Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Dickensonia, Bhimbetka
Mains level: Stone age paintings in India
Researchers have found the first-ever fossil in India of a Dickinsonia —the Earth’s ‘oldest animal’, dating back 570 million years — on the roof of what’s called the ‘Auditorium Cave’ at Bhimbetka.
Dickinsonia
- Dickinsonia is an extinct genus of basal animal that lived during the late Ediacaran period in what is now Australia, Russia and Ukraine.
- The individual Dickinsonia typically resembles a bilaterally symmetrical ribbed oval.
- Its affinities are presently unknown; its mode of growth is consistent with a stem-group bilaterian affinity, though some have suggested that it belongs to the fungi or even an “extinct kingdom”.
- The discovery of cholesterol molecules in fossils of Dickinsonia lends support to the idea that Dickinsonia was an animal.
What are the new findings?
Like the awe-inspiring rock shelters themselves, this fossil was discovered by chance.
- Dickinsonia fossils have shown that they could exceed four feet in length but the one found in Bhimbetka is 17 inches long.
- Eleven feet above the ground, almost blending with the rock and easily mistaken by laymen for prehistoric rock art, they found imprints of the Dickinsonia.
- It is believed to be one of the key links between the early, simple organisms and the explosion of life in the Cambrian Period, about 541 million years ago.
Cambrian Explosion and Dickinsonia
- The ‘Cambrian Explosion’ is the term given to the period of time in history when complex animals and other macroscopic organisms such as molluscs, worms, arthropods and sponges began to dominate the fossil record.
- Researchers from Australian found the Dickinsonia fossil since its tissue contained molecules of cholesterol a type of fat that is the hallmark of animal life.
Do you know?
Cosmogenic nuclide dating is deployed to determine time of earliest human culture. India’s oldest stone-age tools, up to 1.5 million years old, are at a prehistoric site near Chennai.
About Bhimbetka
- The Bhimbetka rock shelters are an archaeological site in central India that spans the prehistoric Paleolithic and Mesolithic periods, as well as the historic period.
- It exhibits the earliest traces of human life in India and evidence of Stone Age starting at the site in Acheulian times.
- It is located in the Raisen District in Madhya Pradesh about 45 kilometres (28 mi) south-east of Bhopal.
- It is a UNESCO World Heritage Site that consists of seven hills and over 750 rock shelters distributed over 10 km (6.2 mi).
- At least some of the shelters were inhabited more than 100,000 years ago.
- Some of the Bhimbetka rock shelters feature prehistoric cave paintings and the earliest are about 10,000 years old (c. 8,000 BCE), corresponding to the Indian Mesolithic.
- These cave paintings show themes such as animals, early evidence of dance and hunting.
- The Bhimbetka rock shelters were found by V S Wakankar 64 years ago. Since then, thousands of researchers have visited the site, but this rare fossil went undetected.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Not Much
Mains level: Prevention of Insults to National Honour Act
Police have booked several under The Prevention of Insults to National Honour Act, 1971, for the alleged insult of the National Flag in farmers protest on Republic Day.
Prevention of Insults to National Honour Act
- The law, enacted on December 23, 1971, penalizes the desecration of or insult to Indian national symbols, such as the National Flag, the Constitution, the National Anthem, and the Indian map, as well as contempt of the Constitution of India.
- Section 2 of the Act deals with insults to Indian National Flag and Constitution of India.
Do you know?
Article 51 ‘A’ contained in Part IV A i.e. Fundamental Duties asks:
To abide by the constitution and respect its ideals and institutions, the National Flag and the National Anthem in clause (a).
Other provisions
- Section 3.22 of The Flag Code of India, 2002 deals with laws, practices and conventions that apply to the display of the national flag.
- Section 3.58 says: On occasions of State/Military/Central Paramilitary Forces funerals, the flag shall be draped over the bier or coffin with the saffron towards the head of the bier or coffin.
- The Flag shall not be lowered into the grave or burnt in the pyre.
Try this PYQ:
Q.The national motto of India, ‘Satyameva Jayate’ inscribed below the Emblem of India is taken from:
(a) Katha Upanishad
(b) Chandogya Upanishad
(c) Aitareya Upanishad
(d) Mundaka Upanishad
Use of flag in funerals
- The flag can only be used during a funeral if it is accorded the status of a state funeral.
- Apart from police and armed forces, state funerals are held when people who are holding or have held the office of President, Vice-President, PM, Cabinet Minister, or state CM pass away.
- The status of a state funeral can be accorded in case of death of people not belonging to the armed forces, police or the above-mentioned categories by the state government.
- Then too, the national flag can be used.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Einsteinium
Mains level: Not Much
The University of California has reported some of the properties of element 99 in the periodic table called “Einsteinium”, named after Albert Einstein.
Try this PYQ:
Q.The known forces of nature can be divided into four classes, viz, gravity, electromagnetism, weak nuclear force and strong nuclear force.
With reference to them, which one of the following statements is not correct? (CSP 2012)
(a) Gravity is the strongest of the four
(b) Electromagnetism act only on particles with an electric charge
(c) Weak nuclear force causes radioactivity
(d) Strong nuclear force holds protons and neutrons inside the nuclear of an atom.
Einsteinium
- It was discovered in 1952 in the debris of the first hydrogen bomb (the detonation of a thermonuclear device called “Ivy Mike” in the Pacific Ocean).
- Since its discovery, scientists have not been able to perform a lot of experiments with it because it is difficult to create and is highly radioactive.
- Therefore, very little is known about this element.
- With this new study published in the journal Nature last week, for the first time researchers have been able to characterize some of the properties of the element.
The discovery of the element
- Ivy Mike was detonated on November 1, 1952, as part of a test at a remote island location called Elugelab on the Eniwetok Atoll in the South Pacific.
- The blast produced an explosion that was about 500 times more destructive than the explosion that occurred at Nagasaki.
- Subsequently, the fallout material from this explosion was sent to Berkeley in California for analysis which identified over 200 atoms of the new element.
Properties of the element
- Einsteinium has a half-life of 20 days.
- Because of its high radioactivity and short half-life of all einsteinium isotopes, even if the element was present on Earth during its formation, it has most certainly decayed.
- This is the reason that it cannot be found in nature and needs to be manufactured using very precise and intense processes.
- Therefore, so far, the element has been produced in very small quantities and its usage is limited except for the purposes of scientific research.
- The element is also not visible to the naked eye and after it was discovered, it took over nine years to manufacture enough of it so that it could be seen with the naked eye.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Hope Mission
Mains level: Mars mission worldwide and their success
The first Arab interplanetary mission is expected to reach Mars’ orbit on February 9 in what is considered the most critical part of the journey to unravel the secrets of weather on the Red Planet.
Try this question from CSP 2014:
Q.Which of the following pair is/are correctly matched?
| Spacecraft |
Purpose |
| 1. Cassini-Huygens |
Orbiting the Venus and transmitting data to the Earth |
| 2. Messenger |
Mapping and investigating the Mercury |
| 3. Voyager 1 and 2 |
Exploring the outer solar system |
Select the correct answer using the code given below.
a) 1 only
b) 2 and 3 only
c) 1 and 3 only
d) 1, 2 and 3
Hope Mission
- The Emirates Mars Mission called “Hope” was announced in 2015 with the aim of creating mankind’s first integrated model of the Red planet’s atmosphere.
- Hope weighs over 1500 kg and will carry scientific instruments mounted on one side of the spacecraft, including the Emirates exploration Imager (EXI), which is a high-resolution camera among others.
- The spacecraft will orbit Mars to study the Martian atmosphere and its interaction with outer space and solar winds.
- Hope will collect data on Martian climate dynamics, which should help scientists understand why Mars’ atmosphere is decaying into space.
Objectives of the mission
- Once it launches, Hope will orbit Mars for around 200 days, after which it will enter the Red planet’s orbit by 2021, coinciding with the 50th anniversary of the founding of UAE.
- The mission is being executed by the Mohammed bin Rashid Space Centre, UAE’s space agency.
- It will help answer key questions about the global Martian atmosphere and the loss of hydrogen and oxygen gases into space over the span of one Martian year.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Trans fats
Mains level: Health threats posed by Trans Fats
The FSSAI has amended its rules to put a cap on trans fatty acids (TFAs) in food products just weeks after it tightened the norms for oils and fats.
What are the new rules?
- Food products in which edible oils and fats are used as an ingredient shall not contain industrial Trans fatty acids more than 2% by mass of the total oils/fats present in the product, on and from 1st January 2022.
- In December, the FSSAI had capped TFAs in oils and fats to 3% by 2021, and 2% by 2022 from the current levels of 5%.
- The 2% cap is considered to be the elimination of trans fatty acids, which is to be achieved by 2022.
What are Trans Fats?
- Trans fatty acids are created in an industrial process that adds hydrogen to liquid vegetable oils to make them more solid, increase the shelf life of food items and for use as an adulterant as they are cheap.
- They are present in baked, fried and processed foods as well as adulterated ghee which becomes solid at room temperature.
- They are the most harmful form of fats as they clog arteries and cause hypertension, heart attacks and other cardiovascular diseases.
Why need such regulation?
- As per the World Health Organisation (WHO), approximately 5.4 lakh deaths take place each year globally because of intake of industrially-produced trans-fatty acids.
- The WHO has called for the elimination of industrially-produced trans-fatty acids from the global food supply by 2023.
- The latest FSSAI rules signal the completion of the process of regulating trans fats in India.
- The move will make a big difference in the health harm caused by this unwanted ingredient.
- This allows FSSAI and the State-level food safety machinery to focus on implementation and enforcement of the WHO recommendations.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Political Parties and their types
Mains level: Political Parties in India
The contribution reports of only 78 (3.39%) of the total 2,301 registered unrecognized political parties are available in the public domain for 2018-19 reports the Association For Democratic Reforms (ADR).
Classification of Political Parties in India
(A) National parties
A registered party is recognised as a national party only if it fulfils any one of the three conditions listed below:
- A party should win 2% of seats in the Lok Sabha from at least three different states.
- At a general election to Lok Sabha or Legislative Assembly, the party polls 6% of votes in any four or more states and in addition, it wins four Lok Sabha seats.
- A party gets recognition as a state party in four states.
- A party recognised as a National party can be derecognized if it fails to maintain the criteria.
(B) State parties
A party has to fulfil any of the following conditions for recognition as a state party:
- A party should secure at least 6% of valid votes polled in an election to the state legislative assembly and win at least 2 seats in that state assembly.
- A party should secure at least 6% of valid votes polled in an election to Lok Sabha and win at least 1 seat in Lok Sabha.
- A party should win a minimum of three per cent of the total number of seats or a minimum of three seats in the Legislative Assembly, whichever is higher.
- A party should win at least one seat in the Lok Sabha for every 25 seats or any fraction thereof allotted to that State.
- Under the liberalized criteria, one more clause that it will be eligible for recognition as state party if it secures 8% or more of the total valid votes polled in the state.
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From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Energy Island
Mains level: Energy Island Concept
The Danish government has approved a plan to build an artificial island in the North Sea as part of its effort to switch to green energy.
The Energy Island concept provides an innovative solution for countries like India grappled with the scarcity of land required for RE projects!
What is Energy Island?
- An energy island is based on a platform that serves as a hub for electricity generation from surrounding offshore wind farms.
- The idea is to connect and distribute power between Denmark and neighbouring countries.
What is the Danish project?
- Denmark has already entered into agreements with the Netherlands, Germany and Belgium to begin the joint analysis of connections in the energy island.
- The project is being called the largest construction project to be undertaken in Denmark’s history with an estimated cost of DKK 210 billion.
- In June 2020, the Danish Parliament decided to initiate the construction of two energy islands, which will export power to mainland Denmark and neighbouring countries.
- One of these islands will be located in the North Sea and the second island, called the island of Bornholm, will be located in the Baltic Sea.
- The artificial island will be located about 80 km into the North Sea and the majority of it will be owned by the Danish government.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Government Securities (G-Secs), T-Bills etc
Mains level: Government Securities (G-Secs)
The RBI has said that it would allow retail investors and other small investors direct access to its government securities trading platform.
What are G-Secs?
- These are debt instruments issued by the government to borrow money.
- The two key categories are:
- Treasury bills (T-Bills) – short-term instruments which mature in 91 days, 182 days, or 364 days, and
- Dated securities – long-term instruments, which mature anywhere between 5 years and 40 years
Note: T-Bills are issued only by the central government, and the interest on them is determined by market forces.
Why G-Secs?
- Like bank fixed deposits, g-secs are not tax-free.
- They are generally considered the safest form of investment because they are backed by the government. So, the risk of default is almost nil.
- However, they are not completely risk-free, since they are subject to fluctuations in interest rates.
- Bank fixed deposits, on the other hand, are guaranteed only to the extent of Rs 5 lakh by the Deposit Insurance and Credit Guarantee Corporation (DICGC).
Who can invest in Corporate Bonds and Government Securities?
- Pension Funds: Pension funds can also invest in both corporate bonds and government securities to ensure long-term stability and growth in their investment portfolio. .
- Retail Investors: Retail investors, including individual investors, can invest in both corporate bonds and government securities.
- Insurance Companies: Insurance companies can invest in both corporate bonds and government securities as part of their investment portfolio. The search results indicate that insurance companies often invest in a mix of low-risk and high-yield assets, with government securities providing lower risk and corporate bonds offering higher returns.
Retail investors and G-Secs
- Small investors can invest indirectly in g-secs by buying mutual funds or through certain policies issued by life insurance firms.
- To encourage direct investment, the government and RBI have taken several steps in recent years.
- Retail investors are allowed to place non-competitive bids in auctions of government bonds through their Demat accounts.
- Stock exchanges act as aggregators and facilitators of retail bids.
Try this PYQ:
Consider the following statements:
- The Reserve Bank of India manages and services the Government of India Securities but not any State Government Securities.
- Treasury bills are issued by the Government of India and there are no treasury bills issued by the State Governments.
- Treasury bills offer are issued at a discount from the par value.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
(a) 1 and 2 only
(b) 3 Only
(c) 2 and 3 only
(d) 1, 2 and 3
Why the current proposal?
- The g-sec market is dominated by institutional investors such as banks, mutual funds, and insurance companies. These entities trade in lot sizes of Rs 5 crore or more.
- So, there is no liquidity in the secondary market for small investors who would want to trade in smaller lot sizes.
- In other words, there is no easy way for them to exit their investments.
- Thus, currently, direct g-secs trading is not popular among retail investors.
What will the current proposal do?
- The details are not out yet. However, the RBI’s intention is to make the whole process of g-sec trading smoother for small investors.
- By allowing people to open accounts in RBI’s e-kuber system, it is hoping to create a market of small investors who will invest in these instruments.
Why such a move?
- The RBI is the debt manager for the government.
- In the forthcoming financial year, the government plans to borrow Rs 12 lakh crore from the market.
- When the government demands so much money, the price of money (i.e., the interest rate) will move up.
- It is in the government’s and RBI’s interest to bring this down.
- That can only happen by broadening the base of investors and making it easier for them to buy g-secs.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Square Kilometre Array Observatory, Radio Telescopes
Mains level: Not Much
The Square Kilometre Array Observatory (SKAO) Council held its maiden meeting and approved the establishment of the world’s largest radio telescope.
Note all important telescopes in news and their features. Some of them are – Thirty Meter Telescope, Giant Metrewave Radio Telescope, Spitzer, Chandra etc.
SKAO
- It is a new intergovernmental organisation dedicated to radio astronomy and is headquartered in the UK.
- At the moment, organisations from ten countries are a part of the SKAO.
- These include Australia, Canada, China, India, Italy, New Zealand, South Africa, Sweden, the Netherlands and the UK.
What are radio telescopes?
- Unlike optical telescopes, radio telescopes can detect invisible gas and, therefore, they can reveal areas of space that may be obscured by cosmic dust.
- Significantly, since the first radio signals were detected by physicist Karl Jansky in the 1930s, astronomers have used radio telescopes to detect radio waves emitted by different objects in the universe and explore it.
- According to NASA, the field of radio astronomy evolved after World War II and became one of the most important tools for making astronomical observations since.
The Arecibo telescope in Puerto Rico, which was the second-largest single-dish radio telescope in the world, collapsed in December 2020.
Significance of SKA telescope
- The telescope, proposed to be the largest radio telescope in the world, will be located in Africa and Australia whose operation, maintenance and construction will be overseen by SKAO.
- Some of the questions that scientists hope to address using this telescope include the beginning of the universe, how and when the first stars were born and the life-cycle of a galaxy.
- It would explore the possibility of detecting technologically-active civilizations elsewhere in our galaxy and understanding where gravitational waves come from.
- As per NASA, the telescope will accomplish its scientific goals by measuring neutral hydrogen over cosmic time, accurately timing the signals from pulsars in the Milky Way.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Yuddh Abhyas
Mains level: NA
The 16th edition of Indo-U.S. joint military exercise ‘Yudh Abhyas’ is set to be held in Rajasthan between February 8 and 21.
Yudh Abhyas
- The exercise near the India-Pakistan border aims at enhancing cooperation and interoperability between the two armies and will focus on counter-terrorism operations under the UN mandate.
- The drill comes days after the air forces of India and France held a five-day joint exercise in Rajasthan in January.
- Exercise with U.S. Army is significant in terms of security challenges faced by both the nations in the backdrop of global terrorism.
- The joint military exercise will enhance the level of defence cooperation between both armies which will also foster the bilateral relations between both nations.
- It reiterates India’s key role as a key partner in the Indo-Pacific region.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Various ports of Sri Lanka
Mains level: China as deterrent in India's neighbourhood policy
After the strong opposition from within, the Sri Lankan government was forced to revoke a 2019 agreement with India and Japan to develop the strategic East Container Terminal (ECT) at the Colombo Port.
Map Reading: Note all these major ports and try recalling their sequences in the clockwise and counter-clockwise direction.
What is the news?
- PM Mahinda Rajapaksa made a statement that the operation of the east terminal would be done by Sri Lanka Ports Authority on its own.
- Its cabinet has approved a proposal to develop the West Terminal at the Colombo Port as a PPP with India and Japan, which is seen as a bid to compensate India.
- It is unclear whether India would accept the latest proposal.
What is the Project?
- The tripartite agreement, signed by India, Sri Lanka and Japan, proposes to develop the ECT, which is located at the newly expanded southern part of the Colombo Port.
- The ECT is located 3 km away from the China-backed international financial city, known as Port City, currently being built in Colombo.
- A Chinese company was behind the controversial 2018 Hambantota port project, signed its first contract in the Port City last month.
- It is also on the map of China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).
India’s reaction
- A few weeks ago EAM S. Jaishankar visited Sri Lanka where he discussed the development of the stalled project.
- India’s first response was that the island nation should not be taking a decision in a unilateral manner on an existing tripartite agreement.
Compensatory offer to India
- After the decision on revoking the 2019 agreement, SL has approved another proposal to develop the west terminal of the Colombo port with Japan and India.
- Commercially, the west terminal offer is better for India as it gives 85% stake for developers of the West Terminal against the 49% in ECT.
Sri Lanka expects India to rethink. Why?
- Indian response to this compensatory offer is unclear since there was no formal communication by SL authorities.
- Geo-politically, west terminal is almost the same India considers the security aspect and the necessity to have a port terminal in Sri Lanka.
- There is no difference between East and West Terminals except for the fact that development of the ECT is partially completed while the development of the West Terminal has to start from scratch.
SL version of the revocation
- Incumbent PM Mahinda Rajapaksa said the pressure was immense on the President Gotabaya Rajapaksa to cancel the 2019 agreement.
- The pressure was brewing so much that he was becoming so unpopular among the people.
- As per the agreement signed by the former Maithripala Sirisena-Ranil Wickremesinghe administration, India and Japan together were to hold 49% stake in ECT.
- What had finally made the government surrender before trade unions were the increasing support of many more sections in the society for the protests against privatization.
The inevitable factor: China
- This move can be easily interpreted as a reaction to Chinese communication to Sri Lanka.
- China has reportedly instigated trade unions and civil societies against this project.
Q.The threat of Chinese presence in South Asia can be tackled more effectively if India changes course in its dealings with its neighbours and becomes more sensitive to their concerns. Critically analyse.
Outcome: Souring of the ties
- For India, the strategic ECT project was important. Even the EAM has visited Colombo in January in this regard.
- Critics of the Sri Lankan government anticipate many national and international impacts surrounding the latest decision on ECT.
- Meantime, internationally an offended India can make life tough for Sri Lanka, isolating the tiny island nation, geo-politically and on the economic front.
- The economic isolation will not help Sri Lanka at a time when the country is taking steps to revive the economy amid a pandemic.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Chauri Chaura Incident
Mains level: Mass movements for freedom struggle
PM will inaugurate the centenary Celebrations at Chauri Chaura at Gorakhpur Dist. Uttar Pradesh.
‘Chauri Chaura’ Incident
- The incident took place on 4 February 1922 at Chauri Chaura in the Gorakhpur district of the United Province.
- A large group of protesters participating in the Non-Cooperation Movement clashed with police who opened fire.
- In retaliation the demonstrators attacked and set fire to a police station, killing all of its occupants.
- The incident led to the death of three civilians and 22 policemen.
- Mahatma Gandhi, who was strictly against violence, halted the non-co-operation movement on the national level on 12 February 1922, as a direct result of this incident.
Try this PYQ:
Q.The ‘Swadeshi’ and ‘Boycott’ adopted as methods of struggle for the first time during the
(a) Agitation against the Partition of Bengal
(b) Home Rule Movement
(c) Non-Cooperation Movement
(d) Visit of the Simon Commission to India
Background
- In the early 1920s, Indians, led by Mahatma Gandhi, were engaged in a nationwide non-cooperation movement.
- Using non-violent methods of civil disobedience known as Satyagraha, protests were organised by the INC to challenge oppressive regulations such as the Rowlatt Act.
Course of the incident
- Two days before the incident, on 2 February 1922, volunteers participating in the Non-cooperation Movement led by a retired Army soldier named Bhagwan Ahir.
- The protest was planned against high food prices and liquor sale in the marketplace.
- Several of the leaders were arrested and put in the lock-up at the Chauri Chaura police station.
- In response to this, a protest against the police was called on 4 February, to be held at the local marketplace.
- Infuriated by the gunfire into their ranks, the crowd set the chowki ablaze, killing all of the Indian policemen and other staff trapped inside.
Aftermath
- Appalled at the outrage, Gandhi went on a five-day fast as penance for what he perceived as his culpability in the bloodshed.
- In reflection, Gandhi felt that he had acted too hastily in encouraging people to revolt against the British Raj without sufficiently emphasizing the importance of non-violence.
- On 12 February 1922, the Indian National Congress halted the Non-co-operation Movement on the national level as a direct result of the Chauri Chaura tragedy.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Stardust-1, Biofuels
Mains level: Not Much
Stardust 1.O was recently launched from Maine, the US has become the first commercial space launch powered by biofuel.
UPSC may puzzle you with the following type of MCQ asking:
Q.Which of the following is the unique feature of the Stardust 1.0 Spacecraft recenlty seen in news?
(a) It is propelled by Bio-fuels.
(b) It has the largest payload capacity.
(c) It is re-usable launch vehicle.
(d) All of the above
What is Stardust 1.O?
- Stardust 1.O is a launch vehicle suited for student and budget payloads.
- The rocket is manufactured by bluShift, an aerospace company based in Maine that is developing rockets that are powered by bio-derived fuels.
- The rocket is 20 feet tall and has a mass of roughly 250 kg.
- The rocket can carry a maximum payload mass of 8 kg and during its first launch carried three payloads.
- The payloads included a cubesat prototype built by high-school students, a metal alloy designed to lessen vibrations.
Why such missions are important?
- Such efforts are a part of a growing number of commercial space companies that are working to provide easier and cheaper access to space to laypeople.
- It also makes access to space cost-effective for purposes of academic research, corporate technology development and entrepreneurial ventures among others.
Back2Basics: Biofuel
- Biofuels are obtained from biomass, which can be converted directly into liquid fuels that can be used as transportation fuels.
- The two most common kinds of biofuels in use today are ethanol and biodiesel and they both represent the first generation of biofuel technology.
- Ethanol, for instance, is renewable and made from different kinds of plant materials.
- Biodiesel on the other hand is produced by combining alcohol with new and used vegetable oils, animal fats or recycled cooking grease.
Categories of biofuels
Biofuels are generally classified into three categories. They are
- First-generation biofuels – First-generation biofuels are made from sugar, starch, vegetable oil, or animal fats using conventional technology. Common first-generation biofuels include Bioalcohols, Biodiesel, Vegetable oil, Bioethers, Biogas.
- Second-generation biofuels – These are produced from non-food crops, such as cellulosic biofuels and waste biomass (stalks of wheat and corn, and wood). Examples include advanced biofuels like biohydrogen, bioethanol.
- Third-generation biofuels – These are produced from micro-organisms like algae.
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From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Neutrino, Supernovae
Mains level: NA
This newscard is an excerpt from the original article published in The Hindu.
Another space-based abstract terminology has appeared in TH.
What is the news about?
- Many stars, towards the end of their lifetimes, form supernovas – massive explosions that send their outer layers shooting into the surrounding space.
- Most of the energy of the supernova is carried away by neutrinos – tiny particles with no charge and which interact weakly with matter.
- Researching the mechanisms of the so-called Type II supernovas, a team from IIT Guwahati has come up with new insights into the part played by neutrinos in this dramatic death of massive stars.
What are Neutrinos?
- Proton, neutron, and electron are tiny particles that makeup atoms.
- The neutrino is also a tiny elementary particle, but it is not part of the atom.
- Neutrino has a very tiny mass, no charge and spins half.
- It interacts very weakly with other matter particles.
- Neutrinos come from the sun (solar neutrinos) and other stars, cosmic rays that come from beyond the solar system, and from the Big Bang from which our Universe originated.
- They can also be produced in the lab.
Their types
- Neutrinos come in three ‘flavours’, another name for ‘types’, and each flavour is associated with a light elementary particle.
- For instance, the electron-neutrino is associated with the electron; the muon-neutrino with the muon and the tau-neutrino with the tau particle.
What is Supernova?
- All the stars burn nuclear fuel in their cores to produce energy.
- The heat generates internal pressure which pushes outwards and prevents the star from collapsing inward due to the action of gravity on its own mass.
- But when the star ages and runs out of fuel to burn, it starts to cool inside.
- This causes a lowering of its internal pressure and therefore the force of gravity wins; the star starts to collapse inwards.
- This builds up shock waves because it happens very suddenly, and the shock wave sends the outer material of the star flying. This is what is perceived as a supernova. This happens in very massive stars.
Try this PYQ:
Q. Which of the following is/are cited by the scientists as evidence/evidence for the continued expansion of the universe?
- Detection of microwaves in space
- Observation of redshirt phenomenon in space
- Movement of asteroids in space
- Occurrence of supernova explosions in space code
(a) 1 and 2 only
(b) 2 only
(c) 1, 3 and 4
(d) None of the above can be cited as evidence
The Type-II Supernova
- In stars that are more than eight times as massive as the Sun, the supernova is accompanied by a collapsing of the inner material of the dying star – this is also known as core-collapse supernova or Type II supernova.
Role of neutrinos
- The collapsing core may form a black hole or a neutron star, according to its mass.
- As they spew out of the raging supernova, the neutrinos can change from one flavour to another in a process known as neutrino oscillations.
- Due to the high density and energy of the supernova, it generates neutrino oscillations happening simultaneously over different energies (unlike normal neutrino oscillation), termed collective neutrino oscillation.
- The oscillation result may dramatically change when one allows the evolution with the angular asymmetry, the oscillations can happen at a nanosecond time scale, termed fast oscillation.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Saturn's tilt
Mains level: NA
The tilt of the rotation axis of the gas giant Saturn may in fact be caused by its moons, space scientists have reported in the journal Nature Astronomy.
About Saturn
- Saturn is the sixth planet from the Sun and the second-largest in the Solar System, after Jupiter.
- It is a gas giant with an average radius of about nine times that of Earth.
- It only has one-eighth the average density of Earth; however, with its larger volume, Saturn is over 95 times more massive.
Reasons for Saturn’s tilt
- Saturn’s axis interacted with the path of the planet Neptune and gradually tilted until it reached the inclination of 27 degrees observed today.
- This current tilt of Saturn’s rotation axis is caused by the migration of its satellites, and especially by that of its largest moon, Titan.
- Recent observations have shown that Titan and the other moons are gradually moving away from Saturn much faster than astronomers had previously estimated.
- By incorporating this increased migration rate into their calculations, the researchers concluded that this process affects the inclination of Saturn’s rotation axis.
Try this PYQ:
Q.Which phenomenon has Venusian winds rotating 60 times faster than the planet below on the dark side?
(a) Super rotation
(b) Monrotation
(c) Dual rotation
(d) Macrrotation
Continuous tilting
- As its satellites move further away, the planet tilts more and more.
- In fact, Saturn’s axis is still tilting, and what we see today is merely a transitional stage in this shift.
- Over the next few billion years, the inclination of Saturn’s axis could more than double.
Why it matters?
- The decisive event that tilted Saturn is thought to have occurred relatively recently.
- For over three billion years after its formation, Saturn’s rotation axis remained only slightly tilted.
- It was only roughly a billion years ago that the gradual motion of its satellites triggered a resonance phenomenon that continues today.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Dark Matter
Mains level: Dark Matter, Black Holes
Space scientists from the University of Sussex have found a new way to know more about dark matter. They have narrowed down the range of masses within which particles that could make up dark matter may lie in.
What is the news about?
- Around 95 % of the Universe is unknown to human beings.
- It is often referred to as dark which has nothing to do with the colour of any substance but to do with the unknown nature of cosmic entities known as dark matter and dark energy.
Trending in news these days is the Quantum Technology. (as it used to be until last year were- the Internet of Things (IoT) CSP 2019, Artificial Intelligence (AI) etc.)
Must read all this news in a loop:
- National Mission on QC
- Quantum Coin
- Quantum Supremacy
- Quantum Entanglement
What is Dark Matter?
- Dark matter is composed of particles that do not absorb, reflect, or emit light, so they cannot be detected by observing electromagnetic radiation.
- Dark matter is a form of matter thought to account for approximately 85% of the matter in the universe and about a quarter of its total mass-energy density or about 2.241×10−27 kg/m3.
What does the research say?
- Scientists carried out the research using quantum gravity, a field of study that tries to combine two of Einstein’s concepts — quantum physics and general relativity theory of gravity.
- This is the first time anyone has thought of using what we know about quantum gravity to calculate the mass range for dark matter.
- Their research shows that the dark matter particles can neither be super light nor super heavy unless there is a force acting on it that is yet unknown.
Quantum gravity: The concept
- Quantum gravity is a field of theoretical physics that seeks to describe gravity according to the principles of quantum mechanics.
- Quantum mechanics is a fundamental theory in physics which describes nature at the smallest scales of energy levels of atoms and subatomic particles.
- Here quantum effects cannot be ignored, such as in the vicinity of black holes or similar compact astrophysical objects where the effects of gravity are strong, such as neutron stars.
Significance of the findings
- This might help in finding out more about this mysterious force. There are currently four known forces in the Universe — gravitational, electromagnetic, weak and strong.
- Scientists estimate that roughly 68 per cent of the Universe is made up of dark energy which is responsible for the accelerated expansion of the Universe.
- Another 27 per cent is a dark matter whose existence was inferred from the observation that ordinary matter in galaxies, including the Milky Way, is far less than that required by gravity to hold the galaxies together.
Why does the ‘Dark Matter’ matter?
- Dark matter’s gravitational effects are also necessary to explain the motions of clusters of galaxies and the structure of the entire Universe at the largest scale.
- On smaller scales, dark matter is too diffused to impact the motion of the Solar System, Earth or the origin and evolution of humans in any significant way.
- But the nature of that dark matter is still unclear. It is most likely made of particles that do not couple to light because of which humans cannot see them.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Patharughat uprising
Mains level: Peasants movements in colonial India
Twenty-five years before the Jallianwala Bagh massacre, more than a hundred peasants fell to the bullets of the British on January 28, 1894, in Patharughat, a small village in Assam’s Darrang district.
Make a note of all breakthrough peasants’ revolt in the nineteenth century. Also, try this PYQ:
Q.The demand for the Tebhaga Peasant Movement in Bengal was for-
(a) The reduction of the share of the landlords from one-half of the crop to one-third
(b) The grant of ownership of land to peasants as they were the actual cultivators of the land
(c) The uprooting of Zamindari system and the end of serfdom
(d) Writing off all peasant debts
Patharughat uprising
- After the British annexation of Assam in 1826, surveys of the vast lands of the state began.
- On the basis of such surveys, the British began to impose land taxes, much to the resentment of the farmers.
- In 1893, the British government decided to increase agricultural land tax reportedly by 70- 80 per cent.
- Up until then the peasants would pay taxes in kind or provide service in lieu of cash.
- Across Assam, peasants began protesting the move by organising Raij Mels, or peaceful peoples’ conventions.
The day of the massacre
- The unarmed peasants were protesting against the increase in land revenue levied by the colonial administration when the military opened fire.
- Despite these gatherings being democratic, the British perceived them as “breeding grounds for sedition”.
- On January 28, 1894, when the British officers were refusing to listen to the farmers’ grievances, things heated up.
- There was a lathi charge, followed by an open firing which killed many of the peasants present.
- Official records, as mentioned in the Darrang District Gazette, 1905, edited by BC Allen, placed the casualties in the Patharughat incident as 15 killed and 37 wounded.
Why was the incident significant?
- The incident was one of the most tragic and inspiring episodes in the saga of the Indian freedom movement.
- However, it rarely features in the mainstream historical discourse of the freedom struggle.
- For the larger Assamese community, Patharughat comes second only to the Battle of Saraighat, when the Ahoms defeated the Mughals in 1671.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Paris Club, G20
Mains level: Not Much
Chad has become the first country to officially request a debt restructuring under a new common framework “G20 Common Framework” introduced by China and other Group of 20 countries last year with the help of the Paris Club.
What is G20 Common Framework?
- G20 Common Framework is the Common Framework for Debt Treatments beyond the Debt Service Suspension Initiative (DSSI).
- It was announced in November 2020 to deal with the issue of unsustainable debts faced by various countries as an impact of COVID-19.
What is the news?
- This official request of Chad for debt restructuring under the G20 common framework was notified by the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
- The creditors will now soon begin discussions on the first test of the new framework.
- The creditors will also ask China and other private-sector creditors to participate as agreed last year.
- A new four-year programme of Chad worth about $560 million under the Extended Credit and Extended Fund facilities was announced by IMF.
- Chad is under high debt like many other African countries.
Significance of the move
- This is the first time that a country has requested debt restructuring under the framework and the investors will now look at how the framework can work.
- Participation in China is also a question. Last year, G20 Common Framework brought non-members of the Paris Club- India, China, and Turkey to join the framework.
Back2Basics: Paris Club
- Paris Club is a club or group of officials from major creditor countries.
- It was established in the year 1956.
- It aims to find sustainable solutions to the difficulties faced by debtor countries in payments.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Virus mutation
Mains level: Vaccination challenges for coronavirus
SARS-CoV-2 variants have emerged independently in several countries, and research published over the past week indicates that the virus is changing more quickly than was once believed.
Try this PYQ:
Q.H1N1 virus is sometimes mentioned in the news with reference to which one of the following diseases?
(a) AIDS
(b) Bird flu
(c) Dengue
(d) Swine flu
Mutation of Virus
- Mutation, an alteration in the genetic material (the genome) of a cell of a living organism or of a virus that is more or less permanent and that can be transmitted to the cell’s or the virus’s descendants.
- Like all life, viruses carry a genetic code in the form of nucleic acids — either DNA or RNA.
- When cells multiply, the DNA within them replicates as well, to make copies for the new cells.
- During replication, random errors are introduced into the new DNA, much like spelling errors when we write.
- While the errors in DNA virus genomes can be corrected by the error-correcting function of cells in which they replicate, there are no enzymes in cells to correct RNA errors.
- Therefore, RNA viruses accumulate more genetic changes (mutations) than DNA viruses.
Effect of mutation on the virus
- Evolution requires not just mutations, but also selection.
- While most mutations are deleterious to the virus, if some allow a selective advantage — say better infectivity, transmission, or escape from immunity — then the new viruses out-compete the older ones in a population.
- The mutations can be synonymous (silent) or non-synonymous (non-silent); the latter also changes an amino acid (protein building block) at that position in the coded protein.
Mutations in COVID
- As of January 26, about 29,000 infections are attributed to UK variants from 63 countries, many due to local transmission.
Why is it harmful?
- Viruses with mutations within the receptor-binding domain (RBD) of the Spike protein have the most potential to evade antibodies that develop as a result of natural infection or vaccination.
- The RBD binds the cellular receptor allowing the virus to infect cells, and anti-RBD antibodies neutralize the virus.
- Such mutations were recently found in variant viruses that emerged in the UK, South Africa and Brazil.
Testing of mutation
- Indirect tests are done in laboratories to assess if an emerging variant might escape antibodies developed after natural infection or vaccination.
- Serum (the blood components that contain antibodies) from recovered patients or vaccinated people, and antibodies are known to neutralize the original virus, are tested.
- Serial dilutions of the serum or antibodies are separately mixed with a fixed amount of the original and variant viruses, and the mixture is added to cells in culture.
- After a period of incubation, cells are washed and stained. Cells infected and killed by viruses multiplying within them appear as clear zones (plaques) on a dark background.
- The effectiveness of serum or antibody is expressed as an inhibitory concentration (IC) or plaque reduction neutralisation titer (PRNT) value.
- The IC50 or PRNT50 value is the reciprocal dilution of serum or antibody that neutralises 50 per cent viruses in the sample.
India’s response
- Only the UK variant viruses have so far been reported from India — and that too, in travellers.
- There is no reported local transmission, but considering its increased infectivity, this is likely to happen.
- The evidence so far suggests that current vaccines would still protect against the UK variant, even if with reduced efficacy.
- The evidence at this time, though of concern, does not indicate that current vaccines are failing.
- But this has to be watched carefully, and all efforts made to limit transmission between people, which drives mutations and the emergence of variants.
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From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Non-price competition
Mains level: Data privacy issues
Data privacy can take the form of non-price competition and abuse of dominance can lower privacy protection, a study by the Competition Commission of India (CCI) has said.
Try this PYQ:
Q.Right to Privacy is protected as an intrinsic part of Right to Life and Personal Liberty. Which of the following in the Constitution of India correctly and appropriately imply the above statements?
(a) Article 14 and the provisions under the 42nd Amendment to the Constitution
(b) Article 17 and the Directive Principles of State Policy in Part IV
(c) Article 21 and the freedoms guaranteed in Part III
(d) Article 24 and the provisions under the 44th Amendment to the Constitution
What is Non-price Competition?
- Non-price competition is a marketing strategy “in which one firm tries to distinguish its product or service from competing products on the basis of attributes like design and workmanship”.
- It often occurs in imperfectly competitive markets as it exists between two or more producers that sell goods and services at the same prices but compete through non-price measures.
- Such measures include marketing schemes and greater quality or any sustainable competitive advantage other than price.
What is CCI’s observation?
- The CCI study made observations about non-price factors such as quality of service (QoS), data speeds etc. which are likely to be the new drivers of competitive rivalry between service providers in the telecom sector.
- CCI noted that an aspect of data in the context of competition in digital communications market is the conflict between allowing access and protecting consumer privacy.
Privacy at stake
- Abuse of dominance can take the form of lowering the privacy protection and therefore fall within the ambit of antitrust as low privacy standard implies lack of consumer welfare.
- Privacy can take the form of non-price competition, said the CCI.
- On other non-price factors of competition, CCI found that consumers ranked network coverage at the top followed by customer service despite their Privacy.
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