The Odisha Forest and Environment Department has completed its first-ever radio-tagging of the Indian pangolin in an attempt to standardize the rehabilitation protocol for the animal in the State.
Why radio-tagging?
The radio-tagging aims to know its ecology and develop an effective conservation plan for it.
The radio-tagging is part of a joint project by the department and non-profit, the Wildlife Conservation Trust (WCT) that also involves the species’ monitoring apart from other activities.
About Pangolin
IUCN status: Endangered
India is home to two species of pangolin.
While the Chinese Pangolin (Manis pentadactyla) is found in northeastern India, the Indian Pangolin is distributed in other parts of the country as well as Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Pakistan.
Both these species are protected and are listed under Schedule I Part I of the Wild Life (Protection) Act, 1972 and under Appendix I of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES).
Commonly known as ‘scaly anteaters’, the toothless animals are unique, a result of millions of years of evolution.
Pangolins evolved scales as a means of protection. When threatened by big carnivores like lions or tigers they usually curl into a ball.
The scales defend them against dental attacks from predators.
Pangolin in China
Pangolin meat is considered a delicacy in China and Vietnam.
Their scales which are made of keratin, the same protein present in human nails — are believed to improve lactation, promote blood circulation, and remove blood stasis.
These so-called health benefits are so far unproven.
What makes pangolins the most trafficked animals in the world?
Their alleged health benefits in traditional Chinese medicines prompted a booming illicit export of scales from Africa over the past decade.
Officials quote the trafficking price of Pangolin and its scale anywhere between Rs 30,000 and Rs 1 crore for a single animal.
Conservation of pangolins received its first shot in the arm when the 2017 Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) enforced an international trade ban.
2021 surely sped by quickly for UPSC aspirants and now there’s only two more days left to welcome the new year. Every new year brings us new hopes, and every UPSC aspirant wishes that that they clear the exam that very year.
If you are appearing for UPSC-CSE 2022 exams, you might have completed your entire prelims and mains syllabus right now. So what are you going to be doing January onwards? How are you going to switch to a prelims focused approach till June?
Are you feeling low that you are unable to get the required cut-off marks in your test series. Worry not, for about 65% of the UPSC toppers have said that they scored below cut-off marks till December. But by June, they were able to boost their marks to get through the prelims hurdle. How did they do this?
Free Open to All Webinar by Civilsdaily Mentor Ranadheer Ravula
Our Civilsdaily mentor, Ranadheer sir will be providing a fool proof time-table on how to devote your time for the upcoming prelims exams from January onwards. This will include a month-by-month outlook as well.
Preparing ahead will help you stay focused, determined and consistent in your UPSC preparation as opposed to deciding impulsively. It takes a lot of efforts to plan the right schedule for the upcoming prelims exams. Sometimes, you will be second guessing and wondering what others are upto. Ranadheer sir will use his expertise to break down your preparation into phases.
Additionally he will speak about the 6 ways to find the right optional for you. The right optional is always subjective, however the process of finding out an optional that’s easy to understand (for you) and is a scoring subject (by UPSC standards) is objective.
Want to know how is the January month timetable? Then fill the form & register below
Key Takeaways of Free Live Webinar with Ranadheer Sir
1. How to revise 2 years of Prelims Current Affairs in the last 6 months?
2. How to go a day without studying yet take frequent breaks in a day?
3. Is it advisable to increase the number of study hours as the exam nears?
4. How to speed read all the books once again?
5. How many test series should one take before exams?
6. What are the 6 things to keep in mind before choosing an Optional that can change your fortunes?
7. What are the additional sources and books that can help you score above cut-off marks?
Webinar Details
Don’t miss the chance to get value addition inputs to score better in the examination! This webinar is absolutely free. All aspirants are welcome to attend.
Date – 31 December 2021 (Friday)
Time – 6:00 P.M.
Limited slots are available. Please register immediately.
2021 surely sped by quickly for UPSC aspirants and now there’s only two more days left to welcome the new year. Every new year brings us new hopes, and every UPSC aspirant wishes that that they clear the exam that very year.
If you are appearing for UPSC-CSE 2022 exams, you might have completed your entire prelims and mains syllabus right now. So what are you going to be doing January onwards? How are you going to switch to a prelims focused approach till June?
Are you feeling low that you are unable to get the required cut-off marks in your test series. Worry not, for about 65% of the UPSC toppers have said that they scored below cut-off marks till December. But by June, they were able to boost their marks to get through the prelims hurdle. How did they do this?
Free Open to All Webinar by Civilsdaily Mentor Ranadheer Ravula
Our Civilsdaily mentor, Ranadheer sir will be providing a fool proof time-table on how to devote your time for the upcoming prelims exams from January onwards. This will include a month-by-month outlook as well.
Preparing ahead will help you stay focused, determined and consistent in your UPSC preparation as opposed to deciding impulsively. It takes a lot of efforts to plan the right schedule for the upcoming prelims exams. Sometimes, you will be second guessing and wondering what others are upto. Ranadheer sir will use his expertise to break down your preparation into phases.
Additionally he will speak about the 6 ways to find the right optional for you. The right optional is always subjective, however the process of finding out an optional that’s easy to understand (for you) and is a scoring subject (by UPSC standards) is objective.
Want to know how is the January month timetable? Then fill the form & register below
Key Takeaways of Free Live Webinar with Ranadheer Sir
1. How to revise 2 years of Prelims Current Affairs in the last 6 months?
2. How to go a day without studying yet take frequent breaks in a day?
3. Is it advisable to increase the number of study hours as the exam nears?
4. How to speed read all the books once again?
5. How many test series should one take before exams?
6. What are the 6 things to keep in mind before choosing an Optional that can change your fortunes?
7. What are the additional sources and books that can help you score above cut-off marks?
Webinar Details
Don’t miss the chance to get value addition inputs to score better in the examination! This webinar is absolutely free. All aspirants are welcome to attend.
Date – 31 December 2021 (Friday)
Time – 6:00 P.M.
Limited slots are available. Please register immediately.
2021 surely sped by quickly for UPSC aspirants and now there’s only two more days left to welcome the new year. Every new year brings us new hopes, and every UPSC aspirant wishes that that they clear the exam that very year.
If you are appearing for UPSC-CSE 2022 exams, you might have completed your entire prelims and mains syllabus right now. So what are you going to be doing January onwards? How are you going to switch to a prelims focused approach till June?
Are you feeling low that you are unable to get the required cut-off marks in your test series. Worry not, for about 65% of the UPSC toppers have said that they scored below cut-off marks till December. But by June, they were able to boost their marks to get through the prelims hurdle. How did they do this?
Free Open to All Webinar by Civilsdaily Mentor Ranadheer Ravula
Our Civilsdaily mentor, Ranadheer sir will be providing a fool proof time-table on how to devote your time for the upcoming prelims exams from January onwards. This will include a month-by-month outlook as well.
Preparing ahead will help you stay focused, determined and consistent in your UPSC preparation as opposed to deciding impulsively. It takes a lot of efforts to plan the right schedule for the upcoming prelims exams. Sometimes, you will be second guessing and wondering what others are upto. Ranadheer sir will use his expertise to break down your preparation into phases.
Additionally he will speak about the 6 ways to find the right optional for you. The right optional is always subjective, however the process of finding out an optional that’s easy to understand (for you) and is a scoring subject (by UPSC standards) is objective.
Want to know how is the January month timetable? Then fill the form & register below
Key Takeaways of Free Live Webinar with Ranadheer Sir
1. How to revise 2 years of Prelims Current Affairs in the last 6 months?
2. How to go a day without studying yet take frequent breaks in a day?
3. Is it advisable to increase the number of study hours as the exam nears?
4. How to speed read all the books once again?
5. How many test series should one take before exams?
6. What are the 6 things to keep in mind before choosing an Optional that can change your fortunes?
7. What are the additional sources and books that can help you score above cut-off marks?
Webinar Details
Don’t miss the chance to get value addition inputs to score better in the examination! This webinar is absolutely free. All aspirants are welcome to attend.
Date – 31 December 2021 (Friday)
Time – 6:00 P.M.
Limited slots are available. Please register immediately.
India is pioneering the concept of digital public goods, with it, there is an opportunity for India to embark on digital diplomacy.
Digital public goods in India
Built on the foundation of Aadhaar and India Stack, modular applications, big and small, are transforming the way we make payments, withdraw our PF, get our passport and driving licence and check land records, to name just a few activities.
There is an opportunity for India to embark on digital diplomacy — to take its made-in-India digital public goods to hundreds of emerging economies across the world.
How Digital Diplomacy can help India?
This could be a strategic and effective counter to China’s Belt and Road Initiative.
Enhancing the productivity of emerging economies: Emerging economies are characterised by gross inefficiencies in the delivery of government services and a consequent trust deficit.
Digital public goods spread speed, transparency, ease and productivity across the individual-government-market ecosystem and enhance inclusivity, equity and development at scale.
Acceptance in emerging economies: India’s digital diplomacy will be beneficial to and welcomed by, all emerging economies from Peru to Polynesia, from Uruguay to Uganda, and from Kenya to Kazakhstan.
Goodwill: It will enable quick, visible and compounding benefits for India’s partner countries and earn India immense goodwill.
Benefits of Digital diplomacy
Reusability: The code is highly reusable
Low cost: The cost of setting up an open source-based high school online educational infrastructure, to supplement the physical infrastructure, for an entire country is less than laying two kilometres of high-quality road.
No debt trap: The investments required for transporting digital public goods are minuscule in comparison and there is no chance of a debt trap.
Short gestation period: Unlike physical infrastructures such as ports and roads, digital public goods have short gestation periods and immediate, and visible impact and benefits.
It plugs leaks: Digital infrastructure plugs leaks.
It eliminates ghost beneficiaries of government services, removes touts collecting rent, creates an audit trail, makes the individual-government-market interface transparent and provides efficiencies that help recoup the investments quickly.
Processes get streamlined and wait times for any service come down dramatically.
Increases productivity: Productivity goes up and services can be scaled quickly.
Benefits can be rapidly extended to cover a much larger portion of the population.
Compounding instead of depreciation: Above all, the digital public goods infrastructure compounds while physical infrastructure depreciates.
Three ways in which digital public goods infrastructure compound
Compounding happens for three reasons.
[1] Growth of technologyy: Chips keep becoming faster, engines more powerful, and gene-editing technology keeps improving.
[2] Network effect: As more and more people use the same technology, the number of “transactions” using that technology increase exponentially — be it Facebook posts or UPI transactions.
[3] Rapid creation of new layers of technology: For example, the hypertext protocol created the worldwide web.
Then the browser was built on top of it, which made the worldwide web easier to navigate and more popular.
Thousands of new layers were added to make it what it is today.
Growth of UPI in India: To give an example, consider the surge in UPI-based payments in India.
This kind of growth doesn’t happen with a few entitled and privileged people using UPI more and more; it happens with more and more people using UPI more and more.
Use of Diksha: The use of Diksha, the school education platform built on the open-source platform Sunbird, has followed the same trajectory — today close to 500 million schoolchildren are using it.
Conclusion
Made in India digital tools can help other emerging economies deal with economic, governance challenges.
In the intro, mention how the foundation made on Aadhar is transforming our lives.
In the body, mention the opportunity for India to take made-in-India digital public goods to hundreds of emerging economies across the world. Next mention factors such as reusability of code, short gestation period, compounding nature of digital public goods, etc. Emerging economies are characterized by gross inefficiencies in the delivery of government services and a consequent trust deficit. India’s digital diplomacy will be beneficial to and welcomed by, all emerging economies from Peru to Polynesia, from Uruguay to Uganda, and from Kenya to Kazakhstan.
Conclude by mentioning that initiative will create a strong foothold for India globally to counter the extravagantly expensive, brick-and-mortar led Belt and Road Initiative of China.
In the intro, mention the role of a judiciary as a guardian of the Constitution.
In the body, mention the challenges of lack of representation of various sections of society including women, SC, ST, and OBC. In the next part, mention the issues with the selection process and lack of transparency in it, and the need for changes.
Conclude by mentioning the need for reforms to preserve the independence of the judiciary.
In the intro, briefly mention how the region surrounding the Great Lakes combines the various factors necessary for the iron and steel industry.
In the body, mention the combination of various factors such as raw material such as coke, iron ore, and limestone, availability of power, water, and transport facilities, etc contributed to the development of the industry in the region.
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The arrest of 68 Indian fishermen by the Sri Lankan authorities between December 18 and 20 and the impounding of 10 boats for “poaching” in the territorial waters of Sri Lanka has flared up the conflict between the two countries.
About Palk Bay
Palk Bay is home to diverse resources including 580 species of fish, extends from Point Calimere of Nagapattinam district to Mandapam-Dhanushkodi of Ramanathapuram district over about 250 km.
Source of dispute: It is an important marine zone between south-eastern India and northern Sri Lanka, has been a source of dispute for long.
About the conflict
Negotiations: The genesis of the dispute can be traced to the October 1921 negotiations between representatives of the Governments of Madras and Ceylon, on the need for the delimitation of the Palk Strait and the Gulf of Mannar.
Delimitation: It was in the mid-1970s that two agreements were signed by India and Sri Lanka, under which the International Maritime Boundary Line (IMBL) came into being.
Instead of settling the issues, the pacts gave way to new problems, including the recurring incidents of Tamil Nadu fishermen crossing the IMBL and getting caught by the Sri Lankan authorities.
Cause of the problem
Different fishing practices: The asymmetric nature of fishing practices in Tamil Nadu and the Northern Province of Sri Lanka is said to be the cause of the problem.
While Tamil Nadu’s fishing community uses mechanised bottom trawlers, its counterpart uses conventional forms of fishing, as trawling is banned in Sri Lanka.
Difference in resources: The fishermen of Tamil Nadu continue to cross the IMBL, as the Sri Lankan side of the Bay is considered to have more fishery resources than the Indian side.
Way forward
Weak away fishermen from trawling: The deep-sea fishing project, to wean away the fishermen of Tamil Nadu from bottom trawling, launched in July 2017, has not yielded the desired results.
Relaxation of norms of the project is under the consideration of the Union Government, to draw greater response from the fishermen.
Motivation for deep-sea fishing: Given the fact that deep sea fishing takes longer duration and has a higher recurring cost per voyage than what the fishing community experiences currently, the need for providing continuous motivation to the fisherfolk assumes critical importance.
Other strategies: Various strategies, including the promotion of seaweed cultivation, open sea cage cultivation, seaweed cultivation and processing, and sea/ocean ranching should be adopted.
Forming FPOs: There is a view that if the community is encouraged to form fish farmer producer organisations, it may take to sustainable fishing practices.
Institution of stakeholders: A section of specialists favours the creation of an international institution of stakeholders for regulating the fishing sector in the Bay.
Consider the question “What leads to the dispute between India and Sri Lanka over the Palk Bay? Suggest the way forward for fishermen in Tamil Nadu.”
Conclusion
For all this to happen, sustained public pressure and political will are a must.
A bottom trawl consists of a large tapered net with a wide mouth and a small enclosed end.
The mouth of a trawl net has two weighted doors that serve not only to keep the net open, but also to keep the net on the ocean floor.
These doors can weigh several tons.
In addition to the heavy doors, the bottom of the net is a thick metal cable (footrope) studded with heavy steel balls or rubber bobbins that effectively crush everything in their path.
As the net drags along the seafloor, living habitat in its path is crushed, ripped up, or smothered as the seabed is turned over.
2021 surely sped by quickly for UPSC aspirants and now there’s only two more days left to welcome the new year. Every new year brings us new hopes, and every UPSC aspirant wishes that that they clear the exam that very year.
If you are appearing for UPSC-CSE 2022 exams, you might have completed your entire prelims and mains syllabus right now. So what are you going to be doing January onwards? How are you going to switch to a prelims focused approach till June?
Are you feeling low that you are unable to get the required cut-off marks in your test series. Worry not, for about 65% of the UPSC toppers have said that they scored below cut-off marks till December. But by June, they were able to boost their marks to get through the prelims hurdle. How did they do this?
Free Open to All Webinar by Civilsdaily Mentor Ranadheer Ravula
Our Civilsdaily mentor, Ranadheer sir will be providing a fool proof time-table on how to devote your time for the upcoming prelims exams from January onwards. This will include a month-by-month outlook as well.
Preparing ahead will help you stay focused, determined and consistent in your UPSC preparation as opposed to deciding impulsively. It takes a lot of efforts to plan the right schedule for the upcoming prelims exams. Sometimes, you will be second guessing and wondering what others are upto. Ranadheer sir will use his expertise to break down your preparation into phases.
Additionally he will speak about the 6 ways to find the right optional for you. The right optional is always subjective, however the process of finding out an optional that’s easy to understand (for you) and is a scoring subject (by UPSC standards) is objective.
Want to know how is the January month timetable? Then fill the form & register below
Key Takeaways of Free Live Webinar with Ranadheer Sir
1. How to revise 2 years of Prelims Current Affairs in the last 6 months?
2. How to go a day without studying yet take frequent breaks in a day?
3. Is it advisable to increase the number of study hours as the exam nears?
4. How to speed read all the books once again?
5. How many test series should one take before exams?
6. What are the 6 things to keep in mind before choosing an Optional that can change your fortunes?
7. What are the additional sources and books that can help you score above cut-off marks?
Webinar Details
Don’t miss the chance to get value addition inputs to score better in the examination! This webinar is absolutely free. All aspirants are welcome to attend.
Date – 31 December 2021 (Friday)
Time – 6:00 P.M.
Limited slots are available. Please register immediately.
The total funds disbursed under Rythu Bandhu, Telangana government’s direct benefit transfer scheme for farmers, will soon touch Rs 50,000 crore in the coming days.
What is Rythu Bandhu?
Rythu Bandhu is a scheme under which the state government extends financial support to land-owning farmers at the beginning of the crop season through direct benefit transfer.
The scheme aims to take care of the initial investment needs and do not fall into a debt trap.
This in turn instills confidence in farmers, enhances productivity and income, and breaks the cycle of rural indebtedness.
DBT under the Scheme
Each farmer gets Rs 5,000 per acre per crop season without any ceiling on the number of acres held.
So, a farmer who owns two acres of land would receive Rs 20,000 a year, whereas a farmer who owns 10 acres would receive Rs 1 lakh a year from the government.
The grant helps them cover the expenses on input requirements such as seeds, fertilizers, pesticides, and labour.
How much does it cost the state exchequer?
Since the Kharif season of 2018, the state government has been crediting Rythu Bandhu assistance to farmers.
As of date, it has credited Rs 43,036.64 crore into the bank accounts of beneficiaries.
This season, the state government will disburse another Rs 7638.99 crore, taking the total sum disbursed so far to over Rs 50,000 crore.
Comparing with the PM-KISAN scheme
The state government has often said that the Centre’s PM-KISAN (Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi) scheme is a “copy” of Rythu Bandhu.
Under PM-KISAN, a land-holding family receives an income support of 6,000 per year in three equal installments.
Rythu Bandhu is based on anticipated input expenditure for each acre of land and there is no restriction on the number of acres owned by a farmer.
PM-KISAN only provides support to the family and not to the farm units.
Criticisms of the Rythu Bandhu Scheme
The scheme does not cover the landless or tenant farmers.
Farmer bodies have been demanding that the state government should extend the agriculture assistance to tenant farmers as well.
They have pointed out that those who work on lands taken on lease from landowners also need government assistance at the beginning of a crop season.
It is difficult to bring tenant farmers under the ambit of the scheme because of the informal nature of the agreements they enter into.
The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has ruled that Indian mutual funds (MFs) cannot invest in crypto-related products until government regulations on are clear.
What are Blockchain Funds?
Blockchain is a digital ledger system that facilitates the process of recording transactions and tracking assets in a network.
It is possible to have blockchain without crypto, but in practice the two are highly interlinked.
Cryptocurrency tends to power the resources needed for a public blockchain network.
Unlike specific crypto-based investments, blockchain funds invest in multiple companies that are driving sustainable earnings from blockchain businesses.
Some key companies in this ecosystem are US-based Coinbase Global Inc and Advanced Micro Devices Inc, and Japan’s GMO internet Inc.
Why has SEBI blocked Blockchain funds?
Absence of regulations: SEBI concerns stem from unclear regulations around cryptocurrencies in India.
Unclear future: While investing, trading and holding crypto assets are allowed in India as of now, the laws are still not clear as to how they are regulated and taxed.
Possible ban: There is a possibility that the government may ban trading in crypto altogether or come up with stringent thresholds for investors to delve into this new asset.
Taxing the gains: For taxation purposes, short-term capital gains from individual crypto investing are taxed at personal taxation rates, however, there are no clear guidelines for fund investing.
Are blockchain funds good investments?
The technology is creating value by revolutionizing the way assets and digital records are managed and transferred.
Many companies, particularly in financial services, are investing millions of dollars in researching and building Blockchain infrastructure.
Although the technology is still in the nascent phase in India, its potential across the board is huge.
Back2Basics: Mutual Funds
A mutual fund is a company that pools money from many investors and invests the money in securities such as stocks, bonds, and short-term debt.
The combined holdings of the mutual fund are known as its portfolio. Investors buy shares in mutual funds.
Each share represents an investor’s part ownership in the fund and the income it generates.
Mutual funds are a popular choice among investors because they generally offer the following features:
Professional Management. The fund managers do the research for you. They select the securities and monitor the performance.
Diversification or “Don’t put all your eggs in one basket.” Mutual funds typically invest in a range of companies and industries. This helps to lower your risk if one company fails.
Affordability. Most mutual funds set a relatively low dollar amount for initial investment and subsequent purchases.
Liquidity. Mutual fund investors can easily redeem their shares at any time, for the current net asset value (NAV) plus any redemption fees.
Risks with MFs
With mutual funds, one may lose some or all of the money invested because the securities held by a fund can go down in value.
Dividends or interest payments may also change as market conditions change.
The more volatile the fund, the higher the investment risk.
This newscard is an excerpt from the original article published in the TH e-paper edition.
Regression Theorem
The regression theorem refers to a theory of the origin of money.
It states that money must have originated as a commodity with intrinsic value in the marketplace.
The idea was first proposed by Austrian economist Carl Menger in his 1892 work “On the Origins of Money.”
This theory is offered as an alternative to the state theory of money which states that money (fiat money) can come into existence only when it is backed by the government.
Evolution of Money
The regression theory argues that money comes into existence through a gradual process of evolution in the marketplace, without the need for any government sanction.
Economists who try to explain the regression theory generally start with the question of why money, particularly fiat money which is simply just a piece of paper, has any value at all in the marketplace.
The most common answer to this question is that fiat money can be used to buy other useful goods such as houses, cars etc.
But this answer is insufficient —it tries to tackle the question of why fiat money can buy other useful goods by simply saying that it can buy other useful goods.
Why is fiat money, which has little intrinsic value, considered valuable?
In real life, people accept money in exchange for goods in the present because they are aware that money was accepted as a medium in exchange for other goods in the past.
For example, people accept wages in the US dollar today because they are aware that the dollar was used to buy cars, groceries and other goods in the market yesterday.
This gives them confidence in the value of their money.
What made people accept money in exchange for other useful goods in the past?
Ans.Intrinsic Value
Economists who advocate the regression theory of money argue that money must have originated as a useful commodity like gold or silver or the barter system.
This is the only way, they argue, it could have possibly been accepted by people in exchange for other useful goods at some point in the past.
If a thing did not possess any intrinsic value, it is unlikely that people in the marketplace would have accepted it in exchange for other goods and services.
So, commodities like gold and silver must have been traded in exchange for other goods and services at some point in history purely because they offered some kind of personal utility to people.
For example, these precious metals could have been used to make ornaments, to fill teeth, etc., which gives them intrinsic value.
They maintain value over time because their supply cannot be easily ramped up as mining gold involves significant production costs.
The 2022 calendar of the IIT, Kharagpur on the theme of “evidence” for “rebutting the Aryan invasion myth” has caused controversy.
What is the Aryan Invasion Theory?
It has always been understood that the Aryans migration from the Steppe happened after 2000 BCE.
In 1953 Mortimer Wheeler proposed that the invasion of an Indo-European tribe from Central Asia, the “Aryans”, caused the decline of the Indus Civilization.
As evidence, he cited a group of 37 skeletons found in various parts of Mohenjo-daro, and passages in the Vedas referring to battles and forts.
However, scholars soon started to reject Wheeler’s theory, since the skeletons belonged to a period after the city’s abandonment and none were found near the citadel.
Basis of this theory
This was first propounded when linguistic similarities between Sanskrit and the major European languages were discovered by European scholars during the colonial era.
This tool was used by the colonizers to legitimize their rule in India.
The theory hypothesizes that during 2000BC Aryans from Europe invaded or migrated into the Asian subcontinent.
It states these ‘invaders’ killed the original Dravidians and set up the Aryan race in the South-Asian subcontinent.
The Aryan Invasion Theory claimed that these ‘invaders’ were the root of modern Indian civilization, not the Harappan civilization.
Its rebuttal
Recent studies have debunked the theory after DNA samples from 5000-year old Harappan remains were proven to be similar to modern Indians’ DNA as part of the Rakhigarhi Project.
Who were the Harappans then?
The Harappans who created the agricultural revolution in northwestern India and then built the Harappan civilization were a mix of First Indians and Iranians who spoke a pre-Arya language.
The Arya were central Asian Steppe pastoralists who arrived in India between roughly 2000 BCE and 1500 BCE, and brought Indo-European languages to the subcontinent.
The new study says the Iranians arrived in India before agriculture or even herding had begun anywhere in the world.
In other words, these migrants were likely to have been hunter-gatherers, which means they did not bring a knowledge of agriculture.
Try this PYQ:
Q With reference to the difference between the culture of Rigvedic Aryans and Indus Valley people, which of the following statements correct?
Rigvedic Aryans used the coat of mail and helmet in warfare whereas the people of Indus Valley Civilization did not leave any evidence of using them.
Rigvedic Aryans knew gold, silver and copper whereas Indus Valley people knew only copper and iron.
Rigvedic Aryans had domesticated the horse whereas there is no evidence of Indus Valley people having been aware of this animal.
Select the correct answer using the code given below:
Atal Ranking of Institutions on Innovation Achievements (ARIIA) 2021 has been recently released.
About ARIIA
ARIIA is an initiative of erstwhile Ministry of HRD, implemented by AICTE and Ministry’s Innovation Cell.
It systematically ranks all major higher educational institutions and universities in India on indicators related to “Innovation and Entrepreneurship Development” amongst students and faculties.
ARIIA 2020 will have six categories which also includes special category for women only higher educational institutions to encourage women and bringing gender parity in the areas of innovation and entrepreneurship.
The other five categories are 1) Centrally Funded Institutions 2) State-funded universities 3) State-funded autonomous institutions 4) Private/Deemed Universities and 5) Private Institutions.
Major Indicators for consideration
Budget & Funding Support.
Infrastructure & Facilities.
Awareness, Promotions & support for Idea Generation & Innovation.
Promotion & Support for Entrepreneurship Development.
Innovative Learning Methods & Courses.
Intellectual Property Generation, Technology Transfer & Commercialization.
Innovation in Governance of the Institution.
Key highlights of 2021 report
Seven IITs and the IISc, Bengaluru, are among the top 10 central institutions in promotion and support of innovation and entrepreneurship development.
The top rank has been bagged by the IIT, Madras followed by the IITs in Bombay, Delhi, Kanpur and Roorkee.
The IISc has bagged the sixth position in the ranking followed by the IITs in Hyderabad and Kharagpur, the NIT, Calicut.
Thousands of Tribals fear displacement following the implementation of the project to mine coals and basalts from the Deucha-Pachami coal block in West Bengal’s Birbhoom district.
Deucha-Pachami Mines
Deucha-Pachami-Dewanganj-Harinsinga coal block is the second-largest coal block in the world; it is the largest in India.
It is located in Deucha and Panchamati area under Mohamad bazar community Development Block of Birbhum district, West Bengal.
The block has a thick coal seam trapped between equally thick layers of rocks, mostly basalt. It has a great economic value.
The existence of these thick basalt layers, however, makes mining of coal difficult; foreign investment and technology will be hence needed for mining.
Are you finding Current Affairs for UPSC-CSE to be a time-consuming affair? Do you either spend the entire day reading only current affairs or skip reading it for many days? Is there a lack of clarity while answering current affairs questions? Do you want to know the right approach to prepare for UPSC-CSE Current affairs without wasting time on trial and error? Then it’s time you filled the Samanvaya form for free 1-on-1 counselling session with an experienced faculty from Civilsdaily!
Current Affairs for UPSC-CSE doesn’t only test an aspirant’s basic understanding, but their ability to critically analyze and remember certain very important details. It requires you to do match the following — you need to match the topic in your UPSC syllabus with the current affairs as you read. For example, India has placed an anti-dumping duty recently on China to protect it’s local manufacturers from cheap imports. This news is related to GS 3 Economics and comes under Foreign Trade topic.
But that’s not all. Current Affairs is the key component that you cannot do without in all the 3 stages of your UPSC-CSE preparation — Prelims, Mains and Interview. And the way you are supposed to prepare for current affairs under each stage varies. You have to remember facts for Prelims, understand the background, challenges and the solutions of current events for Mains and for Interview you should be able to drive meaningful discussions with your current affairs knowledge. Hence, simply reading a newspaper cannot help you ace current affairs for UPSC-CSE.
Unlike popular notion, importance of current affairs isn’t decreasing in UPSC-CSE papers. Rather, it’s become a part and parcel of every topic in the Core Subjects like Economy, Polity, Science and Environment. Let’s understand this with a question asked in UPSC-CSE Mains 2020 —
Which steps are required for constitutionalization of a commission? Do you think imparting constitutionality to the National Commission for Women would ensure greater gender justice and empowerment in India? Give reasons.
This question needs you to have current knowledge on government policies/interventions, constitutional and non-constitutional bodies, constitutional provisions and issues related to developmental and management of social sectors. That’s totally 4 topics for one answer!
Remembering current affairs indices for Prelims MCQs & using them to substantiate answers in Mains is crucial to get marks above cut-off.
Why Samanvaya for UPSC-CSE Current Affairs Preparation?
In UPSC 2020, Civilsdaily helped 80+ students secure ranks in their exams. In the top 100, every 3rd ranker was a Civilsdaily student.
A very recent success story would be Vishwa Shah, student of Civilsdaily Mentor, Sukanya Ma’am. Vishwa has cleared the GPSC exam to become the Deputy Superintendent of Police in Gujarat. He has penned a thank-you note yesterday. Heartiest Congratulations to Vishwa!
One of our other Civilsdaily Student, Shubham Nagargojecleared the exams in 2020 to become an IPS Officer. Shubham was gracious enough to let us know how he felt about Civilsdaily Samanvaya Guidance under Parth sir.
To know how all of them cleared the exam with our mentorship, visit the UnherdPodcast.
Now that results are announced for UPSC 2021 Prelims, out of 15 out of 25 students of Santhosh Gupta sir have been recommended to Mains. One such student, Rahul expresses his gratitude and extends his appreciation.
Most of our Mentors like Sudhanshu sir, Sajal sir, Santhosh sir, Pravin sir, Parth Verma sir and Sukanya Ma’am were UPSC aspirants themselves and have attended UPSC Mains more than five times and UPSC Interview more than twice. Hence their mentorship is always a blend of the best test series, comprehensive notes and current affairs knowledge.
All of them dedicate their time weekly to give 1-on-1 mentorship to every student where they discuss last week’s performance and next week’s approach.
Be it Telegram, Whatsapp or Habitiat channels, they are always available and clear student’s doubts in a turnaround time of 24 Hours.
Why Civilsdaily Mentors are the GPS for Your UPSC-CSE Preparation
Remember there is always light at the end of the tunnel and if you want to get out of the tunnel you have to follow the direction of the light! Our mentors’ give you direction which is divided into daily modules. All you have to do is study and complete them on time.
As every year passes by, we don’t get confident by the previous years’ performance and become laidback. Instead, we become more hungry to convert all our students into toppers.
How are Current Civilsdaily Students Gearing up for UPSC-CSE 2022?
Initially, our Civilsdaily student Smriti wasn’t confident about Prelims when she began her preparation. Though she had joined Civilsdaily in 2020, she started studying for UPSC-CSE back in 2019. At that time, Smriti had enrolled in multiple institutes. Though, most of these institutes had promised a personal mentor, she was unable to get in touch with them on a daily basis. Also those mentors never scheduled test-series on a weekly basis. Hence, despite preparing for a year, Smriti had scored only 35 marks out of 200 in her first test series by Civilsdaily.
She then started writing 20-25 test series over the course of UAP 2021 and in her last test, her scores have drastically improved. She now scores in the range of 130-135 marks in prelims’ and 110+ in mains’ papers.
In Smriti’s own words she describes her Samanvaya Mentorship Experience to be —
“Our parents provide us financial and emotional support, friends provide us moral support and the right mentor gives you logistic and logical support for UPSC. There are days when I felt I won’t be able to compete against lakhs of aspirants. That’s when my mentor, Ravi sir reminded me of my improvement and encouraged me that I can crack it with the same consistency. We need someone, who tells us we are performing well especially when we cannot see that ourselves. The mentorship at Civilsdaily helped me become mentally stronger as a person. In other institutes, mentors are allotted only for doubt resolution. But at Civilsdaily, I am getting end-to-end mentorship via value added notes, classes, test series and detailed evaluation.”
Similarly our another Civilsdaily student, Ashishsums up his Samanvaya experience with Civilsdaily mentor,Pravin Sir, “Because of Pravin sir’s support, I am able to understand a topic in lesser time.”
This is how Pravin sir evaluates Ashish’s Mains Test Series every week. After every test series evaluation, Pravin sir schedules a 1 hour call to discuss how Ashish can improve his marks and the sources he can refer for key topics.
It’s Your Turn Get the Free 40 Min Counselling Session By a CD Mentor
At the core of Samanvaya lies the fact that each one of you will have a unique journey while preparing for the exam. Some will get through on the first attempt without much effort while others will take both more time and more effort.
We want to understand you better to help you optimize your journey so you can focus on the right things and not waste time on the wrong ones. We are asking you to tap into the valuable experiences of mentors who underwent the same grind and realize the pitfalls and understand the shortcuts to make it.
In the first counselling session, we will understand your weaknesses. Over 80% of students who claimed to have revised NCERTs twice were unable to answer basic questions. Many were not comfortable with at least 1 GS subject and Optional. Many struggled with ‘What went wrong’ after 2-3 years of hard work. Our mentors will provide free preliminary assignments so that we can assess your preparedness and suggest accurate strategies. We then help you to stick to one plan or strategy throughout your preparation.
