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GS Paper: GS1

  • Pink Supermoon/ Paschal Moon

    A supermoon is all scheduled to show up in the sky on April 7. It would be the biggest and brightest full moon of 2020.

    Pink Supermoon

    • According to NASA, a supermoon takes place when a full moon is at its closest to the Earth.
    • When the full moon appears at perigee (closest point from the earth) it is slightly brighter and larger than a regular full moon — and that is what we call a “supermoon.”
    • They are called Supermoons because they are 7 per cent bigger and 15 per cent brighter, compared to an average full Moon.
    • The moon will not be originally pink in colour. It got its name from the pink wildflowers – Wild Ground Phlox – that bloom in the spring and are native to North America.
    • It is also called Paschal moon because, in the Christian calendar, this is used to calculate the date for Easter – the first Sunday after the Paschal Moon is Easter Sunday.

  • Earth Hour

    The Earth Hour, observed annually on the last Saturday of March, was recently celebrated.

    Earth Hour

    • Earth Hour is a worldwide movement organized by the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF).
    • It is held annually encouraging individuals, communities, and businesses to turn off non-essential electric lights, for one hour, from 8:30 to 9:30 p.m. on a specific day towards the end of March as a symbol of commitment to the planet.
    • It was started as a lights-off event in Sydney, Australia, in 2007.

  • World Happiness Report, 2020

     

    The World Happiness Report for 2020 has been recently released.

    The World Happiness Report

    • The WHR is an annual publication of the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network.
    • It contains articles and rankings of national happiness based on respondent ratings of their own lives which the report also correlates with various life factors.
    • The 2020 report for the first time ranks cities around the world by their subjective well-being and digs more deeply into how the social, urban and natural environments combine to affect our happiness.

    Highlights of the 2020 report

    • Finland has been declared the world’s happiest nation for the third year running.
    • As in each of the previous seven reports, Nordic states dominated the top ten, along with countries such as Switzerland, New Zealand and Austria. Luxembourg also edged into the tenth spot for the first time this year.

    Why Finland?

    • People in Finland are said to be shy, away from spontaneous demonstrations of joy, valuing instead the quiet and solitude of the country’s vast forests and thousands of lakes.
    • The northern country’s long dark winters were reputed to be behind high levels of alcoholism and suicide, but a decade-long public health drive has helped cut rates by more than half.
    • Finland’s residents enjoy a high quality of life, security and public services, with rates of inequality and poverty among the lowest of all OECD countries.

    India’s dismal performance

    • India was at a 144 rank nestled between Lesotho and Malawi nations.
    • Pakistan, on the other hand, has been ranked 66.

  • What is Windrush Scandal?

     

    The British government has apologised for its treatment of Britons of Caribbean origin, which were wrongly detained or deported for being illegal immigrants, after the publication of a devastating official report.

    What is the scandal?

    • The Windrush scandal is a 2018 British political scandal concerning people who were wrongly detained, denied legal rights, threatened with deportation, and, in at least 83 cases wrongly deported from the UK.
    • Many of those affected had been born British subjects and had arrived in the UK before 1973, particularly from Caribbean countries as members of the “Windrush generation”.
    • As well as those who were wrongly deported, an unknown number were wrongly detained, lost their jobs or homes, or were denied benefits or medical care to which they were entitled.
    • A number of long-term UK residents were wrongly refused re-entry to the UK, and a larger number were threatened with immediate deportation by the Home Office.
    • The scandal also prompted a wider debate about British immigration policy and Home Office practice.

    Windrush Generation

    • The Windrush generation is named after one of the many vessels that ferried some half a million people from the Caribbean islands to the U.K. in the late 1940s.
    • The “Empire Windrush” ship had brought one of the first groups of West Indian migrants to the UK in 1948.
    • The generation refers to migrants from the Caribbean Commonwealth who had come to the U.K. at a time when they had the right to remain indefinitely in Britain but had had their rights questioned under a toughened immigration regime.

  • Persons in news: Sheikh Mujibur Rahman

    March 17 is the birth anniversary of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman (1920-1975), the founding leader of Bangladesh and the country’s first Prime Minister.

    Sheikh Mujibur Rahman

    Sheikh Mujibur Rahman in 1950.jpg

    • Before joining politics, Rahman studied law and political science in Kolkata and Dhaka and agitated for Indian independence.
    • He is referred to as Sheikh Mujib or simply Mujib, the title ‘Bangabandhu’ meaning ‘friend of Bengal’.
    • In 1949, he joined the Awami League, a political party which advocated greater autonomy for East Pakistan.
    • A popular leader in East Pakistan, Rahman played an important role in the six-point movement and the Anti-Ayub movement.

    Role in Bangladesh liberation

    • In 1970, his party secured an absolute majority in the Pakistani general elections; the country’s first, winning more seats than all parties in West Pakistan, including Zulfikar Ali Bhutto’s Pakistan People’s Party.
    • The election results were not honoured; leading to a bloody civil war, and Sheikh Mujib declared Bangladesh’s independence from Pakistan on March 26, 1971.
    • The declaration coincided with a ruthless show of strength by the Pakistani military, in which tanks rolled out on the streets of Dhaka and several students and intellectuals were killed.
    • India under then PM Indira Gandhi provided full support to Rahman and Bangladesh’s independence movement, resulting in the creation of a sovereign government at Dhaka in January 1971.

    His legacy

    • Rahman, who had been arrested and taken to West Pakistan, returned to Bangladesh after being freed in January 1972.
    • For the next three years, Rahman held the new country’s prime ministerial post, and became a celebrated icon in India as well, admired for his moving speeches and charismatic personality.
    • On 15 August 1975, Rahman was killed in a military coup along with his wife and three sons, including 10-year-old Sheikh Russel.
    • His daughters, the current Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and her younger sister Sheikh Rehana, survived as they were abroad at the time.

  • Earth’s spin has slowed over time

     

    Earth spun 372 times a year 70 million years ago, compared to the current 365. This means the day was 23½ hours long, compared to 24 today.

    Faster Earth in the olden days

    • It has long been known that Earth’s spin has slowed over time.
    • Previous climate reconstructions, however, have described long-term changes over tens of thousands of years.
    • The new study looked at daily and annual variations in the mollusc shell.

    About the Mollusc

    • A mollusc is an invertebrate of a large phylum which includes snails, slugs, mussels, and octopuses. They have a soft unsegmented body and live in aquatic or damp habitats, and most kinds have an external calcareous shell.
    • The ancient mollusc, Torreites Sanchez, belonged to an extinct group called rudist clams.
    • At 70 million years ago, it belonged to the Late Cretaceous — it was around the time this epoch ended, some 65 million years ago, that dinosaurs went extinct.

    How did researchers conclude this variation?

    • Torreites sanchezi grew very fast, laying down daily growth rings.
    • Using lasers on a single individual, scientists sampled tiny slices and counted the growth rings accurately.
    • This allowed them to determine the number of days in a year 70 million years ago, and more accurately calculate the length of a day.

    Significance of the research

    • It is important to note that the period of Earth’s orbit has remained the same. In other words, one year 70 million years ago was as long as one year today.
    • However, if there were a calendar then, the year would have been 372 “days” long, with each “day” half-an-hour shorter than one day today.
    • Today, Earth’s orbit is not exactly 365 days, but 365 days and a fraction, which is why our calendars have leap years, as a correction.

    The Moon’s retreat

    • Friction from ocean tides, caused by the Moon’s gravity, slows Earth’s rotation and leads to longer days.
    • And as Earth’s spin slows the Moon moves farther away at 3.82 cm per year.
    • If this rate is projected back in time, however, the Moon would be inside the Earth only 1.4 billion years ago.
    • This new measurement, in turn, informs models of how the Moon formed and how closes it has been to Earth over their 4.5-billion-year gravitational relationship.

  • [pib] Effects of Himalayan slip on its Hydrology

    Researchers from the Indian Institute of Geomagnetism have found the mighty Himalayas subside and move up depending on the seasonal changes in groundwater.

    Tectonic activity and groundwater

    • The Himalayan foothills and the Indo-Gangetic plain are sinking because its contiguous areas are rising due to tectonic activity associated with landmass movement or continental drift.
    • The new study shows that subsidence and uplift are found to be associated with seasonal changes in groundwater, apart from the normal, common reasons.
    • Water acts as a lubricating agent, and hence when there is water in the dry season, the rate of the slip of the fault in this region is reduced.
    • In the Himalaya, seasonal water from glaciers, as well as monsoon precipitation, plays a key role in the deformation of the crust and the seismicity associated with it.
    • The subsidence rate is associated with groundwater consumption.

    Findings of the study

    • The researchers have made the combined use of GPS and Gravity Recovery And Climate Experiment (GRACE) data, which has made it possible for them to quantify the variations of hydrologic mass.
    • The GRACE satellites, launched by the US in 2002, monitor changes in water and snow stores on the continents.
    • The combined data suggest a 12% reduction in the rate of the subsurface slip. This slip refers to how fast the fault is slipping relative to the foot and hanging wall.
    • The slip occurs at the Main Himalayan Thrust (MHT), due to hydrological variations and human activities, over which there is the periodic release of accumulated strain.

    About GRACE Mission

    • The Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) was a joint mission of NASA and the German Aerospace Center.
    • Twin satellites took detailed measurements of Earth’s gravity field anomalies from its launch in March 2002 to the end of its science mission in October 2017.
    • By measuring gravity anomalies, GRACE showed how mass is distributed around the planet and how it varies over time.

     

  • [pib] Methanotrophs: the methane-oxidizing bacteria

     

    Scientists at Agharkar Research Institute (ARI), Pune have isolated 45 different strains of methanotrophic bacteria which have been found to be capable of reducing methane emissions from rice plants.

    What are Methanotrophs?

    • They are bacteria that metabolize and convert methane into carbon-di-oxide.
    • They can effectively reduce the emission of methane, which is the second most important greenhouse gas (GHG) and 26 times more potent as compared to carbon-di-oxide.
    • In rice fields, Methanotrophs are active near the roots or soil-water interfaces.
    • Besides methane mitigation studies, Methanotrophs can also be used in methane value addition (valorization) studies.
    • Bio-methane generated from waste can be used by the Methanotrophs and can be converted to value-added products such as single-cell proteins, carotenoids, biodiesel, and so on.

    Why rice fields?

    • Rice fields are human-made wetlands and are waterlogged for a considerable period. Anaerobic degradation of organic matter results in the generation of methane.
    • Rice fields contribute to nearly 10% of global methane emissions.
    • Very few studies in the world have focused on Methanotrophs from tropical wetlands or tropical rice fields.
    • Practically no cultures of indigenously isolated Methanotrophs from India were available.
    • Native and relevant Methanotrophs isolated from rice fields can be excellent models to understand the effect of various factors on methane mitigation.

    Must read:

    https://www.civilsdaily.com/news/greenhouse-gas-emissions-from-indian-paddy-fields-very-high-ny-based-study/

     

  • Pyramid of Djoser

     

     

    Last week, Egypt reopened the Pyramid of Djoser, the first pyramid ever built, after a 14-year restoration. The structure is believed to be designed by Imhotep, described by some as the first architect of the world.

    The Pyramid of Djoser

    • The 4,700-year-old pyramid is 60 metres tall, and consists of six stacked steps over a burial shaft tomb 28 metres deep and seven metres wide.
    • It is located at the Saqqara archaeological site, 24 km southwest of Cairo, outside the royal capital of Memphis. A complex of halls and courts is located around the pyramid.
    • It is the world’s oldest monumental stone building.
    • Today a UNESCO world heritage site, the pyramid was constructed during the era of Pharaoh Djoser, the second king of Ancient Egypt’s Third Dynasty (2650 BC– 2575 BC).
    • The Pharaoh’s 19-year reign saw significant technical innovations in stone architecture.
    • The pyramid’s architect, Imhotep, was also a physician and astrologer, and served as Djoser’s minister.

  • Explained: Cycle 25/ Solar Cycle

     

     

    The sunspots identified by researchers from IISER Kolkata herald the start of a new solar cycle called Cycle 25.

    What are Sunspots?

    • Sunspots are temporary phenomena on the Sun’s photosphere that appear as spots darker than the surrounding areas. They are relatively cooler spots on the Sun’s surface.
    • They are regions of reduced surface temperature caused by concentrations of magnetic field flux that inhibit convection.
    • Sunspots usually appear in pairs of opposite magnetic polarity with a leader and a follower.

    What is Solar Cycle?

    • From our safe distance of about 148 million km, the Sun appears to be sedate and constant. However, huge solar flares and coronal mass ejections spew material from its surface into outer space.
    • They originate from sunspots, an important phenomenon that people have been following for hundreds of years. They originate deep within the Sun and become visible when they pop out.
    • Their number is not constant but shows a minimum and then rises up to a maximum and then falls again in what is called the solar cycle.
    • Every 11 years or so, the Sun’s magnetic field completely flips. This means that the Sun’s north and south poles switch places. Then it takes about another 11 years for the Sun’s north and south poles to flip back again.
    • So far, astronomers have documented 24 such cycles, the last one ended in 2019.

    How do they occur?

    • Given the high temperatures in the Sun, matter exists there in the form of plasma, where the electrons are stripped away from the nuclei.
    • The Sun is made of hot ionized plasma whose motions generate magnetic fields in the solar interior by harnessing the energy of the plasma flows.
    • This mechanism is known as the solar dynamo mechanism (or magnetohydrodynamic dynamo mechanism).
    • Simply stated, it is a process by which kinetic energy of plasma motions is converted to magnetic energy, which generates the magnetised sunspots, giving rise to the solar cycle..
    • Because of the nature of the solar dynamo, the part of its magnetic field that gives rise to sunspots reverses direction when it moves from one solar cycle to another.
    • This can be inferred by observing when the relative orientation of the sunspot pairs flips.

    Features

    • The solar cycle affects activity on the surface of the Sun, such as sunspots which are caused by the Sun’s magnetic fields. As the magnetic fields change, so does the amount of activity on the Sun’s surface.
    • One way to track the solar cycle is by counting the number of sunspots.
    • The beginning of a solar cycle is a solar minimum, or when the Sun has the least sunspots. Over time, solar activity—and the number of sunspots—increases.
    • The middle of the solar cycle is the solar maximum, or when the Sun has the most sunspots. As the cycle ends, it fades back to the solar minimum and then a new cycle begins.
    • Giant eruptions on the Sun, such as solar flares and coronal mass ejections, also increase during the solar cycle. These eruptions send powerful bursts of energy and material into space.

    Impacts of Solar Cycle

    • This activity has effects on Earth. For example, eruptions can cause lights in the sky, called aurora, or impact radio communications. Extreme eruptions can even affect electricity grids on Earth.
    • Solar activity can affect satellite electronics and limit their lifetime.
    • Radiation can be dangerous for astronauts who do work on the outside of the International Space Station.
    • Forecasting of the solar cycle can help scientists protect our radio communications on Earth, and help keep satellites and astronauts safe.

    Start of cycle 25

    • Following a weakening trend in activity over the last few cycles, there were predictions that the Sun would go silent into a grand minimum in activity, with the disappearance of cycles.
    • However, a team from IISER Kolkata has shown that there are signs that cycle 25 has just begun.
    • They used the data from the instrument Helioseismic and Magnetic Imager aboard NASA’s space-based Solar Dynamics Observatory for their calculations.

    Why is this so important to us on earth?

    • After all the sunspots look small and are hardly even visible to us. Contrary to this, sunspot activity may be correlated with climate on earth.
    • In the period between 1645 and 1715, sun spot activity had come to a halt on the Sun – a phenomenon referred to as the Maunder minimum.
    • This coincided with extremely cold weather globally. So sunspots may have a relevance to climate on earth.
    • Such links are tenuous, but definitely solar activity affects space weather, which can have an impact on space-based satellites, GPS, power grids and so on.