5th May 2021

1. SATHI

The Department of Science & Technology has launched a unique scheme called “Sophisticated Analytical & Technical Help Institutes(SATHI)”.

Objectives of the Scheme

• SATHI will address the problems of accessibility, maintenance, redundancy and duplication of expensive equipment in the institutions.
• This will also foster a strong culture of collaboration between institutions and across disciplines to take advantage of developments, innovations and expertise in diverse areas.

2. National Mission on Quantum Technologies & Applications (NM-QTA)

The Finance Minister in budget 2020 has announced a National Mission on Quantum Technologies & Applications (NM-QTA).

About NM-QTA

• The mission will function under the Department of Science & Technology (DST).
• It will be able to address the ever-increasing technological requirements of society and take into account the international technology trends.
• The mission will help prepare next-generation skilled manpower, boost translational research and also encourage entrepreneurship and start-up ecosystem development.

3. Project MANAV: Human Atlas Initiative

• For the first time, Indian scientists will be mapping every single tissue of the human body to have a deeper understanding of the roles of tissues and cells linked to various diseases.
• Department of Biotechnology (DBT) launched MANAV: Human Atlas Initiative towards improving knowledge on human physiology.
• It is a project funded by DBT, which aims at creating a database network of all tissues in the human body from the available scientific literature.
• It is a project that involves scientific skill development for annotation, science outreach along with handling big data.
• It will involve gaining better biological insights through physiological and molecular mapping, develop disease models through predictive computing and have a holistic analysis and finally drug discovery.
• The student community, who will be the backbone on assimilating the information, will be trained and imparted with skills to perform annotation and curation of information that will ultimately form the online network.
• DBT has invested funds shared between two institutions in Pune – National Centre for Cell Science (NCCS) and Indian Institute of Science, Education and Research (IISER), Pune.
• Besides, Persistent Systems Limited has co-funded the project and is developing the platform.

4. Project Cosmic Microwave Background-Bharat

• CMB stands for Cosmic Microwave Background, and the scientific space project CMB-Bharat has been presented as a proposal to ISRO and is under consideration.
• In the workshop, project CMB-Bharat, which could help us listen to the faintest murmurs of the early universe, was discussed.
• CMB-Bharat is a proposal for comprehensive next-generation Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) mission in international collaboration with major Indian contribution.
• This referred to quantum gravitational waves, which are different from what LIGO detectors had observed that were classical in nature.

5. Phyto-Pharma Plant Mission

Objectives

• Rs 50 crore Mission aimed at conservation and cultivation of endangered and threatened endemic medicinal plants, and discovery of new botanical drugs for unmet medical needs using the rich traditional ethnobotanical knowledge and biodiversity of these states and at the same time also improve the availability of authentic and quality botanical raw material on a sustainable basis for a boom in the phyto-pharmaceutical industry
• Nodal Ministry –Ministry of Science & Technology

6. Brahmaputra Biodiversity and Biology Boat

Objectives

• B4 will establish a large barge on the river with a well-equipped laboratory for analysis of all components of the entire ecosystem of the river and surroundings. The B4 will link to all the local research institutions along the river, as well as national and international laboratories
• Nodal Ministry –Ministry of Science & Technology

7. INSPIRE (INNOVATION IN SCIENCE PURSUIT FOR INSPIRED RESEARCH)

Objectives

• To attract talent to Science.
• To communicate to the youth of the country the excitements of creative pursuit of science, attract talent to the study of science at an early age and thus build the required critical human resource pool for strengthening and expanding the Science & Technology system and R&D base.
• It does not believe in conducting competitive exams for the identification of talent at any level.
• It believes in and relies on the efficacy of the existing educational structure for the identification of talent.
• INSPIRE has three components:
• i. Scheme for Early Attraction of Talent (SEATS)
• ii. Scholarship for Higher Education (SHE)
• iii. Assured Opportunity for Research Careers (AORC)
• The Inspire Awards have been renamed as MANAK

8. JIGYASA –

Objectives

• Student-Scientist Connect Programme
• Connecting school students and scientists so as to extend student’s classroom learning with that of a very well planned research laboratory-based learning.
• CSIR + Kendriya Kendriya Vidyalaya Sangathan (KVS).

9. VAJRA

Objectives –

• The Government of India recently launched VAJRA (Visiting Advanced Joint Research) Faculty scheme by the Department of Science and Technology which enables NRIs and overseas scientific community to participate and contribute to research and development in India. The Science and Engineering Research Board (SERB), a statutory body of the Department will implement the Scheme.
• International Faculty / scientists/technologists including Non-resident Indians (NRI) and Persons of Indian Origin (PIO) / Overseas Citizen of India (OCI) are offered adjunct / visiting faculty positions in Indian Institutions / Universities for a period of 1-3 months under this scheme. The faculty can also undertake the role of teaching /mentoring apart from R&D.
• Public funded institutions and national laboratories are allowed to host the VAJRA faculty.
• Nodal Ministry –Ministry of Science & Technology

10. National Initiative for Developing & Harnessing Innovation (NIDHI)

Objectives

A programme to address the complete chain of innovation ecosystem right from scouting to mentoring to scaling up innovations. launched by DST. Establishment of a research park at IIT Gandhinagar has been supported at a cost of Rs.90 cr.

11.Surya Jyoti

Objectives

• In order to capture daylight and concentrate the same inside a dark room, particularly in the urban slum or rural areas which lack electricity supply, a low cost and energy-efficient Micro Solar Dome (Surya Jyoti) has been tested and developed. -Potential users of this device are10 million households.
• According to preliminary estimates, if this technology is adopted in 10 million households only, it has the potential of saving 1750 million units of energy.
• It would also lead to an emission reduction of about 12.5 million ton of CO2 equivalent, hence giving a fillip to the mission of ‘Clean India, Green India’.
• The manufacturing process, being labour-intensive, would also generate huge job opportunities in the economy.
• Nodal Ministry – Department of Science & Technology.

12. Rashtriya Avishkar Abhiyan

• Rashtriya Avishkar Abhiyan is running successfully to motivate children to learn Science, Maths and Technology through observation and experimentation.
• It was launched on 9th July 2015 by Late Dr A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, Former President of India.
• Nodal Ministry-HRD Ministry.

13. Indian Institutes of Information Technology (IIIT) Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2020

About the Bill:

• Amend the principal act: Introduction of the Indian Institutes of Information Technology Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2020 will amend the Indian Institutes of Information Technology Act of 2014 and Indian Institutes of Information Technology (Public-Private Partnership) Act, 2017.
• The principal acts of 2014 and 2017 are the unique initiatives of the Government of India to impart knowledge in the field of Information Technology to provide solutions to the challenges faced by the country.
• It will grant statutory status to five Indian Institutes of Information Technology in Public-Private Partnership mode at Surat, Bhopal, Bhagalpur, Agartala and Raichur.
• The new bill will declare them as Institutions of National Importance along with already existing 15 Indian Institutes of Information Technology under the Indian Institutes of Information Technology (Public-Private Partnership) Act, 2017

14. Women in Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics and Medicine (WISTEMM) program

• TheIndo-U.S. Fellowship for WISTEMM is providinginternational exposureto severalwomen scientists of India
• It is a fellowship for Women in Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics and Medicine.
• It is a program of the Department of Science and Technology (DST) in association with Indo-U.S. Science & Technology Forum (IUSSTF).
• It aims to provide opportunities to Indian Women Scientists, Engineers & Technologists to undertake international collaborative research in premier institutions in the U.S.A , to enhance their research capacities and capabilities
• The fellowship is for bright Indian women Citizen within the age bracket of 21 to 45 years.

The programme is run for two categories of women scientists:

1. Women Overseas Student Internship (Module I) for women students pursuing PhD.
2. Women Overseas Fellowship (Module II) for women with a PhD degree and holding a regular position
   at any recognized institution/laboratory in India.

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4th May 2021

Important straits in the news.

A strait is a naturally formed, narrow, typically navigable waterway that connects two larger bodies of water. Most commonly it is a channel of water that lies between two landmasses. Some straits are not navigable, for example, because they are too shallow, or because of an unnavigable reef or archipelago.

Strait of Hormuz

• It links the Persian Gulf (west) with the Gulf of Oman and the Arabian Sea (southeast).
• On the north coast lies Iran, and on the south coast the United Arab Emirates and Musandam, an exclave of Oman. 
• The strait is 35 to 60 miles (55 to 95 km) wide and separates Iran from the Arabian Peninsula.
• It contains the islands of Qeshm (Qishm), Hormuz, and Hengām (Henjām) and is of great strategic and economic importance, especially as oil tankers collecting from various ports on the Persian Gulf must pass through the strait.
• OPEC members Saudi Arabia, Iran, the UAE, Kuwait and Iraq export most of their crude via the Strait
• Qatar, the world’s biggest liquefied natural gas (LNG) exporter, sends almost all of its LNG through the Strait
• The UAE and Saudi Arabia have sought to find other routes to bypass the Strait, including building pipelines.

2. Strait of Malacca

• Strait of Malacca connects the Andaman Sea (Indian Ocean) and the South China Sea (Pacific Ocean).
• Stretching about 800km, it is the longest straits in the world and facilitates not just shipping and the movement of people in the surrounding communities but is a confluence of trade, cultures, ideas, and knowledge between the East and West.
• It runs between the Indonesian island of Sumatra to the west and peninsular (West) Malaysia and extreme southern Thailand to the east and has an area of about 25,000 square miles (65,000 square km).
• The strait derived its name from the trading port of Melaka (formerly Malacca)—which was of importance in the 16th and 17th centuries—on the Malay coast.
• As the link between the Indian Ocean and the South China Sea, the Strait of Malacca is the shortest sea route between India and China and hence is one of the most heavily travelled shipping channels in the world.
• Singapore, one of the world’s most important ports, is situated at the strait’s southern end.
• The global shift in economic power from the West to the East coupled with burgeoning trade, investments, and production in areas spanning the Indian and Pacific Ocean regions has given increasing importance to this region.

3. Bab-el-Mandab

• The Bab al-Mandab strait is the narrow waterway that separates the Arabian Peninsula from the Horn of Africa.
• It links the Red Sea to the Gulf of Aden and the Indian Ocean.
• At its narrowest point, the strait is only 29 km wide between Yemen on one side and Djibouti and Eritrea on the other.
• It is a key strategic channel for commerce and trade, with an estimated 4 percent of global oil supply passing through it.

4. Palk Strait

• It connects the Bay of Bengal in the northeast with Palk Bay in the southwest.
• The strait is 40 to 85 miles (64 to 137 km) wide, 85 miles long, and less than 330 feet (100 metres) deep.
• It receives several rivers, including the Vaigai (India), and it contains many islands on the Sri Lankan side.
• The Sethusamudram Ship Canal Project (SSCP) is a 167 km long shipping canal, and envisages the creation of a navigable canal from the Gulf of. Mannar to the Bay of Bengal to facilitate the movement of ships.
• The Adam’s Bridge is a series of sand shoals created by sedimentation over a period of time.
• All islands are made up of a calcareous framework of dead reef and sand.
• In India, the Gulf of Mannar region in Tamil Nadu is one of the four major coral reef areas and the others are Gulf of Kutch in Gujarat, Lakhsadweep and Andaman and Nicobar islands.
• With its rich biodiversity of over 4,000 species of various flora and fauna, part of this Gulf of Mannar between Rameswaram and Tuticoirin covering 21 islands and the surrounding shallow coastal waters was declared as a Marine National Park in 1986.

5.Sunda Strait

• It links the Java Sea (Pacific Ocean) with the Indian Ocean (south).
• Sunda Strait, Indonesian Selat Sunda, is a channel, 16–70 miles (26–110 km) wide, between the islands of Java (east) and Sumatra.
• The Sunda Strait is an important passage connecting the Indian Ocean with eastern Asia.
• The strait stretches in a roughly northeast/southwest orientation, with a minimum width of 24 km (15 mi) at its northeastern end between Cape Tua on Sumatra and Cape Pujat on Java.
• It is very deep at its western end, but as it narrows to the east it becomes much shallower, with a depth of only 20 m (65 feet) in parts of the eastern end.
• It is notoriously difficult to navigate because of this shallowness, very strong tidal currents, sandbanks, and man-made obstructions such as oil platforms off the Java coast.
• The strait’s narrowness, shallowness, and lack of accurate charting make it unsuitable for many modern, large ships, most of which use the Strait of Malacca instead.

6.Mozambique Channel

• It is located between the island nation of Madagascar on the east and Mozambique on the African mainland (west).
• About 1,000 miles (1,600 km) long, it varies in width from 250 to 600 miles (400 to 950 km) and reaches a maximum depth of 10,000 feet (3,000 m).
• The Comoro Archipelago marks the northern entrance, and the islands of Bassas da India and Europa lie in the south.
• An important route for shipping in eastern Africa, it receives all major Madagascar rivers and has the ports of Mahajanga (Majunga) and Toliary (Tuléar) on the same coast.
• Along the opposite coast are the mouth of the Zambezi River and the ports of Maputo (formerly Lourenço Marques), Moçambique, and Beira.
• The Mozambique Current passes through the strait.

7.Gibraltar Strait

• It is a channel connecting the Mediterranean Sea with the Atlantic Ocean, lying between southernmost Spain and northwesternmost Africa.
• It is 36 miles (58 km) long and narrows to 8 miles (13 km) in width between Point Marroquí (Spain) and Point Cires (Morocco).
• It is one of the most significant global sea lanes because it provides a means of seaborne transit for shipping between the Atlantic and Mediterranean, and via the Suez Canal into the Indian Ocean and beyond.
• After the English Channel, the Strait is the world’s busiest shipping lane.

8. Bosphorus strait and Dardanelles strait

• Bosphorus,also known as the Strait of Istanbul, is a narrow, natural strait and an internationally significant waterway located in northwestern Turkey.
• The Bosporus connects the Black Sea with the Sea of Marmara, and, by extension via the Dardanelles, the Aegean and Mediterranean seas.
• It is the world’s narrowest strait used for international navigation.
• Dardanelles is a narrow, natural strait and internationally significant waterway in northwestern Turkey that forms part of the continental boundary between Europe and Asia, and separates Asian Turkey from European Turkey.
• The Dardanelles connects the Sea of Marmara with the Aegean and Mediterranean Seas, while also allowing passage to the Black Sea by extension via the Bosphorus.
• The Dardanelles is 61 kilometres (38 mi) long, and 1.2 to 6 kilometres (0.75 to 3.73 mi) wide, averaging 55 metres (180 ft) deep with a maximum depth of 103 metres (338 ft) at its narrowest point abreast the city of Çanakkale

9. Yucatan Strait

Joining seas/ Water Bodies : Gulf of Mexico and Caribbean Sea

Location: Mexico-Cuba

10. Mesina Strait  

Joining seas/ Water Bodies : Mediterranean Sea

Location: Italy-Sicily

11. Otranto Strait

Joining seas/ Water Bodies :Adriatic Sea & Ionian Sea

Location: Italy-Albania

12. Cook Strait 

Joining seas/ Water Bodies :South Pacific Ocean

Location:  New Zealand (North & South Islands)

13. North Channel

Joining seas/ Water Bodies :Irish Sea & Atlantic Ocean

Location: Ireland-England

14. Hudson strait     

Joining seas/ Water Bodies : Gulf of Hudson & Atlantic Ocean

Location: Canada

15. Magellan strait   

Join: Pacific and South Atlantic Ocean

Location: Chile

16. Makassar Strait

Joining seas/ Water Bodies: the Java Sea & Celebes Sea

Location: Indonesia

17. Tsugaru Strait 

Joining seas/ Water Bodies: Japan Sea and Pacific Ocean

Location: Japan (Hokkaido-Honshu Island)

18. Tatar Strait  

Joining seas/ Water Bodies: Japan Sea & Okhotsk Sea

Location: Russia (East Russia-Sakhalin Islands)

19. Fovex Strait 

Joining seas/ Water Bodies: South Pacific Ocean

Location: New Zealand (South Island- Stewart Island)

20. Formosa Strait  

Joining seas/ Water Bodies: the South China Sea & East China Sea

Location: China-Taiwan

21. Taurus Strait

Joining seas/ Water Bodies:Arafura Sea & Gulf of Papua

Location: Papua New Guinea — Australia

22. Bass Strait

Joining seas/ Water Bodies: the Tasman Sea & South Sea

Location: Australia

23. Bering Strait

Joining seas/ Water Bodies: the Bering Sea & Chukchi Sea

Location: Alaska-Russia

24. Bonne-Fasio Strait

Joining seas/ Water Bodies: Mediterranean Sea

Location: Corsica — Sardinia

25. Davis Strait  

Joining seas/ Water Bodies : the Baffin Bay & Atlantic Ocean

Location: Greenland-Canada

26. Denmark Strait 

Joining seas/ Water Bodies: North Atlantic and the Arctic Ocean

Location: Greenland-Iceland

27. Dover strait  

Joining seas/ Water Bodies: The English Channel & North Sea

Location: England-France

28. Florida Strait

Joining seas/ Water Bodies: Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic Ocean

Location: USA-Cuba

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3rd May 2021

Important officers and their role in the Maurya Empire

1. Sannidhata – Treasurer and keeper of the stores in Maurya Period. He was in charge of the collection of revenue from various parts of the kingdom and looked after the income and expenditure by supervising the works of akshapataladhyaksha (Accountant-General)
2. Samharta– His function was to collect Revenue both in cash and kind.
3. Amatyas–They were some sort of administrative personnel or civil servants who filled the highest administrative and judicial appointments.
4. Rajukas–Ashoka appointed a class of officers known as the Rajukas, who were vested with the authority of rewarding as well we punishing people.
5. Adhyaksas-­ The officers who looked after the various departments.
6. Yuktas- They appear to have been the subordinate official whose duties were largely secretarial works and accounting.
7. Gopa and Sthanika- There was an intermediate level of administration between the district level and village level, which was administered by the Gopa and Sthanikas.
8. Gramika- Head of the village. He was not a paid servant and was chosen among village elders.
9. Grambhojaka- Gramika was helped by Grambhojaka.
10. Pramukha- Eighteen chief handicrafts of the time were organised in guilds called as Shrenis, the president of Shrenis was known as Pramukha.

Important officers of the Gupta empire

1. Uparika- He was directly appointed by the king as a provincial governor.
2. Kumaramatyas- A link between the central and the provincial administration under the Guptas was provided by the officers called Kumaramatyas and Ayuktas. Kumaramatyas was a body of top-ranking officials attached not only to the king but also to the crown-prince and sometimes placed in charge of district.
3. Gopasramin- In Samudraguptas period an officer working as akshapataladhikrita. Their function was to enter numerous matters in the accounts register, recover royal dues and to check embezzlement and recover fines.
4. Sandhivigrahika-The foreign minister, minister of war and peace. First appeared under the rule of Samudragupta.
5. Mahabaldikarta-Commander-in-Chief.
6. Mahadandanayaka-
7. Mahapratihara- Chief of palace guards.
8. Pustapala- Record-keeper. Maintained record of land transactions in a district. They were also known as Karanika.
9. Vishaya- Vishayas were divided into smaller parts called Vithis which were the villages and consisted of the lowest unit of administration.
10. Mahattama,Mahattaka and Mahattara- Elder who assisted the Gramika in the village administration.
11. Agharikas- During the reign of Harsha, Agharikas looked after the land given in charity.
12. Samantas- Feudal chiefs.

Important officers of Satvahana Period

1. Uparakshita- In Satvahanas kingdom, their function was building caves for monks.
2. Gaulamika- Administration of the villages was placed under them in the Satvahana period.
3. Valaikkarars- Troops in the royal service and were the bodyguard of the monarch

Medieval India

Amils– Revenue officers

Arz-i-mamalik– Minister in-charge of the army of the whole country.

Ahl-i-qalam– Reporter

Baqqal– Trader, grain-dealer

Batai– Division of crop between the cultivator and landlord or the government, payments may be in

kind or cash

Barid- An intelligence officer appointed by the state to collect information

Chachar– Land out of cultivation for 3-4 years.

Chaauth or Chauthaai– One-fourth of the land revenue, originally a Zamindari charge in Gujrat demanded by Shivaji as a war expense.

Charai– A tax on cattle.

Dagh System– A system of branding of horses and animal.

Dam- A copper coin considered as 1/40* the silver rupee for the official purposes.

Dastur-al-amal- Rule book

Dhimmi-  A non-Muslim client or subject

Darul Mulk- Capital

Gumashta- An agent or representative

Hamam– A room for the bath of hot and cold water

Hundi- A bill of exchange

Jamabandi– Settlement of the amount of revenue assessed upon an estate or district

Jarib– A measurement, land measurement or survey

Jihat– Extra cesses

Jizya– (a) In the literature of Delhi sultanate, any tax which is not kharaj or land tax

(b) In the Shariat, a personal and yearly tax on non-Muslims.

Kankut– Estimation of land revenue

Karori– A revenue officer.

Khiraj– Land revenue

Mahal- A group of land regarded as a unit for land revenue purposes.

Mansab– A military rank conferred by the Mughal emperor.

Mauza- Revenue term for village

Mokasa- Grant of land for military service, rent-free land.

Nabud– Remission of land revenue on account of natural disasters.

Paibaqi- Land reserved for allotment in jagir

Polaj- Land continuously in cultivation

Sarrafs– Money Chargers, bankers

Saurghal-Rent-free land

Taqavi- Advance of money for sowing or extending cultivation

Upari- Temporary occupant; tenant at will.

Usar- Barren land

Zawabit- Secular laws

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