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GS Paper: GS1

  • [pib] Sahakar Cooptube NCDC Channel

    Union Minister of Agriculture & Farmers’ Welfare has launched the Sahakar Cooptube NCDC Channel, a new initiative by National Cooperative Development Corporation (NCDC).

    Note: Article 19 states that the Right to form co-operative societies is a Fundamental Right and DPSP Article 43-B provides for the promotion of co-operative societies.

    Sahakar Cooptube

    • The Sahakar Cooptube Channel aims to facilitate the involvement of the youth in the cooperative movement.
    • Cooperatives lend strength to farmers to minimize risks in agriculture and allied sectors and act as a shield against exploitation.
    • The channel will give a boost to Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan under which the government has announced a series of transformative measures and sector-specific financial packages to help agriculture.
    • The initiatives are steps towards One Nation One Market with the objective for India to become a food factory of the world.

    Back2Basics: NCDC

    • The NCDC is a statutory Corporation set up under an Act of Parliament on 13 March 1963.
    • The objectives of NCDC are:

    planning and promoting programmes for production, processing, marketing, storage, export and import of agricultural produce, foodstuffs, industrial goods, livestock and certain other notified commodities and services on cooperative principles and for matters concerned therewith or incidental thereto

    • NCDC Act has been further amended which will broad-base the area of operation of the Corporation to assist different types of cooperatives and to expand its financial base.
    • NCDC will now be able to finance projects in the rural industrial cooperative sectors and for certain notified services in rural areas like water conservation, irrigation and micro-irrigation, agri-insurance, agro-credit, rural sanitation, animal health, etc.

  • Nagara Architecture of Ayodhya’s Ram Temple

    The grand temple at Rama Janmabhoomi in Ayodhya will follow the Nagara style of temple architecture.

    Note the various features of the Nagara and Vesara style of temple architecture from your basic references.

    What is Nagara style of temple architecture?

    The basic form of a Hindu temple contains the following architectural elements:

    1. Garbhagriha – the small room where the principal deity/deities of the temple reside
    2. Mandapa – the portico or hall at the entrance of the temple generally designed to house a large number of people
    3. Shikhara – the mountain like spire which can have different shapes from pyramidal to curvilinear
    4. Vahana – the mount of the main deity placed generally in line of sight from Garbhagriha
    • In this style, the temple is generally constructed on an upraised platform called Jagati.
    • Mandapas are present in front of the These are adorned with the Shikhara, the tallest one being above the Garbhagriha.
    • The shikhara over the mandapas in the pictures of the Ayodhya Ram temple can be seen having a square base, and a rectilinear outline.
    • This is called the phamsana-style shikhara. Note that the mandapa shikhara right at the entrance has an octagonal base.

    Similar to Khajuraho Temple

    • There are different types of Shikhara found in Indian temples.
    • A comparison with Khajuraho Vishwanath temple, also built in Nagara style, shows the similarity between the two.
    • Note that the main shikhara of the two are remarkably similar.
    • They rise upward in a curved pyramidal fashion, ending in a horizontal fluted disc called an Amalaka topped with a Kalasha. This is called the Latina-style shikhara.

    Note: This newscard is an excerpt from an original article published in Swarajya Magazine.

    Back2Basics: The Ramjanmabhoomi Case

  • Who are the Bru Tribals?

    Non-Brus of Tripura has proposed six places for settling the displaced Brus from Mizoram and set a limit for the number of families to be accommodated in two subdivisions that have borne the brunt of the 23-year-old refugee crisis.

    Try this PYQ:

    Q. With reference to ‘Changpa’ community of India, consider the following statement:

    1. They live mainly in the State of Uttarakhand.
    2. They rear the Pashmina goats that yield fine wool.
    3. They are kept in the category of Scheduled Tribes.

    Which of the statements given above is/are correct? (CSP 2014)

    (a) 1 only

    (b) 2 and 3 only

    (c) 3 only

    (d) 1, 2 and 3

    Who are the Brus?

    • Reangs or Brus are the second largest ethnic group in Mizoram.
    • Their exodus in 1997 was spurred by violent clashes in Mamith subdivision, a Reang-dominated area when they demanded the creation of an autonomous council that was vehemently opposed by Mizo groups.
    • Around 34,000 people were forced to live in sub-human conditions in tents in Tripura. No solution could be reached all these years.
    • These people were housed in temporary camps at Kanchanpur, in North Tripura.

    Read the complete thread here:

    [Burning Issue] Bru– Reang Repatriation Agreement

  • William Jones and his linguistic studies

    This newscard is an excerpt from the original article published in the Indian Express.

    Try this PYQ from CSP 2016:

    Q.Who of the following had first deciphered the edicts of Emperor Ashoka?

    (a) Georg Buhier

    (b) James Prinsep

    (c) Max Muller

    (d) William Jones

    William Jones

    • William Jones was appointed as a judge on the Supreme Court of Judicature at Fort William in Bengal,
    • In the next couple of years, Jones established himself as an authority on ancient Indian language and culture, a field of study that was hitherto untouched.
    • He is particularly known for his proposition of the existence of a relationship among European and Indo-Aryan languages, which he coined as Indo-European.
    • He is also credited for establishing the Asiatic Society of Bengal in the year 1784.

    His linguistic studies

    • Jones’ was the first to suggest that Sanskrit, Greek and Latin languages had a common root and that indeed they may all be further related, in turn, to Gothic and the Celtic languages, as well as to Persian.
    • He also suggested that Sanskrit ‘was introduced to India by conquerors from other kingdoms in some very remote age’ displacing ‘the pure Hindi’ of north India
    • His claim rested on the evidence of several Sanskrit words that had similarities with Greek and Latin.

    Some examples of his propositions

    • As he studied the languages further, it became clearer that apart from Greek and Latin, Sanskrit words could be found in most other European languages.
    • For instance, the Sanskrit word for ‘three’, that is ‘trayas’, is similar to the Latin ‘tres’ and the Greek ‘treis’. Similarly, the Sanskrit for ‘snake’, is ‘sarpa’, which shares a phonetic link with ‘serpens’ in Latin.
    • For instance, ‘mata’ or mother in Sanskrit, is ‘mutter’ in German. ‘Dan’ or ‘to give’ in Sanskrit is ‘donor’ in Spanish.

  • In news: Galapagos Islands

    Chinese ships are frequently entering Ecuador’s waters for commercial fishing near the Galapagos Islands.

    Try this question from CSP 2018:

    Q.Which one of the following can one comes across if one travels through the Strait of Malacca?

    (a) Bali

    (b) Brunei

    (c) Java

    (d) Singapore

    The Galapagos Islands

    • Renowned worldwide for its unique species, the islands host a wide array of aquatic wildlife, including marine iguanas, fur seals, and waved albatrosses.
    • The giant tortoises found here – ‘Galápagos’ in old Spanish– give the islands its name.
    • Ecuador made a part of the Galapagos a wildlife sanctuary in 1935, and the sanctuary became the Galapagos National Park in 1959.
    • In 1978, the islands became UNESCO’s first World Heritage Site.
    • It was here that the British naturalist Charles Darwin made key observations in 1835 that shaped his theory of evolution. Darwin described the islands as a “world in itself”.

  • Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative (CHRI)

    The CHRI has released a report on “Eradicating Modern Slavery: An assessment of Commonwealth government progress”.

    Try this PYQ from CSP 2012:

    Q.Consider the following statements:

    1. The Commonwealth has no charter, treaty or constitution
    2. All the territories/countries once under the British Empire (jurisdiction/rule/mandate) automatically joined the Commonwealth as its members

    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

    About the report

    The report was released on the occasion of World Day Against Trafficking in Persons by the Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative (CHRI) and an international anti-slavery organisation Walk Free.

    Highlights of the report

    • The report assessed the progress made by Commonwealth countries on the promises made in 2018 to end modern slavery by 2030 and achieve the SDGs of ending forced labour, human trafficking and child labour.
    • The report found that one-third of the Commonwealth countries had criminalised forced marriage, while 23 had not criminalised commercial sexual exploitation of children.
    • Commonwealth countries have made little progress towards their commitment to eradicate modern slavery by 2030.
    • One in every 150 people in the Commonwealth is living in conditions of modern slavery.
    • Out of 54 countries, only four engage with business to investigate supply chains, and all countries report gaps in victim assistance programs
    • None of the Asian countries in the group had implemented laws against forced labour in supply chains.

    India is the worst performer

    • India had fared the worst in terms of coordination with no national coordinating body or National Action Plan in place.
    • India, like all other Commonwealth countries in Asia, had not ratified the International Labour Organization’s 2011 Domestic Workers Convention or the 2014 Forced Labour Protocol.
    • The report said India accounted for one-third of all child brides in the world.
    • Despite being the largest country in the region, India has the weakest response on national coordination, with no national coordinating body or National Action Plan in place.

    Back2Basics: Commonwealth of Nations

    • The Commonwealth of Nations is an intergovernmental organisation of 53 member states that are mostly former territories of the British Empire.
    • It dates back to the first half of the 20th century with the decolonization of the British Empire through increased self-governance of its territories.
    • It was originally created as the British Commonwealth of Nation through the Balfour Declaration at the 1926 Imperial Conference, and formalized by the UK through the Statute of Westminster in 1931.
    • The current body was formally constituted by the London Declaration in 1949, which modernized the community, and established the member states as “free and equal”.
    • The symbol of this free association is Queen Elizabeth II, who is the Head of the Commonwealth.
    • The Queen is head of state of 16 member states, known as the Commonwealth realms, while 32 other members are republics and five others have different monarchs.
    • Member has no legal obligations to one another. Instead, they are united by language, history, culture and their shared values of democracy, human rights and the rule of law.

    Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative (CHRI)

    • It is an independent, non-partisan & nonprofit international NGO which works towards the practical realization of human rights in the countries of the Commonwealth.
    • It was founded in 1987 and is headquartered at New Delhi.
    • CHRI’s objectives are to promote awareness and adherence to the Commonwealth’s Harare Declaration, to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, to other internationally recognised human rights instruments.
    • The organisation specializes in transparency and accountability issues, with a focus on access to justice and access to information.
    • The organisation mainly works in South Asia, East Africa, and Ghana region.

  • What is the Gandhi-King Initiative?

    A Bill to promote Mahatma Gandhi and Martin Luther King Jr’s legacies has been passed in American Senate.

    Practice question for mains:

    Q. Discuss how the civil rights movement in America is paralleled by India’s freedom struggle under Mahatma Gandhi.

    Gandhi-King Initiative

    • The initiative is an exchange program between India and the U.S. to study the work and legacies of Gandhiji and civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr.
    • It will establish annual scholar and student exchange programs for Indians and Americans to study the leaders’ legacies and visit historic sites in India and the U.S.
    • The visits will be relevant to India’s freedom struggle and the U.S.’s civil rights movement.

    Gandhi-King Global Academy

    • The bill also seeks to establish the Gandhi-King Global Academy, a conflict resolution initiative based on the principles of nonviolence.
    • It proposes the establishment of the United States-India Gandhi-King Development Foundation set up by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and the GoI, organized under Indian law.
    • The Foundation, which has a proposed budget authorized of up to $ 30 million per year for five years through 2025.
    • It is tasked with administering grants to NGOs that work in health, pollution and climate change, education and empowerment of women.

  • [pib] Tuting-Tidding Suture Zone (TTSZ)

    Earthquake prone zones in India:

  • What is Seismic Noise?

    The seismic noise level has dropped by as much as 50 per cent between March and May due to lockdowns this year, according to researchers.

    Ever heard of space-based monitoring of seismic activities?  This topic creates a scope for potential prelims question…

    What is Seismic Noise?

    • Seismic noise refers to vibrations within the Earth, which are triggered by natural and man-made phenomena like earthquakes, volcanoes and bombs.
    • Seismometers, specialised devices that record ground motions, also capture seismic noise.
    • Everyday human activity — such as road traffic, manufacturing in factories, the sound produced by planes roaring overhead, or simply people walking down the street.
    • The sound signals created by human beings are often referred to as anthropogenic seismic noise.
    • Seismic noise acts almost like background sound for seismologists — it is the unwanted component of signals recorded by a seismometer.

    Variations in noise levels

    • The level of anthropogenic seismic noise recorded varies based on a number of factors.
    • Highly-populated urban areas will generate more vibrations from human activity than less densely populated regions.
    • Timing too plays an important role. The degree of seismic noise is found to be much lower during public holidays.

    Why is this important to record this noise?

    • Due to this, scientists will be able to spot weaker signals.
    • Such small signals tell us about a geological fault making seismic hazard assessment more accurate.
    • This means that scientists will have a better shot at monitoring a whole range of seismogenic behaviour, including the smallest earthquakes or the early signs of a volcanic eruption.

  • [pib] Ravines of Chambal-Gwalior Region

    Union Minister of Agriculture & Farmers’ Welfare held a meeting with World Bank representatives to bring large Ravines of Gwalior–Chambal region under agriculture.

    Try this question for mains:

    Q.What is Badland Topography? Discuss the scope of their utilization as arable land in India.

    What are Ravines?

    • Badland topography is a major feature of the Chambal valley is characterized by an undulating floodplain, gullies and ravines.
    • Ravines are a type of fluvial erosional feature and are formed as a result of constant vertical erosion by streams and rivers flowing over semi-arid and arid regions.

    How are they formed?

    • Researchers consider the regional climate as a major factor in the formation of ravines.
    • Climate indeed plays a huge role by supplying the water in the form of rain or snow as well as providing the temperature variations.
    • However, the ravines of Chambal are a bit difficult to be explained solely on climatic terms.
    • The region through which the Chambal River flows does not receive enough rainfall to create ravines that are 60–80 m deep.
    • Researchers have attributed neotectonic activities to the Chambal ravines genesis.

    Other factors

    • It is well known that rivers are full of energy and actively erode in their initial phases and progressively become passive as they attain their base levels.
    • But sometimes, due to tectonic movements, the base level may be lowered further thus energizing the river and reactivating the erosion. This is known as River Rejuvenation.
    • Moreover, wind erosion has also contributed to the formation of Chambal ravines.

    Back2Basics: What are Badlands?

    • Badlands are erosional landforms of highly dissected morphology that are created on soft bedrock in a variety of climate conditions.
    • They develop in arid to semiarid areas where the bedrock is poorly cemented and rainfall is generally heavy and intermittent.
    • The dry, granular surface material and light vegetation are swept from the slopes during showers, leaving the gullies bare.