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  • What is a Supermoon?

    The Moon will have the nearest approach to Earth on May 26, and therefore will appear to be the closest and largest Full Moon or “supermoon” of 2021.

    Tap here to read more about Solar and Lunar Eclipses

    What is a Supermoon?

    • A supermoon occurs when the Moon’s orbit is closest to the Earth at the same time that the Moon is full.
    • As the Moon orbits the Earth, there is a point of time when the distance between the two is the least (called the perigee when the average distance is about 360,000 km from the Earth).
    • Also, there is a point of time when the distance is the most (called the apogee when the distance is about 405,000 km from the Earth).
    • Now, when a full moon appears at the point when the distance between the Earth and the Moon is the least, not only does it appear to be brighter but it is also larger than a regular full moon.
    • According to NASA, the term supermoon was coined by astrologer Richard Nolle in 1979.
    • In a typical year, there may be two to four full supermoons and two to four new supermoons in a row.

    What is happening today?

    • Two celestial events will take place at the same time.
    • One is the supermoon and the other is a total lunar eclipse, which is when the Moon and Sun are on opposite sides of the Earth.
    • Because of the total lunar eclipse, the moon will also appear to be red.
    • This is because the Earth will block some of the light from the Sun from reaching the moon.
    • The Earth’s atmosphere filters the light, it will soften “the edge of our planet’s shadow” “giving the Moon a deep, rosy glow.”

  • Eruption of Mount Nyiragongo

    Thousands have fled a volcanic eruption in the Democratic Republic of Congo from Mount Nyiragongo on the outskirts of Goma City.

    These were some volcanoes in news this year:

    Mount Vesuvius, Taal Volcano, La Soufriere

    Mount Nyiragongo

    • Mount Nyiragongo is an active stratovolcano with an elevation of 3,470 m (11,385 ft) in the Virunga Mountains associated with the Albertine Rift.
    • The main crater is about 2km wide and usually contains a lava lake.
    • The crater presently has two distinct cooled lava benches within the crater walls.
    • It is one of the 16 Decade Volcanoes.
    • Nyiragongo’s lava lake has at times been the most voluminous known lava lake in recent history. The depth of the lava lake varies considerably.
    • Nyiragongo and nearby Nyamuragira are together responsible for 40 percent of Africa’s historical volcanic eruptions.

    Answer this PYQ in the comment box:

    Q.Which of the following adds/add carbon dioxide to the carbon cycle on the planet Earth?

    1. Volcanic action
    2. Respiration
    3. Photosynthesis
    4. Decay of organic matter

    Select the correct answer using the code given below:

    (a) 1 and 3 only

    (b) 2 only

    (c) 1, 2 and 4 only

    (d) 1, 2, 3 and 4

    What are Decade Volcanoes?

    • The Decade Volcanoes are 16 volcanoes identified by the International Association of Volcanology and Chemistry of the Earth’s Interior (IAVCEI).
    • They are considered worthy of particular study in light of their history of large, destructive eruptions and proximity to densely populated areas.
    • They are named Decade Volcanoes because the project was initiated in the 1990s as part of the United Nations-sponsored International Decade for Natural Disaster Reduction.

  • Appointments to the Kalakshetra Foundation

    The Central government has appointed 12 eminent artists and musicians to the board of the prestigious institution.

    Kalakshetra Foundation

    • It is an arts and cultural academy dedicated to the preservation of traditional values in Indian art and crafts, especially in the field of Bharatanatyam dance and Gandharvaveda music.
    • Based in Chennai, India, the academy was founded in January 1936 by Rukmini Devi Arundale and her husband George Arundale.
    • Under Arundale’s guidance, the institution achieved national and international recognition for its unique style and perfectionism.
    • In January 1994, an Act of the Parliament of India recognized the Kalakshetra Foundation as an “Institute of National Importance.”

    Who was Rukmini Devi Arundale?

    • Devi (1904 –1986) was an Indian theosophist, dancer, and choreographer of the Indian classical dance form of Bharatanatyam, and an activist for animal welfare.
    • She was the first woman in Indian history to be nominated a member of the Rajya Sabha.
    • The most important revivalist of Bharatanatyam from its original ‘sadhir’ style prevalent amongst the temple dancers, the Devadasis, she also worked for the re-establishment of traditional Indian arts and crafts.
    • She espoused the cause of Bharata Natyam which was considered a vulgar art.
    • She ‘sanitised’ and removed the inherent eroticism of Sadhir to make it palatable to Victorian British morality and Indian upper-caste elites.

    Back2Basics: Bharatanatyam

    • Bharatanatyam previously called Sadhir Attam is a major form of Indian classical dance that originated in Tamil Nadu.
    • It is one of the oldest classical dance traditions in India.
    • It has been nurtured in the temples and courts of southern India since the ancient era.
    • It is one of eight forms of dance recognized by the Sangeet Natak Akademi (the others being Kathak, Kuchipudi, Odissi, Kathakali, Mohiniyattam, Manipuri, and Sattriya).
    • The word Bharata is a mnemonic, consisting of “bha”–”ra”–”ta”.
    • According to this belief, bha stands for bhava (feelings, emotions), ra stands for raga (melody, framework for musical notes), and ta stands for tala (rhythm).

  • World’s largest iceberg breaks off from Antarctica

    A huge ice block has broken off from western Antarctica into the Weddell Sea, becoming the largest iceberg in the world and earning the name A-76.

    Answer this PYQ in the comment box:

    Q.On the planet earth, most of the freshwater exists as ice caps and glaciers. Out of the remaining freshwater, the largest proportion:

    (a) is found in the atmosphere as moisture and clouds

    (b) is found in freshwater lakes and rivers

    (c) exists as groundwater

    (d) exists as soil moisture

    A-76 Iceberg

    • A-76 is the latest in a series of large ice blocks to dislodge in a region acutely vulnerable to climate change, although scientists said in this case it appeared to be part of a natural polar cycle.
    • The iceberg, measuring around 170 km long and 25 km wide, with an area of 4,320 sq km is now floating in the Weddell Sea.
    • Slightly larger than the Spanish island of Majorca, A-76 had been monitored by scientists since it began to separate from the Ronne Ice Shelf.
    • It joins the previous world’s largest title holder A-23A — approximately 3,880 sq. km. in size — which has remained in the same area since 1986.
    • A-76 was originally spotted by the British Antarctic Survey and the calving — the term used when an iceberg breaks off — was confirmed using images from the Copernicus satellite.

    Note: An iceberg is a large piece of freshwater ice that has broken off a glacier or an ice shelf and is floating freely in open water.

  • 6 UNESCO heritage sites added in India

    Six sites have been added to India’s tentative list of UNESCO world heritage sites.

    Which are the 6 sites?

    1. Ganga ghats in Varanasi
    2. Temples of Kancheepuram in Tamil Nadu
    3. Satpura Tiger Reserve in Madhya Pradesh
    4. Maratha military architecture in Maharashtra
    5. Hire Bengal megalithic site in Karnataka and
    6. Bhedaghat-Lametaghat of Narmada Valley in Madhya Pradesh

    [1] Ghats of Varanasi

    • The Ganges riverfront of Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh, has been vying for the UNESCO tag for several years now.
    • The Ganga river with its riverfront ghats also fulfil the criteria of Cultural Landscapes as designated in Article 1 of the Convention and specifically that of a cultural landscape/
    • It retains an active social role in contemporary society closely associated with the traditional way of life, and in which the evolutionary process is still in progress.

    [2] Temples of Kanchipuram

    • Synonymous with spirituality, serenity, and silk, the temple town of Kanchipuram in Tamil Nadu, is dotted with ancient temples that are architectural marvels and a visual treat, states incredibleindia.org.
    • Situated on the banks of River Vegavathi, this historical city once had 1,000 temples, of which only 126 (108 Shaiva and 18 Vaishnava) now remain.
    • Its rich legacy has been the endowment of the Pallava dynasty, which made the region it’s capital between the 6th and 7th centuries and lavished upon its architectural gems that are a fine example of Dravidian styles.

    [3] Satpura Tiger Reserve

    • Located in Madhya Pradesh, the Satpura National Park is home to 26 species of the Himalayan region including reptiles, and 42 species of Nilgiri areas.
    • It is the largest tiger-occupied forest and also has the largest tiger population.
    • The website also states the place has more than 50 rock shelters with paintings that are 1500 to 10,000 years old.

    [4] Maratha Military Architecture in Maharashtra

    • There are 12 forts in Maharashtra dating back to the era of the 17th-century Maratha king Chhatrapati Shivaji.
    • They are namely Shivneri (the birthplace of Shivaji); Raigad (the capital fort rebuilt for the coronation of the Maratha king), Torna (the first fort of the Maratha empire), Rajgad, Salher-Mulher, Panhala, Pratapgad, Lohagad, Sindhudurg, Padmadurga (Kasa), Vijaydurg and Kolaba.
    • This highlight how the formation of Military Landscape in the form of hill and sea forts as a response to hilly terrain in the area is of outstanding universal value.

    [5] Megalithic site of Hire Benkal

    • The 2,800-years-old megalithic site of Hire Benkal in Karnataka is one of the largest prehistoric megalithic settlements where some funerary monuments are still intact.
    • The granite structures are burial monuments that may also have served many ritual purposes.
    • Due to the extremely valuable collection of Neolithic monuments, the site was proposed for recognition.

    [6] Bhedaghat-Lametaghat in Narmada Valley- Jabalpur

    • Bhedaghat, often referred to as the Grand Canyon of India, is a town in the Jabalpur district, around 25 km from Jabalpur.
    • It is known for its marble rocks and their various morphological forms on either side of the Narmada River which flows through the gorge states whcunesco.org.
    • It has also been observed that the magical marble mountains assume different colours and even shapes of animals and other living forms as one moves through them.
    • Several dinosaur fossils have been found in the Narmada valley, particularly in Bhedaghat-Lametghat area of Jabalpur. In 1828, the first Dinosaur fossil was collected from Lameta Bed by William Sleeman.
    • River Narmada narrows down on its way through marble rocks and plunges in a waterfall giving out the appearance of a smoke cascade.

  • Places in news: Leang Sakapao Caves

    Researchers have reported that Pleistocene-era rock paintings dating back to 45,000-20,000 years ago in cave sites in southern Sulawesi, on the Indonesian island of Sulawesi, are weathering at an alarming rate.

    Have you ever found the mention of ‘Altamira Caves’ in your NCERTs?

    Leang Sakapao Caves

    • This cave art of Sulawesi is much older than the prehistoric cave art of Europe.
    • The artwork in the area includes what is believed to be the world’s oldest hand stencil (almost 40,000 years ago), created by pressing the hand on a cave wall and spraying wet red-mulberry pigments over it.
    • A nearby cave features the world’s oldest depiction of an animal, a warty pig painted on the wall 45,500 years ago.

    Impact of climate change

    • The artwork made with pigments was decaying due to a process known as haloclasty, which is triggered by the growth of salt crystals due to repeated changes in temperature and humidity.
    • This is caused by alternating wet and dry weather in the region.
    • Indonesia has also experienced several natural disasters in recent years, which have quickened the process of deterioration.

    Note:

    Mark all islands of the Indonesian Archipelago in your Atlas.

  • Cyclone Tauktae

    Cyclone Tauktae (pronounced Tau-Te), classified as a very severe cyclonic storm (VSCS) and developed in the Arabian Sea, is wreaking havoc all across the Indian Coast.

    Don’t you think?

     In recent years, strong cyclones have been developing in the Arabian Sea more frequently than earlier.

    Cyclone Tauktae

    • Tauktae is a currently active and strengthening tropical cyclone threatening the state of Gujarat in India and impacting the states Karnataka, Goa and Maharashtra.
    • It is the fourth cyclone in consecutive years to have developed in the Arabian Sea, that too in the pre-monsoon period (April to June).
    • All these cyclones since 2018 have been categorised as either ‘Severe Cyclone’ or above.
    • Once Tauktae makes its landfall, three of these will have hit either the Gujarat or Maharashtra coast.
    • After Cyclone Mekanu in 2018, which struck Oman, Cyclone Vayu in 2019 struck Gujarat, followed by Cyclone Nisarga in 2020 that struck Maharashtra.

    What is aiding such rapid intensification?

    • Any tropical cyclone requires energy to stay alive.
    • This energy is typically obtained from the warm water and humid air over the tropical ocean.
    • Currently, seawater up to depths of 50 metres has been very warm, supplying ample energy to enable the intensification of Cyclone Tauktae.
    • The more the heat released through condensation of water vapour, the steeper the drop in pressure.
    • A low-pressure system undergoes multiple stages of intensification to form cyclones.

    Not a rare phenomenon

    • Typically, tropical cyclones in the North Indian Ocean region (the Bay of Bengal and the Arabian Sea) develop during the pre-monsoon and post-monsoon (October to December) periods.
    • May-June and October-November are known to produce cyclones of severe intensity that affect the Indian coasts.

    Is the Arabian Sea becoming cyclone-friendly?

    • Annually, five cyclones on average form in the Bay of Bengal and the Arabian Sea combined.
    • Of these, four developments in the Bay of Bengal, which is warmer than the Arabian Sea.
    • In the Arabian Sea, cyclones typically develop over the Lakshadweep area and largely traverse westwards, or away from India’s west coast.
    • However, in recent years, meteorologists have observed that the Arabian Sea, too, has been warming. This is a phenomenon associated with global warming.

    Back2Basics: Tropical Cyclone

    • A tropical cyclone is a rapidly rotating storm system characterized by a low-pressure centre, a closed low-level atmospheric circulation, strong winds, and a spiral arrangement of thunderstorms that produce heavy rains.
    • Depending on its location and strength, a tropical cyclone is referred to by different names, including hurricane, typhoon, tropical storm, cyclonic storm, tropical depression, or simply cyclone.
    • A hurricane is a tropical cyclone that occurs in the Atlantic Ocean and the northeastern Pacific Ocean, and a typhoon occurs in the northwestern Pacific Ocean.
    • In the south Pacific or the Indian Ocean, comparable storms are referred to simply as “tropical cyclones” or “severe cyclonic storms”.

    Also read:

    [Burning Issue] Tropical Cyclones and India

  • Major seismic hazard along Assam faultline

    Location of epicentre

    • An earthquake of magnitude 6.4 on the Richter scale hit Assam around 8 am on Wednesday.
    • The primary earthquake had its epicentre at latitude 26.690 N and longitude 92.360 E, about 80 km northeast of Guwahati, and a focal depth of 17 km, the National Centre for Seismology (NCS) said.

    The faultline

    • The preliminary analysis shows that the events are located near to Kopili Fault closer to Himalayan Frontal Thrust (HFT).
    • The Kopili Fault is a 300-km northwest-southeast trending fault from the Bhutan Himalaya to the Burmese arc.
    • The fault is a fracture along which the blocks of crust on either side have moved relative to one another parallel to the fracture.
    • The area is seismically very active falling in the highest Seismic Hazard zone V associated with collisional tectonics where Indian plate sub-ducts beneath the Eurasian Plate the NCS report said.
    • HFT, also known as the Main Frontal Thrust (MFT), is a geological fault along the boundary of the Indian and Eurasian tectonic plates.

    Need for earthquake preparedness

    • The Northeast is located in the highest seismological zone, so we must have constant earthquake preparedness at all levels.
    • Continuous tectonic stress keeps building up particularly along the faultlines.
    • Today’s earthquake was an instance of accumulated stress release — probably, stress was constrained for a fairly long time at this epicentre, and hence the release was of relatively higher intensity.

  • La Soufriere volcanic eruption

    Sulphur dioxide (SO2) emissions from La Soufriere volcano eruption in the Caribbean have reached all the way to India.

    Why in news?

    • Its eruption has sparked fear of increased pollution levels in the northern parts of India and acid rain.
    • Volcanic plumes can cause aviation and air quality hazards.

    La Soufriere

    • It is an active stratovolcano on the Caribbean island of Saint Vincent in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines.
    • It is the highest peak in Saint Vincent and has had five recorded explosive eruptions since 1718.

    Impact of such eruptions

    • Volcanic emissions reaching the stratosphere can have a cooling effect on global temperatures.
    • The most significant climate impacts from volcanic injections into the stratosphere come from the conversion of sulphur dioxide to sulphuric acid, which condenses rapidly in the stratosphere to form fine sulphate aerosols.
    • The aerosols increase the reflection of radiation from the Sun back into space, cooling the Earth’s lower atmosphere or troposphere.

    Try this PYQ:

    Q.Which of the following adds/add carbon dioxide to the carbon cycle on the planet Earth?

    1. Volcanic action
    2. Respiration
    3. Photosynthesis
    4. Decay of organic matter

    Select the correct answer using the code given below:

    (a) 1 and 3 only

    (b) 2 only

    (c) 1, 2 and 4 only

    (d) 1, 2, 3 and 4

  • State of World Population Report 2021

    The United Nations Population Fund’s (UNFPA) flagship State of World Population Report 2021 titled ‘My Body is My Own’ was recently launched.

    State of World Population Report 2021

    • The State of World Population report is UNFPA’s annual flagship publication.
    • It has been published yearly since 1978.
    • It highlights emerging issues in the field of sexual and reproductive health and rights, bringing them into the mainstream and exploring the challenges and opportunities they present for international development.

    Key findings of the 2021 report

    This is the first time a UN report has focused on bodily autonomy, defined as the power and agency to make choices about your body without fear of violence or having someone else decide for you.

    • The report measures both women’s power to make their own decisions about their bodies and the extent to which countries’ laws support or interfere with a woman’s right to make these decisions.
    • The data show a strong link between decision-making power and higher levels of education.

    The report shows that in countries where data are available:

    • Only 55 per cent of women are fully empowered to make choices over health care, contraception and the ability to say yes or no to sex.
    • Only 71 per cent of countries guarantee access to overall maternity care.
    • Only 75 per cent of countries legally ensure full, equal access to contraception.
    • Only about 80 per cent of countries have laws supporting sexual health and well-being.
    • Only about 56 per cent of countries have laws and policies supporting comprehensive sexuality education.

    In essence, hundreds of millions of women and girls do not own their own bodies. Their lives are governed by others.

    The report also documents many other ways that the bodily autonomy of women, men, girls and boys is violated, revealing that:

    • Twenty countries or territories have “marry-your-rapist” laws, where a man can escape criminal prosecution if he marries the woman or girl he has raped.
    • Forty-three countries have no legislation addressing the issue of marital rape (rape by a spouse).
    • More than 30 countries restrict women’s right to move around outside the home.
    • Girls and boys with disabilities are nearly three times more likely to be subjected to sexual violence, with girls at the greatest risk.

    Solutions: the power to say yes, the right to say no

    • The report shows how efforts to address abuses can lead to further violations of bodily autonomy.
    • For example, to prosecute a case of rape, a criminal justice system might require a survivor to undergo an invasive so-called virginity test.
    • Real solutions, the report finds, must take into account the needs and experiences of those affected.

    Indian scenario

    • In India, according to NFHS-4 (2015-2016), only about 12% of currently married women (15-49 years of age) independently make decisions about their own healthcare, while 63% decide in consultation with their spouse.
    • For a quarter of women (23%), it is the spouse that mainly takes decisions about healthcare.
    • Only 8% of currently married women (15-49 years) take decisions on the use of contraception independently, while 83% decide jointly with their spouse.
    • Information provided to women about the use of contraception is also limited — only 47% of women using a contraceptive were informed about the side effects of the method, and 54% of women were provided information about other contraceptives.