Festivals, Dances, Theatre, Literature, Art in News

What is Perini Dance?

Prelims Only | History | Mains Paper 1: Arts & Culture

Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important:
Prelims level: Perini Dance
Mains level: NA
A Perini dance performance by artistes in Hyderabad has left the audience awestruck.

Perini Dance
- Perini Sivathandavam is an ancient dance form, from Telangana, which has been revived in recent times.
- It originated and prospered in Telangana, during the Kakatiya dynasty.
- It is performed in honour of Lord Siva, the hindu god of destruction and it is believed that in ancient times this was performed before the soldiers set to war.
- One can find evidence of this dance in the sculptures near Garbha Gudi (Sanctum Sanctorum) of the Ramappa Temple at Warangal.
Performance details
- The Perini siva Thandavam is a dance form usually performed by males.
- It is called ‘Dance of Warriors’. Warriors before leaving to the battlefield enact this dance before the idol of Lord Śiva (Siva).
- The dance form, Perini, reached its pinnacle during the rule of the ‘Kakatiyas’ who established their dynasty at Warangal and ruled for almost two centuries.
- It is believed that this dance form invokes ‘Prerana’ (inspiration) and is dedicated to supreme dancer, Lord Siva.
Answer this PYQ in the comment box:

Q.Which one of the following was a very important seaport in the Kakatiya kingdom? (CSP 2017)

(a) Kakinada

(b) Motupalli

(c) Machilipatnam (Masulipatnam)

(d) Nelluru

Post your answers here.

UPSC 2022 countdown has begun! Get your personal guidance plan now! (Click here)
Get an IAS/IPS ranker as your 1: 1 personal mentor
International Space Agencies – Missions and Discoveries

What are Cluster Bombs and Thermobaric Weapons?

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: Cluster Bombs and Thermobaric Weapons
Mains level: Not Much
Human rights group Amnesty International has accused Russia of using cluster bombs and vacuum bombs in the ongoing war.

What are Cluster Munitions?
- According to the 2008 Convention on Cluster Munitions, a cluster munition means a “conventional munition that is designed to disperse or release explosive submunitions each weighing less than 20 kilograms, and includes those explosive submunitions”.
- Essentially, cluster munitions are non-precision weapons that are designed to injure or kill human beings indiscriminately over a large area.
- They are often designed to destroy vehicles and infrastructure such as runways, railway or power transmission lines.
- They can be dropped from an aircraft or launched in a projectile that spins in flight, scattering many bomblets as it travels.
- Many of these bomblets end up not exploding, but continue to lie on the ground, often partially or fully hidden and difficult to locate and remove, posing a threat to the civilian population.
- The Convention on Cluster Munitions specifically identifies “cluster munition remnants”, which include “failed cluster munitions, abandoned cluster munitions, unexploded submunitions and unexploded bomblets”.
And what is a Thermobaric Weapon?
- Thermobaric weapons — also known as aerosol bombs, fuel air explosives, or vaccum bombs — use oxygen from the air for a large, high-temperature blast.
- A thermobaric weapon causes significantly greater devastation than a conventional bomb of comparable size.
- The weapons, which go off in two separate stages, can be fired as rockets from tank-mounted launchers or dropped from aircraft.
- As they hit their target, a first explosion splits open the bomb’s fuel container, releasing a cloud of fuel and metal particles that spreads over a large area.
- A second explosion then occurs, igniting the aerosol cloud into a giant ball of fire and sending out intense blast waves that can destroy even reinforced buildings or equipment and vaporise human beings.
Is it legal to use these weapons?
- Countries that have ratified the Convention on Cluster Munitions are prohibited from using cluster bombs.
- As of date, there are 110 state parties to the convention, and 13 other countries have signed up but are yet to ratify it.
- Neither Russia nor Ukraine are signatories.
- These bombs are not prohibited by any international law or agreement, but their use against civilian populations in built-up areas, schools or hospitals, could attract action under the Hague Conventions of 1899 and 1907.
- International humanitarian law prohibits the use of inherently indiscriminate weapons such as cluster munitions.
- Launching indiscriminate attacks that kill or injure civilians constitutes a war crime.
UPSC 2022 countdown has begun! Get your personal guidance plan now! (Click here)
Get an IAS/IPS ranker as your 1: 1 personal mentor
Modern Indian History-Events and Personalities

Back in news: Visva-Bharati University

Prelims Only | | Mains Paper 1: Modern Indian History

Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important:
Prelims level: Viswabharati University
Mains level: NA
The stalemate continues in Visva-Bharati University as students demand the reopening of hostels and conducting of online examinations.

Visva-Bharati
- Visva-Bharati is a central research university and an Institution of National Importance located in Shantiniketan, West Bengal, India.
- It was founded by Rabindranath Tagore who called it Visva-Bharati, which means the communion of the world with India.
- Until independence, it was a college.
- Soon after independence, the institution was given the status of a central university in 1951 by an act of the Parliament.
Its establishment
- The origins of the institution date back to 1863 when Debendranath Tagore was given a tract of land by the zamindar of Raipur, zamindar of Kirnahar.
- He set up an ashram at the spot that has now come to be called chatim tala at the heart of the town.
- The ashram was initially called Brahmacharya Ashram, which was later renamed Brahmacharya Vidyalaya.
- It was established with a view to encouraging people from all walks of life to come to the spot and meditate.
- In 1901 his youngest son Rabindranath Tagore established a co-educational school inside the premises of the ashram.
- From 1901 onwards, Tagore used the ashram to organize the Hindu Mela, which soon became a center of nationalist activity.
Try this PYQ from CSP 2021:

Q. With reference to Madanapalle of Andhra Pradesh, which one of the following statements is correct?

(a) Pingali Venkayya designed the tricolour Indian National Flag here.

(b) Pattabhi Sitaramaiah led the Quit India Movement of Andhra region from here.

(c) Rabindranath Tagore translated the National Anthem from Bengali to English here.

(d) Madame Blavatsky and Colonel Olcott set up headquarters of Theosophical Society fi rst here.

Post your answers here.

UPSC 2022 countdown has begun! Get your personal guidance plan now! (Click here)
Get an IAS/IPS ranker as your 1: 1 personal mentor
Coal and Mining Sector

Land protests over Deocha Pachami Coal Block

Prelims Only | Economics | Mains Paper 3: Infrastructure: Energy, Ports, Roads, Airports, Railways Etc.

Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important:
Prelims level: Deocha Pachami Coal Block
Mains level: NA
The West Bengal government’s ambitious Deocha Pachami coal block mining project in Birbhum district has run into hurdles over land acquisition and other issues.

Deocha Pachami Coal Block
- The State government is planning to start mining at the Deocha Pachami coal block, considered to be the largest coal block in the country with reserves of around 1,198 million tonnes of coal.
- It is spread over an area of 12.31 sq. km, which is around 3,400 acres.
- There are around 12 villages in the project area with a population of over 21,000, comprising Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes.
Why are locals upset?
- The project is facing protests over land acquisition of which a significant part is forest land.
- Locals, mostly Santhal tribals, have close affinity with the land, with forests and waterways, and rely on it for their needs.
- The tribals were harassed and had been arrested under false and serious charges for protesting.
- Also, the project details have not yet been made public; and the environment clearance is awaited.
Back2Basics:

Coal
- This is the most abundantly found fossil fuel. It is used as a domestic fuel, in industries such as iron and steel, steam engines and to generate electricity. Electricity from coal is called thermal power.
- The coal which we are using today was formed millions of years ago when giant ferns and swamps got buried under the layers of earth. Coal is therefore referred to as Buried Sunshine.
- The leading coal producers of the world include China, US, Australia, Indonesia, India.
- The coal-producing areas of India include Raniganj, Jharia, Dhanbad and Bokaro in Jharkhand.
- Coal is also classified into four ranks: anthracite, bituminous, sub-bituminous, and lignite. The ranking depends on the types and amounts of carbon the coal contains and on the amount of heat energy the coal can produce.
Get an IAS/IPS ranker as your 1: 1 personal mentor

What is the International Court of Justice?

Prelims Only | International Relations | Mains Paper 2: International Institutions

Note4Students

From UPSC perspective, the following things are important:

Prelims level: ICJ, ICC

Mains level: Not Much

Ukraine has filed an application before the International Court of Justice (ICJ), instituting proceedings against the Russian Federation for committing Genocide.

International Court of Justice

The ICJ is the principal judicial organ of the United Nations (UN).
It was established in June 1945 by the Charter of the United Nations and began work in April 1946.
The court is the successor to the Permanent Court of International Justice (PCIJ), which was brought into being through, and by, the League of Nations.
It held its inaugural sitting at the Peace Palace in The Hague, Netherlands, in February 1922.

Its establishment

After World War II, the League of Nations and PCIJ were replaced by the United Nations and ICJ respectively.
The PCIJ was formally dissolved in April 1946, and its last president, Judge José Gustavo Guerrero of El Salvador, became the first president of the ICJ.
The first case, which was brought by the UK against Albania over concerning incidents in the Corfu channel — the narrow strait of the Ionian Sea between the Greek island of Corfu and Albania.

Seat and role

Like the PCIJ, the ICJ is based at the Peace Palace in The Hague.
It is the only one of the six principal organs of the UN that is not located in New York City.
The other five organs are:

General Assembly
Security Council
Economic and Social Council
Trusteeship Council
Secretariat

The court as a whole must represent the main forms of civilization and the principal legal systems of the world.
The judges of the court are assisted by a Registry, the administrative organ of the ICJ. English and French are the ICJ’s official languages.

Jurisdiction of ICJ

All members of the UN are automatically parties to the ICJ statute, but this does not automatically give the ICJ jurisdiction over disputes involving them.
The ICJ gets jurisdiction only if both parties consent to it.
The judgment of the ICJ is final and technically binding on the parties to a case.
There is no provision of appeal; it can at the most, be subject to interpretation or, upon the discovery of a new fact, revision.
However, the ICJ has no way to ensure compliance of its orders, and its authority is derived from the willingness of countries to abide by them.

Judges of the court

The ICJ has 15 judges who are elected to nine-year terms by the UN General Assembly and Security Council, which vote simultaneously but separately.
To be elected, a candidate must receive a majority of the votes in both bodies, a requirement that sometimes necessitates multiple rounds of voting.
Elections are held at the UNHQ in New York during the annual UNGA meeting.
A third of the court is elected every three years.
The judges elected at the triennial election commence their term of office on February 6 of the following year.
The president and vice-president of the court are elected for three-year terms by secret ballot. Judges are eligible for re-election.

India in ICJ

Four Indians have been members of the ICJ so far.
Justice Dalveer Bhandari, former judge of the Supreme Court, has been serving at the ICJ since 2012.
Former Chief Justice of India R S Pathak served from 1989-91, and former Chief Election Commissioner of India Nagendra Singh from 1973-88.
Singh was also president of the court from 1985-88, and vice-president from 1976-79.
Before him, Sir Benegal Rau, who was an advisor to the Constituent Assembly, was a member of the ICJ from 1952-53.

Indian cases at the ICJ

India has been a party to a case at the ICJ on six occasions, four of which have involved Pakistan.
They are:

Right of Passage over Indian Territory (Portugal v. India, culminated 1960);
Appeal Relating to the Jurisdiction of the ICAO Council (India v. Pakistan, culminated 1972);
Trial of Pakistani Prisoners of War (Pakistan v. India, culminated 1973);
Aerial Incident of 10 August 1999 (Pakistan v. India, culminated 2000);
Obligations concerning Negotiations relating to Cessation of the Nuclear Arms Race and to Nuclear Disarmament (Marshall Islands v. India, culminated 2016); and
(Kulbhushan) Jadhav (India v. Pakistan, culminated 2019).

Back2Basics:

BASIS	INTERNATIONAL CRIMINAL COURT	INTERNATIONAL COURT OF JUSTICE
Relationship with the United Nations	Independent; UN Security Council may refer matters to it	Primary judicial branch of the UN.
Members	105 members	193 members (all members of the United Nations).
Derives authority from	The Rome Statute	Charter of the United Nations and the Statute of the International Court of Justice.
Scope of work	Criminal matters – investigating and prosecuting crimes of genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes	Civil matters- settling legal disputes between the member-states and giving advisory opinions on international legal issues
Jurisdiction	Only the member nations of the ICC, which means around 105 countries. Can try individuals.	All the member nations of the UN, which means 193 countries. Cannot try individuals and other private entities.
Composition	1 prosecutor and 18 judges, who are elected for a 9-year term each by the member-states which make up the Assembly of State Parties with all being from different nations	15 judges who are elected for a 9-year term each and are all from different nations.
Funding	Funded by state parties to the Rome Statute and voluntary contributions from the United Nations, governments, individual corporations, etc.	Funded by the UN.

UPSC 2022 countdown has begun! Get your personal guidance plan now! (Click here)

Get an IAS/IPS ranker as your 1: 1 personal mentor

Monsoon Updates

[pib] International Monsoons Project Office (IMPO)

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

Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important:
Prelims level: International Monsoons Project Office (IMPO)
Mains level: Not Much
Union Minister of Science & Technology has launched the International Monsoons Project Office (IMPO).

International Monsoons Project Office (IMPO)
- IMPO will be hosted at the Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology (IITM), Pune, an institution under the Ministry of Earth Sciences, Govt of India, initially for five years.
- Setting up the IMPO reiterates the importance of monsoons for the national economy.
- It would encompass activities and connections related to international monsoon research that would be identified and fostered under the leadership of the World Climate Research Programme.
- Both the World Climate Research Programme and World Weather Research Programme are international programmes coordinated by the United Nations World Meteorological Organisation (WMO).
Significance of IMPO
- Setting up the IMPO in India would mean expanding an integrated scientific approach to solve the seasonal variability of monsoons, enhancing the prediction skill of monsoons and cyclones.
- It would promote knowledge sharing and capacity building in areas of monsoon research crucial for agriculture, water resources and disaster management, hydropower and climate-sensitive socio-economic sectors.
- It is a step towards making India a global hub for monsoon research and coordination in a seamless manner for addressing common and region-specific aspects of the monsoons around the world.
UPSC 2022 countdown has begun! Get your personal guidance plan now! (Click here)

Back2Basics:

Various terms related to Indian Monsoon
Get an IAS/IPS ranker as your 1: 1 personal mentor
Innovations in Sciences, IT, Computers, Robotics and Nanotechnology

Antonov AN-225: World’s largest aircraft

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: An-225
Mains level: NA
Amid Moscow’s assault on Ukraine, the world’s largest cargo aircraft, the Antonov AN-225 or ‘Mriya’, was destroyed by Russian troops during an attack on an airport near Kyiv.

Antonov AN-225
- With a wingspan of over 290-feet, the unique Antonov AN-225 was designed in what was then the Ukrainian USSR during the 1980s amid a tense race to space between the US and the Soviet Union.
- The plane, nicknamed ‘Mriya’ or ‘dream’ in Ukrainian, is very popular in aviation circles, and is known to attract huge crowds of fans at air shows around the world.
- It was initially designed as part of the Soviet aeronautical program to carry the Buran, which was the Soviet version of the US’ Space Shuttle.
- After the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, when the Buran program was cancelled, the aircraft was instead used to transport massive cargo loads.
Its manufacturing
- Only one AN-225 was ever built by the Kyiv-based Antonov Company, the defence manufacturers who originally designed the plane.
- It is essentially a large version of another design by the Antonoc Company — the four-engine An-124 ‘Condor’, which is used by the Russian Air Force.
- The aircraft first took flight in 1988 and has been in use ever since.
- In the recent past, it has been used for delivering relief supplies during calamities in neighbouring nations.
UPSC 2022 countdown has begun! Get your personal guidance plan now! (Click here)
Get an IAS/IPS ranker as your 1: 1 personal mentor
Foreign Policy Watch: India – EU

What is the Munich Security Conference (MSC)?

IOCR Prelims Only | International Relations | Mains Paper 2: Bilateral, Regional and Global Groupings and agreements involving India

Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important:
Prelims level: Munich Security Conference
Mains level: NA
The latest edition of MSC a week ago assumed significance as it was here that the Ukrainian President appealed for help ahead of the Russian invasion.

Munich Security Conference
- The Munich Security Conference is an annual conference on international security policy that has been held in Munich, Bavaria, Germany since 1963.
- It brings together heads of state, diplomats and business leaders from the world’s leading democracies for three days of meetings and presentations.
- It is the world’s largest gathering of its kind.
- Over the past four decades the MSC has become the most important independent forum for the exchange of views by international security policy decision-makers.
How did it begin?
- When the MSC was founded in 1963, it was envisioned as a way for leaders, mostly from the West, to discuss threats and dangers in an informal setting.
- Most of the concerns at the time stemmed from the Cold War, which had dominated world politics for nearly a half-century.
- Over time, the conference evolved into a platform for airing grievances and workshopping political agreements, some of them outside the realm of East-West relations.
- In recent years, the conference has often invited leaders from authoritarian countries, and even adversaries, to speak.
UPSC 2022 countdown has begun! Get your personal guidance plan now! (Click here)
Get an IAS/IPS ranker as your 1: 1 personal mentor
Nuclear Diplomacy and Disarmament

Places in news: Chernobyl

Prelims Only | International Relations | Mains Paper 2: Bilateral, Regional and Global Groupings and agreements involving India

Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important:
Prelims level: Chernobyl Disaster
Mains level: Not Much
Ukrainian authorities said that radiation levels had increased in the Chernobyl exclusion zone after the Russian Invasion.

What is Chernobyl Disaster?
- The Chernobyl disaster was a nuclear accident that occurred on 26 April 1986 at the No. 4 reactor in the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant, near the city of Pripyat in the north of Ukraine (formerly USSR).
- It is considered the worst nuclear disaster in history both in cost and casualties.
- It is one of only two nuclear energy accidents rated at seven—the maximum severity—on the International Nuclear Event Scale.
- The other such incident was the 2011 Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster in Japan.
Destruction caused
- Some sources state that two people were killed in the initial explosions, whereas others report that the figure was closer to 50.
- Dozens more people contracted serious radiation sickness; some of them later died.
- Between 50 and 185 million curies of radionuclides (radioactive forms of chemical elements) escaped into the atmosphere.
- This is several times more radioactivity than that created by the atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan.
- This radioactivity was spread by the wind over Belarus, Russia, and Ukraine and soon reached as far west as France and Italy.
UPSC 2022 countdown has begun! Get your personal guidance plan now! (Click here)
Get an IAS/IPS ranker as your 1: 1 personal mentor
Modern Indian History-Events and Personalities

Who was Lachit Borphukan?

Prelims Only | | Mains Paper 1: Arts & Culture

Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important:
Prelims level: Lachit Borphukan, Battle of Saraighat
Mains level: NA
The Prime Minister has paid tribute to Lachit Borphukan on Lachit Diwas.

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 Diwas
- 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 valor.
Try this PYQ:

Q.What was the immediate cause for Ahmad Shah Abdali to invade and fight the Third Battle of Panipat?

(a) He wanted to avenge the expulsion by Marathas of his viceroy Timur Shah from Lahore

(b) The frustrated governor of Jullundhar Adina Beg khan invited him to invade Punjab

(c) He wanted to punish Mughal administration for non-payment of the revenues of the Chahar Mahal (Gujrat Aurangabad, Sialkot and Pasrur)

(d) He wanted to annex all the fertile plains of Punjab upto borders of Delhi to his kingdom

Post your answer here.

UPSC 2022 countdown has begun! Get your personal guidance plan now! (Click here)
Get an IAS/IPS ranker as your 1: 1 personal mentor

Type: Prelims Only

Perini Dance

Performance details

Answer this PYQ in the comment box:

What are Cluster Munitions?

And what is a Thermobaric Weapon?

Is it legal to use these weapons?

Visva-Bharati

Its establishment

Try this PYQ from CSP 2021:

Deocha Pachami Coal Block

Why are locals upset?

Back2Basics:

Coal

International Court of Justice

Its establishment

Seat and role

Jurisdiction of ICJ

Judges of the court

India in ICJ

Indian cases at the ICJ

Back2Basics:

International Monsoons Project Office (IMPO)

Significance of IMPO

Back2Basics:

Antonov AN-225

Its manufacturing

Munich Security Conference

How did it begin?

What is Chernobyl Disaster?

Destruction caused

Who was Lachit Borphukan?

Lachit Diwas

Try this PYQ: