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Type: Prelims Only

  • Global Geological And Climatic Events

    Indian monsoon 25 million years ago resembled present day Australia’s

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

    Note4Students

    From UPSC perspective, the following things are important:

    Prelims level: Drift of Indian plate from Gondwanaland

    Mains level: History of Indian Monsoon

    Using leaf fossils, researchers have found that the Indian monsoon 25 million years ago resembled present-day Australia’s.

    Try this PYQ:

    Q.Which one of the following is the appropriate reason for considering the Gondwana rocks as the most important rock systems of India?

    (a) More than 90% of limestone reserves of India are found in them

    (b) More than 90% of India’s coal reserves are found in them

    (c) More than 90% of fertile black cotton soils are spread over them

    (d) None of the reasons given above is appropriate in this context

    India’s drift

    • About 180 million years ago, India separated from the ancient supercontinent Gondwana and took a long northward journey of about 9,000 km to join Eurasia.
    • During this journey, the subcontinent moved from the southern hemisphere, crossed the Equator to reach its current position in the northern hemisphere.
    • Due to these changing latitudes, it experienced different climatic conditions, and a new study has now tried to map these climatic variations using leaf fossils.

    Clueless over the evolution of monsoon

    • The evolution of the monsoonal climate in India is still debatable and not fully understood.
    • Though recent data indicates that the monsoon system we experience now dates back to about 25 million years, it is still unclear how the climate was during its long voyage.

    Indian research

    • The researchers analysed the morphological characters of fossil leaves collected from Deccan Volcanic Province, East Garo Hills of Meghalaya, Gurha mine in Rajasthan and Makum Coalfield in Assam.
    • The four fossil assemblages were found to be from four different geological ages.
    • It has been observed from across the globe that plant leaf morphological characters such as apex, base and shape are ecologically tuned with the prevailing climatic conditions.
    • The research applied this model to characterize the past monsoon from fossil leaves.

    It’s finding

    • The results indicated that the fossil leaves from India were adapted to an Australian type of monsoon and not the current Indian monsoon system during its voyage.
    • The reconstructed temperature data show that the climate was warm (tropical to subtropical) at all the studied fossil sites with temperatures varying from 16.3–21.3 degrees C.
    • All the fossil sites experienced high rainfall, which varied from 191.6 cm to 232 cm.

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  • Modern Indian History-Events and Personalities

    Who was Lachit Borphukan?

    Prelims Only | | Mains Paper 1: Modern Indian History

    Note4Students

    From UPSC perspective, the following things are important:

    Prelims level: Lachit Borphukan

    Mains level: Not Much

    The Prime Minister (in an election campaign) has called 17th-century Ahom General Lachit Borphukan a symbol of India’s “atmanirbhar” military might.

    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

    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 statewide 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 conferred the Lachit gold medal every year since 1999 commemorating his valour.

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  • Modern Indian History-Events and Personalities

    Tomar king Anangpal II and his connection with Delhi

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

    Note4Students

    From UPSC perspective, the following things are important:

    Prelims level: History of Delhi

    Mains level: Delhi sultanate

    The Union government has recently formed a committee to popularize the legacy of 11th-century Tomar king, Anangpal II.

    Revision: Delhi Sultanate and their contemporaries

    Who was Anangpal II?

    • Anangpal II, popularly known as Anangpal Tomar, belonged to the Tomar dynasty that ruled parts of present-day Delhi and Haryana between the 8th and 12th centuries.
    • The capital of Tomars changed many times from being initially at Anangpur (near Faridabad) during the reign of Anangpal I (who founded the Tomar dynasty in the 8th century), to Dhillikapuri (Delhi) during the reign of Anangpal II.
    • The Tomar rule over the region is attested by multiple inscriptions and coins, and their ancestry can be traced to the Pandavas (of the Mahabharata).
    • Anangpal Tomar II was succeeded by his grandson Prithviraj Chauhan, who was defeated by the Ghurid forces in the Battle of Tarain (present-day Haryana) after which the Delhi Sultanate was established in 1192.

    His connection with Delhi

    • Anangpal II is credited to have established and populated Delhi during his reign in the 11th century.
    • He was instrumental in populating Indraprastha and giving it its present name, Delhi.
    • The region was in ruins when he ascended the throne in the 11th century, it was he who built Lal Kot fort and Anangtal Baoli.
    • He was the founder of Dhillikapuri, which eventually became Delhi.

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  • Festivals, Dances, Theatre, Literature, Art in News

    Jaapi, Xorai and Gamosa in Assam

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

    Note4Students

    From UPSC perspective, the following things are important:

    Prelims level: Jaapi, Xorai and Gamosa

    Mains level: NA

    As the polling date draws closer, decorative jaapis (field hats), hand-woven gamosas and bell-metal xorais are making frequent appearances in Assam.

    Primarily used to felicitate important people and guests, these important symbols of Assamese identity and culture are abundantly seen in political campaigns across the state.

    Jaapi

    • The jaapi is a conical hat made of bamboo and covered with dried tokou (a palm tree found in rainforests of Upper Assam) leaves.
    • It is most often used in official functions to felicitate guests.
    • The landscape of rural Assam features a more utilitarian version, which farmers wear to protect themselves from the harsh weather, both sun and rain, while working in the fields.
    • The first possible recorded use of jaapi dates back to the Ahom-era buranjis, or chronicles. Kings and ministers would wear them then.

    Gamosa

    • The Gamosa, which literally translates to a cloth to wipe one’s body, is omnipresent in Assam, with wide-ranging uses.
    • It can be used at home as a towel (uka gamosa) or in public functions (phulam/floral gamosa) to felicitate dignitaries or celebrities.
    • The popularity of the gamosa has now traveled beyond Assam and is often used by a number of public figures.
    • It was during the anti-foreigner Assam Agitation of the early 1980s, when Assamese nationalism reached its crescendo, that the gamosa assumed a new role.

    Xorai

    • Made of bell-metal, the xorai — essentially a tray with a stand at the bottom, with or without a cover — can be found in every Assamese household.
    • While it is primarily used as an offering tray during prayers, or to serve tamale-paan (betel-nut) to guests, a xorai is also presented along with the jaapi and gamosa while felicitating someone.
    • The bulk of xorais in Assam are made in the state’s bell metal hub Sarthebari in Bajali district.

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  • Innovations in Biotechnology and Medical Sciences

    What are the Diatoms?

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

    Note4Students

    From UPSC perspective, the following things are important:

    Prelims level: Diatoms

    Mains level: Not Much

    The Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad has relied on a forensic test known as diatom tests for leads in an alleged murder case of a person inviting high stage political drama.

    What are Diatoms?

    • Diatoms are photosynthesizing algae that are found in almost every aquatic environment including fresh and marine waters, soils, in fact, almost anywhere moist.
    • Diatoms have cell walls made of silica, each species has a distinct pattern of tiny holes in the cell wall (frustule) through which they absorb nutrients and get rid of waste.
    • A diatom is a photosynthetic, single-celled organism which means they manufacture their own food in the same way plants do.

    Diatoms are important as they:

    • provide the basis of the food chain for both marine and freshwater micro-organisms and animal larvae
    • are a major source of atmospheric oxygen responsible for 20-30% of all carbon fixation on the planet
    • can act as environmental indicators of climate change
    • form the basis of some household goods such as pest/mite prevention and mild abrasive

    Never underestimate UPSC. Try this PYQ before you reach any conclusion.

    Q.Which one of the following is the correct sequence of a food chain?

    (a) Diatoms-Crustaceans-Herrings

    (b) Crustaceans-Diatoms-Herrings

    (c) Diatoms-Herrings-Crustaceans

    (d) Crustaceans-Herrings-Diatoms

    What is a diatom test?

    • Diagnosis of death by drowning is deemed as a difficult task in forensic pathology.
    • A number of tests have been developed to confirm the cause of such deaths with the diatom test emerging as one of the most important tests.
    • The test entails findings if there are diatoms in the body being tested.

    The science behind

    • A body recovered from a water body does not necessarily imply that the death was due to drowning.
    • If the person is alive when he enters the water, the diatoms will enter the lungs when the person inhales water while drowning.
    • These diatoms then get carried to various parts of the body, including the brain, kidneys, lungs and bone marrow by blood circulation.
    • If a person is dead when is thrown in the water, then there is no circulation and there is no transport of diatom cells to various organs.

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  • Modern Indian History-Events and Personalities

    Places on PM Modi’s Bangladesh Visit

    Prelims Only | | Mains Paper 1: Modern Indian History

    Note4Students

    From UPSC perspective, the following things are important:

    Prelims level: Read the attached story

    Mains level: NA

    PM Modi will be on a two-day visit to Bangladesh where he will take part in commemorations of some epochal events there.

    Bangabandhu shrine in Tungipara

    • Located about 420 kilometres from Dhaka, Tungipara was the place of birth of Rahman, the architect of the 1971 Bangladesh War of Independence.
    • This is also the place where he lies buried inside a grand tomb called the ‘Bangabandhu mausoleum’.
    • Millions of people gather here every year on August 15, to observe the day when Rahman was assassinated by a group of disgruntled army officers.

    Harichand Thakur’s shrine in Orakandi

    • Thakur was the founder of the Matua Mahasangha, which was a religious reformation movement that originated in Orakandi in about 1860 CE.
    • At a very early age, Thakur experienced spiritual revelation, following which he founded a sect of Vaishnava Hinduism called Matua.
    • Members of the sect were the namasudras who were considered to be untouchables.
    • The objective of Thakur’s religious reform was to uplift the community through educational and other social initiatives.
    • Members of the community consider Thakur as God and an avatar of Vishnu or Krishna.
    • After the 1947 Partition, many of the Matuas migrated to West Bengal.

    ‘Sugandha Shaktipith’ (Satipith) temple in Shikarpur

    • Modi is also scheduled to visit the Sugandha Shaktipeeth which is located in Shikarpur, close to Barisal.
    • The temple, dedicated to Goddess Sunanda is of immense religious significance to Hinduism.
    • It is one of the 51 Shakti Pith temples.
    • The Shakti Pith shrines are pilgrimage destinations associated with the Shakti (Goddess worship) sect of Hinduism.

    Rabindra Kuthi Bari in Kushtia

    • The Kuthi Bari is a country house built by Dwarkanath Tagore, the grandfather of Nobel laureate and Bengali poetic giant Rabindranath Tagore.
    • The latter stayed in the house for over a decade in irregular intervals between 1891 and 1901.
    • In this house Tagore composed some of his masterpieces like Sonar Tari, Katha o Kahini, Chaitali etc. He also wrote a large number of songs and poems for Gitanjali here.
    • It was also in this house that Tagore began translating the Gitanjali to English in 1912, for which he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature.

    Ancestral home of Bagha Jatin in Kushtia

    • Jatindranath Mukherjee, better known as ‘Bagha Jatin’ (tiger Jatin) was a revolutionary freedom fighter.
    • He was born in Kayagram, a village in Kushtia district, where his ancestral home is located.
    • Jatin acquired the epithet ‘Bagha’ after he fought a Royal Bengal Tiger all by himself and killed it with a dagger.
    • Jatin was the first commander-in-chief of the ‘Jugantar Party’ which was formed in 1906 as a central association dedicated to train revolutionary freedom fighters in Bengal.
    • This was the period when Bengal was seething with nationalist furore against Lord Curzon’s declaration of Partition of the province.
    • Inspired by Jatin’s clarion call, “amra morbo, jagat jagbe” (we shall die to awaken the nation), many young revolutionaries joined the brand of the freedom struggle that the Jugantar Party represented.

    His legend:

    • Jatin is most remembered for an armed encounter he engaged in with the British police at Balasore in Orissa.
    • They were expecting a consignment of arms and funds from Germany to lead an armed struggle when the British found out about the plot and raided the spot where the revolutionaries were hiding. A
    • lthough Jatin lost his life in the Battle of Balasore, his activities did have an impact on the British forces.
    • The colonial police officer Charles Augustus Tegart wrote about Jatin: “If Bagha Jatin was an Englishman, then the English people would have built his statue next to Nelson’s at Trafalgar Square.”

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  • Innovations in Biotechnology and Medical Sciences

    [pib] What is Artificial Photosynthesis?

    Prelims Only | Science Tech | Mains Paper 3: S&T – Applications In Everyday Life

    Note4Students

    From UPSC perspective, the following things are important:

    Prelims level: Artificial Photosynthesis

    Mains level: Carbon sequestration through AP

    Scientists have found a method to mimic nature’s own process of reducing carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, namely photosynthesis, to capture excess carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.

    Artificial Photosynthesis

    • Artificial photosynthesis (AP) is a chemical process that mimics the natural process of photosynthesis to convert sunlight, water, and carbon dioxide into carbohydrates and oxygen.
    • The term artificial photosynthesis is commonly used to refer to any scheme for capturing and storing the energy from sunlight in the chemical bonds of fuel (a solar fuel).
    • Photocatalytic water splitting converts water into hydrogen and oxygen and is a major research topic of artificial photosynthesis.
    • Light-driven carbon dioxide reduction is another process studied that replicates natural carbon fixation.

    Try this PYQ:

    Which of the following adds/add carbon dioxide to the carbon cycle on the planet Earth?

    1. Volcanic action
    2. Respiration
    3. Photosynthesis
    4. Decay of organic matter

    Select the correct answer using the code given below:

    (a) 1 and 3 only

    (b) 2 only

    (c) 1, 2 and 4 only

    (d) 1, 2, 3 and 4

    Challenges in AP

    • Research on this topic includes the engineering of enzymes and photoautotrophic microorganisms for microbial biofuel and biohydrogen production from sunlight.
    • This AP harnesses solar energy and converts the captured carbon dioxide to carbon monoxide (CO), which can be used as a fuel for internal combustion engines.
    • In AP, scientists are essentially conducting the same fundamental process in natural photosynthesis but with simpler nanostructures.
    • However, there are plenty of hurdles to overcome as a successful catalyst to carry out AP.

    What have Indian researchers achieved?

    • Indian researchers have designed and fabricated an integrated catalytic system based on a metal-organic framework (MOF-808) comprising of a photosensitizer that can harness solar power and a catalytic centre that can eventually reduce CO2.
    • A photosensitizer is a molecule that absorbs light and transfers the electron from the incident light into another nearby molecule.
    • The scientists have immobilized a photosensitizer, which is a chemical called ruthenium bipyridyl complex ([Ru (bpy)2Cl2]) and a catalytic part which is another chemical called rhenium carbonyl complex ([Re(CO)5Cl]).
    • They have fabricated it inside the nano space of a metal-organic framework for artificial photosynthesis.

    Outcomes of the research

    • The developed catalyst exhibited excellent visible-light-driven CO2 reduction to CO with more than 99% selectivity.
    • The catalyst also oxidizes water to produce oxygen (O2).
    • The Photocatalytic assembly, when assessed for CO2 reduction under direct sunlight in a water medium without any additives, showed superior performance of CO production.
    • Being heterogeneous, the integrated catalytic assembly can be reused for several catalytic cycles without losing its activity.

    Back2Basics:  Photosynthesis

    • It is the process by which green plants and certain other organisms transform light energy into chemical energy.
    • It is a process used by plants and other organisms to convert light energy into chemical energy that, through cellular respiration, can later be released to fuel the organism’s metabolic activities.
    • This chemical energy is stored in carbohydrate molecules, such as sugars, which are synthesized from carbon dioxide and water – hence the name photosynthesis.

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  • Innovation Ecosystem in India

    [pib] US India Artificial Intelligence (USIAI) Initiative

    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: USIAI Initiative

    Mains level: Not Much

    The US India Artificial Intelligence (USIAI) Initiative was recently launched.

    USIAI Initiative

    • This initiative focuses on AI cooperation in critical areas that are priorities for both countries.
    • It has been launched by the Indo-U.S. Science and Technology Forum (IUSSTF).
    • The IUSSTF is a bilateral organisation funded by the Department of Science & Technology (DST), the GOI and the U.S. Department of States.
    • USIAI will serve as a platform to discuss opportunities, challenges, and barriers for bilateral AI R&D collaboration, enable AI innovation, help share ideas for developing an AI workforce etc.
    • AI R&D is being promoted and implemented in the country through a network of 25 technology hubs working as a triple helix set up under the National Mission on Interdisciplinary Cyber-Physical Systems (NM-ICPS).

    Back2Basics: Artificial intelligence (AI)

    • Artificial intelligence (AI) refers to the simulation of human intelligence in machines that are programmed to think like humans and mimic their actions.
    • The term may also be applied to any machine that exhibits traits associated with a human mind such as learning and problem-solving.
    • The ideal characteristic of artificial intelligence is its ability to rationalize and take actions that have the best chance of achieving a specific goal.
    • A subset of artificial intelligence is machine learning, which refers to the concept that computer programs can automatically learn from and adapt to new data without being assisted by humans.
    • Deep learning techniques enable this automatic learning through the absorption of huge amounts of unstructured data such as text, images, or video.

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  • Indian Navy Updates

    Induction of INS Dhruv

    Prelims Only | Security Issues | Mains Paper 3: Various Security Forces, Agencies & Their Mandates

    Note4Students

    From UPSC perspective, the following things are important:

    Prelims level: INS Dhruv

    Mains level: India's naval arsenal

    India Navy is set to commission INS Dhruv to track satellites, strategic missiles and map the Indian Ocean bed later this year.

    INS Dhruv is no ordinary vessel for the Indian Navy. Read its stealth capabilities and utilities.

    INS Dhruv

    • INS Dhruv has been developed with the help of the DRDO and Indian Navy with India’s Strategic Force Command and National Technical Research Organisation (NTRO) as main intelligence consumers.
    • The indigenously-developed surveillance ship has been built by Hindustan Shipyard Ltd at its Visakhapatnam facility under the Atma Nirbhar Bharat Abhiyan initiative.
    • The 15,000-tonne ship, part of a classified project, will not only create maritime domain awareness for India in the Indian Ocean but also act as an early warning system for adversary missiles headed towards India.

    Stealth capabilities

    • INS Dhruv is equipped with active electronically scanned array radars, or AESA considered a game-changer in radar technology.
    • It can scan various spectrums to monitor satellites of adversaries that are watching over India.
    • It can also understand the range and true missile capability of adversary nations that it finds in the Indo-Pacific.

    Benefits offered

    • Once the vessel is commissioned, India will be the only country outside the P-5 – the US, the UK, China, Russia and France – to have this capability
    • It will act as a major force multiplier to India’s ocean surveillance capabilities.
    • It will be able to provide the Indian Navy with an “ECG of the Indian Ocean”.

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  • Interstate River Water Dispute

    What is Rule Curve of a river?

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

    Note4Students

    From UPSC perspective, the following things are important:

    Prelims level: Mullaperiyar Dam

    Mains level: Interstate river water disputes in India

    The Supreme Court has warned the Tamil Nadu Chief Secretary against the failure to give information on the rule curve for Mullaperiyar dam.

    Do you know?

    The Mullaperiyar dam is located in Kerala on the river Periyar but is operated and maintained by the neighbouring state of Tamil Nadu.

    What is the Rule Curve?

    • A rule curve or rule level specifies the storage or empty space to be maintained in a reservoir during different times of the year.
    • Here the implicit assumption is that a reservoir can best satisfy its purposes if the storage levels specified by the rule curve are maintained in the reservoir at different times.
    • It decides the fluctuating storage levels in a reservoir.
    • The gate opening schedule of a dam is based on the rule curve.
    • It is part of the “core safety” mechanism in a dam.

    Why such a move?

    • During the high-voltage hearing, the Tamil Nadu government blamed Kerala for delaying the finalization of the rule curve for the 123-year-old dam.
    • Kerala government has accused Tamil Nadu of adopting an “obsolete” gate operation schedule dating back to 1939.

    About Mullaperiyar Dam

    • Mullaperiyar Dam is a masonry gravity dam on the Periyar River in the Indian state of Kerala.
    • It is located on the Cardamom Hills of the Western Ghats in Thekkady, Idukki District of Kerala.
    • It was constructed between 1887 and 1895 by John Pennycuick and also reached an agreement to divert water eastwards to the Madras Presidency area (present-day Tamil Nadu).
    • It has a height of 53.6 m from the foundation, and a length of 365.7 m.
    • The Periyar National Park in Thekkady is located around the dam’s reservoir.
    • The dam is built at the confluence of Mullayar and Periyar rivers.

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