Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Tiangong space station
Mains level: Not Much
Three Chinese astronauts floated into the country’s new Tiangong space station for a three-month mission.
Tiangong Space Station
- Tiangong means “Heavenly Palace”.
- It was 10.4 metres long and 3.35 metres wide at its widest point, and weighed 8.6 metric tonnes.
- It was launched on September 15, 2016 and, in late 2016, hosted two Chinese astronauts for 30 days in what was China’s longest manned space mission so far.
- The recently decommissioned space lab followed the Tiangong-1, China’s first space station, which crashed into the southern Pacific Ocean on April 1, 2018 after Chinese scientists lost control of the spacecraft.
- China had launched Tiangong-1 in 2011 as proof-of-concept of technologies for future stations.
- The Tiangong will be fully operational by the end of 2022.
Features of this Space Station
- The significant feature of Tiangong is its two robotic arms.
- The US has previously expressed concern over its ability to grab objects including satellites from space.
- The 10-meter-long arm was in action previously seen in action successfully grabbing and moving a 20 tonne Tianzhou-2 cargo ship in a test.
- One of the noteworthy tasks for the Shenzhou-14 crew is to test and operate the large and small
- The small arm is quite flexible and can perform operations with greater precision.
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From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: eVTOL Aircrafts
Mains level: Not Much
The Union Civil Aviation Ministry is exploring the possibility of inviting manufacturers of Electric Vertical Take-off and Landing (eVTOL) aircraft to set up base in India.
What is eVTOL?
- EVTOL aircraft is one that uses electric power to hover, take off, and land vertically.
- Most eVTOLs also use what is called as distributed electric propulsion technology which means integrating a complex propulsion system with the airframe.
- There are multiple motors for various functions; to increase efficiency; and to also ensure safety.
- It works on electric propulsion based on progress in motor, battery, fuel cell and electronic controller technologies.
- It is also fuelled by the need for new vehicle technology that ensures urban air mobility (UAM).
Features of eVTOL
- eVTOL is emerging as a runway independent technological solution” for the globe’s transportation needs.
- There are an estimated 250 eVTOL concepts or more being fine-tuned to bring alive the concept of UAM.
- Some of these include the use of multi-rotors, fixed-wing and tilt-wing concepts backed by sensors, cameras and even radar.
- The key word here is “autonomous connectivity”. Some of these are in various test phases.
- In short, eVTOLs have been likened to “a third wave in an aerial revolution”; the first being the advent of commercial flying, and the second, the age of helicopters.
What are the developments in powering eVTOLs?
- The roles eVTOLs adopt depends on battery technology and the limits of onboard electric power.
- Power is required during the key phases of flight such as take-off, landing and flight (especially in high wind conditions).
- There is a “Diamond Nuclear Voltaic (DNV) technology” using minute amounts of carbon-14 nuclear waste encased in layered industrial diamonds to create self-charging batteries.
- There are some industry experts who are questioning the use of only batteries and are looking at hybrid technologies such as hydrogen cells and batteries depending on the flight mission.
What are the challenges?
- As the technology so far is a mix of unpiloted and piloted aircraft, the areas in focus include “crash prevention systems”.
- There are also issues such as ensuring safety in case of power plant or rotor failure.
- Aircraft protection from cyberattacks is another area of focus.
- A third area is in navigation and flight safety and the use of technology when operating in difficult terrain, unsafe operating environments, and also bad weather.
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From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: D2M Technology
Mains level: Telecom sector reforms
The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) and India’s public service broadcaster Prasar Bharati are exploring ‘direct-to-mobile’ (D2M) broadcasting.
What is D2M Technology?
- The technology is based on the convergence of broadband and broadcast, using which mobile phones can receive terrestrial digital TV.
- It would be similar to how people listen to FM radio on their phones, where a receiver within the phone can tap into radio frequencies.
- Using D2M, multimedia content can also be beamed to phones directly.
Benefits of D2M
- It allows broadcasting video and other forms of multimedia content directly to mobile phones, without needing an active internet connection.
- It promises to improve consumption of broadband and utilisation of spectrum.
Why need D2M?
- The idea behind the technology is that it can possibly be used to directly broadcast content related to citizen-centric information.
- It can be further used to counter fake news, issue emergency alerts and offer assistance in disaster management, among other things.
- Apart from that, it can be used to broadcast live news, sports etc. on mobile phones.
- More so, the content should stream without any buffering whatsoever while not consuming any internet data.
What could be the consumer and business impact of this?
- For consumers, a technology like this would mean that they would be able to access multimedia content from Video on Demand (VoD) or Over The Top (OTT) content platforms.
- This will be without having to exhaust their mobile data, and more importantly, at a nominal rate.
- The technology will also allow people from rural areas, with limited or no internet access, to watch video content.
- For businesses, one of the key benefits of the technology is that it can enable telecom service providers to offload video traffic from their mobile network onto the broadcast network.
- It thus helps them to decongest valuable mobile spectrum.
- This will also improve usage of mobile spectrum and free up bandwidth which will help reduce call drops, increase data speeds etc.
What is the government doing to facilitate D2M technology?
- The DoT has set up a committee to study the feasibility of a spectrum band for offering broadcast services directly to users’ smartphones.
- Band 526-582 MHz is envisaged to work in coordination with both mobile and broadcast services.
- DoT has set up a committee to study this band.
- At the moment, this band is used by the Ministry of Information & Broadcasting across the country for TV transmitters.
What are the possible challenges to the technology’s rollout?
- Bringing key stakeholders like mobile operators onboard will be the biggest challenge in launching D2M technology on a wide scale.
- A mass roll out of the technology will entail changes in infrastructure and some regulatory changes.
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From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: PM Shri Schools
Mains level: New Education Policy, 2020
Union Education Ministry is planning to set up “PM Shri Schools”.
PM Shri Schools
- PM Shri Schools will be the laboratory of National Education Policy (NEP) 2020.
- They will be fully equipped to prepare students for the future.
Likely features of these schools
- It could imbibe 5+3+3+4 (to replace the 10+2 schooling system) approach of NEP covering pre-school to secondary, emphasis on ECCE, teacher training & adult education.
- There will be an integration of skill development with school education and prioritising learning in mother tongue which are steps for preparing global citizens of the 21st century.
- Since the NEP 2020 also increases the span of the Right to Education Act, it will now cover ages 3 to 18.
Explained: 5+3+3+4 Schooling System
- As per the new school education system of 5+3+3+4 outlined in NEP 2020, children will spend 5 years in the Foundational stage, 3 years in the Preparatory stage, 3 years in the Middle stage, and 4 years in the Secondary stage.
- The division of stages has been made in line with the kind of cognitive development stages that a child goes through early childhood, school years, and secondary stage.
- Here is the age-wise breakdown of the different levels of the new school education system:
(1) 5 years of Foundational stage:
For ages: 3 to 8, For classes: Anganwadi/pre-school, class 1, class 2
- The foundational stage of education as per the national education policy will comprise 3 years or preschool or anganwadi education followed by two years of primary classes (classes 1 and 2).
- This stage will focus on teaching in play-based or activity-based methods and on the development of language skills.
(2) 3 years of Preparatory stage:
For ages: 8 to 11, For classes: 3 to 5
- The focus in the preparatory stage will remain on language development and numeracy skills.
- Here, the method of teaching and learning would be play and activity-based, and also include classroom interactions and the element of discovery.
(3) 3 years of Middle stage:
For ages: 11 to 14, For classes: 6 to 8
- As per NEP 2020, this stage of school education will focus on critical learning objectives, which is a big shift from the rote learning methods used in our education system for years.
- This stage will work on experiential learning in the sciences, mathematics, arts, social sciences and humanities.
(4) 4 years of Secondary stage:
For ages: 14 to 18, For classes: 9 to 12
- This stage will cover two phases classes 9 and 10, and classes 11 and 12.
- The main change in these classes is the shift to a multidisciplinary system where students will have access to a variety of subject combinations that they can choose as per their skills and interest areas instead of being strictly divided into Arts, Science and Commerce categories.
- This stage will again push for greater critical thinking and flexibility in the thought process.
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From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: International Liquid Mirror Telescope (ILMT)
Mains level: Not Much
The four-meter International Liquid Mirror Telescope (ILMT) saw the first light recently, gazing out from its vantage on Devasthal, a hill in Uttarakhand.
What is the ILMT?
- The telescope has been built by a collaboration of scientists from Canada, Belgium and India.
- It is located at an altitude of 2,450 metres on the Devasthal Observatory campus of the Aryabhata Research Institute of Observational Sciences (ARIES) in Nainital district.
- A large pool of mercury placed in a vessel is spun around so fast that it curves into a parabolic shape. Since mercury is reflective, this shape helps in focusing the reflected light.
- Nearly 50 litres of mercury, weighing close to 700 kilograms, is spun hard to form a paraboloid mirror of just 4 mm thickness and a diameter of about 4 metres.
- A thin sheet of mylar protects the mercury from the wind.
- Once it starts making observations, the telescope will collect gigabytes of data, which will need to be analysed using artificial intelligence and machine learning (AI and ML) tools.
It’s utility
- The telescope will make sky surveys possible and obtain images that can help observe transient phenomena.
- It will help analyse events such as supernovae and record the presence of space debris or meteorites — basically, watch the skies.
What is the first image?
- The first image made by the telescope consisted of several stars and a galaxy, NGC 4274, which is 45 million light years away.
- The telescope, having a primary mirror that is liquid, cannot be turned and pointed in any direction.
- It “stares” at the zenith and watches the sky as the earth rotates, thereby giving a view of different objects.
- This property can be used to scan and survey the sky, and observe transients and moving objects such as meteorites.
- It will work in tandem with the existing 3.6-metre Devasthal Optical Telescope.
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From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Overseas Indians
Mains level: Issues faced by Overseas Indians
A national helpline for women deserted in Non-Resident Indian (NRI) marriages and the need for a dedicated fund to provide assistance to them are among the recommendations made at a consultation organized by the National Commission for Women (NCW).
What are the issues faced by NRI wives?
- Abandon after marriage
- Inconclusive divorces filed abroad
- Child custody disputes
Classification of Overseas Indians
Overseas Indians, officially known as Non-resident Indians (NRIs) or Persons of Indian Origin (PIOs), are people of Indian birth, descent or origin who live outside the Republic of India:
(A) Non-Resident Indian (NRI)
- Strictly asserting non-resident refers only to the tax status of a person who, as per section 6 of the Income-tax Act of 1961, has not resided in India for a specified period for the purposes of the Act.
- The rates of income tax are different for persons who are “resident in India” and for NRIs.
(B) Person of Indian Origin (PIO)
Person of Indian Origin (PIO) means a foreign citizen (except a national of Pakistan, Afghanistan, Bangladesh, China, Iran, Bhutan, Sri Lanka and/or Nepal), who:
- at any time held an Indian passport OR
- either of their parents/grandparents/great-grandparents were born and permanently resident in India as defined in GoI Act, 1935 and other territories that became part of India thereafter provided neither was at any time a citizen of any of the aforesaid countries OR
- is a spouse of a citizen of India or a PIO.
(C) Overseas Citizenship of India (OCI)
- After multiple efforts by leaders across the Indian political spectrum, a pseudo-citizenship scheme was established, the “Overseas Citizenship of India”, commonly referred to as the OCI card.
- The Constitution of India does not permit full dual citizenship.
- The OCI card is effectively a long-term visa, with restrictions on voting rights and government jobs.
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From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Liquid Nano Urea (LNU)
Mains level: India's fertilizer subsidy
During his visit to Gujarat, Prime Minister inaugurated the country’s first liquid nano urea plant at Kalol.
Liquid Nano Urea (LNU)
- Urea is chemical nitrogen fertiliser, white in colour, which artificially provides nitrogen, a major nutrient required by plants.
- LNU is essentially urea in the form of a nanoparticle.
- It is sprayed directly on the leaves and gets absorbed by the plant.
- Fertilisers in nano form provide a targeted supply of nutrients to crops, as they are absorbed by the stomata, pores found on the epidermis of leaves.
- According to IFFCO, liquid nano urea contains 4 per cent total nitrogen (w/v) evenly dispersed in water.
- The size of a nano nitrogen particle varies from 20-50 nm. (A nanometre is equal to a billionth of a metre.)
Significance of LNU
- This patented product is expected to not only substitute imported urea, but to also produce better results in farms.
- Apart from reducing the country’s subsidy bill, it is aimed at reducing the unbalanced and indiscriminate use of conventional urea.
- It will help increase crop productivity, and reduce soil, water, and air pollution.
Using LNU
- The liquid nano urea produced by Indian Farmers Fertiliser Cooperative (IFFCO) Limited comes in a half-litre bottle priced at Rs 240, and carries no burden of subsidy currently.
- By contrast, a farmer pays around Rs 300 for a 50-kg bag of heavily subsidised urea.
- According to IFFCO, a bottle of the nano urea can effectively replace at least one bag of urea.
How efficient is LNU?
- While conventional urea has an efficiency of about 25 per cent, the efficiency of liquid nano urea can be as high as 85-90 per cent.
- Conventional urea fails to have the desired impact on crops as it is often applied incorrectly, and the nitrogen in it is vaporized or lost as a gas.
- A lot of nitrogen is also washed away during irrigation.
- Liquid nano urea has a shelf life of a year, and farmers need not be worried about “caking” when it comes in contact with moisture.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Astra AAM
Mains level: India's missile arsenal
The Ministry of Defence has signed a contract with Bharat Dynamics Ltd (BDL) for the supply of the Astra Mark-1for deployment on fighter jets of the Indian Air Force and Indian Navy.
Astra Missile
- The Astra Mk-1 is a beyond visual range (BVR), air-to-air missile (AAM).
- The Astra project was officially launched in the early 2000s with defined parameters and proposed future variants.
- The missile has been designed and developed by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO).
- It will be deployed on fighter jets like Sukhoi-30 MKI and Tejas of the IAF and the Mig-29K of the Navy.
- BVM missiles are capable of engaging beyond the range of 20 nautical miles or 37 kilometres.
Range and its Variants
- While the range for Astra Mk-1 is around 110 km, the Mk-2 with a range over 150 km is under development and Mk-3 version with a longer range is being envisaged.
- One more version of Astra, with a range smaller than Mk-1 is also under development.
Strategic significance
- The missile has been designed based on requirements specified by the IAF for BVR as well as close-combat engagement, reducing the dependency on foreign sources.
- AAMs with BVR capability provides large stand-off ranges to own fighter aircraft.
- It can neutralise adversary airborne assets without exposing adversary air defence measures.
- Stand-off range means the missile is launched at a distance sufficient to allow the attacking side to evade defensive fire from the target.
- Astra is technologically and economically superior to many such imported missile
- The missile can travel at speeds more than four times that of sound and can reach a maximum altitude of 20 km, making it extremely flexible for air combat.
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From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Railway links mentioned
Mains level: India-Bangladesh connectivity
Two years after they were stopped due to the onset of the pandemic, passenger train services between India and Bangladesh resumed with the Bandhan Express setting off from Kolkata for Khulna and the Maitree Express starting its run from Dhaka for Kolkata.
History of Rail Connectivity
- The Bandhan Express was resumed by rebooting a long-forgotten rail link between Kolkata and the industrial hub of Khulna, the third-largest city of Bangladesh.
- In 1965, this route was served by the Barisal Express, which was stopped due to the India-Pakistan war.
- The Modi government along with the Sheikh Hasina regime restarted that with Bandhan in 2017.
- The Bandhan Express was the second train to be flagged off after the introduction of Maitree Express between Kolkata and Dhaka Cantonment in April, 2008.
- It covers the distance between Kolkata and Khulna via Petrapole and Benapole border route to cater to the demands of the people from both the countries.
- The Bandhan Express was resumed in 2017 by rebooting a long-forgotten rail link between Kolkata and the industrial hub of Khulna.
Beyond passenger travel
- The governments of both the countries have been working towards strengthening the rail link between them, and not just through passenger trains.
- In August 2021, the two sides started regular movement of freight trains between the newly-restored link between Haldibari in India and Chilahati in Bangladesh.
- The Haldibari-Chilahati rail link between India and the then East Pakistan was also operational till 1965 and stopped due to the war.
- This was part of the broad gauge main route from Kolkata to Siliguri at the time of Partition.
- The two sides envisage at least 20 freight trains to cross the border per month on this link.
Rail infrastructure
- Once part of a single, seamless railway network under British rule, trains continued to pass between the two countries even after the Partition.
- The infrastructure to connect the two sides through railways was, therefore, largely present.
- Policymakers on both sides viewed this as an opportunity to deepen diplomatic ties using cross-border movements of goods and passengers.
- Five rail links have so far been rebooted between India and Bangladesh:
Petrapole (India)-Benapole (Bangladesh), Gede (India)- Darshana (Bangladesh), Singhabad (India)-Rohanpur (Bangladesh), Radhikapur (India)-Birol (Bangladesh) and the Haldibari-Chilahati link
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Various terms related to Monsoon
Mains level: Indian Monsoon
The monsoon has reached Kerala, the India Meteorological Department (IMD).
What does the “Onset of Monsoon” mean?
- The onset of the monsoon over Kerala marks the beginning of the four-month — June-September — southwest monsoon season over India.
- It brings more than 70 per cent of the country’s annual rainfall. This marks a significant day in India’s economic calendar.
- IMD announces it only after certain newly defined and measurable parameters, adopted in 2016, are met.
- Broadly, the IMD checks for the consistency of rainfall over a defined geography, its intensity, and wind speed.
(1) Rainfall
- The IMD declares the onset of the monsoon if at least 60% of 14 designated meteorological stations in Kerala and Lakshadweep.
- The 14 enlisted stations are: Minicoy, Amini, Thiruvananthapuram, Punalur, Kollam, Alappuzha, Kottayam, Kochi, Thrissur, Kozhikode, Thalassery, Kannur, Kasaragod, and Mangaluru.
- It records at least 2.5 mm of rain for two consecutive days at any time after May 10.
- In such a situation, the onset over Kerala is declared on the second day, provided specific wind and temperature criteria are also fulfilled.
(2) Wind field
- The depth of westerlies should be up to 600 hectopascal (1 hPa is equal to 1 millibar of pressure) in the area bound by the equator to 10ºN latitude, and from longitude 55ºE to 80ºE.
- The zonal wind speed over the area bound by 5-10ºN latitude and 70-80ºE longitude should be of the order of 15-20 knots (28-37 kph) at 925 hPa.
(3) Heat
- According to IMD, the INSAT-derived Outgoing Longwave Radiation (OLR) value (a measure of the energy emitted to space by the Earth’s surface, oceans, and atmosphere) should be below 200 watt per sq m (wm2).
- This is measured in the box confined by 5-10ºN latitude and 70-75ºE latitude.
Is it unusual for the monsoon to hit the Kerala coast early?
- Neither early nor late onset of the monsoon is unusual.
- In 2018 and 2017, the onset over Kerala occurred on May 29 and May 30, respectively.
- In 2010, onset was realised on May 31.
- In 2020 and 2013, the monsoon was exactly on time, hitting the Kerala coast on June 1.
Does an early onset foretell a good monsoon?
- No, it does not — just as a delay does not foretell a poor monsoon.
- The onset is just an event that happens during the progress of the monsoon over the Indian subcontinent.
- A delay of a few days, or perhaps the monsoon arriving a few days early, has no bearing on the quality or amount of rainfall.
How does the monsoon spread across the country after hitting Kerala coast?
- The northward progression of the monsoon after it has hit the Kerala coast depends on a lot of local factors, including the creation of low pressure areas.
- Though this year monsoon has arrived early, it is possible that despite a late onset over Kerala, other parts of the country start getting rain on time.
- After its onset over Kerala, the monsoon spreads over the entire country by July 15.
Back2Basics:
Various terms related to Indian Monsoon
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: West Nile Virus
Mains level: Vector borne diseases
The Kerala health department is on alert after the death occurred due to the West Nile Virus.
West Nile Virus
- The West Nile Virus is a mosquito-borne, single-stranded RNA virus.
- According to the WHO, it is a member of the flavivirus genus and belongs to the Japanese Encephalitis antigenic complex of the family Flaviviridae.
How does it spread?
- Culex species of mosquitoes act as the principal vectors for transmission.
- It is transmitted by infected mosquitoes between and among humans and animals, including birds, which are the reservoir host of the virus.
- Mosquitoes become infected when they feed on infected birds, which circulate the virus in their blood for a few days.
- The virus eventually gets into the mosquito’s salivary glands.
- During later blood meals (when mosquitoes bite), the virus may be injected into humans and animals, where it can multiply and possibly cause illness.
- WNV can also spread through blood transfusion, from an infected mother to her child, or through exposure to the virus in laboratories.
- It is not known to spread by contact with infected humans or animals.
Symptoms of WNV infection
- The disease is asymptomatic in 80% of the infected people.
- The rest develop what is called the West Nile fever or severe West Nile disease.
- In these 20% cases, the symptoms include fever, headache, fatigue, body aches, nausea, rash, and swollen glands.
- Severe infection can lead to encephalitis, meningitis, paralysis, and even death.
- It is estimated that approximately 1 in 150 persons infected with the West Nile Virus will develop a more severe form of the disease.
- Recovery from severe illness might take several weeks or months.
- It usually turns fatal in persons with co-morbidities and immuno-compromised persons (such as transplant patients).
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From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Man Booker Price
Mains level: NA
Author Geetanjali Shree’s translated Hindi novel, Tomb of Sand, became the first Indian language book to win the International Booker Prize.
Note: Such topics hold very little relevance for CSE prelims. However, last year experience make such topics more uncertain. Still such topics hold relevance for other exams such as CAPF and state PSCs.
What is the Booker Prize?
- The Booker Prize is one of the best-known literary awards for fiction writing in English, including both novels and collections of short stories.
- It was first awarded in 1969.
- Every year a panel of judges decides the best work of the year, with the criteria being that it must be written in English and published in the UK and Ireland.
- This panel of judges is picked from among eminent cultural historians, writers, professors, and novelists, and others from related fields.
- For the Booker Prize, the winner receives £50,000.
About the book
- The 2018 novel titled ‘Ret Samadhi’ was translated by Daisy Rockwell and published as ‘Tomb of Sand’ in 2021.
- The prize is one of two literary awards given out annually by the Booker Prize Foundation, a charity whose stated aim is to “promote the art and value of literature for the public benefit”.
What about the International Booker Prize?
- The International Booker Prize began in 2005.
- A biennial prize initially, it was then awarded for a body of work available in English, including translations, with Alice Munro, Lydia Davis and Philip Roth becoming some of the early winners.
- In 2015, the rules of the International prize changed to make it an annual affair.
- The new rules stipulated that it will be awarded annually for a single book, written in another language and translated into English.
- The £50,000 prize money is divided equally between the author and translator each year.
Why is it called the ‘Booker’?
- The Booker Prize, from 1969 to 2001, was named simply after the Booker Group Limited – a British food wholesale operator that was its initial sponsor.
- The Man Group, an investment management firm based in the UK, began to sponsor the prize in 2002 and it thus came to be known as The Man Booker Prize.
- The Man Group ended their sponsorship in 2019.
- Crankstart, an American charitable foundation, has been the sponsor after that. The prize name has changed back to the ‘Booker’ since then.
Who have been some prominent winners?
- Prominent winners of the coveted prize include Margaret Atwood (‘The Testaments’), Yann Martel (‘Life of Pi’), and Julian Barnes (‘The Sense of an Ending’).
- Many Indian-origin writers have won the Booker in the past, such as Arundhati Roy (‘The God of Small Things’), Salman Rushdie (‘Midnight’s Children’), Kiran Desai (‘The Inheritance of Loss’), and Aravind Adiga (‘The White Tiger’).
- Shree is the first Indian to win an international prize.
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From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: AKRUTI Program
Mains level: NA
The Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited is all set to launch AKRUTI programme in the villages surrounding Kudankulam Nuclear Power Project (KKNPP).
AKRUTI Program
- The Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited is assisting unemployed youth living near the Tarapur Atomic Power Station (TAPS) through AKRUTI.
- AKRUTI stands for Advanced Knowledge and Rural Technology Implementation (AKRUTI) program.
- Areas of water, food processing, agriculture and waste management in rural areas are covered under the AKRUTI program.
- The scheme aims at empowering villages through implementing different technologies for usage.
- This scheme will lead to sustainable growth of the rural sector across the country.
What is the objective?
- To provide information and mechanism for implementation of BARC technologies in rural areas thereby aiming at overall rural development.
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From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Monkey Pox
Mains level: Rise in zoonotic diseases
With cases being reported from across the world, monkeypox has caught everyone’s attention.
What is Monkeypox?
- Monkeypox is not a new virus.
- The virus, belonging to the poxvirus family of viruses, was first identified in monkeys way back in 1958, and therefore the name.
- The first human case was described in 1970 from the Democratic Republic of Congo.
- Many sporadic outbreaks of animal to human as well as human to human transmission has occurred in Central and West Africa in the past with significant mortality.
- After the elimination of smallpox, monkeypox has become one of the dominant poxviruses in humans, with cases increasing over years along with a consequent reduction in the age-group affected.
How is it transmitted?
- Since the transmission occurs only with close contact, the outbreaks have been in many cases self-limiting.
- Since in the majority of affected people, the incubation period ranges from five to 21 days and is often mild or self-limiting, asymptomatic cases could transmit the disease unknowingly.
- The outbreaks in Central Africa are thought to have been contributed by close contact with animals in regions adjoining forests.
- While monkeys are possibly only incidental hosts, the reservoir is not known.
- It is believed that rodents and non-human primates could be potential reservoirs.
Does the virus mutate?
- Monkeypox virus is a DNA virus with a quite large genome of around 2,00,000 nucleotide bases.
- While being a DNA virus, the rate of mutations in the monkeypox virus is significantly lower (~1-2 mutations per year) compared to RNA viruses like SARS-CoV-2.
- The low rate of mutation therefore limits the wide application of genomic surveillance in providing detailed clues to the networks of transmission for monkeypox.
- A number of genome sequences in recent years from Africa and across the world suggest that there are two distinct clades of the virus — the Congo Basin/Central African clade and the West African clade.
- Each of the clades further have many lineages.
What do the genomes say?
- With over a dozen genome sequences of monkeypox, it is reassuring that the sequences are quite identical to each other suggesting that only a few introductions resulted in the present spread of cases.
- Additionally, almost all genomes have come from the West African clade, which has much lesser fatality compared to the Central African one.
- This also roughly corroborates with the epidemiological understanding that major congregations in the recent past contributed to the widespread transmission across different countries.
Does it have an effective vaccine?
- It is reassuring that we know quite a lot more about the virus and its transmission patterns.
- We also have effective ways of preventing the spread, including a vaccine.
- Smallpox/vaccinia vaccine provides protection.
- While the vaccine has been discontinued in 1980 following the eradication of smallpox, emergency stockpiles of the vaccines are maintained by many countries.
- Younger individuals are unlikely to have received the vaccine and are therefore potentially susceptible to monkeypox which could partly explain its emergence in younger individuals.
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From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Service charges on food
Mains level: Not Much
The Centre has called a meeting of restaurant owners over service charge levied by them on customers.
Why in news?
- The restaurants are collecting service charges from consumers by default, even though collection of any such charge is voluntary and at the discretion of consumers and not mandatory as per law.
What are the components of a food bill?
- A restaurant bill in India comprises food charge (from the menu), with an addition of service charge (anywhere between 5 to 15 per cent) and a 5 per cent GST on this amount (IGST+SGST).
- This is for all kinds of standalone restaurants.
- In case a restaurant is located inside a hotel wherein room rate is upwards of Rs 7,500 (mostly in case of five-stars), the GST would be 18 per cent.
Nature of Service charge
- While the GST is a mandatory component as per law, the service charge is supposed to be optional.
- It is the equivalent of what is known as gratuity around the world, or tip, in casual parlance.
- Most restaurants decide the service charge on their own, and print it at the bottom of the menu with an asterisk.
Policy measures
- The Ministry of Consumer Affairs had come out with “Guidelines on Fair Trade Practices Related to Charging of Service Charge from Consumers by Hotels/ Restaurants”.
- Here it was clearly mentioned that a component of service is inherent in the provision of food and beverages ordered by a customer.
- Hence the pricing of the product is expected to cover both the goods and service components.
- It said that the bill “may clearly display that service charge is voluntary, and the service charge column of the bill may be left blank for the customer to fill up before making payment.”
What do the restaurants say?
- The levy of service charge by a restaurant is a matter of individual policy to decide if it is to be charged or not.
- There is no illegality in levying such a charge.
- Once the customer is made aware of such a charge in advance and then decides to place the order, it becomes an agreement between the parties, and is not an unfair trade practice.
- GST is also paid on the said charge to the Government.
Where does the fund go?
- Restaurants claim that a major chunk of the service charge thus collected goes to the staff, while the rest goes towards a welfare fund to help them out during good and bad times.
- It’s a default billing option, even as customers can choose not to pay it if they don’t want to.
- Of course, they are paid the salaries but the service charge works as an incentive for them.
- Restaurateurs also say that patrons can decide not to pay the charge and tip the server directly, but in this case, the backroom staff doesn’t get anything.
- A service charge ensures all staff members are rewarded evenly.
What is the issue then?
- The issue is that almost all restaurants have put service charge (fixed at their own accord) as a default billing option.
- And if a consumer is aware that it is not compulsory and wants it removed or wants to tip the server directly, the onus is on them to convince the management why they don’t want to pay it.
- The department says they received several complaints saying it leads to public embarrassment and spoils the dining experience since at the end of it, they either pay the charge quietly and exit the place feeling cheated, or have to try hard to get it removed.
- Also, there is no transparency as to where this charge goes.
- The officials also say that collecting service charge on their own and paying GST on it to the government doesn’t make it authorised.
Problems faced by customers
- It is this component which has come under dispute from time to time, with consumers arguing they are not bound to pay it.
- It also said that hotels and restaurants charging tips from customers without their express consent in the name of service charges amounts to unfair trade practice.
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From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Qutub Minar
Mains level: Not Much
The Qutub Minar complex is not a place of worship and its character cannot be changed now, the Archaeological Survey of India submitted in a Delhi Court while opposing a plea challenging the dismissal of a civil suit seeking “restoration” of temples on the premises.
What is the case?
- The original suit claimed that 27 temples were demolished to build the Quwwat-ul-Islam mosque at the Qutub Minar complex.
- This pleas was dismissed last year under the provisions of Places of Worship (Special Provisions) Act, 1991.
- The Additional District Judge (ADJ) has now reserved the order.
- The petitioner said that the dismissal of the original suit based on the 1991 Act was wrong.
- The Qutub Minar complex comes under the purview of the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Sites and Remains (AMASR) Act of 1958.
Why in news now?
- The ASI now submitted that the Qutub Minar complex was not a place of worship when it was first notified as a protected monument in 1914.
- The ASI, explained that the character of a monument is decided on the date when it comes under protection.
About Qutub Minar
- The Qutub Minar is a minaret and “victory tower” that forms part of the Qutb complex, which lies at the site of Delhi’s oldest fortified city, Lal Kot, founded by the Tomar Rajputs.
- It is a UNESCO World Heritage Site in the Mehrauli area of South Delhi.
- It can be compared to the 62-metre all-brick Minaret of Jam in Afghanistan, of c. 1190, which was constructed a decade or so before the probable start of the Delhi tower.
- The surfaces of both are elaborately decorated with inscriptions and geometric patterns.
- The Qutb Minar has a shaft that is fluted with “superb stalactite bracketing under the balconies” at the top of each stage.
Its construction
- The Qutb Minar was built over the ruins of the Lal Kot, the citadel of Dhillika.
- Qutub Minar was begun after the Quwwat-ul-Islam Mosque, which was started around 1192 by Qutb-ud-din Aibak, first ruler of the Delhi Sultanate.
- It is usually thought that the tower is named for Qutb-ud-din Aibak, who began it.
- It is also possible that it is named after Khwaja Qutbuddin Bakhtiar Kaki a 13th-century sufi saint, because Shamsuddin Iltutmish was a devotee of his.
- Quwwat-ul-Islam Mosque, to the north-east of the Minar was built by Qutub-ud-Din Aibak in A.D. 1198.
- It consists of a rectangular courtyard enclosed by cloisters, erected with the carved columns and architectural members of 27 Jain and Hindu temples, which were demolished by Qutub-ud-Din.
- This is recorded in his inscription on the main eastern entrance.
Back2Basics:
What is the Places of Worship Act?
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From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Prithviraj Chauhan
Mains level: NA
There is controversy around a new film where some communities of Rajasthan are laying claim over the 12th century emperor Prithviraj Chauhan.
Prithviraj Chauhan
- Prithviraj Chauhan (1177–1192 CE) popularly known as a king from the Chauhan (Chahamana) dynasty who ruled the territory of Sapadalaksha, with his capital at Ajmer in present-day Rajasthan.
- Ascending the throne as a minor in 1177 CE, Prithviraj inherited a kingdom which stretched from Thanesar in the north to Jahazpur (Mewar) in the south.
His legend
- He aimed to expand by military actions against neighbouring kingdoms, most notably defeating the Chandela’s.
- Prithviraj unified several Rajput clans and defeated the Ghurid army led by Muhammad Ghori near Taraori in 1191 AD.
- However, in 1192 CE, Ghori returned with an army of Turkish mounted archers and defeated the Rajput army on the same battlefield.
- Prithviraj fled the battlefield, but was captured near Sirsa and executed.
- His defeat at Tarain is seen as a landmark event in the Islamic conquest of India, and has been described in several semi-legendary accounts, most notably the Prithviraj Raso.
Prithviraj in literary works
- The image of Prithviraj as a fearless and skilled warrior that is now etched in the folk imagination can be traced back to his depiction in ‘Prithviraj Raso’.
- This was a poem in Brajbhasha attributed to Chand Bardai, which is thought to have been composed in the 16th century.
- James Mill’s ‘The History of British India’ (1817) categorized Indian history into the Hindu, Muhammadan and British periods.
- In this formulation, Prithviraj Chauhan would be the last ruler of ‘Hindu’ India.
Why is he being revived?
- To a vocal section of the Hindu right, Prithviraj Chauhan appears as “the last Hindu emperor” of India who made a valiant attempt to stop the radical invaders.
- In the popular imagination, he is the heroic figure who symbolises the exalted ideals of patriotism and national pride.
- However the historical evidence demonstrates rather different ways in which Prithviraj has been seen over the ages.
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From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Pravaig Field Pack
Mains level: Not Much
A Bengaluru-based venture has produced a rugged tactical battery that it is now planning to sell to the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) forces in Europe.
Pravaig Field Pack
- It is a heavy-duty power bank that is portable and weighs 14 kilograms.
- It is of great utility to the digitally connected modern military and Special Forces personnel who have to operate in high-risk zones while using gadgets that require constant power back-up.
- These batteries are designed, engineered and made in India.
- The field pack can be used to charge a MacBook 60 times.
Significance of Pravaig
- This supply marks a major shift in the defense landscape of India — a tipping point in the reversal of India’s high technology defense industry, from users to developers, from importers to exporters.
- The field pack can be used to energize a military person’s field duties and it can be used to deploy remote sensors.
- A powerful tactical battery can be used even to operate larger military equipment such as drones and it can even help coordinate tactical operations which involve multiple weapons systems.
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From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Storage gain in wheat
Mains level: NA
Punjab’s state procurement agencies (SPAs) are seeking a waiver of ‘storage gain’.
What is ‘storage gain’ in wheat?
- Wheat, considered a ‘living grain’, tends to gain some weight during storage.
- This is known as ‘storage gain’ and it mostly happens due to absorption of moisture.
- There are three parts of the grain — bran (outer layer rich in fibre), germ (inner layer rich in nutrients) and endosperm (bulk of the kernel which contains minerals and vitamins).
- The moisture is mostly absorbed by the endosperm.
Who compensates whom for ‘storage gain’?
- State procurement agencies, which purchase and store wheat at their facilities, are required to give one kg wheat extra per quintal to the Food Corporation of India (FCI).
- While 20% of wheat, procured by the FCI and the SPAs, is moved immediately after procurement.
- It is usually on the remaining 80%, which is moved out after July 1 every year that storage gain has to be accounted for due to longer storage duration.
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From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Project Wardec
Mains level: Not Much
The Army Training Command signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Gandhinagar-based Rashtriya Raksha University (RRU) to develop a ‘Wargame Research and Development Centre (WARDEC)’ in New Delhi.
What is Project WARDEC?
- The project ‘WARDEC’ will be a first-of-its-kind simulation-based training centre in India that will use artificial intelligence (AI) to design virtual reality war-games.
- The Wargame Research and Development Centre will be used by the Army to train its soldiers and test their strategies through “metaverse-enabled gameplay”.
- The wargame models will be designed to prepare for wars as well as counter-terror and counter-insurgency operations.
Where will the centre come up and when?
- The centre will come up in a military zone in New Delhi, confirmed RRU officials privy to the development.
- The RRU will join hands with Tech Mahindra to develop the centre in the coming three to four months.
- The RRU, an institute under the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), specialises in national security and policing.
- Located in Gandhinagar’s Lavad village, it is an “institute of national importance” – a status granted to it by an Act of Parliament.
How will these simulation exercises play out?
- Soldiers will test their skills in the metaverse where their surroundings will be simulated using a combination of virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR).
- In metaverse, the players will get a realistic experience of the actual situation.
- If a weapon weighing 5 kg drops or the air pressure falls, they will feel it like anyone would in a live situation, real-time.
- The game would play out player versus player, player versus computer or even computer versus computer.
How will the centre help the Army?
- The Army intends to use the war-game centre to train its officers in military strategies.
- Indian Army will provide data to set the backdrop of the gameplay, so that participants get a realistic experience.
- In Army, it is often said that the enemy can ambush you from 361 directions, where 360 sides are around the soldier, and one is above in case there is an airdrop.
- So, wargame simulation helps the Army think of all possible scenarios.
What promise does AI-based wargame simulation hold?
- Apart from the armed forces, the BSF, CRPF, CISF, ITBP and SSB can also use the metaverse-enabled simulation exercises for better training.
- The use of AI can provide a totally immersive training experience as it can simulate a battlefield close to reality and map several eventualities in the probable event of a war.
How many countries use such wargaming drills?
- Since the 9/11 attacks, use of information technology-enabled wargaming is preferred by several countries like the US, Israel, the UK to prepare for possibilities in case of terror attacks or war.
- In March 2014, several world leaders, including former German chancellor Angela Merkel, former US president Barack Obama and Chinese president Xi Jinping had played a war simulation game.
- It was during the Hague Summit about how to react in case of a nuclear attack.
- In that case, the target of the nuclear attack was a fictional country named Brinia.
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