes the Saragarhi memorial close to Fort Lockhart.
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From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Thamirabarani Civilization
Mains level: Ancient Indian Civilizations
A carbon dating analysis of rice with soil, found in a burial urn at Sivakalai in Thoothukudi district of Tamil Nadu has yielded the date of 1155 BC, indicating that the Thamirabarani civilization dates back to 3,200 years.
About Thamirabarani River
- The Thamirabarani or Tamraparni or Porunai is a perennial river that originates from the Agastyarkoodam peak of the Pothigai hills of the Western Ghats.
- It flows through the Tirunelveli and Thoothukudi districts of the Tamil Nadu state of southern India into the Gulf of Mannar.
- It was called the Tamraparni River in the pre-classical period, a name it lent to the island of Sri Lanka.
- The old Tamil name of the river is Porunai.
Its history
- Its many name derivations of Tan Porunai include Tampraparani, Tamirabarni, Tamiravaruni.
- Tan Porunai nathi finds mention by classical Tamil poets in ancient Sangam Tamil literature Purananuru.
- Recognised as a holy river in Sanskrit literature Puranas, Mahabharata and Ramayana, the river was famed in the Early Pandyan Kingdom for its pearl and conch fisheries and trade.
- The movement of people, including the faithful, trade merchants and toddy tapers from Tamraparni river to northwestern Sri Lanka led to the shared appellation of the name for the closely connected region.
- One important historical document on the river is the treatise Tamraparni Mahatmyam.
- It has many ancient temples along its banks. A hamlet known as Appankoil is located on the northern side of the river.
Significance of the carbon dating
- This has provided evidence that there was a city civilisation in south India as long back as 3,200 years ago, the later part of the Indus Valley Civilisation.
- Vicinity to the ancient port of Muziris, now known as Pattanam, in Kerala add another significance to the trade history of this site.
- Now, research would be conducted at Quseir al-Qadim and Pernica Anekke in Egypt, which were once part of the Roman empire, as well as in Khor Rori in Oman, to establish the Tamils’ trade relations with these countries.
- Potsherds bearing Tamil scripts have been found in these countries.
- Studies would also be conducted in Southeast Asian countries, such as Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia and Vietnam, where King Rajendra Chola had established supremacy.
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Also read
Sangam era older than previously thought, finds study
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Solar Storm
Mains level: Not Much
Studies have found that a powerful solar storm can cause a disruption of the internet, damage submarine cables, and communication satellites.
What is a Solar Storm?
- A solar storm or a Coronal Mass Ejection as astronomers call it is an ejection of highly magnetized particles from the sun.
- These particles can travel several million km per hour and can take about 13 hours to five days to reach Earth.
- Earth’s atmosphere protects us, humans, from these particles.
- But the particles can interact with our Earth’s magnetic field, induce strong electric currents on the surface and affect man-made structures.
History of solar storms
- The first recorded solar storm occurred in 1859 and it reached Earth in about 17 hours.
- It affected the telegraph network and many operators experienced electric shocks.
- A solar storm that occurred in 1921 impacted New York telegraph and railroad systems and another small-scale storm collapsed the power grid in Quebec, Canada in 1989.
- A 2013 report noted that if a solar storm similar to the 1859 one hit the US today, about 20-40 million people could be without power for 1-2 years, and the total economic cost will be $0.6-2.6 trillion.
Why is it a cause of concern?
- The Sun goes through an 11-year cycle – cycles of high and low activity.
- It also has a longer 100-year cycle.
- During the last three decades, when the internet infrastructure was booming, it was a low period.
- And very soon, either in this cycle or the next cycle, we are going towards the peaks of the 100-year cycle.
- So it is highly likely that we might see one powerful solar storm during our lifetime.
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From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Nuakhai
Mains level: Not Much
In Odisha, Nuakhai, an important agrarian festival in the State is being celebrated today.
Nuakhai
- Nuakhai or is an agricultural festival mainly observed by people of Western Odisha and Southern Chhattisgarh in India.
- It is observed to welcome the new rice of the season.
- As per the customary practice, people offer the new grains of crops to the deities before their own consumption.
- According to the calendar it is observed on Panchami tithi (the fifth day) of the lunar fortnight of the month of Bhadrapada or Bhadraba (August–September), the day after the Ganesh Chaturthi festival.
- This is the most important social festival of Western Odisha and adjoining areas of Simdega in Jharkhand, where the culture of Western Odisha is much predominant.
- It is also a festival of social cohesion as all the members of the family come together to celebrate Nuakhai.
Try this PYQ:
Consider the following pairs:
Tradition State
- Chapchar Kut Festival — Mizoram
- Khongjom Parba ballad — Manipur
- Thang-Ta Dance — Sikkim
Which of the pairs given above is/are correct?
(a) 1 only
(b) 1 and 2
(c) 1 and 2
(d) 2 and 3
Post your answers here.
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From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Qeqertaq Avannarleq
Mains level: Impact of climate change
A group of researchers who went out to collect samples off the coast of Greenland in July found themselves on a tiny, uninhabited and previously unknown island.
Qeqertaq Avannarleq
- Measuring 60×30 metres and with a peak of three metres above sea level, it has now become the new northernmost piece of land on Earth.
- Before this, Oodaaq was marked as the Earth’s northernmost terrain.
- The new island is made up of seabed mud and moraine, i.e. soil, rock and other material left behind by moving glaciers, and has no vegetation.
- The group has suggested the discovery be named ‘Qeqertaq Avannarleq’, which is Greenlandic for “the northernmost island”.
How this island came to existence?
Ans. Undoubtedly, climate change in Greenland
- Global warming has had a severe effect on the ice sheet of Greenland.
- The new island, which was exposed by shifting pack ice, is, however, not a direct consequence of climate change.
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From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: SEZs, Baba Kalyani Committee
Mains level: Read the attached story
The government is considering a proposal to allow producers in Special Economic Zones (SEZs) to sell their output to the domestic market without treating them as imports.
What are SEZs?
- A Special Economic Zone (SEZ) is an area in which the business and trade laws are different from the rest of the country.
- SEZs are located within a country’s national borders, and their aims include increasing trade balance, employment, increased investment, job creation, and effective administration.
- To encourage businesses to set up in the zone, financial policies are introduced.
- These policies typically encompass investing, taxation, trading, quotas, customs, and labor regulations.
- Additionally, companies may be offered tax holidays, where upon establishing themselves in a zone, they are granted a period of lower taxation.
SEZs in India
- The SEZ policy in India first came into inception on April 1, 2000.
- The prime objective was to enhance foreign investment and provide an internationally competitive and hassle-free environment for exports.
- The idea was to promote exports from the country and realizing the need for a level playing field must be made available to the domestic enterprises and manufacturers to be competitive globally.
- Subsequently, the SEZ Act 2005, was enacted to provide the umbrella legal framework, covering all important legal and regulatory aspects of SEZ development as well as for units operating in SEZs.
Who can set up SEZs? Can foreign companies set up SEZs?
- Any private/public/joint sector or state government or its agencies can set up an SEZ.
- Yes, a foreign agency can set up SEZs in India.
What is the role of state governments in establishing SEZs?
- State governments will have a very important role to play in the establishment of SEZs.
- A representative of the state government, who is a member of the inter-ministerial committee on private SEZ, is consulted while considering the proposal.
- Before recommending any proposals to the ministry of commerce and industry (department of commerce), the states must satisfy themselves that they are in a position to supply basic inputs like water, electricity, etc.
Are SEZs controlled by the government?
- In all SEZs, the statutory functions are controlled by the government.
- The government also controls the operation and maintenance function in the central government-controlled SEZs. The rest of the operations and maintenance are privatized.
Are SEZs exempt from labor laws?
- Normal labor laws are applicable to SEZs, which are enforced by the respective state governments.
- The state governments have been requested to simplify the procedures/returns and for the introduction of a single-window clearance mechanism by delegating appropriate powers to development commissioners of SEZs.
Who monitors the functioning of the units in SEZ?
- The performance of the SEZ units is monitored by a unit approval committee consisting of a development commissioner, custom, and representative of the state government on an annual basis.
What are the special features for business units that come to the zone?
- Business units that set up establishments in an SEZ would be entitled to a package of incentives and a simplified operating environment.
- Besides, no license is required for imports, including second-hand machinery.
How do SEZs help a country’s economy?
- SEZs play a key role in the rapid economic development of a country.
- In the early 1990s, it helped China and there were hopes that the establishment in India of similar export-processing zones could offer similar benefits – provided, however, that the zones offered attractive enough concessions.
- Traditionally the biggest deterrents to foreign investment in India have been high tariffs and taxes, red-tapism, and strict labor laws.
- To date, these restrictions have ensured that India has been unable to compete with China’s massively successful light-industrial export machine.
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From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Cryptocurrencies and Legal Tender Currency
Mains level: Issues with Cryptocurrencies
Former RBI Deputy Governor R. Gandhi made a case for treating and regulating crypto as a separate asset class with a view to enabling governments around the world to effectively deal with illegal activities associated with virtual currencies.
Why in news?
- After quite a lot of debate over the years, people have fully understood that crypto cannot be a currency because the fundamental element of a currency that it should be a legal tender is missing in this case.
- The general consensus among many policymakers is that it should be deemed as an asset, not as a currency, not as a payment instrument, and not as a financial instrument as there is no clear identified issuer.
What are Cryptocurrencies?
- A cryptocurrency is a digital asset designed to work as a medium of exchange wherein individual coin ownership records are stored in a ledger existing in a form of a computerized database.
- It uses strong cryptography to secure transaction records, control the creation of additional coins, and verify the transfer of coin ownership.
- It typically does not exist in physical form (like paper money) and is typically not issued by a central authority.
- Cryptocurrencies typically use decentralized control as opposed to centralized digital currency and central banking systems.
How does it work?
- Cryptocurrencies work using a technology called the blockchain.
- Blockchain is a decentralized technology spread across many computers that manage and record transactions.
What is Blockchain Technology?
- Simply, blockchain is a decentralized, distributed, and public digital ledger.
- Blockchains are a new type of network infrastructure (a way to organize how information and value move around on the internet) that creates ‘trust’ in networks by introducing distributed verifiability, auditability, and consensus.
- Blockchains create trust by acting as a shared database, distributed across vast peer-to-peer networks that have no single point of failure and no single source of truth.
- No individual entity can own a blockchain network, and no single entity can modify the data stored on it unilaterally without the consensus of its peers.
Also read
Cryptocurrency and Regulation of Official Digital Currency Bill, 2021
Back2Basics: Legal Tender Money
- A legal tender is a coin or a banknote that is legally tenderable for discharge of debt or obligation.
- Coin of any denomination not lower than one rupee shall be legal tender for any sum not exceeding one thousand rupees.
- Fifty paise (a half rupee) coins shall be legal tender for any sum not exceeding ten rupees.
- While anyone cannot be forced to accept coins beyond the limits mentioned above, voluntarily accepting coins for amounts exceeding the limits mentioned above is not prohibited.
- Every banknote issued by the Reserve Bank of India unless withdrawn from circulation shall be legal tender at any place in India.
- ₹1 notes issued by the Government of India are also Legal Tender.
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From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Pollen Calender
Mains level: NA
Chandigarh now has its first pollen calendar, which can identify potential allergy triggers and provide a clear understanding for clinicians as well as allergy sufferers about their causes to help limit their exposure during high pollen loads.
What is a Pollen Calendar?
- Pollen calendars represent the time dynamics of airborne pollen present in a particular geographical area.
- They yield readily accessible visual details about various airborne pollen present throughout the year in a single picture.
Is this a new concept in India? Where else in the west has this calendar been used?
- Though the concept is not essentially new, this is one of the major environmental concerns that had not been addressed for the Indian cities.
- Such calendars are location-specific, as pollen concentrations are closely related to locally distributed flora.
- Europe, UK and the US are using regional pollen calendars in a big way to prevent and diagnose allergic rhinitis/hay fever and predict the timing and severity of the pollen season.
Why is it important to study pollen?
- Pollen grains are male biological structures with the primary role of fertilization, but when inhaled by humans, they may strain the respiratory system and cause allergies.
- Pollen found suspended in air can cause widespread upper respiratory tract and naso-bronchial allergy with manifestations like asthma, seasonal rhinitis, and bronchial irritation.
- About 20-30 percent of the population suffers from allergic rhinitis/hay fever in India, and approximately 15 percent develop asthma.
- Pollen is considered a major outdoor airborne allergen responsible for allergic rhinitis, asthma, and atopic dermatitis in humans.
What were the key findings?
- The study highlights the variability of crucial pollen types in different seasons.
- Spring and autumn are two seasons when airborne pollen dominate.
- The findings will enhance the understanding of pollen seasons, which will in turn help minimize pollen allergies.
How will a pollen calendar benefit people, especially those who have respiratory issues?
- A pollen calendar provides a clear understanding for clinicians, as well as people with allergies to identify the potential allergy triggers and help to limit their exposure during high pollen load season.
- The early advisories can be prepared and disseminated through media channels to the citizens so that they can use protective gear during the period when the concentration of allergic pollen will be high.
Does the study infer that gardens and parks in the city contribute to the pollen and thus there must be proper scientific tree plantation?
- It is important to involve experts while designing parks.
- We should try to plant trees/shrubs that release no or little pollen.
- Trees such as palms, nettle, safeda, white mulberry (shahtoot), congress grass, pine, have a high incidence of pollen.
What kind of trees must be grown alongside our roads or in parks?
- Plant monoecious plants (male and female flowers on the same plant).
- Hibiscus, lilies, and holly that are grown widely in Chandigarh are examples of such plants.
- Cucumbers and squashes are also monoecious. Select plants with low to moderate pollen production.
- Non-allergic or entomophilous plant species should be chosen to provide an allergen-free atmosphere.
- Examples of such plants include rose, jasmine, salvia, Bougainvillea, Raat Rani, and sunflower.
With inputs from:
Indian Express
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