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Type: Prelims Only

  • Turkish Coffee

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

    Note4Students

    From UPSC perspective, the following things are important:

    Prelims level: UNESCO heritages (tangible and intangible)

    Mains level: Not Much

    Turkish Coffee made it to the UNESCO’s list of Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity in 2013. It is celebrated in literature and songs and is an important part of ceremonies and festivals.

    Try this PYQ:

    Q.Consider the following pairs:

    Traditions Communities

    1. Chaliha Sahib Festival — Sindhis
    2. Nanda Raj Jaat Yatra — Gonds
    3. Wari-Warkari — Santhals

    Which of the pairs given above is/are correctly matched?

    (a) 1 only

    (b) 2 and 3

    (c) 1 and 3

    (d) None of the above

    Turkish Coffee

    • To make Turkish Coffee, Arabica beans are ground manually and boiled with water and sugar in a special pot called cezve in Turkey and ibrik elsewhere.
    • It is taken off the heat as soon as it begins to froth and before it boils over.
    • It is traditionally served in individual porcelain cups called kahvefinjan.
    • Sometimes the coffee may be flavoured with cardamom or other spices and served with a small piece of Turkish delight.

    Back2Basics: Intangible Heritages from India

    • Tradition of Vedic chanting
    • Ramlila, the traditional performance of the Ramayana
    • Kutiyattam, Sanskrit theatre
    • Ramman, religious festival and ritual theatre of the Garhwal Himalayas.
    • Mudiyettu, ritual theatre and dance drama of Kerala
    • Kalbelia folk songs and dances of Rajasthan
    • Chhau dance
    • Buddhist chanting of Ladakh: recitation of sacred Buddhist texts in the trans-Himalayan Ladakh region, Jammu and Kashmir.
    • Sankirtana, ritual singing, drumming and dancing of Manipur
    • Traditional brass and copper craft of utensil making among the Thatheras of Jandiala Guru, Punjab
    • Yoga
    • Nawrouz
    • Kumbh Mela

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  • Modern Indian History-Events and Personalities

    Dictionary of Martyrs of India’s Freedom Struggle (1857-1947)

    Prelims Only | | Mains Paper 1: Modern Indian History

    Note4Students

    From UPSC perspective, the following things are important:

    Prelims level: “Dictionary of Martyrs” Project

    Mains level: India's freedom struggle

    Four martyrs of Communist movement of Kerala will be added to the ‘Dictionary of Martyrs India’s Freedom Struggle (1857-1947)’, if an earlier review report to the Indian Council for Historical Research (ICHR) is accepted.

    Communist revolutionaries of Kerala

    • The four who may make it to the list include Aboobacker and Chirukandan of Kayyur, “who walked to the gallows shouting Inquilab Zindabad and Communist Party Zindabad” and “died as brave communists,” as mentioned in the fifth volume of the dictionary.
    • Abu of Mambram, a Communist and active partner in the nationalist and anti-imperialist movements, and Chattukutty, an active Communist cadre involved in the agitations for price control, wage hike, and relief to peasants, who were killed in the Tellichery police firing on September 15, 1940, would also qualify.
    • The report had suggested the deletion of the martyrs of Punnapra-Vayalar, Karivelloor, and Kavumbayi agitations as they were rioters against the interim government headed by Jawaharlal Nehru.

    Back2Basics: “Dictionary of Martyrs” Project

    • The project for the compilation of “Dictionary of Martyrs” of India’s Freedom Struggle was commissioned by the Ministry of Culture, to the Indian Council of Historical Research (ICHR) to commemorate the 150th anniversary of the uprising of 1857.
    • In this dictionary, a martyr has been defined as a person who died or who was killed in action or in detention, or was awarded capital punishment while participating in the national movement for the emancipation of India.
    • It includes ex-INA or ex-military personnel who died fighting the British.
    • Information of about 13,500 martyrs has been recorded in these volumes.

    Who are included?

    • It includes the martyrs of 1857 Uprising, Jallianwala Bagh Massacre (1919), Non-Cooperation Movement (1920-22), Civil Disobedience Movement (1930-34), Quit India Movement (1942-44), Revolutionary Movements (1915-34), Kissan Movements, Tribal Movements, Agitation for Responsible Government in the Princely States (Prajamandal), Indian National Army (INA, 1943-45), Royal Indian Navy Upsurge (RIN, 1946), etc.

    Five Volumes

    • Volume 1: In this volume, more than 4400 martyrs of Delhi, Haryana, Punjab and Himachal Pradesh have been listed.
    • Volume 2: In this volume, more than 3500 martyrs of Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan and Jammu & Kashmir have been listed.
    • Volume 3: The number of martyrs covered in this volume is more than 1400. This volume covers the martyrs of Maharashtra, Gujarat and Sind.
    • Volume 4: The numbers of martyrs covered in this volume is more than 3300. This volume covers the martyrs of Bengal, Bihar, Jharkhand, Odisha, Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, Meghalaya, Nagaland and Tripura.
    • Volume 5: The number of martyrs covered in this volume is more than 1450. This volume covers the martyrs of Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Kerala.

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  • Road and Highway Safety – National Road Safety Policy, Good Samaritans, etc.

    ‘Streets for People’ Challenge

    Prelims Only | Governance | Mains Paper 2: Governance, Transparency & Accountability, Citizens Charters

    Note4Students

    From UPSC perspective, the following things are important:

    Prelims level: Streets for People

    Mains level: Not Much

    The Union Housing and Urban Affairs has launched the initiative ‘Streets for People’ for making cities more pedestrian-friendly.

    Streets for People

    • The Challenge builds on the advisory issued by MoHUA for the holistic planning for pedestrian-friendly market spaces, earlier this year.
    • It will support cities across the country to develop a unified vision of streets for people in consultation with stakeholders and citizens.
    • Adopting a participatory approach, cities will be guided to launch their own design competitions to gather innovative ideas from professionals for quick, innovative, and low-cost tactical solutions.
    • ​It aims to inspire cities to create walking-friendly and vibrant streets through quick, innovative, and low-cost measures.
    • All cities participating in the challenge shall be encouraged to use the ‘test-learn-scale’ approach to initiate both, flagship and neighbourhood walking interventions.
    • The interventions can include inter alia creating pedestrian-friendly streets in high footfall areas, re-imagining under-flyover spaces, re-vitalizing dead neighbourhood spaces, and creating walking links through parks and institutional areas.

    Various stakeholders

    • Fit India Mission, under Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports, along with the India program of the Institute for Transport Development and Policy (ITDP) has partnered with the Smart Cities Mission to support the challenge.

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  • Modern Indian History-Events and Personalities

    US Presidents who have won Nobel Peace Prize

    Prelims Only | Trivia | Mains Paper 1:

    Note4Students

    From UPSC perspective, the following things are important:

    Prelims level: Persons mentioned in the news, Nobel Prize

    Mains level: Not Much

    A Norwegian legislator has nominated US President Donald Trump for the 2021 Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts towards furthering peace in the Middle East.

    Take a look at the Presidents and Vice-Presidents who have won the Nobel Peace Prize:

    These trivial facts are too unlikely to be asked in the CS prelims, but may hold importance for CAPF and other exams.

     (1) Theodore Roosevelt (1906)

    • Roosevelt, the 26th occupant of the White House (1901-09), was not only the first American president but also the world’s first statesman to win the honour, five years after the Peace Prize was instituted in 1901.
    • He was given the prize for negotiating peace between imperial Russia and Japan after the Russo-Japanese War of 1904-05.
    • He was also praised for his efforts in resolving a dispute between the US and Mexico through arbitration, and for extending the use of arbitration as a means for settling international disputes.
    • At home, Roosevelt launched radical social and economic reform policies and earned a reputation as a “trust buster” for breaking up monopolies.

    (2) Woodrow Wilson (1919)

    • Wilson (1913-21) was given the award for his efforts in ending World War I, and for being the key architect of the League of Nations– born out of his famous ‘Fourteen Points’.
    • Although the League faltered in a few years, it served as a blueprint for the United Nations after World War II.
    • At home, Wilson saw the reduction of import duties, started America’s central bank and a national business oversight body, and strengthened anti-monopoly and labour laws.
    • In his second term, the US passed its 19th constitutional amendment giving women the right to vote.

    (3) Jimmy Carter (2002)

    • The 39th President was awarded the Peace Prize “for his decades of untiring effort to find peaceful solutions to international conflicts, to advance democracy and human rights, and to promote economic and social development”.
    • During his presidency (1977-81), Carter earned praise for his role in bringing about a peace agreement between Israel and Egypt.
    • His later years were more fraught, including foreign policy failures such as the conflict with Iran and the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, culminating in him losing re-election to the conservative Ronald Reagan in 1980.
    • Post his presidency, Carter pursued peace and mediation efforts independently and co-founded the Carter Center, a non-profit that chiefly works to advance human rights.

    (4) Barack Obama (2009)

    • The country’s 44th President (2009-2017) was given the Nobel Peace Prize “for his extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples”.
    • Cited among Obama’s achievements were his promotion of nuclear non-proliferation, and bringing a “new climate” in international relations.
    • Obama donated the full prize money – 10 million Swedish kronor (around $1.4 million) – to charity.

    (5) Al Gore (1993-2001)

    • Apart from the four Presidents, one Vice President– Al Gore (1993-2001) – has been given the Nobel Peace Prize.
    • He shared the honour in 2007 with the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) for their joint efforts to build up and disseminate greater knowledge about man-made climate change.

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  • Modern Indian History-Events and Personalities

    Centenary of Aligarh Muslim University

    Prelims Only | | Mains Paper 1: Modern Indian History

    Note4Students

    From UPSC perspective, the following things are important:

    Prelims level: AMU, Sir Saiyad Ahmad Khan

    Mains level: Not Much

    In its centenary year, Aligarh Muslim University is planning to bury a time capsule, containing its history and achievements for posterity.

    Try this PYQ:

    Q.Consider the following:

    1. Calcutta Unitarian Committee
    2. Tabernacle of New Dispensation
    3. Indian Reforms Association

    Keshab Chandra Sen is associated with the establishment of which of the above?

    (a) 1 and 3 only

    (b) 2 and 3 only

    (c) 3 only

    (d) 1, 2 and 3

    Aligarh Muslim University

    • AMU is a public central university in Aligarh, India, which was originally established by Sir Syed Ahmad Khan as the Muhammadan Anglo-Oriental College in 1875.
    • Muhammadan Anglo-Oriental College became Aligarh Muslim University in 1920, following the Aligarh Muslim University Act.
    • It has three off-campus centres in Malappuram (Kerala), AMU Murshidabad centre (West Bengal), and Kishanganj Centre (Bihar).

    Its establishment

    • The university was established as the Muhammadan Anglo-Oriental (MAO) College in 1875 by Sir Syed Ahmad Khan, starting functioning on 24 May 1875.
    • The movement associated with Syed Ahmad Khan and the college came to be known as the Aligarh Movement, which pushed to realize the need for establishing a modern education system for the Indian Muslim populace.
    • He considered competence in English and Western sciences necessary skills for maintaining Muslims’ political influence.
    • Khan’s vision for the college was based on his visit to Oxford University and Cambridge University, and he wanted to establish an education system similar to the British model.

    About Syed Ahmad Khan

    • He was an Islamic pragmatist, reformer, and philosopher of nineteenth-century British India.
    • Born into a family with strong debts to the Mughal court, Ahmed studied the Quran and Sciences within the court.
    • He was awarded an honorary LLD from the University of Edinburgh in 1889.
    • In 1838, Syed Ahmed entered the service of East India Company and went on to become a judge at a Small Causes Court in 1867, retiring from 1876.
    • During the Indian Rebellion of 1857, he remained loyal to the British Raj and was noted for his actions in saving European lives.
    • In 1878, he was nominated to the Viceroy’s Legislative Council.
    • He supported the efforts of Indian political leaders Surendranath Banerjee and Dadabhai Naoroji to obtain representation for Indians in the government and civil services.

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  • Indian Missile Program Updates

    Hypersonic Technology Demonstrator Vehicle (HSTDV)

    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: Ramjet, Scramjet

    Mains level: Indian missile program

    The DRDO has successfully demonstrated the hypersonic air-breathing scramjet technology with the flight test of the Hypersonic Technology Demonstration Vehicle (HSTDV).

    Take note of close dissimilarities between Ramjet and Scramjet engines.

    About HSTDV

    • HSTDV is an unmanned scramjet vehicle with a capability to travel at six times the speed of sound.
    • The scramjets are a variant of a category of jet engines called the air-breathing engines.
    • The ability of engines to handle airflows of speeds in multiples of the speed of sound gives it a capability of operating at those speeds.
    • Hypersonic speeds are those which are five times or more than the speed of sound.
    • The unit tested by the DRDO can achieve upto six times the speed of sound or Mach 6, which is well over 7000 km per hour or around two km per second.

    Its development

    • The DRDO started on the development of the engine in the early 2010s.
    • The ISRO has also worked on the development of the technology and has successfully tested a system in 2016. DRDO too has conducted a test of this system in June 2019.
    • The special project of the DRDO consisted of contributions from its multiple facilities including the Pune headquartered Armament and Combat Engineering Cluster.

    Back2Basics: Ramjet V. Scramjet

    • A ramjet is a form of air-breathing jet engine that uses the vehicle’s forward motion to compress incoming air for combustion without a rotating compressor.
    • Fuel is injected in the combustion chamber where it mixes with the hot compressed air and ignites.
    • A ramjet-powered vehicle requires an assisted take-off like a rocket assist to accelerate it to a speed where it begins to produce thrust.
    • Ramjets work most efficiently at supersonic speeds around Mach 3 (three times the speed of sound) and can operate up to speeds of Mach 6.
    • However, the ramjet efficiency starts to drop when the vehicle reaches hypersonic speeds.
    • A scramjet engine is an improvement over the ramjet engine as it efficiently operates at hypersonic speeds and allows supersonic combustion. Thus it is known as Supersonic Combustion Ramjet or Scramjet.

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  • Modern Indian History-Events and Personalities

    In news: Malabar Rebellion

    Prelims Only | | Mains Paper 1: Modern Indian History

    Note4Students

    From UPSC perspective, the following things are important:

    Prelims level: Malabar Rebellion

    Mains level: Not Much

    A report submitted to the Indian Council of Historical Research (ICHR) in 2016 has termed the Malabar Rebellion leaders as ‘rioters’.

    Try this question from CSP 2015:

    Q. Which amongst the following provided a common factor for a tribal insurrection in India in the 19th century?

    (a) Introduction of a new system of land revenue and taxation- of tribal products

    (b) Influence of foreign religious missionaries in tribal areas

    (c) Rise of a large number of money lenders, traders and revenue farmers as middlemen in tribal areas

    (d) The complete disruption of the old agrarian order of the tribal communities

    What is the Malabar Rebellion?

    • The Malabar Rebellion in 1921 started as resistance against the British colonial rule and the feudal system in southern Malabar but ended in communal violence between Hindus and Muslims.
    • There were a series of clashes between Mappila peasantry and their landlords, supported by the British, throughout the 19th and early 20th centuries.
    • It began as a reaction against a heavy-handed crackdown on the Khilafat Movement, a campaign in defence of the Ottoman Caliphate by the British authorities in the Eranad and Valluvanad taluks of Malabar.
    • The Mappilas attacked and took control of police stations, British government offices, courts and government treasuries.

    Why is it contentious?

    • It largely took the shape of guerrilla-type attacks on janmis (feudal landlords, who were mostly upper-caste Hindus) and the police and troops.
    • Mappilas had been among the victims of oppressive agrarian relations protected by the British.
    • But the political mobilization in the region in the aftermath of the Khilafat agitation and Gandhi’s non-cooperation struggle served as an opportunity for an extremist section to invoke a religious idiom to express their suffering.
    • There were excesses on both sides — rebels and government troops. Incidents of murder, looting and forced conversion led many to discredit the uprising as a manifestation of religious bigotry.
    • Moderate Khilafat leaders lamented that the rebellion had alienated the Hindu sympathy.

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  • Indian Army Updates

    Assam Rifles and the tussle between MoD and MHA

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

    Note4Students

    From UPSC perspective, the following things are important:

    Prelims level: Assam Rifles

    Mains level: India's paramilitary forces

    The Delhi High Court has granted 12 weeks to the Union government to decide on whether to scrap or retain the dual control structure for Assam Rifles. Presently it comes under both the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) and the Ministry of Defence (MoD).

    What is the Assam Rifles?

    • Assam Rifles is one of the six central armed police forces (CAPFs) under the administrative control of Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA).
    • The other forces being the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), the Border Security Force (BSF), the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP), the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) and the Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB).
    • It is tasked with the maintenance of law and order in the North East along with the Indian Army and also guards the Indo-Myanmar border in the region.
    • It has a sanctioned strength of over 63,000 personnel and has 46 battalions apart from administrative and training staff.

    Making of the regiment

    • Assam Rifles is the oldest paramilitary force raised way back in 1835 in British India with just 750 men.
    • Since then it has gone on to fight in two World Wars, the Sino-Indian War of 1962 and used as an anti-insurgency force against militant groups in the North East.
    • Raised as a militia to protect British tea estates and its settlements from the raids of the NE tribes, the force was first known as Cachar Levy.
    • It was reorganized later as Assam Frontier Force as its role was expanded to conduct punitive operations beyond Assam borders.

    How is it unique?

    • It is the only paramilitary force with a dual control structure. While the administrative control of the force is with the MHA, its operational control is with the Indian Army, which is under the MoD.
    • This means that salaries and infrastructure for the force is provided by the MHA, but the deployment, posting, transfer and deputation of the personnel is decided by the Army.
    • All its senior ranks, from DG to IG and sector headquarters, are manned by officers from the Army. The force is commanded by Lt. General from the Indian Army.
    • The force is the only central paramilitary force (CPMF) in a real sense as its operational duties and regimentation are on the lines of the Indian Army.
    • However, its recruitment, perks, promotion of its personnel and retirement policies are governed according to the rules framed by the MHA for CAPFs.

    Why do both MHA and MoD want full control?

    • MHA has argued that all the border guarding forces are under the operational control of the ministry and so Assam Rifles coming under MHA will give border guarding a comprehensive and integrated approach.
    • MHA sources also say that Assam Rifles continues to function on the pattern set during the 1960s and the ministry would want to make guarding of the Indo-Myanmar border on the lines of other CAPFs.
    • The Army, for its part, has been arguing that there is no need to fix what isn’t broken.
    • Sources say the Army is of the opinion that the Assam Rifles has worked well in coordination with the Army and frees up the armed forces from many of its responsibilities to focus on its core strengths.
    • It has argued that giving the control of the force to MHA or merging it with any other CAPF will confuse the force and jeopardize national security.

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  • Health Sector – UHC, National Health Policy, Family Planning, Health Insurance, etc.

    Vitamin-D Deficiency

    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: Vitamin D

    Mains level: Not Much

    The pandemic-induced lockdown has confined people to their houses for five months now. The resultant lack of sunlight, followed by rains, has brought down the vitamin D levels to the lowest.

    Try this PYQ from CSP 2014:

    Q.Consider the following pairs:

    Vitamin Deficiency:: Disease

    1. Vitamin C::Scurvy
    2. Vitamin D:: Rickets
    3. Vitamin E:: Night blindness

    Which of the pairs given above is/are correctly matched?

    (a) 1 and 2 only

    (b) 3 only

    (c) 1, 2 and 3

    (d) None

    What is Vitamin-D?

    • Vitamin D is an essential vitamin that has myriad positive effects on several systems in the body.
    • Unlike other vitamins, it functions like a hormone and every cell in your body has a receptor for it.
    • It is sparsely found in certain fatty fish and fortified dairy products, and it is extremely difficult to get the Recommended Daily Intake (RDI) of 600-800 IU from diet alone.

    There are two main forms of vitamin D in the diet:

    – Vitamin D2 (Ergocalciferol) — found in plant foods like mushrooms.
    – Vitamin D3 (Cholecalciferol) — found in animal foods like salmon, cod and egg yolks.

    Common signs and symptoms of the deficiency

    Vitamin D deficiency is incredibly common and most people are unaware of it, as the symptoms are subtle and nonspecific.

    – Getting sick or infected often with common cold and flu, because of a weak immune system.
    – Fatigue and tiredness
    – Bone and muscle pains
    – Depression
    – Impaired wound healing
    – Bone loss and osteoporosis

    Sources of Vit. D

    • Sunlight is the best natural source of vitamin D. Sunlight synthesizes cholesterol into Vitamin D3.
    • Usually, 20 to 30 minutes of sun exposure between 10 am and 3 pm is adequate to meet daily requirements, in places with minimum pollution levels.

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  • Interstate River Water Dispute

    Kalasa-Banduri Dam Project

    Prelims Only | Polity | Mains Paper 2: Federalism

    Note4Students

    From UPSC perspective, the following things are important:

    Prelims level: Kalasa-Banduri Dam Project

    Mains level: Inter-state water disputes

    India is on the brink of an acute water crisis, which has, to an extent, fabricated a looming threat of trans-boundary water conflicts. The conflict on the Mandovi / Mahadayi River— flowing through Goa, Karnataka and Maharashtra— is one such example.

    Try this PYQ:

    What is common to the places known as Aliyar, Isapur and Kangsabati?

    (a) Recently discovered uranium deposits

    (b) Tropical rain forests

    (c) Underground cave systems

    (d) Water reservoirs

    Kalasa-Banduri Project

    • The project undertaken by the Karnataka government proposes to divert Mandovi river water from Kalasa and Banduri canals into the Malaprabha river in the state.
    • The project received clearance from the Centre in 2002. It aims to construct a total of 11 dams on the river Mandovi.
    • The diversion of water from Kalasa and Banduri nullahs, however, has been the point of contention between Karnataka and Goa, with the latter claiming it would strip the state of its flora and fauna.

    The conflict

    • The Mandovi originates from Karnataka’s Belgaum district.
    • The Mandovi river basin falls into the states of Goa, Karnataka and Maharashtra.
    • The river is 81 kilometres (km) in length; 35 km of which flows in Karnataka, 1 km in Maharashtra and 45 km in Goa.
    • The seeds of the conflict were sowed over 40 years ago: In 1985, Karnataka initially explored a 350 megawatt-hydro-electric project to divert 50 per cent of the Mandovi river water in Karnataka for irrigation.
    • The plan was also to allow a steady flow of water from the power project’s storage dam after using the water for irrigation purposes in Karnataka.
    • This would have served to drinking water and irrigation purposes in Goa as well.

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