Syllabus: General Studies Paper 3

Tension between India and China since May 2020 is worrying Indian astrophysicists involved in an ambitious project to install an India-made spectroscope aboard the developing Chinese space station, Tiangong.

• Scientists at the Indian Institute of Astrophysics (IIA), Bengaluru, were among nine groups selected from 42 applicants in 2019 as part of a United Nations-led initiative that invites research teams from all over the world to compete for an opportunity to design payloads that will be shuttled to Tiangong aboard rockets of the Chinese Manned Space Agency.
• The project, called Spectrographic Investigation of Nebular Gas (SING), also involves collaboration with the Institute of Astronomy, Russian Academy of Sciences, and has been designed and developed by research students at the Indian Institute of Astrophysics.
• The SING project would be the first space-collaboration involving India and China, and primarily deals with sending and positioning a spectrograph, an instrument that splits light into constituent frequencies and wavelengths, to study ultraviolet radiation. 
• This will help analyse the make-up and sources of interstellar gas in the region that swept by the space station as it orbits around the earth.
• The T-shaped Tiangong space station, when complete, is expected to be around 20% as massive as the International Space Station, or about 460 tonnes on Earth. 
• The space station consists of three modules, two of which have already been launched in April 2021 and July this year, respectively. The third is expected to be launched this October. 
• It will be only the second such station after the International Space Station in orbit.

India and China have been collaborators in the past on research projects such as the Giant Metre Wave Radio Telescope, a Pune-based observatory that’s employed by astrophysicists across the world to study radiation at metre-scale resolutions to observe and analyse stars and galaxies.

Syllabus: General Studies Paper 3

The James Webb Space Telescope, NASA’s latest and most powerful telescope, has captured new images of our solar system’s largest planet, Jupiter, presenting it in a never before seen light. 

• The photographs published have captured a new view of the planet, presenting in detail its massive storms, colourful auroras, faint rings and two small moons — Amalthea and Adrastea.

Unprecedented View

• While most of us are familiar with the yellow and reddish-brown gas giant, the telescope’s Near-Infrared Camera, with its specialized infrared filters, has shown Jupiter encompassed in blue, green, white, yellow and orange hues. 
• Since infrared light is not visible to the human eye, the images were artificially coloured to match those on the visible spectrum, so that the planet’s distinctive features could stand out.
• Jupiter’s famous Great Red Spot, a storm so big that it could swallow Earth, appeared bright white in the image, since it was reflecting a lot of sunlight.
• The brightness here indicates high altitude so the Great Red Spot has high-altitude hazes, as does the equatorial region.
• The numerous bright white ‘spots’ and ‘streaks’ are likely very high-altitude cloud tops of condensed convective storms.

The Webb Telescope

• NASA’s $10 billion James Webb Telescope was developed with the assistance of the European Space Agency and the Canadian Space Agency.
• It was launched to space on December 25, 2021 and is currently observing from Lagrange point 2, approximately 1.5 million km beyond Earth’s orbit around the Sun. 

Syllabus: General Studies Paper 3

A new infection dubbed tomato flu, or tomato fever, has been detected in India mostly among children younger than five, according to a report in the Lancet Respiratory Journal.

The “non-life-threatening” virus was first identified in Kollam district of Kerala recently.

What is Tomato Flu?

• Tomato flue/fever is a rare contagious disease of viral nature in humans whose origins are not yet known.
• The ‘tomato flu’ is caused by Coxsackie virus A 16. It belongs to Enterovirus family.
• It gets its name from the tomato-shaped red rashes that it causes on the body of infected individuals.
• The flu is said to affect children below five years of age.

• Young children are also prone to this infection through the use of nappies, touching unclean surfaces, and putting things directly into the mouth.

Primary symptoms

• The primary symptoms of tomato flu are similar to those of chikungunya, which include high fever, rashes, and intense pain in the joints. 
• As with other viral infections, further symptoms include fatigue, nausea, vomiting, diarrhoea, dehydration, swelling of joints, body aches, and common influenza-like symptoms, which are similar to those manifested in dengue.

Treatment

• As tomato flu is similar to chikungunya and dengue as well as hand, foot, and mouth disease.
• The treatment is also similar — isolation, rest, plenty of fluids, and hot water sponge for the relief of irritation and rashes. 
• Supportive therapy of paracetamol for fever and body ache and other symptomatic treatments may be required.

Preventive Measures

• Similar to other types of influenza, tomato flu is very contagious and children are at an increased risk of exposure as viral infections are common in this age group and the spread is likely to be through close contact
• Given the similarities to hand, foot, and mouth disease, if the outbreak of tomato flu in children is not controlled and prevented, the transmission might lead to serious consequences by spreading in adults as well.
• Utensils, clothes, and other items used by the infected persons must be sanitized to prevent the flu from spreading.
• Fluid intake should be increased to counter dehydration.
• Proper screening by the health authorities.

Syllabus: General Studies Paper 3

Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) digital rupee the Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) may be introduced in phases beginning with wholesale businesses in the current financial year.

What is Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC)?

• According to the RBI, “CBDC is the legal tender issued by a central bank in a digital form. 
• It is the same as a fiat currency and is exchangeable one-to-one with the fiat currency. 
• Only its form is different.” The digital fiat currency or CBDC can be transacted using wallets backed by blockchain.
• Though the concept of CBDCs was directly inspired by Bitcoin, it is different from decentralised virtual currencies and crypto assets, which are not issued by the state and lack the ‘legal tender’ status.
• CBDCs enable the user to conduct both domestic and cross-border transactions which do not require a third party or a bank.

Significance

• It would reduce the cost of currency management while enabling real-time payments without any inter-bank settlement.
• India’s fairly high currency-to-GDP ratio holds out another benefit of CBDC to the extent large cash usage can be replaced by (CBDC), the cost of printing, transporting and storing paper currency can be substantially reduced.
• It will also minimize the damage to the public from the usage of private virtual currencies.
• It will enable the user to conduct both domestic and cross border transactions which do not require a third party or a bank.
• It has the potential to provide significant benefits, such as reduced dependency on cash, higher seigniorage due to lower transaction costs, and reduced settlement risk.
• It would also possibly lead to a more robust, efficient, trusted, regulated and legal tender-based payments option.

Risks

Privacy Concerns:

• The first issue to tackle is the heightened risk to the privacy of users—given that the central bank could potentially end up handling an enormous amount of data regarding user transactions.
• This has serious implications given that digital currencies will not offer users the level of privacy and anonymity offered by transacting in cash.
• Compromise of credentials is another major issue.

Disintermediation of Banks:

• If sufficiently large and broad-based, the shift to CBDC can impinge upon the bank’s ability to plough back funds into credit intermediation.
• If e-cash becomes popular and the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) places no limit on the amount that can be stored in mobile wallets, weaker banks may struggle to retain low-cost deposits.
• Faster obsolescence of technology could pose a threat to the CBDC ecosystem calling for higher costs of upgradation.
• Operational risks of intermediaries as the staff will have to be retrained and groomed to work in the CBDC environment.
• Elevated cyber security risks, vulnerability testing and costs of protecting the firewalls
• Operational burden and costs for the central bank in managing CBDC.

Way Forward

• The usage should be payment-focused to improve the payment and settlement system. Then it can steer away from serving as a store of value to avoid the risks of disintermediation and its major monetary policy implications.
• Robust data security systems will have to be set up to prevent data breaches. Thus, it is important to employ the right technology that will back the issue of CBDCs.
• The RBI will have to map the technology landscape thoroughly and proceed cautiously with picking the correct technology for introducing CBDCs.

Syllabus: General Studies Paper 1

Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla will travel to Mexico where he will unveil statues of Swami Vivekananda and Maharashtra-born freedom fighter and agriculturalist Pandurang Khankhoje.

Who was Pandurang Khankhoje?

• Born in Wardha, Maharashtra, in the late 19th century, Pandurang Khankhoje came in contact with other revolutionaries early on. 
• As a student, Khankhoje was an ardent admirer of the French Revolution and of the American War of Independence. 
• Closer to home, the Hindu reformer Swami Dayanand and his Arya Samaj movement, which called for a spirit of reform and social change, became the hero to a young student group led by Khankhoje.
• At this time, the British government’s suspicions of him were also growing due to his anti-government activities. 
• Before leaving, he visited Bal Gangadhar Tilak, by whom he was inspired. 
• After spending time with nationalists from Japan and China, Khankhoje eventually moved to the US, where he enrolled in college as a student of agriculture. 
• But a year later, he joined the Mount Tamalpais Military Academy in California as a student of agriculture.

What was his association with the Indian independence movement?

• Khankhoje was one of the founding members of the Ghadar Party, established by Indians living abroad in 1914, mostly belonging to Punjab. 
• Its aim was to lead a revolutionary fight against the British in India.
• While in the US, Khankhoje met Lala Har Dayal, an Indian intellectual teaching at Stanford University.
• Har Dayal had begun a propaganda campaign, publishing a newspaper that featured patriotic songs and articles in the vernacular languages of India. 
• This was the seed from which the Ghadar Party would emerge.

How did Khankhoje reach Mexico?

• At the military academy, Khankhoje met many people from Mexico.
• The Mexican Revolution of 1910 had led to the overthrow of the dictatorial regime, and this inspired Khankhoje.
• He then reached out to Bhikaji Cama in Paris, and met with Vladimir Lenin in Russia among other leaders, seeking support for the Indian cause. 
• He was facing possible deportation from Europe and could not go to India, he sought shelter in Mexico.
• Soon, in part due to his prior friendship with Mexican revolutionaries, he was appointed a professor at the National School of Agriculture in Chapingo, near Mexico City. 
• He researched corn, wheat, pulses and rubber, developing frost and drought-resistant varieties, and was part of efforts to bring in the Green Revolution in Mexico.
• Later on, the American agronomist Dr Norman Borlaug, called the Father of the Green Revolution in India, brought the Mexican wheat variety to Punjab.

Khankhoje was revered as an agricultural scientist in Mexico. The renowned Mexican artist Diego Rivera painted murals that featured Khankhoje, including one titled ‘Our Daily Bread’ that prominently depicted him breaking bread with people seated around a table.

Syllabus: General Studies Paper 3

To augment skill training in tribal communities for their inclusive and sustainable growth, National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC) in partnership with Seva Bharti and Yuva Vikas Society, today launched the second phase of Grameen Udyami Project.

• Under the initiative, the endeavour is to multi skill India’s youth and impart functional skills to them for enabling livelihoods. 
• Prime Minister has emphasised on the involvement of tribal communities in the workforce, ensuring their holistic development to make them self-reliant and contained within their respective geographies.  

Grameen Udyami 

• It is a unique multiskilling project, funded by NSDC that aims to train 450 tribal students in Madhya Pradesh and Jharkhand. 
• The project is being implemented in six states— Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Jharkhand, and Gujarat.
• The project is implemented under Sansadiya Parisankul Yojana.

Objectives

• Increase in Rural/Local Economy
• Enhance employment opportunities
• Reduce forced migration due to lack of local opportunities
• Conservation of natural resources

The training under the project will be conducted in the following Job roles which are relevant to the local economy.

• Electrician & Solar PV Installation Technician
• Plumbing & Masonry
• 2-Wheeler Repair & Maintenance
• IT/ITES with e-Governance
• Farm Mechanization

National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC)

• The National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC) is a non-profit public limited company established on July 31, 2008, under Section 25 of the Companies Act, 1956.
• The Ministry of Finance established NSDC as a Public Private Partnership (PPP) model.
• The Government of India, through the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship (MSDE), owns 49% of NSDC, while the private sector owns the remaining 51%.
• The organisation provides funding to develop scalable and successful initiatives for vocational training.

Syllabus: General Studies Paper 3

A recent study published in Environment Science and Technology has found that rainwater from many places across the globe is contaminated with “per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances,” (PFAs), which are called “forever chemicals” because of their tendency to stick around in the atmosphere, rainwater and soil for long periods of time.

What are PFAs?

• According to the US Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), PFAs are man-made chemicals used to make nonstick cookware, water-repellent clothing, stain-resistant fabrics, cosmetics, firefighting forms and many other products that resist grease, water and oil. 
• PFAs can migrate to the soil, water and air during their production and use. 
• Since most PFAs do not break down, they remain in the environment for long periods of time. 
• Some of these PFAs can build up in people and animals if they are repeatedly exposed to the chemicals.

What harm do PFAs cause?

• The United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) lists a variety of health risks that are attributed to PFA exposure, including decreased fertility, developmental effects in children, interference with body hormones, increased cholesterol levels and increased risk of some cancers. 

• Recent research has also revealed that long-term low-level exposure to certain PFAs can make it difficult for humans to build antibodies after being vaccinated against various diseases.

How can these chemicals be removed from rainwater?

• While there is no known method that can extract and remove PFAs from the atmosphere itself, there are many effective, albeit expensive, methods to remove them from rainwater that has been collected through various rainwater harvesting methods. 
• One way to do this would be to use a filtration system with activated carbon. 
• The activated carbon will need to be removed and replaced regularly.
• Also, the old contaminated material must be destroyed.

Syllabus: General Studies Paper 3

Union Home Minister inaugurated the National Automated Fingerprint Identification System (NAFIS).

• According to the Ministry of Home Affairs, NAFIS, which was developed by the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB), would help in the quick and easy disposal of cases with the help of a centralised fingerprint database.
• In April this year, Madhya Pradesh became the first state in the country to identify a deceased person through NAFIS.

What is NAFIS?

Conceptualized and managed by the NCRB at the Central Fingerprint Bureau (CFPB) in New Delhi.

• The National Automated Fingerprints Identification System (NAFIS) project is a country-wide searchable database of crime- and criminal-related fingerprints. 
• The web-based application functions as a central information repository by consolidating fingerprint data from all states and Union Territories. 
• According to a 2020 report by the NCRB, it enables law enforcement agencies to upload, trace, and retrieve data from the database in real time on a 24×7 basis.
• NAFIS assigns a unique 10-digit National Fingerprint Number (NFN) to each person arrested for a crime. This unique ID will be used for the person’s lifetime, and different crimes registered under different FIRs will be linked to the same NFN. The 2020 report states that the ID’s first two digits will be that of the state code in which the person arrested for a crime is registered, followed by a sequence number.

Since when has India relied on fingerprinting as a crime-fighting tool?

• A system of fingerprinting identification first emerged in colonial India, where it was tested before it spread to Europe and beyond. 
• At first, it was used by British colonial officials for administrative rather than criminal purposes. 
• William Herschel, the chief administrator of the Hooghly district of Bengal, from the late-middle 1800s onwards, used fingerprinting to reduce fraud and forgeries, in order to ensure that the correct person was receiving government pensions, signing land transfer deeds, and mortgage bonds.
• The growing use of fingerprinting was deeply tied to how 19th century British officials understood crime in India. 
• Entire social groups were categorized as racially distinct “criminal tribes” and were deemed to be “professional” criminals from time immemorial. 
• However, the trouble that they faced was in identifying these groups from the ordinary criminals, something that the British found particularly difficult in such a diverse land.
• Anthropometry, the measurement of physical features of the body, was used by officials in India, but was soon replaced with a system of fingerprints, which were seen to be more accurate as it was believed that no two people can have identical sets of patterns, wrote the historian Simon A Cole in his book ‘Suspect Identities: A History of Fingerprinting and Criminal Identification’.

How did the use of fingerprinting develop in crime fighting in India?

• The uniqueness of every individual’s fingerprints was first proposed in Europe by the German anatomist Johann Mayer in 1788, and was confirmed through detailed studies by the Scottish doctor Henry Faulds around the same time that Herschel had begun to implement fingerprinting as a means of identification in Bengal.
• Tracing a single set of fingerprints from a large collection of fingerprint cards required a workable system of classification.
• While similar attempts were made in England and beyond, the Bengal Police were able to create fingerprint records which replaced the use of anthropometric measurements by 1897, when the world’s first Fingerprint Bureau was established in Calcutta, four years before a similar decision was taken in England.
• The Inspector General of the Bengal Police, Edward Henry, recruited two Indian sub-inspectors, Aziz-ul-Haq and H C Bose, for this task. 
• It was Haq who first devised a system of primary classification and a system for indexing names in court conviction registers.
• Henry, however, declined to acknowledge the crucial contributions of his Indian subordinates when he presented the so-called “Henry System of Classification” in England in 1901, and established a fingerprint bureau in Scotland Yard. 
• It was only in 1925 that Henry admitted the invaluable efforts of Haq and Bose to the system of classification, for which the colonial state bestowed on them the titles of Khan Bahadur and Rai Bahadur respectively.

Syllabus: General Studies Paper 1

Mandala patterns are a centuries-old motif that are used to depict the cosmos, and have been adapted by artists the world over, each of whom have added their own interpretation and painted it as their own. 

• Residents of Liverpool, UK, are now marvelling over a mandala the size of one and a half football pitches in length created by artist James Brunt at the Halewood Park Triangle with materials such as leaves and rocks. 
• The piece of land art will be visible for the next couple of weeks, following which the natural elements will wither.

What is mandala and its origins?

• Literally meaning “circle” or “centre” in Sanskrit, mandala is defined by a geometric configuration that usually incorporates the circular shape in some form. 
• While it can also be created in the shape of a square, a mandala pattern is essentially interconnected. 
• It is believed to be rooted in Buddhism, appearing in the first century BC in India. 
• Over the next couple centuries, Buddhist missionaries travelling along the silk road took it to other regions. 
• By the sixth century, mandalas have been recorded in China, Korea, Japan, Indonesia and Tibet. In Hinduism, the mandala imagery first appeared in Rig Veda (1500 – 500 BCE).

The meaning of the motif

• It is believed that by entering the mandala and moving towards its center, one is guided through the cosmic process of transforming the universe from one of suffering to that of joy. 
• A traditional Buddhist mandala, a circular painting drawn with coloured sand, aided in meditation, with the main objective of aiding its creator to discover their true self. 
• In Hinduism, a mandala or yantra is in the shape of a square with a circle at its center.
• There are various elements incorporated within the mandala, each of which has its own meaning. 
• For instance, the eight spokes of the wheel (the dharmachakra) represent the eightfold path of Buddhism (practices that lead to liberation from rebirth), the lotus flower depicts balance, and the sun represents the universe. 
• Facing up, triangles represent action and energy, and facing down, they represent creativity and knowledge.

Mandala in Modern Indian Art

• Deep-rooted in ancient philosophy, the mandala has attained varied forms in the hands of modern and contemporary Indian artists.
• It continues to appear in thangka paintings, it has a central place in the practice of mainstream artists associated with the tantric and neo-tantric spiritual movements. 
• In the 1960s Sohan Qadri and Prafulla Mohanty gained widespread recognition for their works that were imbibed with tantric symbolism, such as mandalas that are also used in the rituals of tantric initiation.
• Geometric compositions also dominated works of artists such as Biren De, GR Santosh, Shobha Broota, and famously SH Raza, who visualised the bindu as the center of his universe and the source of energy and life.

Syllabus: General Studies Paper 3

The government has awarded Geographical Indication (GI) tag to Mithila Makhana, a move which is expected to help growers get the maximum price for their premium produce.

• “Mithila Makhana registered with GI Tag, farmers will get profit and it will be easier to earn. 
• Mithila Makhana or Makhan is a special variety of aquatic fox nut cultivated in Mithila region of Bihar and Nepal.
• The GI registry certificate, it is certified that the GI has been registered in the name of Mithilanchal Makhana Utpadak Sangh.

GI Tag

• Once a product gets this tag, any person or company cannot sell a similar item under that name. This tag is valid for a period of 10 years following which it can be renewed.
• The other benefits of GI registration include legal protection to that item, prevention against unauthorised use by others, and promoting exports.
• A GI is primarily an agricultural, natural or a manufactured product (handicrafts and industrial goods) originating from a definite geographical territory.
• Typically, such a name conveys an assurance of quality and distinctiveness, which is essentially attributable to the place of its origin.
• There is a proper process of registration of GI products which includes filing of application, preliminary scrutiny and examination, show cause notice, publication in the geographical indications journal, opposition to registration, and registration.
• Any association of persons, producers, organisation or authority established by or under the law can apply. The applicant must represent the interest of the producers. It is a legal right under which the GI holder can prohibit others from using the same name.
• The famous goods which carry this tag include 

• Basmati Rice, 
• Darjeeling Tea, 
• Chanderi Fabric, 
• Mysore Silk, 
• Kullu Shawl, 
• Kangra Tea, 
• Thanjavur Paintings, 
• Allahabad Surkha, 
• Farrukhabad Prints, 
• Lucknow Zardozi and 
• Kashmir Walnut Wood Carving.