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GS Paper: GS1

  • Mapping: Islands of Polynesia

    How did the Polynesian peoples come to live on the far-flung islands of the Pacific? The question has intrigued researchers for centuries.

    The newscard contains some trivial facts. However, aspirants are advised to observe the map.

    Study on Polynesia

    • Norwegian explorer Thor Heyerdahl brought the topic to public attention when he sailed a balsa-wood raft called the Kon-Tiki from Peru to Polynesia in 1947.
    • His goal was to demonstrate such voyages were possible, supporting theories linking Polynesian origins to the Americas.
    • Decades of research in archaeology, linguistics and genetics now show that Polynesian origins lie to the west, ultimately in the islands of Southeast Asia.

    New evidence for American interlopers

    • A new study published in Nature reports genetic evidence of Native American ancestry in several Polynesian populations.
    • Other researchers have previously found evidence of indigenous American DNA in the genomes of the modern inhabitants of Rapa Nui.
    • Rapa Nui, also known as Easter Island, is the part of Polynesia closest to South America.
    • This suggests the “Amerindian” genetic component was likely introduced later via Chilean colonists.

  • Mapping: Mont Blanc

    The melting Mont Blanc glacier in the French Alps yielded a clutch of newspapers with banner headlines from when Indira Gandhi became India’s first and so far only woman Prime Minister in 1966.

    Try this MCQ

    Q.The Mont Blanc in the Alps can be located near the conflux of which of the following two countries?

    a)France and Spain

    b)France and Italy

    c)Spain and Italy

    d)Greece and Slovenia

    Mont Blanc

    • Mont Blanc is the second-highest mountain in Europe after Mount Elbrus. It is the highest mountain in the Alps and Western Europe.
    • It rises 4,808 m above sea level and is ranked 11th in the world in topographic prominence.
    • The mountain stands in a range called the Graian Alps, between the regions of Aosta Valley, Italy, and Savoie and Haute-Savoie, France.
    • It is the tallest peak in the Alps and the highest summit in Western Europe, hence its epithet the “Roof of Europe”.

  • ‘Churachandpur Mao Fault’ in Mizoram

    Mizoram’s zone of “scary” earthquakes is caught between two subterranean faults called the ‘Churachandpur Mao Fault’.

    Try this question from CSE Mains 2014:

    Q.Why are the world’s fold mountain systems located along the margins of continents? Bring out the association between the global distribution of Fold Mountains and the earthquakes and volcanoes.

    Churachandpur-Mao Fault (CMF)

    • The CMF is named after two places in Manipur and runs north-south into Myanmar along the border of Champhai.
    • The Mat Fault runs northwest-southeast across Mizoram, beneath river Mat near Serchhip.
    • It is defined by straight valleys; most prominent being between Kangpokpi and Maram region of Mizoram.
    • The fault takes a north-easterly trend from Maram where the fault zone is characterized by active landslides during the monsoon.

    Why study CMF?

    • Faults are discontinuities or cracks that are the result of differential motion within the earth’s crust.
    • Vertical or lateral slippage of the crust along the faults causes an earthquake.

  • Rabari, Bharvad and Charan Tribes of Gujarat

    The Gujarat government will constitute a commission to identify the members of Rabari, Bharvad and Charan communities who are eligible to get the benefits of Schedule Tribe (ST) status.

    Try this question from CSP 2017:

    Q.Every year, a monthlong ecologically important campaign/festival is held during which certain communities/ tribes plant saplings of fruit-bearing trees. Which of the following are such communities/ tribes?

    (a) Bhutia and Lepcha

    (b) Gond and Korku

    (c) lrula and Toda

    (d) Sahariya and Agariya

    About the Tribes

    (1) Rabari

    • The Rabari, also called the Rewari are an indigenous tribal caste of nomadic cattle and camel herders and shepherds that live throughout northwest India, primarily in the states of Gujarat, Punjab and Rajasthan.
    • The word “Rabari” translates as “outsiders”, a fair description of their primary occupation and status within Indian society.
    • They speak ‘Bhopa’ which is a mixture of Gujarati, Kachchi, Marwari words and Pharasi (Persian) and use Gujarati script.
    • The Rabari are known for their distinctive art, particularly the mirrored and whitewashed mud sculpture-work that adorns their homes and villages.
    • Rabari women are responsible for this artwork and also traditionally spin the wool from their sheep and goats, and give it to local weavers to make their woollen skirts, veils, blankets and turbans.

    (2) Bharvad

    • The Bharwad are tribals primarily engaged in herding livestock.
    • The Bharwad name may derive from the Gujarati word badawad, constructed from bada (sheep) and wada (a compound or enclosure).
    • The Bharwads have numerous subgroups known as ataks or guls (clans) whose main purpose is to determine eligibility for marriage.
    • Constrained exogamy is practised between clans.

    (3) Charan

    • The Charan, also called Gadhvi, is a small tribe in Gujarat and the name Charan is derived from the word ‘Char’ which means grazing.
    • Members of the caste are considered to be divine by a large section of society.
    • Women of the caste are adored as mother goddesses by other major communities of this region.

  • [pib] Mongolian Kanjur Manuscripts

    The Ministry of Culture has taken up the project of reprinting of 108 volumes of Mongolian Kanjur under the National Mission for Manuscripts (NMM).  The first sets of five volumes were presented to the President of India.

    Try this question from CSP 2011:

    Q.India maintained its early cultural contacts and trade links with Southeast Asia across the Bay of Bengal. For this preeminence of early maritime history of Bay of Bengal, which of the following could be the most convincing explanation/explanations?

    (a) As compared to other countries, India had a better ship-building technology in ancient and medieval times.

    (b) The rulers of southern India always patronized traders, Brahmin priests and Buddhist monks in this context.

    (c) Monsoon winds across the Bay of Bengal facilitated sea voyages.

    (d) Both (a) and (b) are convincing explanations in this context.

    Mongolian Kanjur

    • Mongolian Kanjur, the Buddhist canonical text in 108 volumes is considered to be the most important religious text in Mongolia.
    • In the Mongolian language ‘Kanjur’ means ‘Concise Orders’- the words of Lord Buddha in particular. It has been translated from Tibetan.
    • It is held in high esteem by the Mongolian Buddhists and they worship the Kanjur at temples and recite the lines of Kanjur in daily life as a sacred ritual.
    • The Kanjur is kept almost in every monastery in Mongolia.
    • The language of the Kanjur is Classical Mongolian and it is a source of providing a cultural identity to Mongolia.

    About National Mission for Manuscripts

    • The Mission was launched in February 2003 under the Ministry of Tourism and Culture, with the mandate of documenting, conserving and disseminating the knowledge preserved in the manuscripts.
    • One of the objectives of the mission is to publish rare and unpublished manuscripts so that the knowledge enshrined in them is spread to researchers, scholars and the general public at large.
    • Under this scheme, reprinting of 108 volumes of Mongolian Kanjur has been taken up by the Mission.

  • Sindhu Darshan Puja

    During his day-long whirlwind visit, PM Narendra performed Sindhu Darshan Puja at Nimu, the forward brigade place in Ladakh.

    Sindhu Darshan Puja.

    ⦁ Sindhu Darshan Festival is a festival of India held every year on full moon day (on Guru Purnima) in the month of June.
    ⦁ It is held at Leh, in Ladakh District of Ladakh. It stretches for three days.
    ⦁ It was first started in the October by veteran politician L.K. Advani, 1997 and continues to be held every year since then, attracting large number of foreign and domestic tourists.
    ⦁ The main reason behind the celebration of Sindhu Darshan Festival is to endorse the Indus River (Sindhu River) as an icon of the communal harmony and unity of India.

  • What is the Hagia Sophia?

    Turkey’s highest court this week convened to decide whether Istanbul’s iconic Hagia Sophia museum can be turned into a mosque.

    Try this question:

    Q. The iconic Hagia Sophia, a UNESCO World Heritage site was recently in news. It is situated in:

    a) Greece b) Turkey c) Israel d) Iran

    What is the Hagia Sophia?

    • The construction of this iconic structure in Istanbul started in 532 AD during the reign of Justinian I, the ruler of the Byzantine Empire when the city was known as Constantinople.
    • The structure was originally built to become the seat of the Patriarch of the Eastern Orthodox Church and remained so for approximately 900 years.
    • In 1453, when Constantinople fell to Sultan Mehmet II’s Ottoman forces, the Hagia Sophia was ransacked by the invading forces and turned into a mosque shortly after.
    • For a long time, the Hagia Sophia was Istanbul’s most important mosque.
    • The 1,500-year-old structure, listed as a UNESCO World Heritage site, was originally a cathedral before it was turned into a mosque.

    What is the controversy about?

    • In the 1930s, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, the founder of the Republic of Turkey, shut down the mosque and turned it into a museum in an attempt to make the country more secular.
    • There have been calls for long from extremists groups to convert the Hagia Sophia back into a mosque.

  • Festival in news: Bahuda Yatra

    The Bahuda Yatra, the return journey of the deities to the Puri Jagannath temple after the annual Rath Yatra, was recently concluded amid permitted restrictions.

    Bahuda Yatra

    • A/c to folk stories Lord Jagannath and his siblings, Goddess Shubhadra and Lord Balabhadra, returns from their aunt’s place at Gundicha Temple to Jagannath Temple.
    • This journey is known as Bahuda Yatra.
    • Nine days after the Rath Yatra, the yatra or the return journey takes place.

    About Jagannath Rath Yatra

    • Ratha Jatra, the Festival of Chariots of Lord Jagannatha is celebrated every year at Puri, the temple town in Orissa, on the east coast of India.
    • It involves a public procession with a chariot with deities Jagannath (Vishnu avatar), BalaBhadra (his brother), Subhadra (his sister) and Sudarshana Chakra (his weapon) on a ratha, a wooden deula-shaped chariot.
    • The huge, colourfully decorated chariots, are drawn by hundreds and thousands of devotees on the bada danda, the grand avenue to the Gundicha temple, some two miles away to the North.
    • It attracts over a million Hindu pilgrims who join the procession each year.

    Back2Basics: Puri Temple Architecture

    • Jagannath Temple is a very big temple and covers an area of 37000m2. The height of the outer wall is 6.1m.
    • It is surrounded by a high fortified wall 6.1 m high is known as Meghanada Pacheri.
    • The main portion of the temple is also surrounded by a wall known as Kurma Bheda.
    • The temple is built in Rekha Deula style and has four distinct sectional structures, namely –
    1. Deula, Vimana or Garba griha (Sanctum sanctorum) where the triad deities are lodged on the ratnavedi (Throne of Pearls)
    2. Mukhashala (Frontal porch)
    3. Nata mandir/Natamandapa, which is also known as the Jagamohan (Audience Hall/Dancing Hall), and
    4. Bhoga Mandapa (Offerings Hall)

    Try this question from CSP 2019:

    Q.Building ‘Kalyaana Mandapas’ was a notable feature in the temple construction in the kingdom of-

    (a) Chalukya (b) Chandela (c) Rashtrakuta (d) Vijayanagara

  • State of the World Population Report 2020

    The UNFPA has released the State of the World Population Report 2020.

    Highlights of the WPR

    I) Global prospects

    • According to estimates averaged over a five year period (2013-17), annually, there were 1.2 million missing female births, at a global level.
    • The same study shows that in Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan excess female mortality of girls below 5 years of age was under 3 per cent.
    • These skewed numbers translate into long-term shifts in the proportions of women and men in the population of some countries, the report points out.
    • In many countries, this results in a “marriage squeeze” as prospective grooms far outnumber prospective brides, which further results in human trafficking for marriage as well as child marriages.

    II) Data on India

    • India had about 4,60,000 girls ‘missing’ at birth each year.
    • The figure shows that the number of missing women has more than doubled over the past 50 years, who were at 61 million in 1970.
    • The report examines the issue of missing women by studying sex ratio imbalances at birth as a result of gender-biased sex selection as well as excess female mortality due to deliberate neglect of girls because of a culture of son preference.
    • Excess female mortality is the difference between observed and expected mortality of the girl child or avoidable death of girls during childhood.
    • The report cites a 2014 study to state that India has the highest rate of excess female deaths at 13.5 per 1,000 female births or one in nine deaths of females below the age of 5 due to postnatal sex selection.

    About UNFPA

    • The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), formerly the United Nations Fund for Population Activities, is a UN organization.
    • It is the lead UN agency for delivering a world where every pregnancy is wanted, every childbirth is safe and every young person’s potential is fulfilled.
    • Their work involves the improvement of reproductive health; including the creation of national strategies and protocols, and birth control by providing supplies and services.
    • The organization has recently been known for its worldwide campaign against child marriage, obstetric fistula and female genital mutilation.

  • Rapid Intensification of Cyclones

    Tropical cyclones remain the deadliest natural climate hazard that causes an unacceptably high loss of life, property and infrastructure.  Global warming has already resulted in a detectable increase in the number of higher intensity cyclones as well as their intensification.

    Also read:

    [Burning Issue] Tropical Cyclones and India

    Try this question:

    Q. The Marsupial Theory often seen in news is related to which of the climatic phenomena?

    a) Heatwaves b) Monsoon Variability c) Formation of Cyclones d) Thunderstorms

    What is Rapid Intensification of Cyclones?

    • RI is defined as an increase in maximum sustained winds by at least 55 km/hour in a 24-hour period.
    • Such acceleration can only come with a rapid drop in the pressure in the eye of the cyclone.
    • Rapid intensification (RI) is making cyclone forecasts harder and intense cyclones with RI are expected to grow in number.
    • The lack of understanding of the transition from a seedling of a cyclone, like a low-pressure system to a tropical storm, limits extending the forecast lead times.

    Factors causing RI

    The most important environmental factors for cyclone genesis are-

    • the rotation or vorticity of a low-pressure system at the surface;
    • sea surface temperatures or the volume of warm water available;
    • the vertical motion of air in this low-pressure system;
    • the amount of humidity available in the middle atmosphere and
    • the vertical shear or the change in winds from the surface to the upper atmosphere.

    MJO and Cyclones

    • Madden-Julian Oscillations as they are known, dominate the tropics during October-April by propagating from the western Indian Ocean into the eastern Indian Ocean, across the Indonesian seas into the Pacific Ocean.
    • Referred to as MJOs, these Madden-Julian Oscillations throw seeds of rotational low-pressure systems over the Indian and the Pacific Oceans.
    • And thus, MJOs show a strong association with cyclogenesis, especially for the post-monsoon season.

    Impacts of MISO

    • Monsoon Intraseasonal Oscillations (MISO) are alternating periods of heavy and minimal rainfall, each lasting for about a month or so and tending to follow a cyclical, northward shifting pattern from the equator to southern Asia.
    • While the strong vertical shear suppresses cyclones during the monsoon season, MISOs influence cyclone genesis during the pre-monsoon season.

    Other factors

    • At longer timescales, phenomena like the El Niño and La Niña influence not only the number of cyclone seeds but also the location and the expanse of warm water.
    • For example, during the pre-monsoon season of La Niña year, the region of warm water over the Bay of Bengal increases. This leads cyclones to travel longer and grow stronger than during an El Niño year.
    • Over the Pacific Ocean, on the other hand, it is the El Niño that provides a larger swath of warm water and more intense cyclones.
    • West Africa produces waves called easterly waves that propagate west from land onto the tropical Atlantic Ocean and sow the seeds for most hurricanes.
    • Extensive analysis has produced theories that are evocatively called the Marsupial Theory — a wave pouch that allows cyclones to grow, or waves interacting to produce a Kelvin cat’s eye, which is a ‘sweet-spot’ for the birth of a cyclone.