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Subject: Trivia

  • Appointments to the Kalakshetra Foundation

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

    Kalakshetra Foundation

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

    Who was Rukmini Devi Arundale?

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

    Back2Basics: Bharatanatyam

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

  • Gandhi Peace Prize

    The Culture Ministry has announced that Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and the late Sultan of Oman, Qaboos bin Said Al Said, would be awarded the Gandhi Peace Prize for 2020 and 2019 respectively.

    Note the features of the award such as prize, the composition of jury etc.

    Gandhi Peace Prize

    • The International Gandhi Peace Prize, named after Mahatma Gandhi, is awarded annually by the Government of India.
    • As a tribute to the ideals espoused by Gandhi, the GoI launched the International Gandhi Peace Prize in 1995 on the occasion of the 125th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi.
    • This is an annual award given to individuals and institutions for their contributions towards social, economic and political transformation through non-violence and other Gandhian methods.

    Its features

    • The award carries â‚č1 crore (US$140,000) in cash, convertible in any currency in the world, a plaque and a citation.
    • It is open to all persons regardless of nationality, race, creed or gender.
    • A jury consisting of the PM of India, the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, the Chief Justice of India, Speaker of the Lok Sabha and one other eminent person decides the awardees each year.
    • Ordinarily, only proposals coming from competent persons invited to nominate are considered.
    • However, a proposal is not taken as invalid for consideration by the jury merely on the ground of not having emanated from competent persons.

    Information about the awardees

    (1) Sheikh Mujibur Rahman (1920-1975)

    • The Prize recognizes the immense and unparalleled contribution of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman in inspiring the liberation of Bangladesh.
    • It acknowledges the contribution in bringing stability to a nation born out of strife, laying the foundation for the close and fraternal relations between India and Bangladesh and promoting peace and non-violence in the Indian subcontinent.

    (2)Sultan Qaboos Bin Said (1940-2020)

    • Sultan Qaboos was a visionary leader whose twin policy of moderation and mediation in addressing international issues won him praise and respect across the globe.
    • He played an important role in supporting peace efforts in various regional disputes and conflicts. H.M. Sultan Qaboos was the architect of the special ties between India and Oman.
    • He had studied in India and always maintained a special relationship with India.
    • Under his leadership, India and Oman became strategic partners and our mutually beneficial, comprehensive partnership strengthened and scaled newer heights.

  • How long is a year on other planets?

    For us, 365 days make up a year because Earth takes as many days to complete one orbit of the Sun. But have you ever wondered how many days make up a year on other planets?

    What determines the length of a year?

    • The length of a year on any planet depends on where the planet is orbiting.
    • Planets that are closer to the Sun than Earth will have fewer days in a year, while those rotating farther away will take many more days to make up a year.
    • This is because of two reasons – planets that are closer to the Sun will take a shorter time to orbit it than those farther away, and the closer a planet orbits the Sun, the Sun’s gravity can pull on the planet, making the planet orbit faster.

    Why should we care?

    • To send a spacecraft to another planet, we need to know where the planet is in orbit.
    • This will help us plan and manoeuvre the spacecraft accordingly.

    How long each planet takes to orbit the Sun (in Earth days):

    • Mercury: 88 days
    • Venus: 225 days
    • Earth: 365 days
    • Mars: 687 days
    • Jupiter: 4,333 days
    • Saturn: 10,759 days
    • Uranus: 30,687 days
    • Neptune: 60,190 days

    It’s a mean task to consider this PYQ from 2013, Huh!

    Q.Which planet was downgraded to dwarf planet status?

    (a) Pluto

    (b) Mars

    (c) Earth

    (d) Venus

  • In Centre’s IT rules, there is accountability with costs

    The article examines the issues with  Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021.

    Change in the immunity for social media platforms

    • With the social media platforms amassing tremendous power, the Government of India and has over time sought to devise a core framework to governs social media.
    • This framework known as the “intermediary liability” has been made legally through Section 79 of the Information Technology Act, 2000.
    • This framework has been supplemented by operational rules, and the Supreme Court judgment in Shreya Singhal v. Union of India.
    • All this legalese essentially provides large technology companies immunity for the content that is transmitted and stored by them.
    • Recently, the Government of India announced drastic changes to it through the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021.

    Issues with the Rules

    1) Privacy concern

    • The regulations do contain some features that bring accountability to social media platforms.
    • For instance, they require that prior to a content takedown, a user should be provided adequate notice.
    • However, there are several provisions in the rules that raise privacy concerns.
    • Take traceability, where instant messaging platforms which deploy end-to-end encryption that helps keep our conversations private will now effectively be broken.
    • This is because now the government may require that each message sent through WhatsApp or any other similar application be tied to the identity of the user.
    • When put in the larger context of an environment that is rife with cybersecurity threats, an inconsistent rule of law and the absence of any surveillance oversight, this inspires fear and self-censorship among users.
    • The core of the traceability requirement undermines the core value of private conversations.

    2) Regulation without clear legal backing

    • The rules seek to regulate digital news media portals as well as online video streaming platforms.
    • Rules will perform functions similar to those played by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting for TV regulation.
    • For instance, as per Rule 13(4), this also now includes powers of censorship such as apology scrolls, but also blocking of content.
    • All of this is being planned to be done without any legislative backing or a clear law made by Parliament.
    • A similar problem exists with digital news media portals.
    • The purview of the Information Technology Act, 2000, is limited.
    • It only extends to the blocking of websites and intermediary liabilities framework, but does not extend to content authors and creators.
    • Hence, the Act does not extend to news media despite which it is being stretched to do so by executive fiat.
    • The oversight function will be played by a body that is not an autonomous regulator but one composed of high ranking bureaucrats.
    • This provides for the discretionary exercise of government powers of censorship over these sectors.

    Way forward

    • This could have ideally been achieved through more deliberative, parliamentary processes and by examining bodies in other democracies, which face similar challenges.
    • For instance, OFCOM, a regulator in the United Kingdom, has been studying and enforcing regulations that promise higher levels of protection for citizens’ rights and consistency in enforcement.
    • Instead, the present formulation increases government control that suffers from legality and core design faults.
    • It will only increase political control.

    Consider the question “What is the purpose of the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021, and what are the concerns with these rules?”

    Conclusion

    While every internet user in India needs oversight and accountability from big tech, it should not be at the cost of increasing political control, chilling our voices online and hurting individual privacy.

  • Analysing the trends in India’s population growth

    The article analyses some trends in India’s population growth as found in the Sample Registration System Statistical Report (2018).

    Context

    • There have been some encouraging trends in India’s population in the Sample Registration System (SRS) Statistical Report (2018) and global population projections made by the Institute of Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME), US.

     Declining TFR

    • SRS report estimated the Total Fertility Rate (TFR), the number of children a mother would have at the current pattern of fertility during her lifetime, as 2.2 in the year 2018.
    •  It is estimated that replacement TFR of 2.1 would soon be, if not already, reached for India as a whole.
    • As fertility declines, so does the population growth rate.
    • This report estimated the natural annual population growth rate to be 1.38 per cent in 2018.
    • A comparison of 2011 and 2018 SRS statistical reports shows that TFR declined from 2.4 to 2.2 during this period.
    • Fertility declined in all major states.
    • In 2011, 10 states had a fertility rate below the replacement rate. This increased to 14 states.
    • The annual natural population growth rate also declined from 1.47 to 1.38 per cent during this period.

    So, when will India’s population stabilise

    • Duet to population momentum effect, a result of more people entering the reproductive age group of 15-49 years due to the past high-level of fertility, population stabilisation will take some time.
    • The UN Population Division has estimated that India’s population would possibly peak at 161 crore around 2061.
    •  Recently, IHME estimated that it will peak at 160 crore in 2048.
    • Some of this momentum effect can be mitigated if young people delay childbearing and space their children.

    Factors affecting fertility rates

    • Fertility largely depends upon social setting and programme strength.
    • Programme strength is indicated by the unmet need for contraception, which has several components.
    •  The National Family Health Survey (2015-16) provides us estimates for the unmet need at 12.9 per cent and contraceptive prevalence of 53.5 per cent for India.
    • Female education is a key indicator for social setting, higher the female education level, lower the fertility.
    • As the literacy of women in the reproductive age group is improving rapidly, we can be sanguine about continued fertility reduction.

    Declining sex ratio at birth: Cause for concerrn

    •  The SRS reports show that sex ratio at birth in India, measured as the number of females per 1,000 males, declined marginally from 906 in 2011 to 899 in 2018.
    • Biologically normal sex ratio at birth is 950 females to 1,000 males. 
    • The UNFPA State of World Population 2020 estimated the sex ratio at birth in India as 910, lower than all the countries in the world except China.
    • This is a cause for concern for following 2 reasons:
    • 1) This adverse ratio results in a gross imbalance in the number of men and women.
    • 2) Impact on marriage systems as well as other harms to women.
    • Increasing female education and economic prosperity help to improve the ratio.
    • It is hoped that a balanced sex ratio at birth could be realised over time, although this does not seem to be happening during the period 2011-18. 

    Conclusion

    In conclusion, there is an urgent need to reach young people both for reproductive health education and services as well as to cultivate gender equity norms. This could reduce the effect of population momentum and accelerate progress towards reaching a more normal sex-ratio at birth. India’s population future depends on it.

    Back2Basics: Total Fertility Rate and Replacement rate

    • Total fertility rate (TFR) in simple terms refers to total number of children born or likely to be born to a woman in her life time if she were subject to the prevailing rate of age-specific fertility in the population.
    • TFR of about 2.1 children per woman is called Replacement-level fertility (UN, Population Division).
    • This value represents the average number of children a woman would need to have to reproduce herself by bearing a daughter who survives to childbearing age.
    • If replacement level fertility is sustained over a sufficiently long period, each generation will exactly replace itself without any need for the country to balance the population by international migration.

  • What is World Food Programme?

    The Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to the World Food Programme (WFP) for feeding millions of people from Yemen to North Korea, with the coronavirus pandemic seen pushing millions more into hunger.

    Tap here to read more about Nobel Prizes here at:

    Nobel and other Prizes

    World Food Programme

    • The WFP is the food-assistance branch of the United Nations and the world’s largest humanitarian organization focused on hunger and food security.
    • Founded in 1961, it is headquartered in Rome and has offices in 80 countries.
    • In addition to emergency food aid, WFP focuses on relief and rehabilitation, development aid, and special operations, such as making food systems more resilient against climate change and political instability.
    • It is an executive member of the United Nations Development Group, which collectively aims to fulfil the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDG), and has prioritized achieving SDG 2 for “zero hunger” by 2030.

  • Who was Kanaklata Barua ?

    A Fast Patrol Vessel (FPV) named ICGS Kanaklata Barua was commissioned in the Indian Coast Guard on Wednesday, in Kolkata. It is named after a teenage freedom fighter who was shot dead in Assam during the Quit India Movement.

    Who was Kanaklata Barua ?

    • One of the youngest martyrs of the Quit India Movement, Kanaklata Barua has iconic status in Assam. Barua.
    • Then 17, led the Mukti Bahini, a procession of freedom fighters to unfurl the Tricolour at Gohpur police station on September 20, 1942. When police did not let them move forward, an altercation led to firing, killing Barua at the head of the procession.
    • She had joined the Mrityu Bahini [a kind of a suicide squad] just two days before the incident. The squad strictly admitted members aged 18 and above but Kanaklata was an exception. She wanted to lead the procession and after much persuasion she was allowed to.
    •  Even as Barua fell to bullets, she did not let go of the flag. She did not want it to touch the ground. Another woman volunteer behind her — Mukunda Kakoty — came and held the flag, and she, too, was shot.

      How important is her legacy ?

    •  1940’s was a time where you saw a lot of women coming to the fore, leading processions, patriotic fervour was at its peak — and Kanaklata was a product of this time.
    • There are schools named after her, there are two statues, there is a ship. While we see her as an icon now, people in her village hated her then — she was a rebel, who questioned patriarchy.

  • National Hispanic Heritage Month

    The National Hispanic Heritage Month has begun in the US.

    Try this MCQ:

    Q.The event National Hispanic Heritage Month recently seen in news is primarily celebrated in which of the following countries?

    (a) US (b) Spain (c) Mexico (d) Cuba

    National Hispanic Heritage Month

    • The annual event honours the history, culture and contributions of American citizens whose ancestors hailed from Spain, Mexico, the Caribbean and Central and South America.
    • It is marked every year from September 15 to October 15.
    • The observation was started by President Lyndon Johnson in 1968 as Hispanic Heritage Week and was extended to an entire month by President Ronald Reagan in 1988, the year it was enacted into law.

    Hispanics in the US

    • With a population of over 5.7 crores, Hispanic Americans are currently the largest minority group in the US, making up a fifth of the total US population.
    • More than half– 3.5 crore– are of Mexican origin, followed by Puerto Rican (53 lakh), and about 10 lakh each of Salvadorans, Cubans, Dominicans, Guatemalans and Colombians.
    • The community is referred to as Hispanic, Latino or Latinx– terms that refer to a person’s origin or culture, without considering their race.

  • Turkish Coffee

    Turkish Coffee made it to the UNESCO’s list of Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity in 2013. It is celebrated in literature and songs and is an important part of ceremonies and festivals.

    Try this PYQ:

    Q.Consider the following pairs:

    Traditions Communities

    1. Chaliha Sahib Festival — Sindhis
    2. Nanda Raj Jaat Yatra — Gonds
    3. Wari-Warkari — Santhals

    Which of the pairs given above is/are correctly matched?

    (a) 1 only

    (b) 2 and 3

    (c) 1 and 3

    (d) None of the above

    Turkish Coffee

    • To make Turkish Coffee, Arabica beans are ground manually and boiled with water and sugar in a special pot called cezve in Turkey and ibrik elsewhere.
    • It is taken off the heat as soon as it begins to froth and before it boils over.
    • It is traditionally served in individual porcelain cups called kahvefinjan.
    • Sometimes the coffee may be flavoured with cardamom or other spices and served with a small piece of Turkish delight.

    Back2Basics: Intangible Heritages from India

    • Tradition of Vedic chanting
    • Ramlila, the traditional performance of the Ramayana
    • Kutiyattam, Sanskrit theatre
    • Ramman, religious festival and ritual theatre of the Garhwal Himalayas.
    • Mudiyettu, ritual theatre and dance drama of Kerala
    • Kalbelia folk songs and dances of Rajasthan
    • Chhau dance
    • Buddhist chanting of Ladakh: recitation of sacred Buddhist texts in the trans-Himalayan Ladakh region, Jammu and Kashmir.
    • Sankirtana, ritual singing, drumming and dancing of Manipur
    • Traditional brass and copper craft of utensil making among the Thatheras of Jandiala Guru, Punjab
    • Yoga
    • Nawrouz
    • Kumbh Mela

  • US Presidents who have won Nobel Peace Prize

    A Norwegian legislator has nominated US President Donald Trump for the 2021 Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts towards furthering peace in the Middle East.

    Take a look at the Presidents and Vice-Presidents who have won the Nobel Peace Prize:

    These trivial facts are too unlikely to be asked in the CS prelims, but may hold importance for CAPF and other exams.

     (1) Theodore Roosevelt (1906)

    • Roosevelt, the 26th occupant of the White House (1901-09), was not only the first American president but also the world’s first statesman to win the honour, five years after the Peace Prize was instituted in 1901.
    • He was given the prize for negotiating peace between imperial Russia and Japan after the Russo-Japanese War of 1904-05.
    • He was also praised for his efforts in resolving a dispute between the US and Mexico through arbitration, and for extending the use of arbitration as a means for settling international disputes.
    • At home, Roosevelt launched radical social and economic reform policies and earned a reputation as a “trust buster” for breaking up monopolies.

    (2) Woodrow Wilson (1919)

    • Wilson (1913-21) was given the award for his efforts in ending World War I, and for being the key architect of the League of Nations– born out of his famous ‘Fourteen Points’.
    • Although the League faltered in a few years, it served as a blueprint for the United Nations after World War II.
    • At home, Wilson saw the reduction of import duties, started America’s central bank and a national business oversight body, and strengthened anti-monopoly and labour laws.
    • In his second term, the US passed its 19th constitutional amendment giving women the right to vote.

    (3) Jimmy Carter (2002)

    • The 39th President was awarded the Peace Prize “for his decades of untiring effort to find peaceful solutions to international conflicts, to advance democracy and human rights, and to promote economic and social development”.
    • During his presidency (1977-81), Carter earned praise for his role in bringing about a peace agreement between Israel and Egypt.
    • His later years were more fraught, including foreign policy failures such as the conflict with Iran and the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, culminating in him losing re-election to the conservative Ronald Reagan in 1980.
    • Post his presidency, Carter pursued peace and mediation efforts independently and co-founded the Carter Center, a non-profit that chiefly works to advance human rights.

    (4) Barack Obama (2009)

    • The country’s 44th President (2009-2017) was given the Nobel Peace Prize “for his extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples”.
    • Cited among Obama’s achievements were his promotion of nuclear non-proliferation, and bringing a “new climate” in international relations.
    • Obama donated the full prize money – 10 million Swedish kronor (around $1.4 million) – to charity.

    (5) Al Gore (1993-2001)

    • Apart from the four Presidents, one Vice President– Al Gore (1993-2001) – has been given the Nobel Peace Prize.
    • He shared the honour in 2007 with the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) for their joint efforts to build up and disseminate greater knowledge about man-made climate change.