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Type: Prelims Only

  • Indian Missile Program Updates

    Shaurya Missile and India’s K missiles family

    Prelims Only | Security Issues | Mains Paper 3: Achievements Of Indians In S&T

    Note4Students

    From UPSC perspective, the following things are important:

    Prelims level: Shaurya Missile

    Mains level: India's missile programme

    A successful trial of the nuclear-capable Shaurya missile was conducted by India.

    Shaurya Missile

    • Shaurya is a land-based parallel of the submarine-launched K-15 missile.
    • It is a land variant of short-range SLBM K-15 Sagarika, which has a range of at least 750 kilometres.
    • These ballistic weapons belong to the K missile family — codenamed after late Dr APJ Abdul Kalam — which is launched from Arihant class of nuclear submarines.
    • Because these missiles are to be launched from submarines, they are lighter, smaller and stealthier than their land-based counterparts; the Agni series.

    A look at what this family of missiles is their strategic importance as a nuclear deterrent and their recent tests.

    K Family of missiles

    • The K family of missiles is primarily Submarine Launched Ballistic Missiles (SLBMs), which have been indigenously developed by DRDO.
    • These are named after Dr Kalam, the central figure in India’s missile and space programmes who also served as the 11th President of India.
    • The development of this naval platform launched missiles began in the late 1990s as a step towards completing India’s nuclear triad (land, sea and air-based).

    Strategic importance of SLBMs

    • The capability of being able to launch nuclear weapons submarine platforms has great strategic importance in the context of achieving a nuclear triad, especially in the light of ‘no first use’ policy of India.
    • The sea-based underwater nuclear-capable assets significantly increase the second strike capability of a country and thus boosts its nuclear deterrence.
    • These submarines can not only survive the first strike by the adversary but also can launch a strike in retaliation thus achieving Credible Nuclear Deterrence.
    • The development of these capabilities is important in light of India’s relations with the two neighbours China and Pakistan.

    Try this PYQ now:

    What is “Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD)”, sometimes seen in the news? (CSP 2018)

    (a) An Israeli radar system

    (b) India’s indigenous anti-missile programme

    (c) An American anti-missile system

    (d) A defence collaboration between Japan and South Korea

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  • Innovations in Biotechnology and Medical Sciences

    What is CBD Oil?

    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: Cannabidiol

    Mains level: Not Much

    These days, there are diverse opinions rising regarding the legalization of CBD oil in India after recent controversy rose after the alleged suicide of an actor.

    What is CBD oil?

    • CBD oil is an extract from the cannabis plant.
    • The two main active substances in it are cannabidiol or CBD and delta-9 tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC.
    • The high that is caused by the consumption of cannabis is due to THC.
    • CBD, however, does not cause a “high” or any form of intoxication.
    • CBD oil is made by extracting CBD from the cannabis plant, then diluting it with a carrier oil like coconut or hemp seed oil.

    What are the effects of Cannabidiol?

    • Cannabidiol has effects on the brain, preventing the breakdown of a chemical that aggravates the pain and affects mood, and mental function. It can reduce pain and anxiety.
    • It also reduces psychotic symptoms associated with conditions such as schizophrenia as well as epilepsy.

    Is it legal in India?

    • The Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985 (NDPS Act) outlaws the recreational use of cannabis.
    • The NDPS Act, however, does not apply to the leaves and seeds of cannabis plants. In case the CBD is extracted from the leaves of the cannabis, then technically it is not illegal.
    • CBD oil manufactured under a licence issued by the Drugs and Cosmetics Act, 1940 can be legally used.
    • However, the use of cannabis as a medicine is not much prevalent in India.

    Now try this PYQ:

    Q. Widespread resistance of malarial parasite to drugs like chloroquine has prompted attempts to develop a malarial vaccine to combat malaria. Why is it difficult to develop an effective malaria vaccine?

    A) Malaria is caused by several species of Plasmodium

    B) Man does not develop immunity to malaria during natural infection

    C) Vaccines can be developed only against bacteria

    D) Man is only an intermediate host and not the definitive host

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  • Wildlife Conservation Efforts

    Wildlife Week

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

    Note4Students

    From UPSC perspective, the following things are important:

    Prelims level: Wildlife week

    Mains level: Conservation of wildlife

    Celebrating Wildlife Week

    • Wildlife Week is celebrated every year in India between October 1 and 8.
    • The annual theme of the campaign is to promote the preservation of fauna – i.e. animal life.
    • Wildlife Week was conceptualized in 1952 with the overall goal of raising awareness to serve the long-term goal of safeguarding the lives of wildlife through critical action.
    • In addition, the Indian Government established an Indian Board of Wild Life which works to improve awareness towards the preservation of wildlife.

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

    Ambedkar Social Innovation and Incubation Mission (PIB)

    PIBPrelims Only | | Mains Paper 2: Schemes For Vulnerable Sections

    Note4Students

    From UPSC perspective, the following things are important:

    Prelims level: Ambedkar Social Innovation and Incubation Mission

    Mains level: Significance of Venture Capital Fund for Schedule caste

    Union Social Justice Minister launched the Ambedkar Social Innovation and Incubation Mission(ASIIM) under Venture Capital Fund for SCs, with a view to promoting innovation and enterprise among SC students studying in higher educational institutions.

    What is ASIIM ?

    • Under Ambedkar Social Innovation Incubation Mission initiative, one thousand SC youth will be identified in the next four years with start-up ideas through the Technology Business Incubators in various higher educational institutions.
    • They will be funded 30 lakh rupees in three years as equity funding to translate their start-up ideas into commercial ventures.
    • Successful ventures would further qualify for venture funding of up to five Crore rupees from the Venture Capital Fund for SCs.

    Venture Capital Fund for SCs:

    • The Social Justice Ministry had launched the Venture Capital Fund for SCs in 2014-15 with a view to developing entrepreneurship amongst the SC and Divyang youth and to enable them to become job-givers.
    • The objective of this fund is to provide concessional finance to the entities of the SC entrepreneurs. Under this fund, 117 companies promoted by SC entrepreneurs have been sanctioned financial assistance to set up business ventures.

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  • Historical and Archaeological Findings in News

    Sawantwadi Toy (PIB)

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

    Note4Students

    From UPSC perspective, the following things are important:

    Prelims level: Sawantwadi toys

    Mains level: NA

    Context- Online Release of Picture Postcard on Sawantwadi Toy by India Post.

    What are Sawantwadi toys ?

    • Sawantwadi toys refers to hand made works of art made of wood in Sawantwadi a town in Sindhudurg district of Maharashtra. Most of these toys are made in the village of Kolgaon in Sawantwadi taluka.
    • These toys are made from the wood of the Indian Coral tree (Erythrina variegata).
    • Craftsmen who make these toys belong to the Chittari community who came to Sawantwadi from Karwar and Goa.

     

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  • Modern Indian History-Events and Personalities

    Who was Kanaklata Barua ?

    ExplainedPrelims Only | | Mains Paper 1: Role Of Women & Women Organization

    Note4Students

    From UPSC perspective, the following things are important:

    Prelims level: Kanaklata Barua

    Mains level: Role of women in Indian National Movement

    A Fast Patrol Vessel (FPV) named ICGS Kanaklata Barua was commissioned in the Indian Coast Guard on Wednesday, in Kolkata. It is named after a teenage freedom fighter who was shot dead in Assam during the Quit India Movement.

    Who was Kanaklata Barua ?

    • One of the youngest martyrs of the Quit India Movement, Kanaklata Barua has iconic status in Assam. Barua.
    • Then 17, led the Mukti Bahini, a procession of freedom fighters to unfurl the Tricolour at Gohpur police station on September 20, 1942. When police did not let them move forward, an altercation led to firing, killing Barua at the head of the procession.
    • She had joined the Mrityu Bahini [a kind of a suicide squad] just two days before the incident. The squad strictly admitted members aged 18 and above but Kanaklata was an exception. She wanted to lead the procession and after much persuasion she was allowed to.
    •  Even as Barua fell to bullets, she did not let go of the flag. She did not want it to touch the ground. Another woman volunteer behind her — Mukunda Kakoty — came and held the flag, and she, too, was shot.

      How important is her legacy ?

    •  1940’s was a time where you saw a lot of women coming to the fore, leading processions, patriotic fervour was at its peak — and Kanaklata was a product of this time.
    • There are schools named after her, there are two statues, there is a ship. While we see her as an icon now, people in her village hated her then — she was a rebel, who questioned patriarchy.

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  • The Crisis In The Middle East

    What’s behind the Armenia-Azerbaijan clashes?

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

    Note4Students

    From UPSC perspective, the following things are important:

    Prelims level: Causacus region mapping

    Mains level: Usual crisis in the middle east and caucasus region

    Fresh clashes erupted on the Armenia-Azerbaijan border, threatening to push the countries back to war 26 years after a ceasefire was reached.

    Try this PYQ:

    Q.Turkey is located between-

    (a) The Black Sea and Caspian Sea

    (b) The Black Sea and Mediterranean Sea

    (c) Gulf of Suez and the Mediterranean Sea

    (d) Gulf of Aqaba and the Dead Sea

    The conflict

    • The largely mountainous and forested Nagorno-Karabakh, home for some 150,000 people, is at the centre of the conflict.
    • Nagorno-Karabakh is located within Azerbaijan but is populated, mostly, by those of Armenian ethnicity (and mostly Christian compared to the Shia Muslim majority Azerbaijan).
    • The conflict can be traced back to the pre-Soviet era when the region was at the meeting point of Ottoman, Russian and the Persian empires.

    A legacy of soviet era

    • Once Azerbaijan and Armenia became Soviet Republics in 1921, Moscow gave Nagorno-Karabakh to Azerbaijan but offered autonomy to the contested region.
    • In the 1980s, when the Soviet power was receding, separatist currents picked up in Nagorno-Karabakh.
    • In 1988, the national assembly voted to dissolve the region’s autonomous status and join Armenia.
    • But Baku suppressed such calls, which led to a military conflict.
    • When Armenia and Azerbaijan became independent countries after the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, the clashes led to an open war in which tens of thousands of people were killed.
    • The war lasted till 1994 when both sides reached a ceasefire (they are yet to sign a peace treaty and the border is not clearly demarcated).

    Issue over control

    • By that time, Armenia had taken control of Nagorno-Karabakh and handed it to Armenian rebels. The rebels have declared independence, but have not won recognition from any country.
    • The region is still treated as a part of Azerbaijan by the international community, and Baku wants to take it back.

    What is the strategic significance of the region?

    • The energy-rich Azerbaijan has built several gas and oil pipelines across the Caucasus (the region between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea) to Turkey and Europe.
    • This includes the Baku-Tblisi-Ceyhan oil pipeline (with a capacity of transporting 1.2 billion barrels a day), the Western Route Export oil pipeline, the Trans-Anatolian gas pipeline and the South Caucasus gas pipeline.
    • Some of these pipelines pass close to the conflict zone (within 16 km of the border). In an open war between the two countries, the pipelines could be targeted, which would impact energy supplies.

    What’s Turkey’s role?

    • Turkey has historically supported Azerbaijan and has had a troublesome relationship with Armenia.
    • In the 1990s, during the war, Turkey closed its border with Armenia and it has no diplomatic relations with the country.
    • The main point of contention between the two was Ankara’s refusal to recognise the 1915 Armenian genocide in which the Ottomans killed some 1.5 million Armenians.
    • On the other end, the Azeris and Turks share strong cultural and historical links. Azerbaijanis are a Turkic ethnic group and their language is from the Turkic family.

    Where does Russia stand?

    • Moscow sees the Caucasus and Central Asian region as its backyard. But the current clashes put President Vladimir Putin in a difficult spot.
    • Russia enjoys good ties with both Azerbaijan and Armenia and supplies weapons to both.
    • But Armenia is more dependent on Russia than the energy-rich, ambitious Azerbaijan. Russia also has a military base in Armenia.
    • But Moscow, at least publicly, is trying to strike a balance between the two. Like in the 1990s, its best interest would be in mediating a ceasefire between the warring sides.

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  • Zoonotic Diseases: Medical Sciences Involved & Preventive Measures

    Cat Que Virus

    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: Cat Que Virus

    Mains level: Not Much

    In a study published in the Indian Journal of Medical Research, scientists have noted the presence of antibodies against the Cat Que virus (CQV) in two human serum samples.

    Try this PYQ:

    Q.Which one of the following statements is not correct?

    (a) Hepatitis B virus is transmitted much like HIV.

    (b) Hepatitis B, unlike Hepatitis C, does not have a vaccine.

    (c) Globally, the number of people infected with Hepatitis B and C viruses is several times more than those infected with HIV.

    (d) Some of those infected with Hepatitis B and C viruses do not show the symptoms for many years.

    What is the Cat Que Virus?

    • For CQV, domestic pigs are considered to be the primary mammalian hosts.
    • Antibodies against the virus indicate that the virus has formed a “natural cycle” in the local area and has the ability to spread in pigs and other animal populations through mosquitoes.
    • CQV belongs to the Simbu serogroup and infects both humans and economically important livestock species.
    • It was first isolated in 2004 from mosquitoes during the surveillance of arbovirus activity in northern Vietnam.
    • In this study, researchers reported a CQV strain (SC0806), which was isolated from mosquito samples collected in China in 2006 and 2008.

    Impact on humans

    • Humans can get infected through mosquitoes as well.
    • In the study, scientists note that because of positivity in human serum samples and the replication capability of CQV in mosquitoes, there is only a “possible disease-causing potential” of CQV in the Indian scenario.

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  • Capital Markets: Challenges and Developments

    What are the ESG funds?

    Prelims Only | Economics | Mains Paper 3: Mobilization Of Resources

    Note4Students

    From UPSC perspective, the following things are important:

    Prelims level: ESG funds

    Mains level: Not Much

    ESG funds are witnessing a growing interest in the Indian mutual fund industry these days.

    Try this PYQ:

    Sustainable development is described as the development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. In this perspective, inherently the concept of sustainable development is intertwined with which of the following concepts?

    (a) Social justice and empowerment

    (b) Inclusive Growth

    (c) Globalization

    (d) Carrying capacity

    What are the ESG funds?

    • ESG means using Environmental, Social and Governance factors to evaluate companies and countries on how far advanced they are with sustainability.
    • ESG investing is used synonymously with sustainable investing or socially responsible investing.
    • While selecting a stock for investment, the ESG fund shortlists companies that score high on the environment, social responsibility and corporate governance, and then looks into financial factors.
    • So, the scheme focuses on companies with environment-friendly practices, ethical business practices and an employee-friendly record.
    • They imbibe the environment, social responsibility and corporate governance in their investing process.

    Why so much focus on ESG now?

    • Modern investors are re-evaluating traditional approaches and look at the impact their investment has on the planet.
    • As a result of this paradigm change, asset managers have started incorporating ESG factors into investment practices.
    • Companies with good ESG scores tick most of the checkboxes for investing, tend to mitigate environmental and social risks and tends to have stronger cash flows, lower borrowing costs and durable returns.

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  • ISRO Missions and Discoveries

    [pib] 20 years of Himalayan Chandra Telescope (HCT)

    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: Chandra Telescope, Chandra X Ray Observatory

    Mains level: Not Much

    In the cold, dry desert of Ladakh, 4500 meters above the mean sea level, for two decades, the 2-m diameter optical-infrared Himalayan Chandra Telescope (HCT) at the Indian Astronomical Observatory (IAO) has been scanning the night sky for 20 years in search of stellar explosions, comets, asteroids, and exo-planets.

    Chandra X-Ray observatory and now, it is Himalayan Chandra Telescope. Do you the key difference? The former is a NASA project while the HCT is the Indian one.

    Himalayan Chandra Telescope

    • The HCT is a 2.01 meters (6.5 feet) diameter optical-infrared telescope named after India-born Nobel laureate Subrahmanyam Chandrasekhar.
    • It contains a modified Ritchey-Chretien system with a primary mirror made of ULE ceramic which is designed to withstand low temperatures it experiences.
    • The telescope was manufactured by Electo-Optical System Technologies Inc. at Tucson, Arizona, USA.
    • It is mounted with 3 science instruments called Himalaya Faint Object Spectrograph (HFOSC), the near-IR imager and the optical CCD imager.
    • It is remotely operated from Hosakote, about 35 km northeast of Bangalore via an INSAT-3B satellite link which allows operation even in sub-zero temperatures in winter.

    Significant feats

    • The telescope has been used in many coordinated international campaigns to monitor stellar explosions, comets, and exo-planets, and has contributed significantly to these studies.
    • Some of the thrust research areas are the study of solar system bodies like; comets, asteroids, the study of star formation processes and young stellar objects, the study of open and globular clusters and variable stars in them.
    • It has helped in analysis of elements in the atmosphere of evolved stars, star formation in external galaxies, Active Galactic Nuclei, stellar explosions like novae, supernovae, gamma-ray bursts and so on.

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