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GS Paper: GS1

  • Life, work and legend of Adi Shankaracharya

    PM has unveiled a 12-foot statue of Adi Shankaracharya at Kedarnath, where the acharya is believed to have attained samadhi at the age of 32 in the ninth century.

    Adi Shankaracharya (788-820 AD)

    • Adi Shankaracharya was an Indian philosopher and theologian whose works had a strong impact on the doctrine of Advaita Vedanta.
    • He founded mathas, which are believed to have helped in the historical development, revival and propagation of his philosophy.
    • The story recounted today has been reconstructed from multiple Shankaravijayas (Conquests of Shankara) written over the centuries.

    Birth and death

    • He is said to have been born in Kaladi village on the bank of the Periyar, the largest river in Kerala.
    • He is believed to have attained samadhi at Kedarnath; however, Kanchi and Thrissur are also talked about as places where Adi Shankara spent his last days.

    His literary works

    • Adi Shankara is generally identified as the author of 116 works.
    • Among them the celebrated commentaries (bhashyas) on 10 Upanishads, the Brahmasutra and the Gita, and poetic works including Vivekachudamani, Maneesha Panchakam, and Saundaryalahiri.
    • He composed the Kanakadhara Stotram, following which there was a rain of golden amlas, which brought prosperity to the household.
    • It has also been claimed that Adi Shankara composed texts like Shankarasmrithi, which seeks to establish the social supremacy of Nambuthiri Brahmins.
    • His great standing is derived from his commentaries of the prasthanatrayi (Upanishads, Brahmasutra and Gita), where he explains his understanding of Advaita Vedanta.

    His philosophy: Advaita Vedanta

    • Advaita Vedanta articulates a philosophical position of radical nondualism, a revisionary worldview which it derives from the ancient Upanishadic texts.
    • According to this, the Upanishads reveal a fundamental principle of nonduality termed ‘brahman’, which is the reality of all things.
    • Advaitins understand brahman as transcending individuality and empirical plurality.
    • They seek to establish that the essential core of one’s self (atman) is brahman. It is pure non-intentional consciousness.
    • It is one without a second, nondual, infinite existence, and numerically identical with brahman.
    • This effort entails tying a metaphysics of brahman to a philosophy of consciousness.

    Do you know?

    There are six major schools of Vedic philosophy—Nyaya, Vaisheshika, Samkhya, Yoga, Mīmāṃsā and Vedanta, and five major heterodox (sramanic) schools—Jain, Buddhist, Ajivika, Ajñana, and Charvaka.

    Shankara’s contested legacy

    • Custodians of the caste system cite from Shankara’s commentaries to justify the unequal and unjust social order.
    • It is argued that the Advaita Vedanta borrowed the categories of Buddhist thinkers and called him the Prachhanna Buddha (Buddha in disguise).
    • Sri Narayana Guru offered a radical reading of Advaita Vedanta to dismantle the theory and praxis of caste.

    His political appropriation

    • His works transcends the political boundaries of his time.
    • The mathas are believed to have established in Sringeri, Dwaraka, Puri, and Joshimath for the spread of Advaita Vedanta.
    • They are seen as custodians of Hinduism, and Shankara’s digvijaya (conquest) often interpreted as a near nationalistic project where faith, philosophy and geography are yoked together to imagine a Hindu India.

    Try this PYQ:

    Q. Which one of the following pairs does not form part of the six systems of Indian Philosophy?

    (a) Mimamsa and Vedanta

    (b) Nyaya and Vaisheshika

    (c) Lokayata and Kapalika

    (d) Sankhya and Yoga

     

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  • Global Methane Pledge

    The Global Methane Pledge was launched at the ongoing UN COP26 climate conference in Glasgow.

    What is the Global Methane Pledge?

    • Global Methane Pledge is an agreement to reduce global methane emissions.
    • One of the central aims of this agreement is to cut down methane emissions by up to 30 per cent from 2020 levels by the year 2030.
    • The pledge was first announced in September by the United States and the European Union.
    • So far, over 90 countries have signed this pledge.

    Why methane?

    • According to the UN, 25 % of the warming that the world is experiencing today is because of methane.
    • Methane is the second-most abundant greenhouse gas in the atmosphere, after carbon dioxide.
    • According to IPCC, methane accounts for about half of the 1.0 degrees Celsius net rise in global average temperature since the pre-industrial era.

    About Methane

    • Methane is a greenhouse gas, which is also a component of natural gas.
    • There are various sources of methane including human and natural sources.
    • The anthropogenic sources are responsible for 60 per cent of global methane emissions.
    • It includes landfills, oil and natural gas systems, agricultural activities, coal mining, wastewater treatment, and certain industrial processes.
    • The oil and gas sectors are among the largest contributors to human sources of methane.
    • These emissions come primarily from the burning of fossil fuels, decomposition in landfills and the agriculture sector.

    What is Coal-based Methane?

    • CBM, like shale gas, is extracted from unconventional gas reservoirs — where gas is extracted directly from the rock that is the source of the gas (shale in case of shale gas and coal in case of CBM).
    • The methane is held underground within the coal and is extracted by drilling into the coal seam and removing the groundwater.
    • The resulting drop in pressure causes the methane to be released from the coal.

    Try this PYQ:

    Q. With reference to two non-conventional energy sources called ‘coalbed methane’ and ‘shale gas’, consider the following ‘statements:

    1. Coalbed methane is the pure methane gas extracted from coal seams, while shale gas is a mixture of propane and butane only that can be extracted from fi ne-grained sedimentary rocks.
    2. In India abundant coalbed methane sources exist, but so far no shale gas sources have been found.

    Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

    (a) 1 only

    (b) 2 only

    (c) Both 1 and 2

    (d) Neither 1 nor 2

     

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    Why is dealing with methane important for climate change?

    • Methane has a much shorter atmospheric lifetime (12 years as compared to centuries for CO2).
    • However, it is a much more potent greenhouse gas simply because it absorbs more energy while it is in the atmosphere.
    • The UN notes that methane is a powerful pollutant and has a global warming potential that is 80 times greater than carbon dioxide, about 20 years after it has been released into the atmosphere.

    Back2Basics: CO2 Equivalents

    • Each greenhouse gas (GHG) has a different global warming potential (GWP) and persists for a different length of time in the atmosphere.
    • The three main greenhouse gases (along with water vapour) and their 100-year global warming potential (GWP) compared to carbon dioxide are:

    1 x – carbon dioxide (CO2)

    25 x – methane (CH4) – I.e. Releasing 1 kg of CH4into the atmosphere is about equivalent to releasing 25 kg of CO2

    298 x – nitrous oxide (N2O)

    • Water vapour is not considered to be a cause of man-made global warming because it does not persist in the atmosphere for more than a few days.
    • There are other greenhouse gases which have far greater global warming potential (GWP) but are much less prevalent. These are sulphur hexafluoride (SF6), hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), and perfluorocarbons (PFCs).
    • There are a wide variety of uses for SF6, HFCs, and PFCs but they have been most commonly used as refrigerants and for fire suppression.
    • Many of these compounds also have a depleting effect on ozone in the upper atmosphere.

     

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  • [pib] Manipuri Basanta Raasa

    As part of the celebrations of Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav, a celebration of Destination North East India, dance and music of Manipur was organised.

    Manipuri Raas Leela

    • The Raas Leela, also referred to as Manipuri Dance, is one of the major Indian classical dance forms, originating from the state of Manipur.
    • The dance form is based on Hindu Vaishnavism themes, and exquisite performances of love-inspired dance drama of Radha-Krishna called Raas Leela.

    Notable features

    • It is marked by a performance that is graceful, fluid, sinuous with greater emphasis on hand and upper body gestures.
    • It is accompanied with devotional music created with many instruments, with the beat set by cymbals (kartal or manjira) and double-headed drum (pung or Manipuri mrdanga) of sankirtan.
    • The dance drama choreography shares the plays and stories of Vaishnavite Padavalis, that also inspired the major Gaudiya Vaishnava-related performance arts found in Assam and West Bengal.

    Try this PYQ from CSP 2017:
    With reference to Manipuri Sankirtana, consider the following statements:
    It is a song and dance performance.
    Cymbals are the only musical instruments used in the performance.
    It is performed to narrate the life and deeds of Lord Krishna.
    Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
    (a) 1, 2 and 3.
    (b) 1 and 3 only
    (c) 2 and 3 only
    (d) 1 only

    Post your answers here.

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  • India offers ‘Panchamrita’ Strategy for Climate Conundrum at Glasgow

    PM Modi has proposed a five-fold strategy called the ‘Panchamrita’ for India to play its part in helping the world get closer to 1.5 degrees Celsius on the first day of the global climate meeting in Glasgow.

    What is Panchamrita?

    • ‘Panchamrita’ is a traditional method of mixing five natural foods — milk, ghee, curd, honey and jaggery. These are used in Hindu and Jain worship rituals. It is also used as a technique in Ayurveda.
    • The PM euphemistically termed his scheme as ‘Panchamrita’ meaning the ‘five ambrosia’.
    • Under Panchamrita’, India will:
    1. Get its non-fossil energy capacity to 500 gigawatts by 2030
    2. Meet 50 per cent of its energy requirements till 2030 with renewable energy
    3. Reduce its projected carbon emission by one billion tonnes by 2030
    4. Reduce the carbon intensity of its economy by 45 per cent by 2030
    5. Achieve net zero by 2070

    Key takeaways of PM’s speech

    (a) Commitment for climate action

    • India consists of 17 per cent of the world’s population but contribute only five per cent of emissions.
    • Yet, it has left no stone unturned in doing our bit to fight climate change.
    • At Paris, India was making promises not to the world but to itself and 1.3 billion Indians, PM said.

    (b) Climate finance

    • The 2015 Paris CoP where the Paris Agreement was signed was not a summit but a sentiment.
    • The promises made till now on climate finance were useless.
    • When we all are increasing our ambitions on climate action, the world’s ambition could not stay the same on climate finance as was agreed at the time of Paris.

    (c) India’s track record

    • India was fourth as far as installed renewable energy capacity was concerned.
    • The Indian Railways has pledged to make itself net-zero by 2030. This will result in an annual 60 million tonnes reduction in emissions.
    • India initiated the International Solar Alliance for solar energy.
    • It has also set up the coalition for disaster resilient infrastructure for climate adaptation.

     

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  • [pib] BASIC Countries

    The Union Environment Minister has delivered the statement on behalf of the BASIC group of countries at the UN Climate Change Conference underway at Glasgow.

    Who are the BASIC Countries?

    • The BASIC countries (also Basic countries or BASIC) are a bloc of four large newly industrialized countries – Brazil, South Africa, India and China.
    • It was formed by an agreement on 28 November 2009.
    • The four committed to act jointly at the Copenhagen climate summit, including a possible united walk-out if their common minimum position was not met by the developed nations.
    • This emerging geopolitical alliance, initiated and led by China, then brokered the final Copenhagen Accord with the United States.

    What is the Copenhagen Accord?

    • The Copenhagen Accord is a document signed at COP 15 to the UNFCCC on 18 December 2009.
    • The Accord states that global warming should be limited to below 2.0 °C (3.6 °F).
    • It does not specify what the baseline is for these temperature targets (e.g., relative to pre-industrial or 1990 temperatures).
    • In January 2010, the Accord was described merely as a political agreement and not legally binding, as is argued by the US and Europe.
    • It is not legally binding and does not commit countries to agree to a binding successor to the Kyoto Protocol, whose round ended in 2012.
    • According to the UNFCCC, these targets are relative to pre-industrial temperatures.

     

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  • Shri Guru Nanak Jayanti to be declared World Pedestrian Day

    The Punjab Police has proposed that the birth anniversary (Gurpurab) of Sikhism founder Guru Nanak Dev be declared as ‘World Pedestrian Day’.

    Why is Guru Nanak Dev considered the world’s most notable and revered pedestrian?

    • The founder of Sikhism, Shri Guru Nanak Dev had traveled far and wide during the 15th and 16th centuries.
    • It is believed that Nanak Dev, along with his companion Bhai Mardana, undertook most part of his journeys on foot.
    • He aimed to spread the message of oneness and to break barriers across faiths by engaging in spiritual dialogues.

    Places visited by him

    • From Mecca to Haridwar, from Sylhet to Mount Kailash, Guru Nanak visited hundreds of interfaith sites related to Hinduism, Islam, Buddhism, and Jainism.
    • His journeys are referred are also called udaasis. At some sites, gurdwaras were constructed to commemorate his visit.
    • Later his travels were documented in texts called ‘janamsakhis’.
    • These sites are now spread across nine nations as per current geographical divisions — India, Pakistan, Iran, Iraq, China (Tibet), Bangladesh, Saudi Arabia, Sri Lanka, and Afghanistan.

    Motive behind Punjab Police’s proposal

    • The idea is to spread awareness on road safety for pedestrians by introducing Guru Nanak Dev’s own life as an inspiration.
    • The best results are achieved only when the community is mobilized for a cause.
    • Walking is a universal form of travel. It is the best way which convey equality amongst all.

    Try answering this PYQ:

    Q. Consider the following Bhakti Saints:

    1. Dadu Dayal
    2. Guru Nanak
    3. Tyagaraja

    Who among the above was/were preaching when the Lodi dynasty fell and Babur took over? (CSP 2018)

    (a) 1 and 3

    (b) 2 only

    (c) 2 and 3

    (d) 1 and 2

     

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  • [pib] Pasumpon Muthuramalinga Thevar

    The Prime Minister has recalled the rich contributions of Pasumpon Muthuramalinga Thevar on Thevar Jayanthi.

    Who was M. Thevar (1908-1963)?

    • Muthuramalingam was a politician and a patriarch of Thevar community in the state of Tamil Nadu.
    • He was elected three times to the national Parliamentary Constituency.

    His legacy:

    (a) Association with INC

    • Thevar attended the 52nd annual session of the Indian National Congress, held in Tripuri in March 1939.
    • At this meeting the presidency of Subhas Chandra Bose was challenged by Pattabhi Sitaramayya. Sitaramayya had the active support of Gandhi.
    • Bose was elected president again over Gandhi’s preferred candidate Pattabhi Sitaramayya.
    • Thevar strongly supported Bose in the intra-Congress dispute and joined the Forward Bloc.

    (b) Opposition to the Criminal Tribes Act (CTA)

    • The CTA had been enacted in 1920 by the government of the Madras Presidency and was subsequently implemented in a piecemeal fashion.
    • CTA criminalized entire communities by designating them as habitual criminals.
    • Adult males of the groups were forced to report weekly to local police, and had restrictions on their movement imposed.
    • Thevar mobilised resistance to it, touring villages in the affected areas and leading protest rallies for the rights of the individuals registered under it.

    (c) Temple entry movement

    • The Temple Entry Authorisation and Indemnity Act was passed by the government of C. Rajagopalachari in 1939.
    • This removed restrictions prohibiting Dalits from entering Hindu temples.
    • Thevar supported this reform and on 8 July 1939 he helped the activist A. Vaidyanatha Iyer take Dalits to Meenakshi Temple in Madurai.

     

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  • What is Climate Vulnerability Index?

    Environmental think tank Council on Energy, Environment and Water has carried a first-of-its-kind district-level climate vulnerability assessment, or Climate Vulnerability Index (CVI).

    Climate Vulnerability Index

    • The Index takes into account certain indicators when assessing the preparedness of a state or district.
    • It considers:
    1. Exposure (that is whether the district is prone to extreme weather events)
    2. Sensitivity (the likelihood of an impact on the district by the weather event)
    3. Adaptive capacity (what the response or coping mechanism of the district is)

    Significance of CVI

    • CVI helps map critical vulnerabilities and plan strategies to enhance resilience and adapt by climate-proofing communities, economies and infrastructure.
    • Instead of looking at climate extremes in isolation, the study looks at the combined risk of hydro-met disasters, which is floods, cyclones and droughts, and their impact.
    • The study does not take into consideration other natural disasters such as earthquakes.

    Why does India need a climate vulnerability index?

    • According to Germanwatch’s 2020 findings, India is the seventh-most vulnerable country with respect to climate extremes.
    • Extreme weather events have been increasing in the country such as supercyclone Amphan in the Bay of Bengal, which is now the strongest cyclone to be recorded in the country.
    • Recent events such as the landslides and floods in Uttarakhand and Kerala, have also increased in the past decade.
    • Further, the IPCC states that every degree rise in temperature will lead to a three per cent increase in precipitation, causing increased intensification of cyclones and floods.

    Key findings of the CVI

    According to CVI, Assam, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Karnataka and Bihar are most vulnerable to extreme climate events such as floods, droughts and cyclones in India.

    • 183 hotspot districts are highly vulnerable to more than one extreme climate events
    • 60% of Indian districts have medium to low adaptive capacity in handing extreme weather events – these districts don’t have robust plans in place to mitigate impact
    • North-eastern states are more vulnerable to floods
    • South and central are most vulnerable to extreme droughts
    • 59 and 41 per cent of the total districts in the eastern and western states, respectively, are highly vulnerable to extreme cyclones.

    Best performing states

    • Kerala and West Bengal have performed well comparatively, despite both being coastal states and dealing with the threat of cyclones and floods annually.
    • The reason why these states have performed better is that they have stepped up their climate action plans as well as preparedness to handle an extreme weather event.

    Key recommendations

    • Develop a high-resolution Climate Risk Atlas (CRA) to map critical vulnerabilities
    • Establish a centralised climate-risk commission to coordinate the environmental de-risking mission.
    • Undertake climate-sensitivity-led landscape restoration focused on rehabilitating, restoring, and reintegrating natural ecosystems as part of the developmental process.
    • Integrate climate risk profiling with infrastructure planning to increase adaptive capacity.
    • Provide for climate risk-interlinked adaptation financing by creating innovative CVI-based financing instruments that integrate climate risks for an effective risk transfer mechanism.

     

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  • Sundarbans among 5 sites with highest ‘Blue Carbon’ globally

    India’s Sundarbans National Park is among five sites that have the highest blue carbon stocks globally, according to a new assessment.

    Highlights of the study

    • ‘World Heritage forests’ are now releasing more carbon than they are absorbing, primarily due to human activity and climate change, according to the assessment.
    • UNESCO lists 50 sites across the globe for their unique marine values. These represent just one per cent of the global ocean area.
    • But they comprise at least 15 per cent of global blue carbon assests.

    Try this question from CSP 2021:

    Q. What is blue carbon?

    (a) Carbon captured by oceans and coastal ecosystems

    (b) Carbon sequestered in forest biomass and agricultural soils

    (c) Carbon contained in petroleum and natural gas

    (d) Carbon present in atmosphere

     

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    Carbon capacity of Sundarbans

    • The Sundarbans National Park has stores of 60 million tonnes of carbon (Mt C).
    • The other four sites besides the Sundarbans National Park in India are:
    1. Bangladeshi portion of the Sundarbans (110 Mt C)
    2. Great Barrier Reef in Australia (502 Mt C)
    3. Everglades National Park in the US (400 Mt C) and
    4. Banc d’Arguin National Park in Mauritania (110 Mt C)

    About Sundarbans

    • Sundarbans is the largest delta and mangrove forest in the world.
    • The Indian Sunderbans, which covers 4,200 sq km, comprises of the Sunderban Tiger Reserve of 2,585 sq km is home to about 96 Royal Bengal Tigers (2020) is also a world heritage site and a Ramsar Site.
    • The Indian Sunderbans is bound on the west by river Muriganga and on the east by rivers Harinbhahga and Raimangal.
    • Other major rivers flowing through this eco-system are Saptamukhi, Thakuran, Matla and Goasaba.

    Worrying scenario

    • The researchers found that 10 of 257 forests emitted more carbon than they captured between 2001 and 2020.
    • The reasons for included clearance of land for agriculture, the increasing scale and severity of wildfires due to drought as well as extreme weather phenomena.
    • The 10 sites are:
    1. Tropical Rainforest Heritage of Sumatra (Indonesia)
    2. Río Plátano Biosphere Reserve (Honduras)
    3. Yosemite National Park (US)
    4. Waterton Glacier International Peace Park (Canada, US)
    5. Barberton Makhonjwa Mountains (South Africa)
    6. Kinabalu Park (Malaysia)
    7. Uvs Nuur Basin (Russian Federation, Mongolia)
    8. Grand Canyon National Park (US)
    9. Greater Blue Mountains Area (Australia)
    10. Morne Trois Pitons National Park (Dominica)

    (Try mapping these sites)

    Back2Basics: Types of Carbon

    • Brown Carbon: It is brown smoke released by the combustion of organic matter.
    • Black Carbon: It is also a greenhouse gas and causes more pollution than Brown Carbon. The particles leftover from incomplete combustion of fossil fuels (soot and dust). It has a greater effect on radiation transmission.
    • Green Carbon: Carbon incorporated into plant biomass and the soils below. Green carbon is carbon removed by photosynthesis and stored in the plants and soil of natural ecosystems.
    • Blue Carbon: Blue Carbon refers to coastal, aquatic and marine carbon sinks held by the indicative vegetation, marine organism and sediments.

     

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  • Unified Database of Birth and Death

    The Centre has proposed amendments to a 1969 law that will enable it to “maintain the database of registered birth and deaths at the national level”.

    Registration of Births and Deaths Act (RBD), 1969

    • The registration of births, deaths and stillbirths are compulsory under the provisions of RBD Act in all parts of the Country.
    • The normal period of 21 days (from the date of occurrence) has been prescribed for reporting the birth, death and stillbirth events.

    Why need amendment?

    • The database may be used to update the Population Register and the electoral register, and Aadhaar, ration card, passport and driving licence databases after the amendment.
    • Presently, the registration of births and deaths is done by the local registrar appointed by States.

    What are the proposed amendments?

    Ans. Unified Database of Birth and Death

    • It is proposed that the Chief Registrar (appointed by the States) would maintain a unified database at the State level.
    • It would then integrate it with the data at the “national level,” maintained by the Registrar General of India (RGI).
    • The amendments will imply that the Centre will be a parallel repository of data.

    Significance of the database

    • It would help update:
    1. Population Register prepared under the Citizenship Act, 1955;
    2. Electoral registers or electoral rolls prepared under the Representation of the People Act, 1951
    3. Aadhaar database prepared under the Aadhaar Act, 2016;
    4. Ration card database prepared under the National Food Security Act, 2013;
    5. Passport database prepared under the Passport Act; and
    6. Driving licence database under the Motor Vehicles (Amendment) Act, 2019, and
    7. Other databases at the national level are subject to provisons of Section 17 (1) of the RBD Act, 1969

     

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