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GS Paper: GS1

  • NATO fires Russian Diplomats

    NATO has withdrew the accreditation of eight Russian officials to the military alliance in response to a rise in malign activities by Moscow.

    NATO

    • NATO is a military alliance established by the North Atlantic Treaty (also called the Washington Treaty) of April 4, 1949.
    • It sought to create a counterweight to Soviet armies stationed in Central and Eastern Europe after World War II.
    • Its original members were Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, Iceland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, the United Kingdom, and the United States.
    • NATO has spread a web of partners, namely Egypt, Israel, Sweden, Austria, Switzerland and Finland.

    Why was it founded?

    Ans. Communist sweep in Europe post-WWII and rise of Soviet dominance

    • After World War II in 1945, Western Europe was economically exhausted and militarily weak, and newly powerful communist parties had arisen in France and Italy.
    • By contrast, the Soviet Union had emerged from the war with its armies dominating all the states of central and Eastern Europe.
    • By 1948 communists under Moscow’s sponsorship had consolidated their control of the governments of those countries and suppressed all non-communist political activity.
    • What became known as the Iron Curtain, a term popularized by Winston Churchill, had descended over central and Eastern Europe.

    Ideology of NATO

    • The NATO ensures that the security of its European member countries is inseparably linked to that of its North American member countries.
    • It commits the Allies to democracy, individual liberty and the rule of law, as well as to peaceful resolution of disputes.
    • It also provides a unique forum for dialogue and cooperation across the Atlantic.

    The Article 5

    • The heart of NATO is expressed in Article 5, in which the signatory members agree that an armed attack against one or more of them in Europe or North America shall be considered an attack against them all.

    Why in news now?

    • The relationship between NATO and Russia is at its lowest point since the end of the Cold War.
    • The NATO (rather US) sees their aggressive actions, not least against Ukraine, but also the significant military buildup and violations of important arms control agreements.
    • NATO suspended practical cooperation with Russia in 2014 after it annexed Ukraine’s Crimean Peninsula.

     

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  • India joins High Ambition Coalition (HAC)

    India has officially joined the High Ambition Coalition for Nature and People, a group of more than 70 countries encouraging the adoption of the global goal to protect 30×30.

    High Ambition Coalition (HAC)

    Aim: To promote an international agreement to protect at least 30 % the of world’s land and ocean by 2030

    • The HAC is an informal group of approximately 61 countries within the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).
    • It is committed to advancing progressive proposals on climate ambition.
    • The HAC was founded by the Republic of the Marshall Islands in 2014 with the aim of ensuring the Paris Agreement, adopted in 2015, was as ambitious as possible.
    • The Republic of the Marshall Islands serves as the convener and secretariat of the HAC.
    • The global 30×30 goal is currently a centerpiece of the treaty.

    Members

    • HAC members currently include a mix of countries in the global north and south; European, Latin American, Africa and Asia countries are among the members.
    • India is the first of the BRICS bloc of major emerging economies (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) to join the HAC.

     

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  • Tribes in news: Mundapota Kela

    Members of the Mundapota Kela community in Odisha perform an unthinkable act of their head buried in soil, which requires exceptional breath control, for a living.

    Mundapota Kela

    • The community — Mundapota Kela (a denotified tribe) — is left with few members who earn a livelihood with this bizarre act.
    • It is believed to have migrated to Odisha from Rayalaseema area of Andhra Pradesh decades ago.
    • Being street performers, they travel from one village to another and bury their heads in soil for several minutes.
    • They collect rice, vegetables and money from villagers for putting up the show.

    Try answering this PYQ:

    Q.Consider the following statements about Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups (PVTGs) in India:

    1. PVTGs reside in 18 States and one Union Territory.
    2. A stagnant or declining population is one of the criteria for determining PVTG status.
    3. There are 95 PVTGs officially notified in the country so far.
    4. Irular and Konda Reddi tribes are included in the list of PVTGs.

    Which of the statements given above are correct?

    (a) 1, 2 and 3

    (b) 2, 3 and 4

    (c) 1, 2 and 4

    (d) 1, 3 and 4

     

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    Back2Basics: De-Notified Tribes

    • Denotified Tribes (DNTs), also known as Vimukta Jati are the tribes that were listed originally under the Criminal Tribes Act of 1871 as Criminal Tribes.
    • Once a tribe became “notified” as criminal, all its members were required to register with the local magistrate, failing which they would be charged with a “crime” under the Indian Penal Code.
    • The Criminal Tribes Act was repealed in 1949 and thus ‘de-notified’ the tribal communities.
    • The denotified tribes were reclassified as “habitual offenders” in 1959.
    • The UN’s anti-discrimination body Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD) asked India to repeal the Habitual Offenders Act (1952) and effectively rehabilitate the denotified and nomadic tribes on 9 March 2007.
    • A National Commission for Denotified, Nomadic and Semi-Nomadic Tribes (NCDNSNT) was setup in 2003 to study various developmental aspects under the chairmanship of Shri. Balkrishna Renke.

     

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  • First Nobel for Climate Science

    Three scientists received the Nobel Prize in Physics for work that is essential to understanding how the Earth’s climate is changing, pinpointing the effect of human behaviour on those changes and ultimately predicting the impact of global warming.

    Who are the laureates?

    • The winners were Syukuro Manabe, Klaus Hasselmann of Germany, and Giorgio Parisi from Italy.
    • In 2015, at a UK-based climate-focused online publication sought to identify the three most influential climate change research papers ever published.
    • The paper that received the most votes was one by Syukuro Manabe and Richard Wetherald way back in 1967.
    • These reports for the first time, had described the impact of carbon dioxide and water vapour on global warming.

    Citation for their Climate Model

    • Manabe is a senior meteorologist and climatologist at Princeton University.
    • In the 1960s, he led ground-breaking research into how increased levels of carbon dioxide lead to higher temperatures on the surface of the Earth.
    • This laid the foundation for the development of current climate models.
    • Hasselmann is a German physicist and oceanographer who greatly advanced public understanding of climate change through the creation of a model that links climate and chaotic weather systems.
    • Parisi has focused on quantum field theory and complex systems.

    Why it is significant feat?

    • This is the first-time climate scientists have been awarded the Physics Nobel.
    • The IPCC had won the Peace Nobel in 2007, an acknowledgement of its efforts in creating awareness for the fight against climate change.
    • A Chemistry Nobel was also awarded to Paul Crutzen in 1995, for his work on the ozone layer, is considered the only other time someone from atmospheric sciences has won this honour.
    • The recognition of Manabe and Hasselmann, therefore, is being seen as an acknowledgement of the importance that climate science holds in today’s world.

     

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  • Panel set up to implement Assam Accord

    The Assam government on Saturday set up an eight-member sub-committee to examine and prepare a framework for the implementation of all clauses of the Assam Accord of 1985.

    What is Assam Accord?

    • The Assam Accord was a Memorandum of Settlement (MoS) signed the Government of India and the leaders of the Assam Movement.
    • It the movement demanded the identification and deportation of all illegal foreigners – predominantly Bangladeshi immigrants.
    • They feared that past and continuing large scale migration was overwhelming the native population, impacting their political rights, culture, language and land rights.
    • The Assam Movement caused the estimated death of over 855 people.
    • It ended with the signing of the Assam Accord in 1985.

    What are the major clauses of Assam Accord?

    • Clause 5: Foreigners Issue
    • Clause 6: Constitutional, Legislative & Administrative safeguards
    • Clause 7: Economic Development
    • Clause 9 : Security of International Border
    • Clause 10: Prevention of Encroachment of Government lands
    • Clause 11: Restricting acquisition of immovable property by foreigners
    • Clause 12: Registration of births and deaths

    Which clauses are being discussed?

    • A sub-committee has been tasked to examine and prepare a framework for implementation of all clauses of Assam Accord in general with special emphasis on Clause 6, Clause 7, Clause 9 and Clause 10.

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  • Langa-Manganiyar Folk Music

    Considered the repository of the Thar region’s rich history and traditional knowledge, the ballads, folklore and songs of the Langa-Manganiyar artistes are being preserved through an initiative for documentation and digitisation.

    Who are the Langa-Manganiyar?

    • The Langas and Manganiyars are hereditary communities of Muslim musicians residing mostly in western Rajasthan’s Jaisalmer and Barmer districts and in Pakistan’s Tharparkar and Sanghar districts in Sindh.
    • The music of the two marginalised communities, who were supported by wealthy landlords and merchants before Independence, forms a vital part of Thar desert’s cultural landscape.
    • The performances are in multiple languages and dialects including Marwari, Sindhi, Saraiki, Dhatti and Thareli.
    • The romantic tales revolving around legendary lovers such as Umar-Marvi, Heer-Ranjha, Sohni-Mahiwal, Moomal-Rana and Sorath-Rao Khangar have traditionally captivated audiences.

    Instruments used

    • The Langa’s main traditional instrument is the sindhi sarangi; Manganiyar’s is the kamaicha.
    • Both are bowed stringed instruments with skin membrane sounding boards and many sympathetic strings.
    • Both Langas and Manganiyars sing and play the dholak (double-headed barrel drum), the kartal(wooded clappers), the morchan (jaws harp), and the ubiquitous harmonium.

    Try answering this PYQ:

    Q. Consider the following pairs:

    Tradition: State

    1. Chapchar Kut: festival Mizoram
    2. Khongjom Parba ballad: Manipur
    3. Thang Ta dance: Sikkim

    Which of the pairs given above is/are correct?

    (a) 1 only

    (b) 1 and 2

    (c) 3 only

    (d) 2 and 3

     

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  • Chola inscriptions on qualifications for civic officials

    In the Kancheepuram district of Tamil Nadu, some Chola-era inscriptions on Kanthaleeswarar Temple bear testimony to the qualifications required for members of the village administrative council.

    Inscription details: Kudavolai System

    • The Kudavolai system was very vital and unique feature of administration of villages of Cholas.
    • In the system one representative is elected from each ward and every village had 30 wards.
    • The village administrative committee was called as variyam.
    • The election was unique as names of contestants were written on palm leaf and put in a pot.

    Taxation details

    • The rulers were considerate while taxing agricultural produce.
    • For areca nuts, only 50% tax would be collected for the first 10 years after cultivation. Farmers would pay full tax only after the trees started yielding fruits.
    • Similarly, 50% tax was imposed on banana crops until the yield.

    Though a tough one, but try answering this PYQ:

    Q.In the context of the history of India, consider the following pairs:

    Term: Description

    1. Eripatti: Land revenue from which was set apart for the maintenance of the village tank
    2. Taniyurs: Villages donated to a single Brahmin or a group of Brahmins
    3. Ghatikas: Colleges generally attached to the temples

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

    (a) 1 and 2

    (b) 3 only

    (c) 2 and 3

    (d) 1 and 3

     

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  • Do we need to count caste in census?

    • A continuous and unabated push towards including caste in the forthcoming census enumeration has finally ended with the Union government position into the Supreme Court.
    • The Centre had decided as a matter of policy not to enumerate caste-wise population other than Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes.

    Must read:

    Complex count: On caste census

    Existing issue: Delay in the Census itself

    • That a decadal exercise has faced discontinuation with the pandemic is damaging enough, which will require reconstruction for the year 2021.
    • We are also not sure how the Registrar General and Census Commissioner, who could not conduct the census on time, will be able to add any other additional questions including enumeration of caste.
    • The Election Commission did its job in conducting elections during Covid-19 but not the Census Commissioner.

    Why caste cannot be included at this hour?

    • In the midst of an uncertain environment, conducting a census is unavoidable since it is not an overnight exercise.
    • Imposing the collection of caste information may dilute the exercise at the very least and send wrong signals regarding its purpose.

    Why we should let the Census go its way?

    There need to be sincere efforts towards putting systems in place in context to the Census.

    (a) Population Enumeration

    • There is a need conduct the population enumeration at the earliest and providing an update of India’s population dynamics in comparable terms to be read against the past.
    • The absence of population enumeration and its discontinuation can have implications for gauging the evolving changes as well as its prospects.

    (b) Age-sex composition

    • Census offer some tentative clues towards the age-sex composition of the population under varying sets of assumptions.
    • Besides, it offers more detailed information — on households, assets, marital status, education, migration etc since the last census of 2011.
    • Moreover it would provide accurate data about India’s large chunk of population which is ageing.

    (c) Impact of the Pandemic

    • A decade of rapid fertility declines and rising mobility needs serious assessment in terms of its impact on the population dynamics.
    • In the absence of any clue regarding population, together with a pandemic with its devastating course of fatalities, the need for a population enumeration is all the more urgent.
    • Estimated and projected numbers can serve as approximations to the extent of the assumptions being realistic and accurate.

    (d) Planning for the next FYP

    • A 14th five-year plan being in the offing makes it a crucial year to have the real numbers towards making the planning exercise effective.
    • Preparing our human capital of quality and adaptability to the emerging labour market is the need of the hour, and at the same time.

    Impediments created by including Caste

    An attribute like caste being obtained in a census exercise makes matters complex on multiple grounds such as:

    • Caste within Caste: Given the differences in caste hierarchies across various regions of the country, a comparative reading along with generating a common hierarchy may be a challenge.
    • Caste over occupation linked predicaments: Further, caste linked deprivation or adversity may not be as common as occupation linked predicaments, which become easier to compare across states/regions.
    • Anonymity and bias: An intimate and personalised attribute like caste may have its differential exposition between urban and rural residents. Urban residents’ need for anonymity can always bias the reporting on caste.
    • Identity crisis: Above all, recognition and adherence to caste identity is to a large extent shaped by progressive ideals, cosmopolitanism and education, which has its own regional divide in the country between the north and the south.

    Other concerns

    • Accuracy of reporting: With such complexities associated with divulging caste identity, one cannot be sure of its accuracy in reporting on the one hand and the possible bias linked to other attributes on the other.
    • Existing status-quo: The attributes obtained in the census like age, sex, residence, occupation and religion in themselves have not received adequate exploration to add to the understanding of differential population dynamics.
    • Non-intervention: Considering caste with its wide-ranging count as another fresh attribute may not be of worth as neither will it offer sensible outcome differences nor facilitate identification for intervention.

    Way forward

    • The census enumeration should be a priority and the proposed digital enumeration should become more effective in generating required data of quality and accuracy.
    • The upcoming census is certain to reveal interesting realities of population dynamics that go beyond the narrow and regressive outlook of the caste count to help gauge the transformation in human capital.

    Conclusion

    • In fact, attributes like caste and religion that are not modifiable should be less important compared to modifiable attributes like education, occupation and other endowment linked attributes.
    • Hence, the moral lies in rising above ascribed attributes in defining outcomes to that of achieved ones.
    • Such an approach has a dual advantage of gauging distribution across attributes as well as their response to outcomes.

     

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  • Various terms related to Indian Monsoon

    The monsoon is likely to begin withdrawing from the mainland from October 6, said the India Meteorological Department (IMD).

    Let us learn all terminologies related to Monsoon.

    What is Monsoon?

    • Indian monsoon, the most prominent of the world’s monsoon systems, which primarily affects India and its surrounding water bodies.
    • It blows from the northeast during cooler months and reverses direction to blow from the southwest during the warmest months of the year.

    Onset of Monsoon

    • This process brings large amounts of rainfall to the region during June and July.
    • As the high-sun season (that is, the Northern Hemisphere summer) moves northward during April, India becomes particularly prone to rapid heating because the highlands to the north protect it from any incursions of cold air.
    • There are three distinct areas of relative upper tropospheric warmth—namely, (1) above the southern Bay of Bengal, (2) above the Plateau of Tibet, and (3) across the trunks of the various peninsulas that are relatively dry during this time.
    • These three areas combine to form a vast heat-source region.
    • In contrast, a heat sink appears over the southern Indian Ocean as the relatively cloud-free air cools by emitting long-wavelength radiation.
    • Monsoon winds at the surface blow from heat sink to heat source.

    Peak period

    • The position of the easterly jet controls the location of monsoonal rains, which occur ahead and to the left of the strongest winds and also behind them and to the right.
    • The surface flow, however, is a strong, south-westerly, humid, and unstable wind that brings humidifies of more than 80 percent and heavy squally showers that are the “burst” of the monsoon.
    • The overall pattern of the advance follows a frontal alignment, but local episodes may differ considerably.

    Key areas

    • Most spectacular clouds and rain occur against the Western Ghats in India, where the early monsoonal airstream piles up against the steep slopes, then recedes, and piles up again to a greater height.
    • Each time it pushes thicker clouds upward until wind and clouds roll over the barrier and, after a few brief spells of absorption by the dry inland air, cascade toward the interior.
    • Various factors, especially topography, combine to make up a complex regional pattern.

    Break in Monsoon

    • During the south-west monsoon period after having rains for a few days, if rain fails to occur for one or more weeks, it is known as break in the monsoon.
    • These dry spells are quite common during the rainy season.
    • In northern India rains are likely to fail if the rain-bearing storms are not very frequent along the monsoon trough or the ITCZ over this region.
    • Over the west coast the dry spells are associated with days when winds blow parallel to the coast.

    Withdrawal of Monsoon

    • By August the intensity and duration of sunshine have decreased, temperatures begin to fall, and the surge of south-westerly air diminishes spasmodically almost to a standstill in the northwest.
    • In September, dry, cool, northerly air begins to circle the west side of the highlands and spread over north-western India.
    • The easterly jet weakens, and the upper tropospheric easterlies move much farther south.
    • Because the moist southwesterlies at lower levels are much weaker and variable, they are soon pushed back.
    • The rainfall becomes extremely variable over most of the region, but showers are still frequent in the south-eastern areas and over the Bay of Bengal.
    • By early October, variable winds are very frequent everywhere.

    Winter rains

    • At the end of the month, the entire Indian region is covered by northerly air and the winter monsoon takes shape.
    • The surface flow is deflected by the Coriolis force and becomes a north-easterly flow.
    • Tropical depressions and cyclones are important contributing factors.
    • Most of India thus begins a sunny, dry, and dusty season.
    • Conversely, the western slopes of the Karakoram Range and Himalayas are then reached by the midlatitude frontal depressions that come from the Atlantic and the Mediterranean.
    • The winter rains they receive, moderate as they are, place them clearly outside the monsoonal realm.

     

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  • Places in news: Weddell Sea

    India has extended support for protecting the Antarctic environment and for co-sponsoring the proposal of the European Union for designating East Antarctica and the Weddell Sea as Marine Protected Areas (MPAs).

    About Weddell Sea

    • The Weddell Sea is part of the Southern Ocean and contains the Weddell Gyre.
    • Its land boundaries are defined by the bay formed from the coasts of Coats Land and the Antarctic Peninsula.
    • Much of the southern part of the sea is covered by a permanent, massive ice shelf field, the Filchner-Ronne Ice Shelf.
    • The sea is contained within the two overlapping Antarctic territorial claims of Argentine Antarctica, the British Antarctic Territory, and also resides partially within the Antarctic Chilean Territory.

    Major ice shelves

    • Various ice shelves, including the Filchner-Ronne Ice Shelf, fringe the Weddell sea.
    • Some of the ice shelves on the east side of the Antarctic Peninsula, which formerly covered roughly 10,000 square kilometres of the Weddell Sea, had completely disappeared by 2002.
    • The Weddell Sea has been deemed by scientists to have the clearest water of any sea.

    India’s support for the Antarctic

    • India supports sustainability in protecting the Antarctic environment.
    • The proposed MPAs are essential to regulate illegal unreported and unregulated fishing.
    • India had urged the Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR) member countries to ensure Antarctic conservation.
    • India remains associated with the formulation, adaptation and implementation mechanisms of these MPAs in future.

    What is CCAMLR?

    • CCAMLR is an international treaty to manage Antarctic fisheries to preserve species diversity and stability of the entire Antarctic marine ecosystem.
    • CCAMLR came into force in April 1982.
    • India has been a permanent member of the CCAMLR since 1986.
    • Work pertaining to the CCAMLR is coordinated in India by the Ministry of Earth Sciences through its attached office, the Centre for Marine Living Resources and Ecology (CMLRE) in Kochi, Kerala.

    Back2Basics: Marine Protected Areas (MPAs)

    • An MPA is a marine protected area that provides protection for all or part of its natural resources.
    • Certain activities within an MPA are limited or prohibited to meet specific conservation, habitat protection, ecosystem monitoring, or fisheries management objectives.
    • MPAs can be conserved for a number of reasons including economic resources, biodiversity conservation, and species protection.
    • They are created by delineating zones with permitted and non-permitted uses within that zone.

     

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