Category: Ranker Webinars

Flora and Fauna in News

• 1. NBWL adds 4 species in Recovery Programme for Critically Endangered Species

• Northern River Terrapin: It is species of riverine turtle found in rivers that flow in Eastern India. It is hunted for its meat and It is hunted for its meat and carapace. It is native of Bangladesh, Cambodia, India, Indonesia and Malaysia.

• Clouded Leopard: It is found in Himalayan foothills. It is threatened due to habitat loss, poaching for its skin and is also as a live pet trade. The IUCN in its Red List assessment of 2016 has categorized Clouded Leopard as ‘Vulnerable’ and indicating declining trend in its population.
• 
• Arabian Sea Humpback Whale: It is a species found in all of major oceans. This species migrates from the Oman coast through the Arabian sea, along the Indian coasts till the Sri Lankan coast. Ship strikes, unforgiving fishing gear and siesmic exploarations pose grave threat to it.
• 
• Red Panda: It is closely associated with montane forests with dense bamboo-thicket. It is found Sikkim, West Bengal and Arunachal Pradesh. It is It is poached for its meat, and for use in medicines, and as a pet. The IUCN has categorized Red Panda as ‘Endangered’. As per its Red List assessment of 2015, population of this species is decreasing.
• 

2 Odisha police launch drive to bust Pangolin smuggling racket-

Why in news- Odisha Special Task Force (STF) has launched drive to bust an international syndicate that peddles ‘endangered’ pangolin, one of the world’s most illegal traded mammals. Pangolin                   

• Pangolin is only scaly mammal on the planet.
• According to Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES), it is also the most illegally traded vertebrate within its class (Mammalia).
• Of the eight species of pangolin worldwide, two are found in India. They are Chinese pangolin (manis pentadactyla), mostly found in northeast India and Indian pangolin (Manis crassicaudata).
• Pangolins has large, overlapping scales on its body which act as armour.
• It can also curl itself into ball as self-defence against predators.
• China is main illicit hub (market) for smuggled scales of Pangolins, where they have huge demand for medicinal and magical purposes.

Protection Status:

• • Chinese pangolin has been listed as “critically endangered” by UN affiliated International Union for Conservation of Nature’s (IUCN) Red List.
  • Indian pangolin (Manis crassicaudata) has been listed as “endangered” in IUCN Red List.
  • It is also a Schedule I category protected animal, under the Wildlife Protection Act (1972).

3 Nilgiri tahr: Climate change threatening 60% of its habitat

Why in News –

• According to recent study published international journal Ecological Engineering, climate change is threatening the Nilgiri tahr,. It is estimated that endangered wild goat could lose approximately 60% of its habitat, starting from 2030s.

Nilgiri tahr                   

• It is state animal of Tamil Nadu.
• It is endemic to Western Ghats from the Nilgiris to Kanyakumari.
• It is confined to a narrow belt of higher elevation (altitudes) of Shola Forests in Western Ghats.
• Protection Status: IUCN in its red data book has classified it as Endangered (number fewer than 2,500 mature individuals). Besides it is protected species under Schedule I of Wildlife (Protection) Act of 1972.
• Largest population of Nilgiri Tahr is found within the Eravikulam National Park.

4 Snow leopard spotted in Lippa-Asra wildlife sanctuary in Himachal Pradesh.

WHY IN NEWS– A snow leopard was spotted at a height of about 4,000 metres in Lippa-Asra wildlife sanctuary in Kinnaur district of Himachal Pradesh.

 Lippa-Asra wildlife sanctuary

• The sanctuary is part of district Kinnaur in Himachal Pradesh and also is part of Moorang town.
• It houses wild species of animal like Yak, Ibex, Blue Sheep, Himalayan Musk Deer, Goral, Brown Bear and Himalayan Black Bear.
• The dry alpine scrub and dry coniferous type of forest are main type of flora found in this sanctuary.

 

5.Project Snow Leopard:

• Snow Leopard is globally endangered species as well as the most important flagship species of the mountain region
• Project aims to conserve biodiversity with community participation
• The project will be operational in five Himalayan States viz. Jammu & Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Sikkim, and Arunachal Pradesh with active support from wildlife institute of India and the Mysore based Nature Conservation Foundation.
• Species such as Snow Leopard, Asiatic Ibex, Tibetan Argali, Ladakh Urial, Chiru, Takin, Serow and Musk Deer will particularly benefit from this project.

Snow Leopard:               

• Snow leopard (Panthera uncial) is a large cat native to the mountain ranges of Central and South Asia- including Himalayas, and Russia’s remote Altai mountains.
• Snow Leopard is found in 11 countries such as Afghanistan, Bhutan, China, India, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyz Republic, Mongolia, Pakistan, Russia, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan.
• These countries formed the Global Snow Leopard Forum (GSLF) and signed the Bishkek Declaration to acknowledge its importance as the indicator of the health and sustainability of mountain ecosystems.
• It is the State animal of Himachal Pradesh.

Threats: It is threatened by poaching for their fur, habitat destruction by infrastructure developments and climate change.

Protection Status:

• It has been listed in Schedule I under Wildlife (Protection) Act 1972, Appendix I of Convention on International Trade of Endangered Species (CITES) and Appendix I Convention on Migratory Species (CMS).

6. India’s first dolphin research centre to come up soon in Patna

Context: India’s and Asia’s first Dolphin Research Centre will be set up on the banks of the Ganga river in Patna University campus in Patna, Bihar. It will be named- National Dolphin Research Centre (NDRC).

Role: NDRC will play important role in strengthening conservation efforts and research to save endangered mammal whose population is decreasing. Bihar is home to around half of the country’s estimated 3,000 dolphin population.

 

About Gangetic Dolphins:    

• The Ganges River dolphin, or susu, inhabits the Ganges-Brahmaputra-Meghna and Karnaphuli-Sangu river systems of Nepal, India, and Bangladesh.
• This dolphin is among the four “obligate” freshwater dolphins – the other three are the baiji now likely extinct from the Yangtze river in China, the bhulan of the Indus in Pakistan and the boto of the Amazon River in Latin America.
• Because of the sound it produces when breathing, the animal is popularly referred to as the ‘Susu’.

Conservation Status

• It is the national aquatic animal and had been granted non-human personhood status by government in 2017.
• It is also protected under the Schedule I of the Wildlife Protection Act (1972).
• Vikramshila Gangetic Dolphin Sanctuary (VGDS) in Bihar is India’s only sanctuary for the Gangetic dolphin.
• It has been categorised as endangered on the Red List of Threatened Species by the IUCN

Threats:

The survival of the Ganges River dolphin is threatened by unintentional killing through entanglement in fishing gear; directed harvest for dolphin oil, which is used as a fish attractant and for medicinal purposes; water development projects (e.g. water extraction and the construction of barrages, high dams, and embankments); industrial waste and pesticides; municipal sewage discharge and noise from vessel traffic; and overexploitation of prey, mainly due to the widespread use of non-selective fishing gear.

Conservation Efforts

• A Conservation Action Plan for the Gangetic Dolphin 2010-2020 has been formulated by the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change.

 

7. ASIATIC LION CONSERVATION PROJECT

Why in News? The Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change launched the “Asiatic Lion Conservation Project” with an aim to protect and conserve the world’s last ranging free population of Asiatic Lion and its associated ecosystem.

 

About the Project

• It will be funded from the Centrally Sponsored Scheme- Development of Wildlife Habitat (CSS-DWH) with the contributing ratio being 60:40 of Central and State share.
• The project activities is envisaged in a manner to cause habitat improvement, scientific interventions, disease control and veterinary care supplemented with adequate eco development works for the fringe population in order to ensure a stable and viable Lion population in the Country.

8. RARE SPIDER REDISCOVERED

Why in news?

Recently, a rare spider (both a male and a female spider) was rediscovered from Wayanad Wildlife Sanctuary in Western Ghats, Kerala.

 

About Chrysilla Vollupe  

• The Spider belongs to the family of jumping spider (Salticidae).
• Female spider has blue iridescent bluish scales present in the top of head region of female and orange bands on both sides of the head.
• The spider has eight black eyes are arranged in the front and sides of head region.
• The spider makes a retreat between green leaves of small plants.

 

9. EURASIAN OTTER

Why in news? Recently scientist confirmed the presence of Eurasian otter in Western Ghats.

About Otter           

• They are carnivorous mammals and adapt to a variety of habitats ranging from marine to freshwater environments.
• India is home to 3 of the 13 species of otters found worldwide. These are
• Eurasian Otter (Lutra lutra): IUCN: Near Threatened; CITES Appendix I; Wildlife (Protection) Act Schedule II.
• Smooth-coated Otter (Lutra perspicillata): IUCN: Vulnerable; CITES Appendix II; Wildlife (Protection) Act Schedule II.
• Small-clawed otter (Aonyx cinereus): IUCN: Vulnerable; CITES Appendix II; Wildlife (Protection) Act Schedule II.
• Though the Eurasian otter has been recorded historically from the Western Ghats (Coorg in Karnataka and Tamil Nadu’s Nilgiri and Palani hill ranges), this is the first photographic and genetic confirmation of its presence here.

10. ALDABRA GAINT TORTOISE

Why in News? In a goodwill gesture, Seychelles has gifted a pair of giant Aldabra tortoise to India. The pair will be kept at Hyderabad Zoo.

Key facts:                       

• The Aldabra Giant Tortoise (Aldabrachelys gigantea) from the Aldabra Atoll in the Seychelles is said to be one of the largest species of tortoises on the planet.
• It is also one of the world’s longest living animals, with one Aldabra Giant Tortoise reaching the age of 255 years.
• The Aldabra giant tortoise’s current IUCN conservation status is ‘vulnerable’.
• The atoll has been protected from human influence and is home to around 100,000 giant tortoises, the world’s largest population of the animal.

11. EIGHT AVIAN SPECIES DECLARED “EXTINCT” IN NEW STUDY

• Scientists have declared eight species of birds to be extinct in what are being seen as the first avian extinctions of the 21st century.
• The study was conducted by non-profit “BirdLife International”. It assessed 51 species judged “critically endangered” on the International Union for the Conservation of Nature’s (IUCN) “Red List” by using a new statistical method.

Key facts:

• The species gone extinct include Spix’s macaw, the Alagoas foliage-gleaner, the cryptic tree hunter, the Pernambuco pygmy-owl, the poo-uli, or black-faced honeycreeper and the glaucous macaw.

12. BONNETHEAD SHARK

What is it? It is the first known omnivorous shark species identified by scientists recently.

Key facts:                        

• 60% of its diet consists of seagrass. The species graze upon seagrass, in addition to eating bony fish, crabs, snails and shrimp.
• The bonnethead shark is abundant in the shallow waters of the Western Atlantic, and the Gulf of Mexico.
• Though small by shark standards, adult females — the larger of the sexes —can still reach an impressive five feet long.
• Lacking the kind of teeth bestsuited for mastication,the shark may rely on strong stomach acids to weaken the plants’ cells so the enzymes can have their digestive effects.

 

13. PONDICHERRY SHARK

Context: Researchers recently spotted ‘Pondicherry shark’, an endangered species protected under the provisions of the Wildlife (Protection) Act, in the East Godavari River Estuarine Ecosystem region.

Key facts:           

• Scientifically known as Carcharhinus hemiodon, it belongs to the Carcharhinidae family with a growth of 3.3 feet.
• Known as ‘Pala Sora’ in the local parlance, the Pondicherry Shark is on the verge of extinction even according to the conventional fishermen.
• The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) has listed the Pondicherry shark as Critically Endangered.

14. Census of Estuarine Crocodiles

What Is The Issue:

• The number of crocodiles rose to 1742 from last year’s census of 1698 in the Bhitarkanika National Park in Odisha’s Kendrapara district.

15. Great Indian Bustard may be extinct soon

What Is The Issue:

• The GIB’s last remnant wild population of about 50 in Jaisalmer district accounts for 95% of its total world population.
• No progress has been made on the proposal for establishing a captive breeding centre at Sorsan in Kota district and a hatchery in Jaisalmer for conservation of the State bird of Rajasthan.

16. Crocodylus Palustris

What Is The Issue:

• The Gujarat Forest Department has started evacuating muggers from two ponds on the Sardar Sarovar Dam premises on the Narmada, to facilitate a seaplane service at the Statue of Unity.

MUGGER

SALTWATER CROCODILE

GHARIAL

17. HARRIER BIRDS

 

Why in News? Concerns have been raised that harrier birds, a migratory raptor species are declining from Indian Subcontinent.

About the Harrier Birds         

• Harrier Birds are the only diurnal ‘Raptor group or Birds of Prey’ nesting and roosting on the ground.
• These birds regularly visit vast swathes of Indian Subcontinent grasslands during winter to escape frigid Central Asia.
• Birds of Prey: being top predators, these are a vital indicator of ecosystem health especially of grassland and wetland ecosystem.
• Natural Controlling agents: of rodents, grasshoppers and birds which form their major prey base and hence their decline impacts farm productivity.

 

 

 

Dear students,

We take our Test Series very seriously. There is a rigorous process involved to decide what goes in and what doesn’t. If you have gone through our Nikaalo Prelims initiative, you would see so many questions that are almost impossible to come up from basic books. This is because we go to different lengths to get this done.

Over 500 students who have cleared prelims before are now enrolled in our FLTs via this initiative. *IMP – Free enrolment in our Full-Length Tests for Prelims Qualified Students

We wanted to present before you the questions we’ve prepared.

1. Reverse Engineering of Current Events

UPSC has the habit of asking current affairs oriented questions. We backtrace important questions which can be asked on those events.

Consider the following statements regarding the National Gene Fund,

1. It has been established by the Protection of Plant Varieties and Farmers’ Rights Authority.
2. It receives the contribution from National and State Govt. only.

Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

---

With reference to the Protection of Plant Varieties and Farmers’ Rights Act, 2001, consider the following statements.

1. It recognizes and protects the rights of both breeders as well as farmers in relation to the plant varieties.
2. The Act facilitates the protection of only new plant varieties.

Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

Context-  PepsiCo, a US multinational company filed case against potato farmers in Gujarat, with regard to alleged infringement of its rights under Protection of Plant Varieties and Farmers’ Rights (PPVFR) Act 2001.

2. Application Based Question– We in all our test keep the focus on the application based questions in all segments.

Floods caused due to an outburst of glacial lakes is known as Glacial Lakes Outburst Floods (GLOF). Consider the following factors in this regard:

1. Unpredictable monsoon rainfall patterns.
2. Slash and burn type of farming.
3. Earthquake.
4. Black Carbon

Which of the factors given above can trigger glacial lakes outburst floods?

Venus and Uranus undergo retrograde rotation. Which of the following may take place, if Earth also undergoes retrograde rotation?

1. Addition of a day on the crossing of International Date Line from West to
East.
2. Change in direction of rotation of Tropical Cyclones.
3. Reversal of geographical poles of Earth.

Select the correct answer using the code
given below.

 

3. Few out of league questions which cannot be found in standard textbooks.

With reference to Direct Seeded Rice system, consider the following statements:

1. It uses less water than traditional transplanted paddy cultivation.
2. It eliminates the need for weedicides.
3. Its adoption results in increased greenhouse gas emissions.

4. Evidence-based Question making

We have done through analysis of last 6 years prelims papers. We have divided subjects into themes and sub-themes. Our tests include more questions from those themes from which UPSC is asking more questions and fewer questions from those themes which UPSC has ignored in the last 6 years. The Questions at CD are not framed according to the whims and fancies of the content writer. The question framer has to provide objective evidence to the supervisory team about the relevance of the question. He has to prove that similar questions were asked by UPSC in xyz year. The philosophy of our test series is to remain as much close to the UPSC prelims exam as possible both in terms of toughness and Format.

5.Tikdam

Tikdams = तिकड़म = Smart Hacks for IAS Prelims

Tikdams are smart hacks which help you arrive at the right answer with just the basic knowledge. Tikdam Technique is an innovation by Dr. V(AIR 20) and has helped students gain additional marks. Our TS is the only TS that puts a conscious effort to build student’s risk-taking appetite. Our each and every test contains detailed explanation wrt to questions which can be solved using this technique. By perfecting this technique you can easily score 20-30 marks extra in your prelims exam.

Q18. Consider the following pairs:

  Theatre form :       State

1. Swang                 Haryana
2. Bidesia                Tamil Nadu
3. Nautanki              Uttar Pradesh

Which of the pairs given above is/are correctly matched?

Statement 2 is incorrect.

Originally the theatre form from Haryana, Swang, was mainly music-based. Gradually, prose too played its role in the dialogues. The softness of emotions, accomplishment of rasa along with the development of character can be seen in this theatre form. The two important styles of Swang are from

Rohtak and Haathras. In the style belonging to Rohtak, the language used is Haryanvi (Bangru) and in

Haathras, it is Brajbhasha.

Nautanki is usually associated with Uttar Pradesh. The most popular centres of this traditional theatre

form are Kanpur, Lucknow and Haathras. The meters used in the verses are: Doha, Chaubola, Chhappai,

Behar-e-tabeel. There was a time when only men acted in Nautanki but nowadays, women have also

started taking part in the performances. Among those remembered with reverence is Gulab Bai of Kanpur.

She gave a new dimension to this old theatre form.

Bidesia:The folk theatre form of Bidesiya has originated in the 20th century and has been prevalent in the Bhojpuri-speaking regions of Bihar. Bidesiya is a dance version of Biraha songs and expresses the pain and despair of the women who are left behind by their men, away from home. The male dancers play the roles of female in the Bidesiya folk dance and for the purpose; they wear artificial long hair and dhoti. Despite the fact that many new modes of entertainment has come up, Bidesiya still has its charm amongst the people of Bihar.

Tikdam:

It’s tough to remember the name of all the folk theatre. However using some logic you can easily solve this question. Now closely observe statement 2.

Bidesia.Does it look like a Tamil name? Of Course not. Bidesia sounds like a Bhojpuri name. Once you eliminate statement 2 using this logic, you will automatically arrive at the correct answer without knowing the other 2 statements. 

 

---

 

Don’t miss out on the program. Get enrolled NOW!   

Join the Endgame : Civilsdaily’s Prelims FLT Program 2019

Indian Festivals

Kumbha Mela	Held at all 4 places every 3 years by rotation (Allahabad, Haridwar, Nashik, Ujjain) Associated rivers : Ganga at Haridwar, the Sangam of the Ganga, Yamuna and the mythical Saraswati at Allahabad,  Godawari at Nashik, and Shipra at Ujjain Ardha Kumbh Mela  : Haridwar and Prayag every 6 years Purna Kumbh Mela  : Prayag every 12 years Maha Kumbh Mela  : Prayag every 144 years
Holi	last full moon day of  Phalguna
Maha Shivaratri	13th night in Krishna Paksha of Phalguna
Navaratri	9 forms of Shakti are worshipped on 9 nights
Vinayaga Chaturthi	On occasion of birth of Ganesha
Vasant Panchami	Worshiping Saraswati –  the goddess of knowledge, music and art Children are taught to write their first words; Brahmins are fed ; ancestral worship is performed; the god of love- Kamadeva is worshipped People usually wear yellow garments
Ramzan	Muslims refrain from eating, drinking and sexual relations from dawn until sunset Intended to teach Muslims about patience, humility & spirituality
Guru Purnima	Buddhists in the honor of lord Buddha who gave his first sermon on this day at Sarnath Hindus on this day offer Puja or pay respect to their Guru
Buddha Poornima	Birth anniversary of Lord Buddha
Christmas	Commemorate the birth of Jesus
Easter	Oldest and holiest Christian festival – the day when Jesus Christ was crucified On this day Jesus Christ rose from the dead and ascended into heaven
Thai Pongal	Harvest festival celebrated in Tamil Nadu, Puducherry and Sri Lanka To thank the Sun God and farmstead livestock Boiling of milk in clay pot symbolize material abundance for household
Muharram	Celebrated on the 1st  month of the Islamic calendar unlawful to fight during this month
Dree Festival	an agricultural rite, which is observed by Apatanis in Arunachal Pradesh involves sacrifice of fowls, eggs and animals to the sun & moon god to appease these Gods to avoid feminine

Indian Dances

Indian Folk Music

 

• • Baul : It is a type of Bengali music and a religious sect. The lyrics carry influence from Bhakti movement as well as sufi movement.

• • Wanawan : Folk music from kashmir which is sung during wedding ceremonies.

• • Padwani : This music is based on Mahabharata and uses both singing and playing instruments.

• • Alha : Song is from Madhya Pradesh and is a heroic ballad song.

• • Paani hari : Song is from the state of Rajasthan and is thematically related to water. Songs are generally about women fetching water from nearby well.

• • Ovi : Maharashtra and Goan women sing such songs during leisure time.

• • Pai song : Songs are mostly from Madhya Pradesh sung during festivals.

• • Lavani : Popular folk song from Maharashtra. Music has powerful rhythm and beats and is suitable for dancing.

• • Maand : Developed in the royal circles

• • Dandiya raas : Performed in Gujarat and is associated with holi and lila of Krishna and Radha at Vrindavan

• • Powada : Folk type emerging from Maharashtra

• • Khongjom Parva : Important folk music from state of Manipur.

• Bhagwati : Popular amongst masses of Karnataka and Maharashtra. Musically they are close to ghazals and are sung on a slower pitch.

Classical Dances

The classical dance forms recognised by the Sangeet Natak Akademi and the Ministry of Culture are

• Bharatanatyam, from Tamil Nadu
• Kathak, from Uttar Pradesh and western India
• Kathakali, from Kerala
• Kuchipudi, from Andhra Pradesh
• Odissi, from Odisha
• Sattriya, from Assam
• Manipuri, from Manipur
• Mohiniyattam, from Kerala

Indian Music

MUSIC OF INDIA

The two main traditions of classical music in India are Carnatic music and Hindustani Music. Carnatic Music are found predominantaly in the peninsular regions and Hindustani music are found in the northern and central regions.

Hindustani Music

Hindustani music was not only influenced by ancient Hindu musical traditions but also enriched by the Persian performance practices of the Mughals.

Dhrupad is an old style of Hindustani singing, traditionally performed by male singers. The great Indian musician Tansen sang in the Dhrupad style. Dhrupad was the main form of northern Indian classical music but has now given way to Khyal.

Khyal is a form of vocal music in Hindustani music. It was adopted from medieval Persian music It is special as it is based on improvising and expressing emotion.

Another vocal form Tarana are medium to fast pa ced songs that ar e usual ly per formed towards the end of the concert. They consist of  a few lines of poetry with rhythmic syllables.

Tappa is a from of Indian semi- classical vocal music. It originated from the folk songs of the camel riders of Punjab and was developed as a form of classical music by Mian Ghulam Nabi Shori.

Thumri is a semi classical vocal form said to have begun in Uttar Pradesh. The lyrics are typically in Brij Bhasha and are usually romantic.

Ghazal is an originally Persian form of Poetry. In India, Ghazal became the most common form of poetry in the  Urdu language.

Although Hindustani music clearly is focused on the vocal   performance, recently instrumental Hindustani music is very popular than vocal music especially outside South Asia.

Carnatic Music

Carnatic  music is a system  of music commonly associated with the southern part of  India especially. Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu. Carnatic music is completely melodic with improvised variations. Purandara Dasa is credited with having founded today’s Carnatic music.He is credited with having elevated Carnatic music from religious and devotional music into the realm of a performing art. Carnatic music is usually performed by a small ens embl e  of mus i cia ns consi s t ing of a principa l per former (vocalist ) a viol in, mridanga ,and a tamburu. Today carnatic music is presented by musicians in concerts or recordings either vocally or through instruments.

Indian Folk Music

 

• • Baul : It is a type of Bengali music and a religious sect. The lyrics carry influence from Bhakti movement as well as sufi movement.

 

• • Wanawan : Folk music from kashmir which is sung during wedding ceremonies.

 

• • Padwani : This music is based on Mahabharata and uses both singing and playing instruments.

 

• • Alha : Song is from Madhya Pradesh and is a heroic ballad song.

 

• • Paani hari : Song is from the state of Rajasthan and is thematically related to water. Songs are generally about women fetching water from nearby well.

 

• • Ovi : Maharashtra and Goan women sing such songs during leisure time.

 

• • Pai song : Songs are mostly from Madhya Pradesh sung during festivals.

 

• • Lavani : Popular folk song from Maharashtra. Music has powerful rhythm and beats and is suitable for dancing.

 

• • Maand : Developed in the royal circles

 

• • Dandiya raas : Performed in Gujarat and is associated with holi and lila of Krishna and Radha at Vrindavan

 

• • Powada : Folk type emerging from Maharashtra

 

• • Khongjom Parva : Important folk music from state of Manipur.

 

•  Bhagwati : Popular amongst masses of Karnataka and Maharashtra. Musically they are close to ghazals and are sung on a slower pitch.

 

Dear students,

We understand that the UPSC exam is a generalist exam. It’s more important to cover more issues than to cover one issue in more depth. Hence, through Samachar Manthan, we are trying to maintain a fine balance of covering many important news items and having a detailed discussion on selected topics which require the same. On daily basis a news gets repeated multiple times. Scattered knowledge is not adequately useful when you have to write a 200 words answer within 6-7 minutes. To handle this, Samachar manthan covers such issues in a comprehensive and consolidated manner which is the smart strategy.

Benefits of Samachar Manthan

• Packed 3 – 3.5 hours Weekly videos will focus on news and its importance from both prelims and mains perspective.
• This program will also help you understand how to utilize current affairs in all your prelims and mains papers.
• This ideology makes this course the best utilization of your time.
• Detailed coverage would mean analysis from all the angles like background or history, features, significance, challenges and way forward. Also, multiple sources like epw, diplomat magazine etc will be referred to in the video lectures.
• Such an approach will help in writing multidimensional answers.
• Also which part of the topic is important from mains and prelims perspective will also be discussed.
• Audio Visual Learning is more impactful than simply glancing through the material. So that you are able to retain information for long also interlink with any new information you get.
• 4 stage structure of Video->Notes->testing->review to perfect your preparation
• The sequence of video->Notes->testing->review is the best way to ensure maximum retention and a rock solid preparation. Each component of the program has been meticulously crafted.

For example this week, we will be covering the following issues;

This Week’s Hottest Stories
Global Geological And Climatic Events(2 Newscards)
Foreign Policy Watch: Cross-Border Terrorism(2 Newscards)
History- Important places, persons in news(2 Newscards)
Climate Change Impact on India and World – International Reports, Key Observations, etc.(2 Newscards)
Delhi Full Statehood Issue(2 Newscards)
RBI Notifications(2 Newscards)
Air Pollution(2 Newscards)
Citizenship and Related Issues(2 Newscards)

Economics
Ishad Mango is under the threat of becoming rare
Protection of Plant Varieties and Farmers’ Rights (PPV&FR) Act, 2001
Technical Textiles
[op-ed snap] An employment-oriented economic policy
[op-ed snap] Saving BSNL
[op-ed snap] GST buoyancy
[op-ed snap] Boardroom rot

Enviro & Biodiversity
Committee constituted to oversee clean air programme
Indian subcontinent’s collision with Asia boosted oxygen in world’s oceans
Kashmir Stag (Hangul)
Explained: Cyclone Fani- an unusual storm
Explained: Naming of cyclones
Ross Ice Shelf

Governance
[op-ed snap] The cost of antimicrobial resistance
SC view on foreigner’s detention defies constitutional obligations

International relations
[op-ed snap] No good options in Afghanistan
[op-ed snap] Wrong step
UNSC designates Masood Azhar as global terrorist
[op-ed snap] A global label

Polity
Contempt of Court
Supreme Court seeks ECs reply on voter prosecution
LG’s role in Puducherry
Explained: Age of consent & age gap under POCSO Act
[op-ed snap] Power shift
U.S. Commission says religious freedom in India deteriorated in 2018

Science Tech Art Culture
99942 Apophis
750th birth anniversary of Vedanta Desikan
Rare life-size stucco figurine unearthed in Telangana
ISRO plans to launch radar imaging satellite in May

Security Issues

Army invokes emergency powers for missiles deal
[pib] Exercise Varuna 19.1
Gadchiroli attacks

Trivia
M.N. Roy and his contribution for anti-colonial struggle in India

 

And these issues will be covered in detail

• Gadchiroli attacks
• LG’s role in Puducherry
• Cyclone Fani- an unusual storm
• An employment-oriented economic policy
• Protection of Plant Varieties and Farmers’ Rights
• Climate Change Impact on India and World

So to be thorough in your preparation and to have an integrated approach, join Samachar Manthan here.

 

[WpProQuiz 48]

 

---

 

[WpProQuiz_toplist 32]

 

Details of the program + timetable can be found here – Mission Nikaalo Prelims – Keep the Josh High > 60 Day Revision Course with Prelims Spotlight and Free Tests

1.ASEAN ( Association of South East Asian Nations)
· It is a political and economic organisation of 10 South-East Asian nations
· Formed in 1967
· Founding members: Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, and Thailand
· HQ : Jakarta, Indonesia

 

Current members are:
1. Indonesia
2. Malaysia
3. Philippines
4. Singapore
5. Thailand
6. Brunei
7. Cambodia
8. Laos
9. Myanmar (Burma)
10. Vietnam
Aim
o   Accelerating economic growth, social progress, and socio-cultural evolution among its members,
o Protection of regional stability
o Providing a mechanism for member countries to resolve differences peacefully
‘The ASEAN Way’ means : Doctrine that the member countries will largely mind their own business when it comes to internal matters of member countries
· ASEAN Plus Three: Was created to improve existing ties with the China, Japan and South Korea.
· If the ASEAN nations were a single country, their combined economy would rank the 7th largest in the world

India:

Has and FTA with ASEAN (operational since 2010)
Shares border both land/marine
Large number of Indian origin people living in these countries

 

2.APEC (Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation)
· It is a regional economic forum of 21 Pacific Rim countries
· Established in 1989
• HQ: Singapore
· APEC’s 21 members aim to promote free trade throughout the Asia- Pacific region
· APEC account for about half the world’s trade and almost 60% of global trade

· It established in response to the growing interdependence of Asia-Pacific economies and the advent of regional trade blocs in other parts of the world
· To fears that highly industrialized Japan (a member of G8 ) would come to dominate economic activity in the Asia-Pacific region
· To establish new markets for agricultural products and raw materials beyond Europe
· India has requested membership in APEC, and received initial support from the United States, Japan, Australia and Papua New Guinea. Officials have decided not to allow India to join for various reasons, considering that India does not border the Pacific Ocean, which all current members do. However, India was invited to be an observer for the first time in November 2011.

3. BBIN ( Bangladesh, Bhutan, India and Nepal)
·It is a sub-regional architecture of these four countries
·Aims to formulate, implement and review quadrilateral agreements across areas such as water resources
management, connectivity of power, transport, and infrastructure

4. BCIM Bangladesh-China-Inida-Myanmar

Aim:  greater integration of trade and investment between the four countries
· BCIM economic corridor is an initiative conceptualised for significant gains through sub-regional economic co-operation with BCIM
· The multi-modal corridor will be the first expressway between India and China and will pass through Myanmar and Bangladesh
· BCIM evolved from ‘Kunming Initiative

5.BIMSTEC ( Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation)
· It is an international organisation involving a group of countries in South Asia and South East Asia. Established in 1997 in Bangkok. Bangladesh, India, Sri Lanka, and Thailand were founding members. Now it has seven members.
Headquarters is in Dhaka, Bangladesh

Present members :
1.  Bangladesh
2.  India
3.  Myanmar
4.  Sri Lanka
5.  Thailand
6.  Bhutan
7.  Nepal

· The main objective of BIMSTEC is technological and economic cooperation among south Asian and south east Asian countries along the coast of the bay of Bengal . Commerce, investment, technology, tourism, human resource development, agriculture, fisheries, transport and communication, textiles, leather etc. have been included in it
· BIMSTEC uses the alphabetical order for chairmanship

 

6.BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa )

• Originally the first four were grouped as “BRIC” (or “the BRICs”), before the induction of South Africa in 2010.
• The BRICS members are all leading developing or newly industrialized countries, but they are distinguished by their large, sometimes fast-growing economies and significant influence on regional affairs; all five are G-20 members.
  The five BRICS countries represent half of the world population; all five members are in the top 25 of the world by population.
• The New Development Bank (NDB), formerly referred to as the BRICS Development Bank, is a multilateral development bank established by the BRICS states.
• The bank is headquartered in Shanghai, China. The first regional office of the NDB will be opened in Johannesburg, South Africa.

7. G4

• Members : India, Brazil, Germany and Japan
  All members support each other’s bids for permanent seats on the United Nations Security Council
• Each of these four countries have figured among the elected non-permanent members of the council since the UN’s establishment.
  Their economic and political influence has grown significantly in the last decades, reaching a scope comparable to the permanent members (P5)
  ·G4 campaigns for U.N. Reforms, including more representation for developing countries, both in the permanent and non-permanent categories, in the UNSC

8.IBSA (for India-Brazil-South Africa )

• All are Developing Democracies.
• The forum provides the three countries with a platform to engage in discussions for cooperation in the field of agriculture, trade, culture, and defence among others.
• IBSA was formalised and launched through the adopti on of the “Brasilia Declaration.
• Brasilia Declaration (2003) : Approved urgent need for reforms in the United Nations, especially the Security Council.

9. G7

• The Group of 7 (G7) is a group consisting of Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom, and the United States.
• The European Union is also represented within the G7.
• These countries are the seven major advanced economies as reported by the International Monetary Fund.
• G7 countries represent more than 64% of the net global wealth
  Common denominator among members is the economy and long-term political motives

10.The Indian Ocean Rim Association (IORA)

• The Indian Ocean Rim Association (IORA), formerly known as the Indian Ocean Rim Initiative and Indian Ocean Rim Association for Regional Cooperation (IOR-ARC), is an international organisation consisting of coastal states bordering the Indian Ocean. The IORA is a regional forum, tripartite in nature, bringing together representatives of Government, Business and Academia, for promoting co-operation and closer interaction among them. It is based on the principles of Open Regionalism for strengthening Economic Cooperation particularly on Trade Facilitation and Investment, Promotion as well as Social Development of the region. The Coordinating Secretariat of IORA is located at Ebene, Mauritius.
• 21 member states : South Africa, Mozambique, Tanzania, Kenya, Madagascar, Comoros, Mauritius,
  Seychelles, Iran, Oman, UAE, Yemen, India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore, Thailand, Australia and Somalia.
• Maldives, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Myanmar are not members
• The organisation was first established as Indian Ocean Rim Initiative in Mauritius on March 1995 and formally launched in 1997 by the conclusion of a multilateral treaty known as the Charter of the Indian Ocean Rim Association for Regional Co-operation.

 

11.The Mekong-Ganga Cooperation

The Mekong-Ganga Cooperation (MGC) is an initiative by six countries – India and five ASEAN countries, namely, Cambodia, Lao PDR, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam for cooperation in tourism, culture, education, as well as transport and communications. It was launched in 2000 at Vientiane, Lao PDR.

 

12.Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP)

The Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) is an ambitious, comprehensive, and high-standard trade and investment agreement being negotiated between the United States and the European Union (EU). TTIP will help unlock opportunity for American families, workers, businesses, farmers and ranchers through increased access to European markets for Made-in-America goods and services. This will help to promote U.S. international competitiveness, jobs and growth.

Its main three broad areas are:
o market access;
o specific regulation; and
o broader rules and principle s and modes of co-operation

13.Shanghai Cooperation Organisation

The Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO), or Shanghai Pact, is a Eurasian political, economic, and military organisation which was founded in 2001 in Shanghai by the leaders of China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan. These countries, except for Uzbekistan had been members of the Shanghai Five, founded in 1996; after the inclusion of Uzbekistan in 2001, the members renamed the organisation. On July 10, 2015, the SCO decided to admit India and Pakistan as full members.

 

14.SAARC

The South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) is the regional international organization and geopolitical union of nations in South Asia. Its member states include.

Afghanistan,

Bhutan

Pakistan,

Bangladesh,

India,

Nepal,

Maldives,

Pakistan

Sri Lanka.

SAARC comprises 3% of the world’s area, 21% of the world's population and 3.8% of the global economy. SAARC was founded in Dhaka, Bangladesh on 8th December, 1985. Its secretariat is based in Kathmandu Nepal. The organization promotes development of economic and regional integration. It launched the South Asian free trade area in 2006. SAARC maintains permanent diplomatic relations at the United Nations as an observer and has developed links with multilateral entities, including the European Union.

15.OECD

The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) is an intergovernmental economic organization with 35 member countries, founded in 1960 to stimulate economic progress and world trade. The mission of the OECD is to promote policies that will improve the economic and social well-being of people around the world. It is a forum of countries describing themselves as committed to democracy and the market economy, providing a platform to compare policy experiences, seeking answers to common problems, identify good practices and coordinate domestic and international policies of its members. Most OECD members are high-income economies with a very high Human Development Index (HDI) and are regarded as developed countries.

The OECD headquartere at Paris, France. The OECD is funded by contributions from member states.

LIST OF MEMEBERS COUNTRIES

Australia

Austria

Belgium

Canada

Chile

Czech Republic

Denmark

Estonia

Finland

France

Germany

Greece

Hungary

Iceland

Ireland

Israel

Italy

Japan

Korea

Latvia

Luxembourg

Mexico

Netherlands

New Zealand

Norway

Poland

Portugal

Slovak Republic

Slovenia

Spain

Sweden

Switzerland

Turkey

United Kingdom

United States

16.G20

The G20 or Group of Twenty is an international forum for the governments and central bank governors from 20 major economies. It was founded in 1999 with the aim of studying, reviewing, and promoting high-level discussion of policy issues pertaining to the promotion of international financial stability. It seeks to address issues that go beyond the responsibilities of any one organization. The G20 heads of government or heads of state have periodically conferred at summits since their initial meeting in 2008, and the group also hosts separate meetings of finance ministers and central bank governors. The G20 membership comprises a mix of the world’s largest advanced and emerging economies, representing about two-thirds of the world’s population, 85 per cent of global gross domestic product and over 75 per cent of global trade.

The work of G20 members is supported by several international organisations that provide policy advice. The G20 also regularly engages with non-government sectors. Engagement groups from business (B20), civil society (C20), labour (L20), think tanks (T20) and youth (Y20) are holding major events during the year, the outcomes of which will contribute to the deliberations of G20 leaders.

The heads of the G20 nations met semi-annually at G20 summits between 2009 and 2010.

Since the November 2011 Cannes summit, all G20 summits have been held annually.

17.OPEC

Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) is an intergovernmental organization of 13 nations, founded in 1960 in Baghdad by the first five members (Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Venezuela), and headquartered since 1965 in Vienna. countries accounted for an estimated 42 % of global oil production and 73 % of the world’s oil reserves, giving OPEC a major influence on global oil prices that were previously determined by American-dominated multinational oil companies.

 

Two-thirds of OPEC’s oil production and reserves are in its six Middle Eastern countries that surround the oil-rich Persian Gulf. The formation of OPEC marked a turning point toward national sovereignty over natural resources, and OPEC decisions have come to play a prominent role in the global oil market and international relations.

18.TPP

The Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), or the Trans Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPPA), is a trade agreement between Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore, the United States (until January 23, 2017) and Vietnam. The finalized proposal was signed on 4 February 2016 in Auckland, New Zealand, concluding seven years of negotiations. It currently cannot be ratified due to U.S. withdrawal from the agreement on 23 January 2017. The former Obama administration claimed that the agreement aimed to "promote economic growth; support the creation and retention of jobs; enhance innovation, productivity and competitiveness; raise living standards; reduce poverty in the signatories; countries; and promote transparency, good governance, and enhanced labour and environmental protections. The TPP contains measures to lower both non-tariff and tariff barriers to trade, and establish an investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS)  mechanism.

19.RCEP

Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) is a proposed free trade agreement (FTA) between the ten member states of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)

 Brunei

 Cambodia

 Indonesia

 Laos

 Malaysia

 Myanmar

 Philippines

 Singapore

 Thailand

 Vietnam and the six states with which ASEAN has existing free trade agreements

(Australia, China, India, Japan, South Korea and New Zealand).

RCEP negotiations were formally launched in November 2012 at the ASEAN Summit in Cambodia. The agreement is scheduled to be finalized by the end of 2017. RCEP is viewed as an alternative to the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), a proposed trade agreement which includes several Asian and American nations but excludes China and India.

1.Asteroid ‘99942 Apophis’

• On April 13, 2029, a near-Earth asteroid will cruise by Earth, about 31,000 km above the surface.
• The asteroid, called 99942 Apophis, is 340 m wide.
• At one point, it will travel more than the width of the full Moon within a minute and it will get as bright as the stars in the Little Dipper, according to NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory.
• It is rare for an asteroid this size to pass by Earth so close.
• Although scientists have spotted small asteroids, on the order of 5-10 metres, flying by Earth at a similar distance, asteroids the size of Apophis are far fewer in number and so do not pass this close to Earth as often.
• Among potential lessons from Apophis, scientists are hoping they can use its flyby to learn about an asteroid’s interior.
• Apophis is one of about 2,000 currently known Potentially Hazardous Asteroids, and scientists also hope their observations might help gain important scientific knowledge that could one day be used for planetary defence.

2. Saturn’s moon Titan has 100-m deep methane lakes

• Saturn’s largest moon Titan has small liquid lakes that run more than 100 metres deep, perched atop hills and filled with methane, scientists have found using data from NASA’s Cassini spacecraft.

Methane Rains on Saturn

• Scientists have known that Titan’s hydrologic cycle works similarly to Earth’s — with one major difference. Instead of water evaporating from seas, forming clouds and rain, Titan does it all with methane and ethane.
• We tend to think of these hydrocarbons as a gas on Earth, unless they’re pressurized in a tank.
• However, Titan is so cold that they behave as liquids, like gasoline at room temperature on our planet.

3. Stephen Hawking’s hypothesis on black holes discarded

• An international research team including researchers from IUCAA, Pune has ruled out the possibility of primordial black holes being a major constituent of dark matter.
• This finding disproves a theoretical claim of Prof Stephen Hawking.

What is Dark matter?

• In the solar system, Mercury, the planet closest to the Sun, takes just 88 days to make one revolution around the sun, while Neptune, the farthest one, takes 165 years to make one round.
• In like manner, laws of gravity expect us to see stars closer to the centre of galaxies rotating faster than the stars on the edge.
• However, in most galaxies, the stars closer to the centre and the stars at the edge of the galaxies take almost same time to make one revolution.
• This implied that something invisible and enveloping the galaxies was giving an extra push to the outer stars, speeding them up.
• This entity has remained as one of the central unresolved puzzles in cosmology since 1930s. It is, no wonder, named `Dark Matter’.

4. GRAPES-3 Experiment

• For the first time in the world, researchers at the GRAPES-3 muon telescope facility in Ooty have measured the electrical potential, size and height of a thundercloud that passed overhead on December 1, 2014.

GRAPES-3 Experiment

• GRAPES-3 (Gamma Ray Astronomy PeV EnergieS phase-3) is designed to study cosmic rays with an array of air shower detectors and a large area muon detector.
• It aims to probe acceleration of cosmic rays in the following four astrophysical settings.
• It is located at Ooty in India and started as a collaboration of the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Mumbai, India and the Osaka City University, Osaka, Japan.

5. Atmospheric Waves Experiment (AWE)

• NASA has selected a $42 million mission that will help scientists understand and, ultimately, forecast the vast space weather system around our planet.

Atmospheric Waves Experiment (AWE) mission

• AWE is a Mission of Opportunity under NASA’s Heliophysics Explorers Program, which conducts focused scientific research and develops instrumentation to fill the scientific gaps between the agency’s larger missions.
• The AWE mission will cost $42 million and is planned to launch in August 2022, attached to the exterior of the Earth-orbiting International Space Station (ISS).
• The new experiment will obtain global observations of an important driver of space weather in a dynamic region of Earth’s upper atmosphere that can cause interference with radio and GPS communications.
• The AWE will focus on colourful bands of light in Earth’s atmosphere, called airglow, to determine what combination of forces drive space weather in the upper atmosphere.

6. How the Moon got ‘sunburns’: A result of sheer magnetism

• The Moon has visible ‘sunburns’, or distinctive patterns of swirls on its surface.
• NASA has now analysed data to show that these are a result of interactions between the Sun’s damaging radiation with pockets of lunar magnetic field.

Sunburns on Moon

• Every object, planet or person travelling through space has to contend with the Sun’s damaging radiation.
• Research using data from NASA’s ARTEMIS mission suggests how the solar wind and the Moon’s crustal magnetic fields work together to give the Moon a distinctive pattern of darker and lighter swirls.
• The Sun releases a continuous outflow of particles and radiation called the solar wind.
• Because the solar wind is magnetised, Earth’s natural magnetic field deflects the solar wind particles so that only a small fraction of them reach the planet’s atmosphere.
• But the Moon has no global magnetic field; magnetised rocks near the lunar surface do create small, localised spots of magnetic field.

7. NASA’s Opportunity Rover

• NASA has announced the end of the Opportunity rover’s mission.
• Opportunity rolled out on to the Martian surface in 2004, 20 days after its twin, Spirit, had landed on the other side of the Red Planet.
• Over the next 14 years, it got successes that made it one of the most overachieving explorer robots ever built.

Spirit and Opportunity Rovers

1. Spirit and Opportunity were identical, golf-cart-sized, solar-powered rovers.
2. Spirit landed at Gusev Crater; Opportunity followed, landing on the opposite side of Mars at Meridiani Planum.
3. Contact with Spirit was lost in March 2010, and the mission was declared over in May, 2011.
4. Opportunity worked on Mars for over 14 years, longer than any other robot. Both rovers were originally supposed to have only 90-day missions.
5. Opportunity travelled 45.16 km on the surface of Mars, more than any other rover.
6. Its equipment have been compromised by the storm, which struck while the rover was at a site called Perseverance Valley.

8. Ultima Thule: Farthest object ever visited, what secrets does it hold?

• Recently NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft carried out a historic flyby of a distant object called Ultima Thule followed by beaming back of the first images.
• It is the most distant object ever visited, which is one of the reasons that make the mission special.

Ultima Thule

1. Officially named (486958) 2014 MU69, it earned the nickname Ultima Thule following a public contest in 2018.
2. It is located in the Kuiper Belt, a disc in the outer Solar System (beyond Neptune) that consists of small bodies including Pluto.
3. 2014 MU69 was discovered in June 2014 by astronomers using the Hubble Space Telescope but is so distant that many of its characteristics remain to be understood.

9. China’s Chang’e-4 lunar rover lands on moon’s far side

• China’s Chang’e-4 lunar rover scripted history when it made the first-ever soft landing on the far side of the moon.

Chang’e-4 Mission

1. Chang’e-4 named after a Chinese moon goddess and comprising a lander and a rover, touched down at the preselected landing area at 177.6 degrees east longitude and 45.5 degrees south latitude on the far side of the moon.
2. The lunar explorer landed on the far side of the moon and has already sent back its first pictures from the surface.
3. The pioneering achievement is another demonstration of China’s ambitions to be a space power.
4. The robotic spacecraft is carrying instruments to analyse the unexplored region’s geology and will conduct biological experiments.
5. The probe was launched by a Long March-3B carrier rocket on December 8 from the Xichang Satellite Launch Centre in Sichuan Province.
6. It landed on the Von Karman crater in the South Pole-Aitken basin and then sent back a picture of the landing site shot by one of the monitor cameras on the probe’s lander, marking the world’s first image taken on the moon’s far side.
7. The scientific tasks of the Chang’e-4 mission include low-frequency radio astronomical observation, surveying the terrain and landforms, detecting the mineral composition and shallow lunar surface structure, and measuring the neutron radiation and neutral atoms to study the environment on the far side of the moon.

10. China’s BeiDou navigation satellite, rival to US GPS, starts global services

• China’s BeiDou Navigation Satellite System (BDS), touted as a rival to the widely-used American GPS, has started providing global services.

BeiDou Navigation Satellite System (BDS)

1. Named after the Chinese term for the ‘Big Dipper’, the BeiDou system started serving China in 2000 and the Asia-Pacific region in 2012.
2. It will be the fourth global satellite navigation system after the US GPS, Russia’s GLONASS and the European Union’s Galileo.
3. The positioning accuracy of the system has reached 10 metres globally and five metres in the Asia-Pacific region.
4. Its velocity accuracy is 0.2 metres per second, while its timing accuracy stands at 20 nanoseconds, he said.
5. Pakistan has become the first country to use the BeiDou system ending its reliance on the Global Positioning System (GPS).

11. China launches first satellite for the space-based broadband project

• China on December 22 launched its first communication satellite to provide broadband internet services worldwide in an apparent bid to rival Google and other international firms.

Hongyun Project

1. The Hongyun project, started in September 2016, aims to build a space-based communications network to provide broadband internet connectivity to users around the world, especially those in the underserved regions.
2. The satellite was launched from a Long March 11 carrier rocket from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Centre in north-western China.
3. It is the first in the Hongyun project planned by China Aerospace Science and Industry Corp (CASIC).
4. The spacecraft is tasked with verifying basic designs of Hongyun satellite and demonstrating low-orbit broadband communications technologies.

12. NASA’s HiRISE photographs Mars InSight lander from space

• NASA has pinpointed the exact landing location of its newly launched InSight lander, using a powerful camera onboard another of the agency’s spacecraft, hovering around the Red Planet.

After InSight’s landing

1. On November 26, InSight landed within a 130 km ellipse at Elysium Planitia on Mars.
2. However, there was no way to determine exactly where it touched down within this region.
3. InSight was set to study the interior of Mars, and will explore valuable science as NASA prepares to send astronauts to the Moon and later to Mars.
4. The spacecraft will operate on the surface for one Martian year, plus 40 Martian days, or sols, until November 24, 2020.

HiRISE

1. The HiRISE (which stands for High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment) aboard Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) spotted Martian landscape and ground around the lander.
2. It released three new features on the Martian landscape, which appear to be teal.
3. However, it is not their actual colour, but light reflected off their surfaces caused the colour to be saturated.
4. The ground around the lander appears dark, having been blasted by its retro-rockets during descent.

13. NASA’s ICESat-2 maps Antarctic ice sheet melting

• NASA’s ICESat-2 launched less than three months ago has mapped melting ice sheets in Antarctica and the resulting sea level rise across the globe, which could help improve climate forecasts.

ICESat-2 

1. The ICESat-2 stands for Ice, Cloud and land Elevation Satellite-2 .
2. It is measuring the height of sea ice to within an inch, tracing the terrain of previously unmapped Antarctic valleys, surveying remote ice sheets, and peering through forest canopies and shallow coastal waters.
3. With each pass of the ICESat-2 satellite, the mission is adding to datasets tracking Earth’s rapidly changing ice.
4. As ICESat-2 orbits over the Antarctic Ice Sheet, the photon returns reflect from the surface and show high ice plateaus, crevasses in the ice 20 metres deep, and the sharp edges of ice shelves dropping into the ocean.

14. Soyuz: first manned mission to ISS since October failure

Mission to ISS

1. A Soyuz rocket carrying Russian, American and Canadian astronauts took off from Kazakhstan and reached orbit in the first manned mission since a failed launch in October.
2. It was the first manned launch for the Soviet-era Soyuz when a rocket carrying astronauts failed just minutes after blast-off, forcing the pair to make an emergency landing.
3. They escaped unharmed but the failed launch as first such incident in Russia’s post-Soviet history raised concerns about the state of the programme.
4. The Soyuz is the only means of reaching the ISS since the U.S. retired the space shuttle in 2011.

15. NASA’s InSight spacecraft lands on red planet after six-month journey

Landing on the Red Planet

1. InSight, a NASA spacecraft designed to burrow beneath the surface of Mars landed on the red after a six-month, 482 million-km journey and a perilous, six-minute descent through the rose-hued atmosphere.
2. It was NASA’s ninth attempt to land at Mars since the 1976 Viking probes. All but one of the previous U.S. touchdowns was successful.
3. NASA last landed on Mars in 2012 with the Curiosity rover.
4. The plan called for the spacecraft to go from 12,300 mph (19,800 kph) to zero in six minutes flat as it pierced the Martian atmosphere and settled on the surface.

16. NASA’s Ralph and Lucy set to visit Jupiter’s Trojan asteroids in 2021

• NASA’s Ralph — a space instrument that has travelled as far as Pluto — is set to explore Jupiter’s Trojan asteroids, which are remnants from the early days of the solar system.

Ralph

1. Ralph was first launched aboard the New Horizons spacecraft in 2006 and obtained stunning flyby images of Jupiter and its moons.
2. This was followed by a visit to Pluto where Ralph took the first high-definition pictures of the iconic minor planet.
3. In 2021, Ralph is set to journey with the Lucy mission to Jupiter’s Trojan asteroids.
4. The instrument will fly by another Kuiper Belt object called 2014 MU69 nicknamed Ultima Thule in January 2019.
5. Ralph’s observations of 2014 MU69 will provide unique insights into this small, icy world.

Lucy and L’Ralph

1. The Lucy spacecraft carries a near-twin of Ralph, called L’Ralph, which will investigate Jupiter’s Trojan asteroids.
2. The L’Ralph instrument suite will study this diverse group of bodies.
3. Lucy will fly by six Trojans and one Main Belt asteroid more than any other previous asteroid mission.
4. L’Ralph will detect the Trojan asteroids’ chemical fingerprints.
5. L’Ralph allows scientists to interpret data provided by the Sun’s reflected light that are the fingerprints of different elements and compounds.
6. These data could provide clues about how organic molecules form in primitive bodies, a process that might also have led to the emergence of life on Earth.

17. Earth has two extra, hidden ‘moons’

Three Moons for Earth

1. The existence of the two extra ‘moons’ was hotly debated for over 50 years but as per a recent National Geographic report, Hungarian astronomers and physicists have finally provided enough data to confirm.
2. The moon has at least two other companions made entirely of dust.
3. The team of researchers confirmed their presence through photographs of the natural bodies at a distance of approximately 250,000 miles more or less the same distance as our moon.

Facts about the newly discovered dust moons

1. The presence of the dust ‘moons’ or Kordylewski Clouds had been inferred by researchers since long before
2. The first glimpse of the clouds was seen only in 1961 by Polish astronomer Kazimierz Kordylewski, after whom the dust clouds were named
3. The new findings note that each Kordylewski cloud is about 15 by 10 degrees wide, or equal to 30 by 20 lunar disks in the night sky
4. They are spread over a space area that is almost nine times the width of Earth — about 65,000 by 45,000 miles in actual size
5. The dust ‘moons’ are huge but they are made of tiny dust particles that barely measure one micrometre across.

18. Mission Mercury: How will twin probes reach there, and why?

Context

• The European Space Agency (ESA) and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) has successfully sent two probes on a joint mission to Mercury, the closest planet to the Sun.

Launch

1. An Ariane 5 rocket, launched from French Guyana, lifted an unmanned spacecraft, BepiColombo, which is carrying the two probes.
2. The spacecraft separated and went into orbit for the 7-year trip to Mercury.

Details of the Mission

1. It is the first European mission to Mercury, and the first to send two spacecraft to make complementary measurements of the planet and its environment at the same time.
2. The orbiters are ESA’s Mercury Planetary Orbiter (MPO) and JAXA’s Mercury Magnetospheric Orbiter (MMO, or ‘Mio’).
3. The ESA-built Mercury Transfer Module (MTM) will carry the orbiters to Mercury using a combination of solar electric propulsion and gravity assist flybys.

19. Largest galaxy cluster in early universe found

1. Astronomers have discovered the largest and most massive galaxy super cluster yet found in the early universe.
2. It was formed just over two billion years after the Big Bang.

Hyperion

1. The galaxy proto-supercluster, nicknamed Hyperion, was identified using the VIMOS instrument on European Southern Observatory’s (ESO) Very Large Telescope in Chile.
2. Located in the constellation of Sextans, Hyperion was identified by a novel technique to analyse the vast amount of data obtained from the VIMOS Ultra-Deep Survey.
3. Hyperion has a calculated mass more than one million billion times that of the Sun, making it the largest and most massive structure to be found so early in the formation of the universe.
4. Surprisingly the galaxy was evolved in very less time when the universe was relatively young.

20. NASA probe to fly by most distant object ever visited by a spacecraft

Setting a New Record

1. NASA’s New Horizons probe is on course to fly by the Kuiper Belt object nicknamed Ultima Thule, which is at a distance of 6.6 billion kilometers from Earth.
2. This event will set the record for the most distant object ever visited by a spacecraft.
3. The spacecraft has successfully performed the three and half-minute manoeuvre on October 3 to home in on its location.
4. The manoeuvre slightly tweaked the spacecraft’s trajectory and bumped its speed by 2.1 metres per second keeping it on track to fly past Ultima officially named 2014 MU69 on January 1, 2019.
5. This manoeuvre has led the farthest exploration in world more than a billion miles beyond Pluto.

Trajectory Correction Maneuver

1. New Horizons itself was about 6.35 billion km from earth when it carried out trajectory correction maneuver (TCM), the farthest course-correction ever performed.
2. This was the first Ultima targeting maneuver that used pictures taken by New Horizons itself to determine the spacecraft’s position relative to the Kuiper Belt object.
3. The TCM is done by determining the current trajectories and its target, and then calculating the manoeuvering required to put the spacecraft at the desired aim point for the flyby 3,500 km from Ultima at closest approach.

21. Japan drops new robot on asteroid

MASCOT Robot

1. The Hayabusa2 probe launched the French-German Mobile Asteroid Surface Scout, or MASCOT towards the Ryugu asteroid’s surface.
2. The 10-kg box-shaped MASCOT is loaded with sensors.
3. It can take images at multiple wavelengths, investigate minerals with a microscope, gauge surface temperatures and measure magnetic fields.
4. The MASCOT got separated from the spacecraft as planned and got safely landed

Hayabusa2 Probe

1. A Japanese probe launched a new observation robot towards an asteroid as it pursues a mission to shed light on the origins of the solar system.
2. The Hayabusa2 is scheduled later this month to deploy an “impactor” that will explode above the asteroid, shooting a two-kilo copper object into it to blast a small crater on the surface.
3. The probe will then hovers over the artificial crater and collect samples using an extended arm.

22. Parker, the world’s first mission to Sun lifts off

Parker Solar Probe

1. NASA launched the Parker Solar Probe – the space agency’s first mission to the sun – that will explore the sun’s atmosphere and its outermost atmosphere, the corona.
2. The spacecraft is named after 91-year old solar physicist Eugene Parker, 91, who was the first scientist to describe solar wind in 1958.
3. The probe, about the size of a car, will fly through the Sun’s atmosphere and will come as close as 3.8 million miles to the star’s surface, well within the orbit of Mercury.
4. It will be more than seven times closer than any spacecraft has come before. The Parker probe is expected to make 24 loops of the Sun over seven years.

23. NASA’s newest planet hunter starts operations

Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS)

1. After a successful launch in April this year, NASA’s newest planet hunter, the TESS has now started its search for planets around nearby stars.
2. TESS is NASA’s latest satellite to search for planets outside our solar system, known as exoplanets.
3. The mission will spend the next two years monitoring the nearest and brightest stars for periodic dips in their light.
4. TESS is expected to transmit its first series of science data back to Earth in August, and thereafter periodically every 13.5 days, once per orbit, as the spacecraft makes it closest approach to Earth.
5. These events, called transits, suggest that a planet may be passing in front of its star.
6. TESS is expected to find thousands of planets using this method, some of which could potentially support life.

24. Nasa unveils program to defend Earth from asteroid attack

Countering NEOs

1. The US and other nations have long sought to track “near-earth objects,” or NEOs, coordinating efforts through the International Asteroid Warning Network and the United Nations
2. The Trump Administration now wants to enhance those efforts to detect and track potential planet killers and to develop more capable means to deflect any that appear to be on a collision course
3. The government unveiled new goals this week for Nasa’s work on countering NEOs over the next decade

NEO threat

1. Nasa has documented roughly 96% of the objects large enough to cause a global catastrophe since work began in 1998
2. More than 300,000 objects larger than 40 meters (131 feet) wide orbit the sun as NEOs, according to Nasa estimates
3. Many of these were difficult to detect more than a few days in advance
4. Forty meters is about the average size an object must be to make it through the atmosphere without burning up

Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) mission

1. The goal of this mission is to impact the smaller “moonlet” of a binary asteroid called Didymos, to learn how well we may be able to alter the course of a future killer rock
2. It is expected to be complete by 2021-2022