Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Maghi Mela
Mains level: Read the attached story
Maghi Mela is being celebrated from January 14.
Maghi Mela
- Maghi Mela is held in the holy city of Sri Muktsar Sahib every year in January, or on the month of Magh according to the Nanakshahi calendar.
- It is one of the most important festivals for Sikhs.
- Today, the Mela starts on Maghi day and continues for another day or two.
- People from different parts of the state and even outside come to Muktsar to take a holy dip in the sarovar (lake) of Gurdwara Darbar Sahib and enjoy the festivities.
- The festival marks the martyrdom of 40 Sikh soldiers in the Battle of Khidrana against the Mughals.
- In the 1700s, the Mughals and Sikhs were at constant war with each other.
About Battle of Khidrana
- In 1704, during the siege of Anandpur Sahib by the Mughals, 40 Sikh soldiers deserted their posts and fled.
- Upon arriving at their village near Amritsar, a woman named Mai Bhago scolded them and rallied the fighters to return to Anandpur Sahib in the service of their Guru.
- The freshly motivated soldiers along with Mai Bhago set off towards Anandpur Sahib to help Guru Gobind Singh hold fort against the Mughals.
- They met the Guru at Khidrana where they took on a large Mughal army, sacrificing their lives in the process.
Political significance of the Maghi Mela
- Back in the day, people would arrive in the city days before the actual Maghi day.
- In the evenings, there would be kavi darbars (poetry sessions) where politicians would speak.
- This is likely how the political conferences, which can be traced back to the mid-1950s, started.
Crack Prelims 2023! Talk to our Rankers
(Click) FREE 1-to-1 on-call Mentorship by IAS-IPS officers | Discuss doubts, strategy, sources, and more
Get an IAS/IPS ranker as your 1: 1 personal mentor for UPSC 2024
Attend Now
Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Ganga Vilas
Mains level: River tourism
Prime Minister has flagged off the worldâs longest river cruise â MV Ganga Vilas â and inaugurated the tent city at Varanasi.
About Ganga Vilas
- MV Ganga Vilas is the first indigenously made cruise vessel to be made in India.
- The Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways is the coordinator of this ship tourism project.
- The cruise has three decks, 18 suites on board with a capacity of 36 tourists, with all the modern amenities.
- It will cover a distance of 3,200 km in roughly 51 days reaching Assamâs Dibrugarh through Bangladesh.
Destinations covered
- Set to sail from Varanasi, the cruise ship, MV Ganga Vilas, will cover 3,200 km over 51 days, crossing 27 river systems and several states before ending its journey at Dibrugarh.
- The voyage is packed with visits to 50 tourist spots, including World Heritage spots, national parks, river ghats, and major cities like Patna in Bihar, Sahibganj in Jharkhand, Kolkata in West Bengal, Dhaka in Bangladesh and Guwahati in Assam.
- It will make pit-stops to cover the famous Ganga Arti in Varanasi, the Buddhist site of Sarnath; and even Majuli, the largest river island in Assam.
Crack Prelims 2023! Talk to our Rankers
(Click) FREE 1-to-1 on-call Mentorship by IAS-IPS officers | Discuss doubts, strategy, sources, and more
Get an IAS/IPS ranker as your 1: 1 personal mentor for UPSC 2024
Attend Now
Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Basmati Rice
Mains level: Not Much
In a bid to promote the business around basmati rice, the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) notified standards for basmati rice. They will be enforced from August 1, 2023.
Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI)
- The FSSAI is an autonomous body established under the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare, Government of India.
- It has been established under the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006 which is a consolidating statute related to food safety and regulation in India.
- It is responsible for protecting and promoting public health through the regulation and supervision of food safety.
- It is headed by a non-executive Chairperson, appointed by the Central Government, either holding or has held the position of not below the rank of Secretary to the Government of India.
|
Basmati Rice
- Basmati, pronounced is a variety of long, slender-grained aromatic rice which is traditionally grown in India, Pakistan, and Nepal.
- As of 2019, India accounted for 65% of the international trade in basmati rice, while Pakistan accounted for the remaining 35%.
- Many countries use domestically grown basmati rice crops; however, basmati is geographically exclusive to certain districts of India and Pakistan.
- India accounts for over 70% of the worldâs basmati rice production.
- The areas which have a geographical indication are in the states of Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Delhi, Uttarakhand, Western Uttar Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir.
What are the standards set out by FSSAI?
- Fragrance: Basmati has the characteristic fragrance identified with this variety and is free from artificial fragrances and colouring.
- Grain size: The authority has also set standards on parameters such as average size of grains and their elongation ratio after cooking.
- Vital contents: It has set the maximum limits for moisture, amylose content, uric acid, damaged grains and presence of non-basmati rice.
- Varieties included: The standards are applicable to brown basmati rice, milled basmati rice, parboiled brown basmati rice and milled parboiled basmati rice.
Economics of Basmati
- Basmati rice is exported out of India and had an annual forex earning of Rs 25,053 crore during 2021-22.
- India accounts for two-thirds of the global supply of basmati rice.
Significance of the move
- FSSAI hopes that the standards would protect consumer interest and ensure the quality of basmati rice.
- In 2020, Indiaâs application for a geographical indication tag recognised in the European Union market was put on hold after Pakistan opposed the move.
- Before this, in 1997, Texas-based Company RiceTec developed American basmati varieties and patented them.
- These were introduced in the international market as âKasmatiâ and âTexmatiâ.
- However, the patent was contested in the year 2000 by the Centre for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), Indiaâs premier science and industry organisation, saying the term âbasmatiâ could be used only for rice grown in India and Pakistan.
Crack Prelims 2023! Talk to our Rankers
(Click) FREE 1-to-1 on-call Mentorship by IAS-IPS officers | Discuss doubts, strategy, sources, and more
Get an IAS/IPS ranker as your 1: 1 personal mentor for UPSC 2024
Attend Now
Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Local Bubble
Mains level: Not Much
Researchers have generated a 3D magnetic map of the giant cosmic cavity called Local Bubble that surrounds the solar system could reveal the universeâs secrets, including questions about the origins of stars.
What is the Local Bubble?
- The Local Bubble is a 1,000-light-year-wide cavity or a super-bubble.
- It is a relative cavity in the interstellar medium (ISM) of the Orion Arm in the Milky Way.
- Local Bubble is thought to have originated from supernovae roughly 14 million years ago. Supernova is a cosmic explosion occurring when stars meet their end.
- Space is full of these super-bubbles that trigger the formation of new stars and planets and influence the overall shapes of galaxies.
How are they formed?
- Super-bubbles are comparable to holes in Swiss cheese. Supernova explosions blow holes in the cheese. New stars form around these holes.
- However, mechanisms powering the formation and expansion of the Local Bubble are not well-understood.
- Further, there is little information on how magnetic fields likely impact the bubble and local star formation.
- Max Planck has provided information on the magnetic alignment of cosmic dust. This alignment can indicate the orientation of the magnetic field acting on the dust particles.
Crack Prelims 2023! Talk to our Rankers
(Click) FREE 1-to-1 on-call Mentorship by IAS-IPS officers | Discuss doubts, strategy, sources, and more
Get an IAS/IPS ranker as your 1: 1 personal mentor for UPSC 2024
Attend Now
Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Gangasagar Festival
Mains level: Not Much
Lakhs of pilgrims are descending on Sagar Island in the southernmost tip of West Bengal for the annual Gangasagar Mela, being held between January 12 and 14, to celebrate Makar Sankranti.
What is Gangasagar Mela?
- Every year during Gangasagar mela, devotees from all over the country gather at the confluence of the Ganga and the Bay of Bengal to take a sacred dip during Makar Sankranti (mid-January).
- The mela is said to be India’s second largest pilgrimage gathering after the Kumbh Mela.
- Gangasagar, the largest and the oldest living tradition in Bengal, has been mentioned in Indian epics such as the Ramayana and Mahabharata, putting its existence as early as 400 BCE.
- Legends suggest that the first Kapil Muni’s temple was constructed by Queen Satyabhama in 430 AD, and the present idol was established by Swami Ramanand in 1437, marking the beginning of a pilgrimage that remains timeless till today.
About Sagar Island
- Sagar Island is an island in the Ganges delta, lying on the Continental Shelf of Bay of Bengal about 100Â km (54 nautical miles) south of Kolkata.
- This island forms the Sagar CD Block in the Kakdwip subdivision of South 24 Parganas district in the Indian State of West Bengal.
- Although Sagar Island is a part of the Sundarbans, it does not have any tiger habitation or mangrove forests or small river tributaries as is characteristic of the overall Sundarban delta.
- This island is a place of Hindu pilgrimage.
- Every year on the day of Makar Sankranti (14 January), hundreds of thousands of Hindus gather to take a holy dip at the confluence of river Ganges and Bay of Bengal and offer prayers (puja) in the Kapil Muni Temple.
Crack Prelims 2023! Talk to our Rankers
(Click) FREE 1-to-1 on-call Mentorship by IAS-IPS officers | Discuss doubts, strategy, sources, and more
Get an IAS/IPS ranker as your 1: 1 personal mentor for UPSC 2024
Attend Now
Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Haj Pilgrimage
Mains level: Promoting religious tourism
The Union Minister for Minority Affairs has done away with the discretionary Haj quota for pilgrims, in keeping with Prime Ministerâs resolve to end VIP culture in the country.
About Haj Pilgrimage
- The holy Haj is an annual Islamic pilgrimage to Mecca, Saudi Arabia, the holiest city for Muslims.
- It is considered to be a mandatory religious duty for all adult Muslims physically and financially capable of doing so.
- The rites of pilgrimage are performed over five to six days, in Dhu al-Hijjah, the last month of the Islamic calendar.
How is it managed?
- For the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, the pilgrimage poses a massive logistical challenge.
- Housing, feeding and facilitating safe pilgrimages for millions of pilgrims who descend upon Mecca from across the world during a brief period of time is difficult, to say the least.
- Thus, Saudi Arabia allots country-wise quotas which determine the total number of pilgrims who can make a journey from a particular country.
- These quotas are broadly allotted on the basis of the number of Muslims a country houses. However, the quotas are also major diplomatic issues.
- Every year, countries lobby Saudi Arabia for more slots. After a Covid-19-related lull, the pilgrimage will resume at its full scale in 2023.
How India manages this?
- India signed the Haj 2023 bilateral agreement with Saudi Arabia.
- According to the agreement, a total of 1,75,025 Indian Haj pilgrims will be able to perform Haj, reportedly the highest in history.
- This quota allotted to India is then further distributed by the Ministry of Minority Affairs and the Haj Committee of India (HCoI) to various stakeholders.
- According to the 2018-22 policy document, 70 per cent of Indiaâs total quota goes to the HCoI and 30 per cent goes to private operators.
Distribution of Quotas
- Out of the total number of slots with the HCoI, 500 are held under the Government discretionary quota whereas the rest are distributed to different states on the basis of their Muslim population.
- A draw of lots is conducted in each state to determine who makes the journey in case the number of applicants exceed the number of slots available.
What are the haj discretionary quotas?
- The âGovernment discretionary quotaâ is further divided in two, 200 seats are with the Haj Committee itself and 300 are with people holding important offices at the Centre. These include,
- 100 with the President
- 75 with the Prime Minister
- 75 with the Vice President
- 50 with the Minister of Minority Affairs
- As per the old policy, these seats could be allocated to individuals who applied for the pilgrimage through normal means but were unsuccessful in getting a slot for the pilgrimage.
- This quota has now been abolished with these seats being added back to the general pool.
Crack Prelims 2023! Talk to our Rankers
(Click) FREE 1-to-1 on-call Mentorship by IAS-IPS officers | Discuss doubts, strategy, sources, and more
Get an IAS/IPS ranker as your 1: 1 personal mentor for UPSC 2024
Attend Now
Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: VSHORAD Missiles
Mains level: Man portable missiles and their significance
The Defence Acquisition Council (DAC) is set to procure the Very Short Range Air Defence System or VSHORAD (IR Homing) missile system.
VSHORAD Missile System
- Meant to kill low altitude aerial threats at short ranges, VSHORADS is a man portable Air Defence System (MANPAD).
- It is designed and developed indigenously by DRDOâs Research Centre Imarat (RCI), Hyderabad, in collaboration with other DRDO laboratories and Indian Industry Partners.
- The missile is propelled by a dual thrust solid motorâincorporates many novel technologies including miniaturised Reaction Control System (RCS) and integrated avionics, which were successfully proven during the tests conducted last year.
- The DRDO has designed the missile and its launcher in a way to ensure easy portability.
Unique features
- Being man portable and lightweight compared to the other missile systems in the Armyâs armoury, it can be deployed in the mountains close to the LAC at a short notice.
- Others like the Akash Short Range Surface to Air Missile System are heavier with a theatre air defence umbrella.
- They are perceived to be the best option for mountain warfare since they can be deployed quickly in rugged terrain.
Significance of the missile
- The development comes amid the ongoing military standoff with China at the LAC in eastern Ladakh and reports of air violations by China along the LAC last year.
- India has been in talks with Russia since 2018 to procure the Igla-S air defence missiles at a cost of $1.5 billion under the VSHORAD programme in a bid to replace the Russian Igla-M systems.
Crack Prelims 2023! Talk to our Rankers
(Click) FREE 1-to-1 on-call Mentorship by IAS-IPS officers | Discuss doubts, strategy, sources, and more
Get an IAS/IPS ranker as your 1: 1 personal mentor for UPSC 2024
Attend Now
Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Ozone Layer, Ozone Hole
Mains level: Not Much
The ozone âholeâ, once considered to be the gravest danger to planetary life, is now expected to be completely repaired by 2066, a scientific assessment has suggested.
What is Ozone and Ozone Layer?
- An ozone molecule consists of three oxygen atoms instead of the usual two (the oxygen we breathe, O2, makes up 21% of the atmosphere).
- It only exists in the atmosphere in trace quantities (less than 0.001%), but its effects are very important.
- Ozone molecules are created by the interaction of ultra-violet (UV) radiation from the Sun with O2 molecules.
- Because UV radiation is more intense at higher altitudes where the air is thinner, it is in the stratosphere where most of the ozone is produced, giving rise to what is called the âozone layerâ.
- The ozone layer, containing over 90% of all atmospheric ozone, extends between about 10 and 40km altitude, peaking at about 25km in Stratosphere.
Why need Ozone Layer?
- The ozone layer is very important for life on Earth because it has the property of absorbing the most damaging form of UV radiation, UV-B radiation which has a wavelength of between 280 and 315 nanometres.
- As UV radiation is absorbed by ozone in the stratosphere, it heats up the surrounding air to produce the stratospheric temperature inversion.
What is Ozone Hole?
- Each year for the past few decades during the Southern Hemisphere spring, chemical reactions involving chlorine and bromine cause ozone in the southern polar region to be destroyed rapidly and severely.
- The Dobson Unit (DU) is the unit of measure for total ozone.
- The chemicals involved ozone depletion are chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs for short), halons, and carbon tetrachloride.
- They are used for a wide range of applications, including refrigeration, air conditioning, foam packaging, and making aerosol spray cans.
- The ozone-depleted region is known as the âozone holeâ.
Tropical Ozone Hole
- According to the study, the ozone hole is located at altitudes of 10-25 km over the tropics.
- This hole is about seven times larger than Antarctica, the study suggested.
- It also appears across all seasons, unlike that of Antarctica, which is visible only in the spring.
- The hole has become significant since the 1980s. But it was not discovered until this study.
What caused an ozone hole in the tropics?
- Studies suggested another mechanism of ozone depletion: Cosmic rays.
- Chlorofluorocarbonâs (CFC) role in depleting the ozone layer is well-documented.
- The tropical stratosphere recorded a low temperature of 190-200 Kelvin (K).
- This can explain why the tropical ozone hole is constantly formed over the seasons.
Try this PYQ
Q.Consider the following statements:
Chlorofluorocarbons, known as ozone-depleting substances are used:
- In the production of plastic foams
- In the production of tubeless tyres
- In cleaning certain electronic components
- As pressurizing agents in aerosol cans
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
(a) 1, 2 and 3 only
(b) 4 only
(c) 1, 3 and 4 only
(d) 1, 2, 3 and 4
Post your answers here:
Crack Prelims 2023! Talk to our Rankers
(Click) FREE 1-to-1 on-call Mentorship by IAS-IPS officers | Discuss doubts, strategy, sources, and more
Get an IAS/IPS ranker as your 1: 1 personal mentor for UPSC 2024
Attend Now
Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Paigah Tomb
Mains level: Not Much
The necropolis of noblemen dating from the Asaf Jahi era known as Paigah Tombs Complex in Hyderabad is set to be restored with funding by the US Ambassadors Fund for Cultural Preservation.
Who were the Paigahs?
- Paigah tombs are 200 years old and represent the final resting places of the Paigah Nobles of several generations.
- During the conquest of the Deccan region by Emperor Aurangzeb, the Paigahs came along with him.
- The House of Paigah was founded by Shams-ul-Umra I also known as Nawaz Abul Fatah Khan Tegh.
- Their ties with Nizams were further cemented through matrimonial alliances.
- They also constructed several palaces in the city and the notable amongst them are the famous Falaknuma Palace, Asman Garh Palace, Khursheed Jah Devdi and Vicar-ul-Umarahi palace.
- They were believed to be rich than the average Maharajah of the country.
Paigah Tombs
- Paigah Tombs are the tombs belonging to the nobility of Paigah family, who were fierce loyalists of the Nizams, served as statespeople, philanthropists and generals under and alongside them.
- They are among the major wonders of Hyderabad State which known for their architectural excellence as shown in their laid mosaic tiles and craftsmanship work.
Its architecture
- These tombs are made out of lime and mortar with beautiful inlaid marble carvings.
- It consists of marvelous carvings and motifs in floral designs and inlaid marble tile-works.
- It depicts Indo-Islamic architecture, a mix of both the Asaf Jahi and the Rajputana styles of architecture.
- There is fabulous stucco (plaster) work, representing the Mughal, Persian and Deccan style too.
Crack Prelims 2023! Talk to our Rankers
(Click) FREE 1-to-1 on-call Mentorship by IAS-IPS officers | Discuss doubts, strategy, sources, and more
Get an IAS/IPS ranker as your 1: 1 personal mentor for UPSC 2024
Attend Now
Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS)
Mains level: Read the attached story
The Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) has published three significant Indian Standards in the area of Electronics.
Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS)
- BIS is the National Standards Body of India working under the aegis of the Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food & Public Distribution.
- It is established by the Bureau of Indian Standards Act, 1986 which came into effect on 23 December 1986.
- The organization was formerly the Indian Standards Institution (ISI), set up under the Resolution of the Department of Industries and Supplies in September 1946.
- The ISI was registered under the Societies Registration Act, 1860.
- A new Bureau of Indian standard (BIS) Act 2016 has been brought into force with effect from 12 October 2017.
- The Act establishes the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) as the National Standards Body of India.
|
[A] Digital television receivers
- BIS has published an Indian Standard IS 18112:2022 SpeciďŹcation for television with built in satellite tuners.
- TVs manufactured as per this Indian standard would enable reception of Free-To-Air TV and Radio channels just by connecting a dish antenna.
- This would facilitate transmission of knowledge about government initiatives, schemes, and educational content of Doordarshan and repository of Indian culture programs.
- At present, TV viewers in the country need to purchase set-top box for viewing various paid and free channels.
[B] USB Type C receptacles
- BIS has published Indian standard IS/IEC 62680-1-3:2022 USB Type-CÂŽ Cable and Connector SpeciďŹcation.
- This Indian standard is adoption of existing International standard IEC 62680-1- 3:2022.
- This standard provides requirements for USB Type-C port, plug and cables for use in various electronic devices like mobile phone, laptop, notebook etc.
- This standard would provide common charging solutions for the smartphones and other electronic devices sold in the country.
- This would facilitate in reduction in number of charger per consumer as consumers will no longer need to buy diďŹerent chargers or generate e-waste.
[C] Video Surveillance Systems (VSS)
- BIS, through its technical committee on Alarms and Electronic Security Systems has developed a series of Indian Standard (IS 16910) on Video Surveillance Systems for use in Security Applications.
- IS 16910 series of Standards is an adoption of the International Standard IEC 62676 series.
- It provides a detailed outline of all the aspects of a VSS System such as requirements for its components like camera devices, interfaces, system requirements and tests to ascertain the image quality of the camera devices.
- This will also help in making the surveillance system more secure, robust and cost effective.
Crack Prelims 2023! Talk to our Rankers
(Click) FREE 1-to-1 on-call Mentorship by IAS-IPS officers | Discuss doubts, strategy, sources, and more
Get an IAS/IPS ranker as your 1: 1 personal mentor for UPSC 2024
Attend Now
Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Fatima Sheikh
Mains level: Pioneers of girl child education in India
Teaching pioneer Fatima Shaikh was recently honoured with a Google Doodle on her birthday.
Fatima Sheikh
- Fatima Sheikh was an educator and social reformer, who was a colleague of the social reformers Jyotirao Phule and Savitribai Phule.
- She is widely considered to be Indiaâs first Muslim woman teacher.
- Fatima Sheikh was the sister of Mian Usman Sheikh, in whose house Jyotirao and Savitribai Phule took up residence.
- One of the first Muslim women teachers of modern India, she started educating Bahujan children in Phules’ school.
Association with Phules
- Under pressure from upper castes, Jyotiraoâs father evicted Savitribai and Jyotirao from the family home in the late 1840s.
- With nowhere else to go, the Phules would find shelter at the house of Mian Usman Sheikh, where they would live till 1856.
- As many from their own community abandoned them, Fatima Sheikh and her brother stood strongly with the Phules and the mission to educate girls and bahujans.
- Sheikh met Savitribai Phule while both were enrolled at a teacher training institution run by Cynthia Farrar, an American missionary.
- She taught at all five schools that the Phules went on to establish and she taught children of all religions and castes.
- Sheikh took part in the founding of two schools in Mumbai (then Bombay) in 1851.
Determined amidst opposition
- In Pune, a conservative bastion of culture and tradition, the very act of trying to educate the underprivileged caused uproar.
- It is said that the two women would often have stones and pieces of dung thrown at them while walking in the streets.
- Fatima specifically is said to have borne the wrath of both upper-castes and radical orthodox sections.
Crack Prelims 2023! Talk to our Rankers
(Click) FREE 1-to-1 on-call Mentorship by IAS-IPS officers | Discuss doubts, strategy, sources, and more
Get an IAS/IPS ranker as your 1: 1 personal mentor for UPSC 2024
Attend Now
Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: New Umbrella Entity (NUE)
Mains level: Read the attached story
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) is said to have put on hold licensing of the New Umbrella Entity (NUE) network, a fintech institution planned as a rival to National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI).
Why in news?
- Six groupings, which included Facebook, Google, Amazon, Flipkart and others, had applied for NUE licences.
What is New Umbrella Entity (NUE)?
- NUE is an entity (under the Companies Act 2013) that will manage and operate the new payment system in the retail sector such as ATMs, POS, UPI etc.
- NUEs will be set up for profit entities that will manage payments in the retail space.
- These could offer a host of retail payment services, including setting up of ATMs, offering white-label, point of sale terminals, Aadhaar-based payments, remittance services, and develop newer payment methods.
- They will also manage clearing and settlement systems that could be an alternative to the bank-promoted NPCI.
- They will be allowed to charge fees for transactions (unlike the existing NPCI).
- All NUEs will have to be interoperable with the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI).
Why need NUEs?
- The NPCI is at the epicentre of the digital payments in the country.
- RBI has introduced NUEs to end the so-called monopoly of NPCI.
- The central bank also noted that during the pandemic, with people spending more time at home the usage of e-commerce has increased, and thereâs been a significant rise in the incidence of internet fraud, cyber-crimes.
If NPCI is doing its job well, then why NUE?
- 48% of all electronic retail payments in the country pass through the NPCI infrastructure.
- RBIâs concern stems from having the operations of so much of the countryâs payment system concentrated in one entity.
How will NUE aid Consumers?
- With the introduction of NUEs, options for payment will increase for users.
- This will result in more competition and eventually help boost transaction volumes for both platforms as e-commerce expands and reaches deeper into Indiaâs unbanked hinterland.
- In the World Bankâs most recent report on financial inclusion in 2017, some 190 million Indians did not have a bank account and more than half did not make or receive digital payments.
- Customers who face frequent sever transaction due to server overload currently have few options.
- In the new regime, theyâll be able to try the other platform.
What about Data Safety?
- Compliance as far as data safety and privacy is concerned holds good for all and sundry in the payments and banking space.
- Every entity involved in payments and settlement have to follow the same set of rules.
- RBI already have a new set of guidelines on âRegulation of Payment Aggregators and Payment Gatewaysâ .
- It ensures that neither the authorised Payment Aggregators (PAs) nor the merchants on-boarded by them can store customer card credentials within their database or server to avoid data breaches and potential abuse.
Will NUEs replace NPCI?
- NUEs will co-exist with NPCI to strengthen the payment infrastructure network.
- A robust and resilient infrastructure is needed to ensure the government’s ambitious target of one billion digital transactions per day is achieved.
- NUEs will not replace but complement NPCI in taking Indiaâs digital payment success story to new heights.
- By establishing a neutral and independent standards-setting body, we can make sure that the system as a whole in our country evolves in the best traditions of digital infrastructure adopted anywhere in the world.
Crack Prelims 2023! Talk to our Rankers
(Click) FREE 1-to-1 on-call Mentorship by IAS-IPS officers | Discuss doubts, strategy, sources, and more
Get an IAS/IPS ranker as your 1: 1 personal mentor for UPSC 2024
Attend Now
Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Root bridges of Meghalaya
Mains level: Not Much
This newscard is an excerpt from the original article published in TH.
Living Root Bridges
- A living root bridge is a type of simple suspension bridge formed of living plant roots by tree shaping.
- They are common in the southern part of the Northeast Indian state of Meghalaya. Such a bridge is locally called jingkieng jri.
- They are handmade from the aerial roots of rubber fig trees (Ficus elastic) by the Khasi and Jaintia peoples of the mountainous terrain along the southern part of the Shillong Plateau.
- Most of the bridges grow on steep slopes of subtropical moist broadleaf forest between 50m and 1150m above sea level.
Why is it so unique?
- As long as the tree from which it is formed remains healthy, the roots in the bridge can naturally grow thick and strengthen.
- New roots can grow throughout the treeâs life and must be pruned or manipulated to strengthen the bridge.
- Once mature some bridges can have as many as 50 or more people crossing, and have a lifespan of up to 150 years.
Crack Prelims 2023! Talk to our Rankers
(Click) FREE 1-to-1 on-call Mentorship by IAS-IPS officers | Discuss doubts, strategy, sources, and more
Get an IAS/IPS ranker as your 1: 1 personal mentor for UPSC 2024
Attend Now
Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Superconductivity in Mercury
Mains level: Not Much
This newscard is an excerpt from the original article published in TH.
What is a superconductor?
- A superconductor is defined as a substance that offers no resistance to the electric current when it becomes colder than a critical temperature.
- Some of the popular examples of superconductors are aluminium, magnesium diboride, niobium, copper oxide, yttrium barium and iron pnictides.
How mercury becomes superconductor?
- In 1911, Dutch physicist Heike Kamerlingh Onnes discovered superconductivity in mercury.
- He found that at a very low temperature, called the threshold temperature, solid mercury offers no resistance to the flow of electric current.
How is mercury capable of achieving superconductivity?
Ans. Bardeen-Cooper-Schrieffer (BCS) theory
- Scientists classified mercury as a conventional superconductor because its superconductivity could be explained by the concepts of Bardeen-Cooper-Schrieffer (BCS) theory.
- While scientists have used the BCS theory to explain superconductivity in various materials, they have never fully understood how it operates in mercury â the oldest superconductor.
- The researchers used state-of-the-art theoretical and computational approaches and found that all physical properties relevant for conventional superconductivity are anomalous in some respect in mercury.
How BCS explains it?
- In BCS superconductors, vibrational energy released by the grid of atoms encourages electrons to pair up, forming so-called Cooper pairs.
- These Copper pairs can move like water in a stream, facing no resistance to their flow, below a threshold temperature.
- By including certain factors that physicists had previously side-lined, the groupâs calculations led to a clearer picture of how superconductivity emerges in mercury.
- For example, when the researchers accounted for the relationship between an electronâs spin and momentum, they could explain why mercury has such a low threshold temperature (around â270°C).
Coulomb repulsion and Mercury
- Similarly, the group found that one electron in each pair in mercury occupied a higher energy level than the other.
- This detail reportedly lowered the Coulomb repulsion (like charges repel) between them and nurtured superconductivity.
- Thus, the group has explained how mercury becomes a superconductor below its threshold temperature.
- Their methods and findings suggest that we could have missed similar anomalous effects in other materials, leading to previously undiscovered ones that can be exploited for new and better real-world applications.
Crack Prelims 2023! Talk to our Rankers
(Click) FREE 1-to-1 on-call Mentorship by IAS-IPS officers | Discuss doubts, strategy, sources, and more
Get an IAS/IPS ranker as your 1: 1 personal mentor for UPSC 2024
Attend Now
Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Ottanthullal
Mains level: NA
A renowned folk artist has expressed his angst over the fading participation of students in Ottanthullal Artform.
What is Ottanthullal?
- Ottanthullal (or Thullal, in short) is recite-and-dance art-form of Kerala.
- It was introduced in the 18th century by the famous Malayalam poet Kunchan Nambiar (1705 – 1770).
- It is famous for its humour and social satire, and marked by its simplicity as opposed to more complex dance-forms like Kathakali and Koodiyattam.
Unique features
- Ottanthullal follows the classical principles of Natyasasthra (a treatise on art compiled in the 2nd century B.C.E).
- It is enacted into three separate versions
- Ottanthullal
- Seethankan thullal
- Parayan thullal
- The Ottanthullal is the most popular among the three varieties of Thullal.
How is it performed?
- The performance uses elaborate expressions and stories recited in verses to bring important mythological tales and stories to life.
- The costume and makeup of the performer are similar to that of a Kathakali artist.
- It is performed at temple festivals and cultural programmes.
- The performer is supported by a singer who repeats the verses and is accompanied by an orchestra of mridangam or thoppimaddalam (percussions) and cymbals.
Crack Prelims 2023! Talk to our Rankers
(Click) FREE 1-to-1 on-call Mentorship by IAS-IPS officers | Discuss doubts, strategy, sources, and more
Get an IAS/IPS ranker as your 1: 1 personal mentor for UPSC 2024
Attend Now
Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Sagol Kangjei
Mains level: Not Much
It is believed that Sagol Kangjei, the modern-day Polo game originated in Manipur.
Sagol Kangjei
- Modern polo is said to have originated from Sagol Kangjei, a sport indigenous to Manipur.
- In this players ride horses, specifically the Manipur Ponies, which are referenced in records dating back to the 14th century.
Conserving the breed: Manipur Pony
- The Manipur Pony is one of five recognised equine breeds of India, and has a powerful cultural significance for Manipuri society.
- The pony has been indispensable with Manipuri society for its socio-cultural association for centuries.
- Its antecedents, however, are not clear, as one source stated Tibetan ponies as its ancestors while another source stated its origin to be a cross between Mongolian wild horse & Arabian.
- The 17th Quinquennial Livestock Census 2003 had recorded 1,898 Manipur Ponies; the number fell to 1,101 in the 19th Quinquennial Livestock Census in 2012.
Crack Prelims 2023! Talk to our Rankers
(Click) FREE 1-to-1 on-call Mentorship by IAS-IPS officers | Discuss doubts, strategy, sources, and more
Get an IAS/IPS ranker as your 1: 1 personal mentor for UPSC 2024
Attend Now
Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: PMI
Mains level: Not Much
Indiaâs Services sector reported a sharp growth with Services Purchasing Managersâ Index (PMI) surging to 58.5 last month from 56.4 in November 2022.
Purchasing Managersâ Index (PMI)
- PMI is an indicator of business activity â both in the manufacturing and services sectors.
- It is a survey-based measure that asks the respondents about changes in their perception of some key business variables from the month before.
- It is calculated separately for the manufacturing and services sectors and then a composite index is constructed.
- The PMI is compiled by IHS Markit based on responses to questionnaires sent to purchasing managers in a panel of around 400 manufacturers.
How is the PMI derived?
- The PMI is derived from a series of qualitative questions.
- Executives from a reasonably big sample, running into hundreds of firms, are asked whether key indicators such as output, new orders, business expectations and employment were stronger than the month before and are asked to rate them.
How does one read the PMI?
- A figure above 50 denotes expansion in business activity. Anything below 50 denotes contraction.
- Higher the difference from this mid-point greater the expansion or contraction. The rate of expansion can also be judged by comparing the PMI with that of the previous month data.
- If the figure is higher than the previous monthâs then the economy is expanding at a faster rate.
- If it is lower than the previous month then it is growing at a lower rate.
What are its implications for the economy?
- The PMI is usually released at the start of the month, much before most of the official data on industrial output, manufacturing and GDP growth becomes available.
- It is, therefore, considered a good leading indicator of economic activity.
- Economists consider the manufacturing growth measured by the PMI as a good indicator of industrial output, for which official statistics are released later.
- Central banks of many countries also use the index to help make decisions on interest rates.
Crack Prelims 2023! Talk to our Rankers
(Click) FREE 1-to-1 on-call Mentorship by IAS-IPS officers | Discuss doubts, strategy, sources, and more
Get an IAS/IPS ranker as your 1: 1 personal mentor for UPSC 2024
Attend Now
Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Banking Ombudsman Scheme
Mains level: Not Much
Issues related to ATM/debit cards and mobile/electronic banking were the top grounds of complaints received at the Office of Banking Ombudsman (OBO).
Why in news?
- Of these, 3,04,496 complaints were handled by the 22 Offices of RBI Ombudsman (ORBIOs), including the complaints received under the three erstwhile Ombudsman Schemes till November 11, 2021.
- Complaints related to ATM/ debit cards were the highest at 14.6% of the total, followed by mobile/ electronic banking at 13.6%.
- About 90% of the total complaints were received through digital modes, including on the online Complaint Management System (CMS) portal.
- Majority 66.1% of the maintainable complaints were resolved through mutual settlement/ conciliation/ mediation.
Banking Ombudsman Scheme
- The Banking Ombudsman Scheme is an expeditious and inexpensive forum for bank customers for resolution of complaints relating to certain services rendered by banks.
- It is introduced under Section 35 A of the Banking Regulation Act, 1949 by RBI with effect from 1995.
- Presently the Banking Ombudsman Scheme 2006 (As amended upto July 1, 2017) is in operation.
- All Scheduled Commercial Banks, Regional Rural Banks and Scheduled Primary Co-operative Banks are covered under the Scheme.
- As per the present regulations, the ombudsman redressal is allowed for complaints where the compensation amount for any loss suffered by the complainant is limited to Rs 20 lakh.
- Under the RBI-OS, 2021, following the ‘One Nation, One Ombudsman’ principle, the territorial jurisdictions have been abrogated, and complaints are assigned to all the ombudsmen by the CMS.
What about other sectors?
- The Reserve Bank Integrated Ombudsman Scheme (RBIOS) amalgamates three ombudsman scheme of RBI – banking ombudsman scheme of 2006, ombudsman scheme for NBFCs of 2018 and ombudsman scheme of digital transactions of 2019.
- The unified ombudsman scheme will provide redress of customer complaints involving deficiency in services if the grievance is not resolved to the satisfaction of the customers or not replied within a period of 30 days.
- The new scheme also includes non-scheduled primary co-operative banks with a deposit size of Rs 50 crore and above.
- The integrated scheme makes it a âOne Nation One Ombudsmanâ approach and jurisdiction neutral.
Crack Prelims 2023! Talk to our Rankers
(Click) FREE 1-to-1 on-call Mentorship by IAS-IPS officers | Discuss doubts, strategy, sources, and more
Get an IAS/IPS ranker as your 1: 1 personal mentor for UPSC 2024
Attend Now
Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Black Carbon Aerosols
Mains level: Not Much
Black carbon aerosols have indirectly affected the mass gain of the Tibetan Plateau glaciers by changing long-range water vapour transport from the South Asian monsoon region, a study has found.
What are Black Carbon Aerosols?
- Black Carbon (BC) aerosol, often called soot, is the dominant form of light absorbing particulate matter in the atmosphere.
- They are emitted by incomplete combustion processes, both human (e.g., diesel engines) and natural (e.g., wildfire).
- Its ability to absorb visible and infrared radiation means BC can heat the atmosphere and darken surfaces, specifically snow and ice.
- These effects have important consequences on earthâs climate and climate change.
- BC may also have adverse impacts on human health. Unlike long-lived greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide, BC is removed from the atmosphere in 1-2 weeks, so its impacts tend to be more regional rather than global.
Deposition over Himalayas
- The South Asia region adjacent to the Tibetan Plateau has among the highest levels of black carbon emission in the world.
- Many studies have emphasised black carbon aerosols from South Asia can be transported across the Himalayas to the inland region of the Tibetan Plateau.
Impact on glaciers melting
- Black carbon deposition in snow reduces the albedo of surfaces — a measure of how much of Sun’s radiations are reflected.
- This accelerates the melting of glaciers and snow cover, thus changing the hydrological process and water resources in the region.
- They heat up the middle and upper atmosphere, thus increasing the North-South temperature gradient.
- As a result, precipitation in the central and the southern Tibetan Plateau decreases during the monsoon, especially in the southern Tibetan Plateau.
- The decrease in precipitation further leads to a decrease of mass gain of glaciers.
- From 2007 to 2016, the reduced mass gain by precipitation decrease accounted for 11% of the average glacier mass loss on the Tibetan Plateau and 22.1% in the Himalayas.
Crack Prelims 2023! Talk to our Rankers
(Click) FREE 1-to-1 on-call Mentorship by IAS-IPS officers | Discuss doubts, strategy, sources, and more
Get an IAS/IPS ranker as your 1: 1 personal mentor for UPSC 2024
Attend Now
Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Savitribhai Phule
Mains level: Not Much
Recently, 192nd birth anniversary of Savitribai Phule, w/o Jyotiba Phule (the pioneer of Satyashodhak Samaj) was celebrated.
Who was Savitribai Phule?
- A Dalit woman from the Mali community, Savitribai was born on January 3, 1831, in Maharashtraâs Naigaon village.
- Married off at the age of 10, her husband Jyotirao Phule is said to have educated her at home.
- Later, Jyotirao admitted Savitribai to a teachersâ training institution in Pune.
- Throughout their life, the couple supported each other and in doing so, broke many social barriers.
Pioneering first school for girls in India
- At a time when it was considered unacceptable for women to even attain education, the couple went on to open a school for girls in Bhidewada, Pune, in 1848.
- This became the countryâs first girlsâ school.
Opposition to Phulesâ schools
- The Phules opened more such schools for girls, Shudras and Ati-Shudras (the backward castes and Dalits, respectively) in Pune.
- This led to discontent among Indian nationalists like Bal Gangadhar Tilak.
- They opposed the setting up of schools for girls and non-Brahmins, citing a âloss of nationalityâ, and believing not following the caste rules would mean a loss of nationality itself.
- Savitribai herself faced great animosity from the upper castes, including instances of physical violence.
- When serving as the headmistress of the first school in Bhide Wada, upper-caste men often pelted stones and threw mud and cow dung on her.
Phuleâs role as a social reformer, beyond education
- Infanticide prevention: Along with Jyotirao, Savitribai started the Balhatya Pratibandhak Griha (âHome for the Prevention of Infanticideâ) for pregnant widows facing discrimination.
- Child adoption: The Phules also adopted Yashwantrao, the child of a widow, whom they educated to become a doctor.
- Reforms in marriages: Savitribai Phule also advocated inter-caste marriages, widow remarriage, and eradication of child marriage, sati and dowry systems, among other social issues.
- Denouncing Brahmanical ritualism: As an extension, they started âSatyashodhak Marriageâ â a rejection of Brahmanical rituals where the marrying couple takes a pledge to promote education and equality.
- Bubonic plague mitigation: Savitribai became involved in relief work during the 1896 famine in Maharashtra and the 1897 Bubonic plague. She herself contracted the disease while taking a sick child to the hospital, and breathed her last on March 10, 1897.
Savitribaiâs literary works
- Savitribai Phule published her first collection of poems, called Kavya Phule (âPoetryâs Blossomsâ), at the age of 23 in 1854.
- She published Bavan Kashi Subodh Ratnakar (âThe Ocean of Pure Gemsâ), in 1892.
- Besides these works, Matushri Savitribai Phulenchi Bhashane va Gaani (Savitribai Phuleâs speeches and songsâ), and her letters to her husband have also been published.
Click and get your FREE Copy of CURRENT AFFAIRS Micro Notes
(Click) FREE 1-to-1 on-call Mentorship by IAS-IPS officers | Discuss doubts, strategy, sources, and more
Get an IAS/IPS ranker as your 1: 1 personal mentor for UPSC 2024
Attend Now
