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Type: Prelims Only

  • Climate Change Impact on India and World – International Reports, Key Observations, etc.

    What are Cloudbursts?

    Prelims Only | Enviro & Biodiversity | Mains Paper 1: Important Geophysical Phenomena

    Note4Students

    From UPSC perspective, the following things are important:

    Prelims level: Cloudburst

    Mains level: Extreme weather events

    At least eight people have died after a cloudburst occurred at the Amarnath Cave Shrine near Pahalgam in south Kashmir.

    What is a Cloudburst?

    • Cloudbursts are short-duration, intense rainfall events over a small area.
    • According to the IMD, it is a weather phenomenon with unexpected precipitation exceeding 100mm/h over a geographical region of approximately 20-30 square km.

    What causes Cloudburst?

    • A study published last year studied the meteorological factors behind the cloudburst over the Kedarnath region.
    • They analysed atmospheric pressure, temperature, rainfall, cloud water content, cloud fraction, cloud particle radius, cloud mixing ratio, total cloud cover, wind speed, wind direction, and relative humidity during the cloudburst, before as well as after the cloudburst.
    • The results showed that during the cloudburst, the relative humidity and cloud cover was at the maximum level with low temperature and slow winds.
    • It is expected that because of this situation a high amount of clouds may get condensed at a very rapid rate and result in a cloudburst.

    Impact of climate change

    • Several studies have shown that climate change will increase the frequency and intensity of cloudbursts in many cities across the globe.
    • As temperatures increase the atmosphere can hold more and more moisture and this moisture comes down as a short very intense rainfall for a short duration.
    • This results in flash floods in the mountainous areas and urban floods in the cities.
    • Also, there is evidence suggesting that globally short-duration rainfall extremes are going to become more intense and frequent.

    Try this PYQ

    Q.During a thunderstorm, the thunder in the skies is produced by the:

    1. meeting of cumulonimbus clouds in the sky
    2. lightning that separates the nimbus clouds
    3. violent upward movement of air and water particles

    Select the correct option using the codes given below:

    (a) 1 only

    (b) 2 and 3 only

    (c) 1 and 3 only

    (d) None of the above

     

    Post your answers here.

     

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  • Climate Change Impact on India and World – International Reports, Key Observations, etc.

    Derecho: A storm that turned the sky green in the US

    Prelims Only | Enviro & Biodiversity | Mains Paper 1: Geographical Features & Their Location

    Note4Students

    From UPSC perspective, the following things are important:

    Prelims level: Derecho

    Mains level: Not Much

    States of Nebraska, Minnesota and Illinois in the US were hit by a storm system called a Derecho which turned the skies green.

    What is a Derecho?

    • A derecho is a widespread, long-lived, straight-line windstorm that is associated with a band of rapidly moving showers or thunderstorms.
    • The name comes from the Spanish word ‘la derecha’ which means ‘straight’.
    • Straight-line storms are those in which thunderstorm winds have no rotation unlike a tornado.
    • Being a warm-weather phenomenon, a derecho generally – not always – occurs during summertime beginning May, with most hitting in June and July.
    • However, they are a rare occurrence as compared to other storm systems like tornadoes or hurricanes.

    Why does the sky turn green during the derecho?

    • Severe thunderstorms result in a ‘green sky’ due to light interacting with the huge amount of water they hold.
    • The big raindrops and hail scatter away all but the blue wavelengths due to which primarily blue light penetrates below the storm cloud.
    • This blue then combines with the red-yellow of the afternoon or the evening sun to produce green.

    Are there different types of derechos?

    They fall into three categories – progressive, serial and hybrid.

    1. Progressive derecho is associated with a short line of thunderstorms that may travel for hundreds of miles along a relatively narrow path. It is a summer phenomenon.
    2. Serial derecho, on the other hand, has an extensive squall line – wide and long – sweeping across a large area. It usually occurs during spring or fall.
    3. Hybrid derecho are that ones have the features of both progressive and serial derechos.

    Where do derechos usually occur?

    • They mostly occur across central and eastern parts of the United States.
    • Derechos have also been documented elsewhere across the world.
    • In 2010, Russia witnessed its first documented derecho.
    • They have also swept through Germany and Finland, and more recently in Bulgaria and Poland.

     

     

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  • Minority Issues – SC, ST, Dalits, OBC, Reservations, etc.

    Who are the Pasmanda?

    Prelims Only | Indian Society | Mains Paper 1: Salient features of Indian Society

    Note4Students

    From UPSC perspective, the following things are important:

    Prelims level: Pasmanda community

    Mains level: Upliftment of minorities

    In a political conclave in Hyderabad, PM made a special mention for the Pasmanda muslim community and their social upliftment.

    Who are the Pasmanda Muslims?

    • The word Pasmanda is derived from the Persian language meaning ‘left behind’.
    • The Pasmanda community comprise of Dalits and Backward Muslims who are fighting a different social battle inside the society.
    • This community has its stronghold in Uttar Pradesh where the Pasmandas account for around 75% of the total Muslim population.
    • In fact, 85% of the total population of Muslims in the country is known as Pasmanda.
    • It is believed that the so-called untouchable Hindu converts are categorised as Pasmanda.

    A caste system in minorities

    • The caste system is applicable to Asian Muslims in the same way as it is applicable in the Indian society.
    • Among the South Asian Muslims including those living in India, 15% are considered upper class or upper caste, called Ashraf.
    • The remaining 85% Muslims known as Arzal and Ajlaf are considered to be Dalit and backward. Arzal means degraded.

    Why political parties are focusing on them?

    • If reports are to be believed then the creamy section of the Muslim society looks down upon them.
    • They are backward and oppressed economically, socially and educationally. This oppressed section among Muslims is called Pasmanda in India.

    A social movement in making

    • Actually the Pasmanda movement in India is 100 years old. A Muslim Pasmanda movement had emerged in the second decade of the last century.
    • After this, in the 90s in India, two big organisations were formed in favour of the Pasmanda Muslims.
    • This was the All India United Muslim Front, whose leader was Ejaz Ali.
    • Apart from this, Ali Anwar of Patna founded an organisation named All India Pasmanda Muslim Merej.
    • However, both are termed as non-Islamic by Muslim religious leaders.
    • All the small organisations of Pasmanda Muslims are mostly found in Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand and West Bengal.

     

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  • Parliament – Sessions, Procedures, Motions, Committees etc

    Nominated Members in Rajya Sabha

    Prelims Only | Polity | Mains Paper 2: Indian Constitution – historical underpinnings, evolution, features, amendments, significant provisions and basic structure

    Note4Students

    From UPSC perspective, the following things are important:

    Prelims level: Nominated members in Rajya Sabha

    Mains level: Functioning of Rajya Sabha

    Olympic sprinter PT Usha and music composer Ilaiyaraaja among others have been nominated to the Rajya Sabha in the category of eminent persons nominated by the President.

    Nominated Members in RS

    • Twelve members are nominated to the RS by the President of India for six-year term.
    • This is for their contributions towards arts, literature, sciences, and social services.
    • This right has been bestowed upon the President according to the Fourth Schedule under Articles 4(1) and 80(2) of the Constitution of India.

    Normal composition

    • The present strength is 245 members of whom 233 are representatives of the states and UTs and 12 are nominated by the President.
    • The Rajya Sabha is not subject to dissolution; one-third of its members retire every second year.

    Constitutional provisions for nominated members

    • 80(1)(a) of Constitution of India makes provision for the nomination of 12 members to the Rajya Sabha by the President of India in accordance with provisions of Arts.80(3).
    • 80(3) says that the persons to be nominated as members must be possessing special knowledge or practical experience in respect of such matters as the following namely: Literature, science, art and social service.

    Powers and privileges of such members

    • A nominated member enjoys all the powers and privileges and immunities available to an elected Member of Parliament.
    • They take part in the proceedings of the House as any other member.
    • Nominated members are however not entitled to vote in an election of the President of India.
    • They however have rights to vote in the vice presidential election.
    • As per Article 99 of the Constitution, a nominated member is allowed six months’ time should he join a political party.

    Try this PYQ:

    Consider the following statements:

    1. The Chairman and the Deputy Chairman of the Rajya Sabha are not the members of that House.
    2. While the nominated members of the two Houses of the Parliament have no voting right in the presidential election, they have the right to vote in the election of the Vice President.

    Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

    (a) 1 only

    (b) 2 only

    (c) Both 1 and 2

    (d) Neither 1 nor 2

     

    Post your answers here.

     

    Also read:

    [Sansad TV] Perspective – Rajya Sabha: The Upper House

     

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  • Wildlife Conservation Efforts

    Environment Protection Act (EPA), 1986

    Prelims Only | Enviro & Biodiversity | Mains Paper 3: Conservation, Environmental Pollution & Degradation, Eia

    Note4Students

    From UPSC perspective, the following things are important:

    Prelims level: Environment Protection Act (EPA), 1986

    Mains level: Not Much

    The Union Environment Ministry proposes to soften the provisions of the EP Act (EPA) by replacing a clause that provides for imprisoning violators with one that only requires them to pay a fine.

    Environment Protection Act (EPA), 1986

    • EP Act was passed under Article 253 of the Constitution, which empowers the Centre to enact laws to give effect to international agreements signed by the country.
    • The purpose of the Act is to implement the decisions of the UN Conference on the Human Environment.
    • They relate to the protection and improvement of the human environment and the prevention of hazards to human beings, other living creatures, plants and property.
    • It was enacted in 1986 on the backdrop of Bhopal Gas Tragedy.
    • The Act was last amended in 1991.

    Why this Act?

    • The Act is an “umbrella” legislation that has provided a framework for the environmental regulation regime in India.
    • It covers all major industrial and infrastructure activities and prohibits and regulates specific activities in coastal areas and eco-sensitive areas.
    • The Act also provides for coordination of the activities of various central and state authorities established under other environment-related laws, such as the Water Act and the Air Act.

    Key provisions

    • The Environment (Protection) Rules lay down procedures for setting standards of emission or discharge of environmental pollutants.
    • The objective of Hazardous Waste (Management and Handling) Rules, 1989 is to control the generation, collection, treatment, import, storage, and handling of hazardous waste.
    • The Manufacture, Storage, and Import of Hazardous Rules define the terms used in this context, and sets up an authority to inspect, once a year.
    • The Cells Rules,1989 were introduced with a view to protect the environment, nature, and health in connection with the application of gene technology and micro-organisms.

     

    Try this PYQ:

    Q. Consider the following statements:

    The Environment Protection Act, 1986 empowers the Government of India to

    1. State the requirement of public participation in the process of environmental protection, and the Procedure and manner in which it sought.
    2. Lay down the standards for emission or discharge of environmental pollutants from various sources.

    Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

    (a) 1 only

    (b) 2 only

    (c) Both 1 and 2

    (d) Neither 1 nor 2

     

    Post your answers here.

     

     

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  • Services Sector

    What is Purchasing Managers Index (PMI)?

    Prelims Only | Economics | Mains Paper 3: Issues relating growth and development, employment

    Note4Students

    From UPSC perspective, the following things are important:

    Prelims level: PMI

    Mains level: Not Much

    India’s services firms saw growth in new business and output accelerate to a 11-year high in June, as per the survey-based S&P Global India Services Purchasing Managers Index (PMI).

    What is the news?

    • The index rose to 59.2 last month, from 58.9 in May, signalling a strengthening in demand across the services sector, which had borne the brunt of the COVID-19 pandemic.

    Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI)

    • PMI is an indicator of business activity — both in the manufacturing and services sectors.
    • It is a survey-based measure that asks the respondents about changes in their perception of some key business variables from the month before.
    • It is calculated separately for the manufacturing and services sectors and then a composite index is constructed.
    • The PMI is compiled by IHS Markit based on responses to questionnaires sent to purchasing managers in a panel of around 400 manufacturers.

    How is the PMI derived?

    • The PMI is derived from a series of qualitative questions.
    • Executives from a reasonably big sample, running into hundreds of firms, are asked whether key indicators such as output, new orders, business expectations and employment were stronger than the month before and are asked to rate them.

    How does one read the PMI?

    • A figure above 50 denotes expansion in business activity. Anything below 50 denotes contraction.
    • Higher the difference from this mid-point greater the expansion or contraction. The rate of expansion can also be judged by comparing the PMI with that of the previous month data.
    • If the figure is higher than the previous month’s then the economy is expanding at a faster rate.
    • If it is lower than the previous month then it is growing at a lower rate.

    What are its implications for the economy?

    • The PMI is usually released at the start of the month, much before most of the official data on industrial output, manufacturing and GDP growth becomes available.
    • It is, therefore, considered a good leading indicator of economic activity.
    • Economists consider the manufacturing growth measured by the PMI as a good indicator of industrial output, for which official statistics are released later.
    • Central banks of many countries also use the index to help make decisions on interest rates.

     

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  • Innovations in Sciences, IT, Computers, Robotics and Nanotechnology

    Three new ‘exotic’ sub-atomic particles discovered  

    Prelims Only | Science Tech | Mains Paper 3: Awareness in various sc and tech fields

    Note4Students

    From UPSC perspective, the following things are important:

    Prelims level: Quarks

    Mains level: Not Much

    The Large Hadron Collider beauty (LHCb) experiment has observed three never-before-seen particles.

    What is the discovery?

    • CERN was investigating the slight differences between matter and antimatter by studying a type of particle called the “beauty quark”, or “b quark”.
    • The three “exotic” additions — a new kind of “pentaquark” and the first-ever pair of “tetraquarks” — to the growing list of new hadrons were found.
    • This discovery will help physicists better understand how quarks bind together into these composite particles.

    What are Quarks?

    • Quarks are elementary particles that come in six “flavours”: up, down, charm, strange, top, and bottom.
    • They usually combine together in groups of twos and threes to form hadrons such as the protons and neutrons that make up atomic nuclei.
    • But they can also combine into four-quark and five-quark particles, called tetraquarks and pentaquarks.
    • These exotic hadrons were predicted by theorists about six decades ago — around the same time as conventional hadrons — but they have been observed by LHCb and other experiments only in the past 20 years.

    What about tetraquarks and pentaquarks?

    • Most exotic hadrons discovered in the past two decades are tetraquarks or pentaquarks.
    • They contain a charm quark and a charm antiquark — with the remaining two or three quarks being an up, down or strange quark or their antiquarks.

     

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  • Nobel and other Prizes

    What is Fields Medal, the ‘Mathematics Nobel’?

    Prelims Only | Science Tech | Mains Paper 3: Awareness in various sc and tech fields

    Note4Students

    From UPSC perspective, the following things are important:

    Prelims level: Fields Medal

    Mains level: NA

    Ukrainian mathematician Maryna Viazovska was named as one of four recipients of the prestigious Fields Medal, which is often described as the Nobel Prize in mathematics.

    What is Fields Medal?

    • The Fields Medal is awarded by the International Mathematical Union (IMU), an international non-governmental and non-profit scientific organisation.
    • It is awarded every four years to one or more mathematicians under the age of 40 in recognition of “outstanding mathematical achievement for existing work and for the promise of future achievement”.
    • The winners are announced at the International Congress of Mathematicians (ICM), which was supposed to be held in Russia this year, but was moved to Helsinki.

    Belongings of the award

    • The honour carries a physical medal of 14K gold, 63.5 mm in diameter and weighing 169 g, and with a unit price of approximately 5,500 Canadian dollars.
    • There is also a cash award of CAD 15,000.
    • The obverse of the medal is embossed with the head of Archimedes facing right, and some Latin quotes.

    History of the Medal

    • According to the IMU website, the 1924 ICM in Toronto adopted a resolution that at each conference, two gold medals would be awarded to recognise outstanding mathematical achievement.
    • The Canadian mathematician Prof J C Fields, who was secretary of the 1924 Congress, later donated funds to establish the medals, which were named in his honour.
    • In 1966, it was agreed that, in light of the great expansion of mathematical research, up to four medals could be awarded at each Congress.

    Indian-origin winners

    • Among the more than 60 mathematicians who have been awarded the Fields Medal since 1936, there are two of Indian origin.
    • Akshay Venkatesh of the Institute for Advanced Study at Princeton, won in 2018, the last time the honour was announced.
    • Manjul Bhargava of the Department of Mathematics at Princeton University was awarded in 2014.

     

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  • Innovations in Sciences, IT, Computers, Robotics and Nanotechnology

    What is the Large Hadron Collider (LHC)?

    Prelims Only | Science Tech | Mains Paper 3: Awareness in various sc and tech fields

    Note4Students

    From UPSC perspective, the following things are important:

    Prelims level: Large Hadron Collider (LHC)

    Mains level: Not Much

    The world’s most powerful particle collider, the Large Hadron Collider (LHC), will begin smashing protons into each other at unprecedented levels of energy beginning July 5.

    What is the LHC?

    • The Large Hadron Collider is a giant, complex machine built to study particles that are the smallest known building blocks of all things.
    • Structurally, it is a 27-km-long track-loop buried 100 metres underground on the Swiss-French border.
    • In its operational state, it fires two beams of protons almost at the speed of light in opposite directions inside a ring of superconducting electromagnets.
    • The LHC’s second run (Run 2) began in 2015 and lasted till 2018. The second season of data taking produced five times more data than Run 1.
    • The third run will see 20 times more collisions as compared to Run 1.

    How does it work?

    • The magnetic field created by the superconducting electromagnets keeps the protons in a tight beam and guides them along the way as they travel through beam pipes and finally collide.
    • Just prior to collision, another type of magnet is used to ‘squeeze’ the particles closer together to increase the chances of collisions.
    • The particles are so tiny that the task of making them collide is akin to firing two needles 10 km apart with such precision that they meet halfway.

    Extreme conditions involved

    • Since the LHC’s powerful electromagnets carry almost as much current as a bolt of lightning, they must be kept chilled.
    • The LHC uses a distribution system of liquid helium to keep its critical components ultracold at minus 271.3 degrees Celsius, which is colder than interstellar space.
    • Given these requirements, it is not easy to warm up or cool down the gigantic machine.

    What is the latest upgrade?

    • Three years after it shut down for maintenance and upgrades, the collider was switched back on this April.
    • This is the LHC’s third run, and it will operate round-the-clock for four years at unprecedented energy levels of 13 tera electron volts.

    Note: A TeV is 100 billion, or 10-to-the-power-of-12, electon volts. An electron volt is the energy given to an electron by accelerating it through 1 volt of electric potential difference.

    Targets this year

    • It now aims to be delivering 1.6 billion proton-proton collisions per second.
    • The last time, the proton beams will be narrowed to less than 10 microns — a human hair is around 70 microns thick — to increase the collision rate.
    • ATLAS is the largest general purpose particle detector experiment at the LHC.
    • The Compact Muon Solenoid (CMS) experiment is one of the largest international scientific collaborations in history, with the same goals as ATLAS, but which uses a different magnet-system design.

    Previous runs & ‘God Particle’ discovery

    • Ten years ago, in 2012, scientists at CERN had announced to the world the discovery of the Higgs boson or the ‘God Particle’ during the LHC’s first run.
    • The discovery concluded the decades-long quest for the ‘force-carrying’ subatomic particle, and proved the existence of the Higgs mechanism, a theory put forth in the mid-sixties.
    • This led to Peter Higgs and his collaborator François Englert being awarded the Nobel Prize for physics in 2013.
    • The Higgs boson and its related energy field are believed to have played a vital role in the creation

     

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  • New Species of Plants and Animals Discovered

    Species in news: Chenkurinji

    Prelims Only | Enviro & Biodiversity | Mains Paper 3: Conservation, Environmental Pollution & Degradation, Eia

    Note4Students

    From UPSC perspective, the following things are important:

    Prelims level: Chenkurinji

    Mains level: Not Much

    This newscard is an excerpt from the original article published in The Hindu.

    Chenkurinji

    • Chenkurinji (Gluta travancorica) is a species endemic to the Agasthyamala Biosphere Reserve.
    • Belonging to the Anacardiaceae family, the tree was once abundant in the hills on the southern parts of the Aryankavu Pass in Kerala’s Kollam district.
    • The Shendurney Wildlife Sanctuary derives its name Chenkurinji (Gluta travancorica), a species endemic to the Agasthyamala Biosphere Reserve.

    Why in news?

    • It is very susceptible to climate change and the present condition of the species is quite bad with low regeneration performance.
    • Though there are seemingly enough number of the tree, most are not productive, generating a negative trend in its population.
    • The majority of the trees is old with poor flowering and fruiting rates.
    • Though the flowering usually happens in January, of late, the species has reported a tendency to extend the process due to climate change.

    Significance of Chenkurinji

    • It is reported to have medicinal properties and is used to lower blood pressure and treat arthritis.

     

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