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Type: Prelims Only

  • Who was Guru Tegh Bahadur?

    November 24, is commemorated as the Shaheedi Divas of Guru Tegh Bahadur, the ninth guru of the Sikhs, who stood up against forcible conversions by the Mughals, and was executed on the orders of Aurangzeb in 1675.

     Guru Tegh Bahadur (1621–1675)

    • Guru Tegh Bahadur was the ninth of ten Gurus of the Sikh religion. He was born at Amritsar in 1621 and was the youngest son of Guru Hargobind.
    • His term as Guru ran from 1665 to 1675. One hundred and fifteen of his hymns are in Guru Granth Sahib.
    • There are several accounts explaining the motive behind the assassination of Guru Tegh Bahadur on Aurangzeb’s orders.
    • He stood up for the rights of Kashmiri Pandits who approached him against religious persecution by Aurangzeb.
    • He was publicly executed in 1675 on the orders of Mughal emperor Aurangzeb in Delhi for himself refusing Mughal rulers and defying them.
    • Gurudwara Sis Ganj Sahib and Gurdwara Rakab Ganj Sahib in Delhi mark the places of execution and cremation of his body.

    Impact of his martyrdom

    • The execution hardened the resolve of Sikhs against religious oppression and persecution.
    • His martyrdom helped all Sikh Panths consolidate to make the protection of human rights central to its Sikh identity.
    • Inspired by him, his nine-year-old son, Guru Gobind Singh Ji, eventually organized the Sikh group into a distinct, formal, symbol-patterned community that came to be known as Khalsa (Martial) identity.
    • In the words of Noel King of the University of California, “Guru Teg Bahadur’s martyrdom was the first-ever martyrdom for human rights in the world.
    • He is fondly remembered as ‘Hind di Chaadar’.

    Try this PYQ:

    Q.Consider the following Bhakti Saints:

    1. Dadu Dayal
    2. Guru Nanak
    3. Tyagaraja

    Who among the above was/were preaching when the Lodi dynasty fell and Babur took over?

    (a) 1 and 3

    (b) 2 only

    (c) 2 and 3

    (d) 1 and 2

     

    [wpdiscuz-feedback id=”mfdveeenps” question=”Please leave a feedback on this” opened=”1″]Post your answers here.[/wpdiscuz-feedback]

     

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  • India’s abstains in CITES vote on reopening Ivory Trade

    India’s decision not to vote against a proposal to re-open the international trade in ivory at the ongoing conference of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES).

    What is CITES?

    • CITES stands for the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora.
    • It is as an international agreement aimed at ensuring “that international trade in specimens of wild animals and plants does not threaten their survival”.
    • It was drafted after a resolution was adopted at a meeting of the members of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) in 1963.
    • It entered into force on July 1, 1975, and now has 183 parties.
    • The Convention is legally binding on the Parties in the sense that they are committed to implementing it; however, it does not take the place of national laws.
    • India is a signatory to and has also ratified CITES convention in 1976.

    CITES Appendices

    • CITES works by subjecting international trade in specimens of selected species to certain controls.
    • All import, export, re-exports and introduction from the sea of species covered by the convention has to be authorized through a licensing system.

    It has three appendices:

    • Appendix I includes species threatened with extinction. Trade-in specimens of these species are permitted only in exceptional circumstances.
    • Appendix II provides a lower level of protection.
    • Appendix III contains species that are protected in at least one country, which has asked other CITES Parties for assistance in controlling trade.

    What is the news?

    • India remained absent during the CITES conference aimed to re-open the international trade in ivory.

    Why such move by India?

    • Elephant remains one of India’s most powerful cultural and religious symbols.
    • A pioneer in banning even the domestic trade in ivory in 1986, India has always been at the forefront of global elephant conservation initiatives.

    What is the tussle over Ivory?

    • The international ivory trade was globally banned in 1989 when all African elephant populations were put in CITES Appendix I.
    • However, the populations of Namibia, Botswana, and Zimbabwe were transferred to Appendix II in 1997, and South Africa’s in 2000 to allow two “one-off sales”.
    • This is because ivory stockpiled from natural elephant deaths and seizures from poachers.
    • Subsequently, Namibia’s proposal for allowing a regular form of controlled trade in ivory by delisting the elephant populations of the four countries from Appendix II was rejected at CoP17 (2016) and CoP18 (2019).
    • At the ongoing CoP19, the proposal was moved by Zimbabwe but met the same fate.
    • These are low income countries often battling to generate some revenue from Ivory trade.

    India and ivory trade

    • The endangered Asian elephant was included in CITES Appendix I in 1975, which banned the export of ivory from the Asian range countries.
    • In 1986, India amended The Wild Life (Protection) Act, 1972 to ban even domestic sales of ivory.
    • After the ivory trade was globally banned, India again amended the law to ban the import of African ivory in 1991.
    • In 1981 when New Delhi hosted COP3, India designed the iconic CITES logo in the form of an elephant.
    • Over the years, India’s stand has been unequivocal on the ivory issue.

    What has changed now?

    • After protracted negotiation, India signed an agreement in July with Namibia to fly in cheetahs.
    • India has agreed to promote “sustainable utilisation and management of biodiversity” by supporting advances in this area of bilateral cooperation “at international forums including meetings of” CITES.
    • While the word “ivory” was not mentioned, Namibia sought India’s support under this agreement.

     

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  • 400th birth anniversary of legendary hero Lachit Borphukan

    lachit

    The three-day-long celebration of the 400th birth anniversary of Ahom General Lachit Barphukan has begun.

    Who was Lachit Borphukan?

    • The year was 1671 and the decisive Battle of Saraighat was fought on the raging waters of the Brahmaputra.
    • On one side was Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb’s army headed by Ram Singh of Amer (Jaipur) and on the other was the Ahom General Lachit Borphukan.
    • He was a commander in the Ahom kingdom, located in present-day Assam.
    • Ram Singh failed to make any advance against the Assamese army during the first phase of the war.
    • Lachit Borphukan emerged victorious in the war and the Mughals were forced to retreat from Guwahati.

    Lachit Divas

    • On 24 November each year, Lachit Divas is celebrated state-wide in Assam to commemorate the heroism of Lachit Borphukan.
    • On this day, Borphukan has defeated the Mughal army on the banks of the Brahmaputra in the Battle of Saraighat in 1671.
    • The best passing out cadet of National Defence Academy has been conferred the Lachit gold medal every year since 1999 commemorating his valour.

     

     

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  • ISRO to attempt 200th consecutively successful launch of RH-200 sounding rocket

    rh-200

    The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has attempted the 200th consecutively successful launch of the Rohini RH-200 sounding rocket from Thumba.

    RH-200 (Rohini )

    • RH-200 is a two-stage rocket capable of climbing to a height of 70 km bearing scientific payloads.
    • The first and second stages of RH-200 are powered by solid motors. The ‘200’ in the name denotes the diameter of the rocket in mm.
    • Other operational Rohini variants are RH-300 Mk-II and RH-560 Mk-III.
    • For years, the RH-200 rocket had used a polyvinyl chloride (PVC)-based propellant.
    • The first RH-200 to use a new propellant based on hydroxyl-terminated Polybutadiene (HTPB) was successfully flown from the TERLS in September 2020.
    • The first and second stages of RH200 rocket are powered by solid motors.
    • Since inception of RH200 rocket, both solid stages are processed using polyvinyl chloride (PVC) based propellant.
    • As compared to PVC based propellants, HTPB based propellant is more energetic, higher mechanical & interface properties and has less defects due to lower processing temperature.

    What basically is a Sounding Rocket?

    • A sounding rocket is an instrument-carrying rocket designed to take measurements and perform scientific experiments during its sub-orbital flight.
    • The rockets are used to launch instruments from 48 to 145 km above the surface of the Earth, the altitude generally between weather balloons and satellites.
    • The maximum altitude for balloons is about 40 km and the minimum for satellites is approximately 121 km.

    History of sounding rockets in India

    • Sounding rockets have an important place in the ISRO story.
    • The first sounding rocket to be launched from Thumba was the American Nike-Apache — on November 21, 1963.
    • After that, two-stage rockets imported from Russia (M-100) and France (Centaure) were flown. The ISRO launched its own version — Rohini RH-75 — in 1967.
    • The ISRO has launched more than 1,600 RH-200 rockets so far.
    • Currently, the RH200, RH300 MkII and RH560 Mk-III rockets are operational which were developed during the early phase of our journey in rocketry.

     

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  • CDSL: India’s registered share depository

    Certain services at CDSL (Central Depositories Services India Ltd) were disrupted due to a suspected cyber-attack over the weekend.

    What is CDSL?

    • CDSL, or Central Depositories Services India Ltd, is a government-registered share depository, alongside its other state-owned counterpart National Securities Depository Ltd (NSDL).
    • It was founded in 1999.
    • It is a Market Infrastructure Institution or MII that is deemed as a crucial part of the capital market structure, providing services to all market participants, including exchanges, clearing corporations, depository participants, issuers and investors.
    • Share depositories hold shares in an electronic or dematerialised form and are an enabler for securities transactions, playing a somewhat similar role to what banks play in handling cash and fixed deposits.
    • While banks help customers keep their cash in electronic form, share depositories help consumers store shares in a dematerialised form.

    Functions of CDSL

    • CDSL facilitates holding and transacting in securities in the electronic form and facilitates settlement of trades done on stock exchanges.
    • These securities include equities, debentures, bonds, Exchange traded Funds (ETFs), units of mutual funds, units of Alternate Investment Funds (AIFs), Certificates of deposit (CDs), commercial papers (CPs), Government Securities (G-Secs), etc.

     

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  • Arun Goel appointed as Election Commissioner

    Former secretary of the Ministry of Heavy Industries Arun Goel has been appointed as the Election Commissioner.

    About Election Commission of India (ECI)

    • The ECI is a constitutional body was established by the Constitution of India to conduct and regulate elections in the country.
    • Article 324 of the Constitution provides that the power of superintendence, direction, and control of elections.
    • The body administers elections to the Lok Sabha, Rajya Sabha, State Legislative Assemblies, State Legislative Councils and the offices of the President and Vice President of the country.
    • Thus, the Election Commission is an all-India body in the sense that it is common to both the Central government and the state governments.
    • The Election Commission operates under the authority of Constitution per Article 324 and subsequently enacted Representation of the People Act.

    Composition of ECI

    • The ECI was established in 1950 and originally only had one Chief Election Commissioner.
    • Two additional Commissioners were appointed to the commission for the first time during the 1989 General Election, but they had a very short tenure, ending on 1 January 1990.
    • The Election Commissioners are assisted by Deputy Election Commissioners, who are generally IAS officers.
    • They are further assisted by Directors General, Principal Secretaries, and Secretaries and Under Secretaries.
    • At the state level, Election Commission is assisted by the Chief Electoral Officer of the State, who is an IAS officer of Principal Secretary rank.
    • At the district and constituency levels, the District Magistrates (in their capacity as District Election Officers), Electoral Registration Officers and Returning Officers perform election work.

    Tenure

    • The tenure of election commissioners is not prescribed by Indian Constitution.
    • However, the Election Commission conduct of service Act, 1991 prescribes the term of service.
    • Chief Election Commissioner or an Election Commissioner shall hold office for a term of six years, or up to the age of 65 years, whichever is earlier, from the date on which he/she assumes his/her office.

    Removal from office

    • The Chief Election Commissioner of India can be represented removed from their office in a manner similar to the removal of a judge of the Supreme Court of India.
    • It requires a resolution passed by the Parliament of India a two-thirds majority in both the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha on the grounds of proved misbehaviour or incapacity.
    • Other Election Commissioners can be removed by the President of India on the recommendation of the Chief Election Commissioner.
    • A Chief Election Commissioner has never been impeached in India.

    Recent incidence of criticisms of ECI

    Ans. Partiality in Elections

    • Over the last couple of years, several actions and omissions of the commission have come in for criticism.
    • Nearly 66 former bureaucrats in a letter addressed to the President, expressed their concern over the working of the Election Commission.
    • They felt was suffering from a credibility crisis, citing various violations of the model code of conduct during the 2019 Lok Sabha Elections.

    Importance of ECI for India

    • Conduction of Election: The ECI has been successfully conducting national as well as state elections since 1952.
    • Electoral participation: In recent years, however, the Commission has started to play a more active role to ensure greater participation of people.
    • Discipline of political parties: It had gone to the extent of disciplining the political parties with a threat of derecognizing if the parties failed in maintaining inner-party democracy.
    • Upholds federalism: It upholds the values enshrined in the Constitution viz, equality,
      equity, impartiality, independence; and rule of law in superintendence, direction, and control over electoral governance.
    • Free and fair elections: It conducts elections with the highest standard of credibility, freeness, fairness, transparency, integrity, accountability, autonomy and professionalism.

    Issues with ECI

    • Flaws in the composition: The Constitution doesn’t prescribe qualifications for members of the EC. They are not debarred from future appointments after retiring or resigning.
    • No security of tenure: Election commissioners aren’t constitutionally protected with security of tenure.
    • Partisan role: The EC has come under the scanner like never before, with increasing incidents of breach of the Model Code of Conduct in the 2019 general elections.
    • Political favor: The opposition alleged that the ECI was favoring the ruling party by giving clean chit to the model code of conduct violations made by the PM.
    • Non-competence: Increased violence and electoral malpractices under influence of money have resulted in political criminalization, which ECI is unable to arrest.

     

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  • A&N’s first application for GI tag for the Nicobari Hodi Craft

    hodi

    The Geographical Indications Registry at Chennai, has received an application from the Tribal Development Council, Andaman & Nicobar Islands, seeking the GI tag for the Nicobari hodi craft.

    Why in news?

    About Nicobari Hodi Craft

    • The hodi is the Nicobari tribe’s traditional craft.
    • It is an outrigger canoe, very commonly operated in the Nicobar group of islands.
    • The hodi is built using either locally available trees or from nearby islands, and its design varies slightly from island to island.
    • Hodis are used for transporting people and goods from one island to another, for sending coconuts, for fishing and racing purposes.
    • The tuhet, a group of families under a headman, consider the hodi an asset.
    • Hodi races are held between islands and villages.
    • The technical skills for building a hodi are based on indigenous knowledge inherited by the Nicobarese from their forefathers.

    How many GI tags have been accorded so far?

    • The Geographical Indications Registry, established in Chennai in September 2003, has received over 1,000 applications.
    • An application seeking GI tag for the Banaras’ thandai (a beverage made with milk, dry fruits and spices) was the 1,000th application.
    • Data shows that, as on date, around 1,015 applications have been filed at the Chennai office and of them, GI tags have been given to 422 products.

    Back2Basics:  Geographical Indication

    • A GI is a sign used on products that have a specific geographical origin and possess qualities or a reputation that are due to that origin.
    • Nodal Agency: Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT), Ministry of Commerce and Industry
    • India, as a member of the World Trade Organization (WTO), enacted the Geographical Indications of Goods (Registration and Protection) Act, 1999 w.e.f. September 2003.
    • GIs have been defined under Article 22 (1) of the WTO Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) Agreement.
    • The tag stands valid for 10 years.

     

     

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  • Everything you need to know about ‘Friendshoring’

    friendshoring

    In her visit to India last week, US secretary of treasury Janet Yellen reiterated her country’s stance of pushing for “friendshoring” to diversify away from countries that present geopolitical risk.

    What is Friendshoring?

    • Friendshoring is a strategy where a country sources the raw materials, components and even manufactured goods from countries that share its values.
    • The dependence on the countries considered a “threat” to the stability of the supply chains is slowly reduced.
    • It is also called “allyshoring”.
    • Apple’s announcement to shift its iPhone manufacturing facilities from China to India.

    US push for friendshoring

    • In the current case, Yellen said that Russia has long presented itself as a reliable energy partner, but in the Ukraine war, Putin has weaponized the gas “against the people of Europe”.
    • Another country Yellen mentioned in her speech was China.
    • She said it currently controls over 80 per cent of global solar panel production.
    • However, there are reports that in parts of the country, like Xinjiang, the production of panels takes place through forced labour.

    Issues with friendshoring

    • Friendshoring may push the world towards a more isolated place for trade and reverse the gains of globalisation.
    • It is a part of the “deglobalisation” process.
    • While moving supply chains away from East Asia could increase security in the long run, an ill-conceived implementation of this friendshoring strategy could result in price hikes and a stronger China over time.

     

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  • Hwasong-17: North Korea’s new ‘monster missile’

    hwasong

    North Korea said it test-fired its massive new Hwasong-17 intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM).

    Hwasong-17  

    • The Hwasong-17 is nuclear-armed North Korea’s biggest missile yet, and is the largest road-mobile, liquid-fuelled ICBM in the world.
    • Its diameter is estimated to be between 2.4 and 2.5 metres, and its total mass, when fully fuelled, is likely somewhere between 80,000 and 110,000 kg.
    • Unlike North Korea’s earlier ICBMs, the Hwasong-17 is launched directly from a transporter, erector, and launcher (TEL) vehicle with 11 axles, photos by state media showed.

    How far can it fly?

    • The missile launched on Friday flew nearly 1,000 km (621 miles) for about 69 minutes and reached a maximum altitude of 6,041 km.
    • The weapon could travel as far as 15,000 km (9,320 miles), enough to reach the continental United States.

    What is North Korea trying to demonstrate with the missile launches?

    • North Korea is wary of joint drills between the US and South Korea and believes them to be a rehearsal for invasion and proof of hostile policies.
    • Notably, Pyongyang’s record launches this year began even before military exercises between the allies, one also involving Japan.
    • While it says it is responding to the “provocative” drills, some analysts believe that Kim Jong-un must be setting the stage for something bigger— the resumption of nuclear testing after five years.
    • Pyongyang may also be showcasing its pre-emptive abilities in response to South Korea’s own pre-emptive “kill chain” strategy.

    Failure of diplomacy

    • North Korea pulled out of the Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty (NPT) in January 2003 and has conducted six nuclear tests so far since 2006.
    • Diplomatic talks have been starting and halting over the past two decades.
    • The Six-Party Talks involving South and North Korea, China, Japan, Russia, and the United States, started in 2003, have since stalled with changing geopolitical dynamics.
    • Former U.S. President Donald Trump met with Kim Jong-un thrice between 2018 and 2019 but talks broke down and resulted in more sanctions from the West and increased testing by Pyongyang.
    • The Joe Biden administration did make attempts to restart talks, and North Korea has not seemed keen either.

     

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  • National Investment and Infrastructure Fund (NIIF)

    Finance Minister has urged the National Investment and Infrastructure Fund (NIIF) to expand its operations and explore ways to crowd in private capital for projects under the National Infrastructure Pipeline, PM Gati Shakti and National Infrastructure Corridor.

    What is NIIF?

    • National Investment and Infrastructure Fund (NIIF) is India’s first infrastructure specific investment fund or a sovereign wealth fund that was set up in February 2015.
    • The objective behind creating this fund was to maximize economic impact mainly through infrastructure investment in commercially viable projects, both Greenfield and Brownfield.
    • It was proposed to be established as an Alternative Investment Fund to provide long tenor capital for infrastructure projects with an inflow of ₹20,000 crore from the GoI.
    • It was registered with SEBI as Category II Alternative Investment Fund.

    Types of funds in NIIF

    • NIIF manages three funds: Master Fund, Fund of Funds and Strategic Fund.
    • The funds were set up to make investments in India by raising capital from domestic and international institutional investors.
    1. Master Fund: It is an infrastructure fund with the objective of primarily investing in operating assets in the core infrastructure sectors such as roads, ports, airports, power etc.
    2. Fund of Funds: The Fund of Funds anchor and/or invest in funds managed by fund managers who have good track records in infrastructure and associated sectors in India. Some of the sectors of focus include Green Infrastructure, Mid-Income & Affordable Housing, Infrastructure services and allied sectors.
    3. Strategic Opportunities Fund: It is registered as an Alternative Investment Fund II under SEBI in India. Its objective is to invest largely in equity and equity-linked instruments. It has been established to provide long-term capital to strategic and growth oriented sectors in the country with the aim to build domestic leaders.

    Functions of NIIF

    The functions of NIIF are as follows:

    1. Fund raising through suitable instruments including off-shore credit enhanced bonds, and attracting anchor investors to participate as partners in NIIF;
    2. Servicing of the investors of NIIF.
    3. Considering and approving candidate companies/institutions/ projects (including state entities) for investments and periodic monitoring of investments.
    4. Investing in the corpus created by Asset Management Companies (AMCs) for investing in private equity.
    5. Preparing a shelf of infrastructure projects and providing advisory service

     

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