Syllabus: General Studies Paper 1

World Population Prospects 2022 was released UN Dept of Economic & Social Affairs

World Population Prospects

• The Population Division of the UN has been publishing the WPP in a biennial cycle since 1951.
• Each revision of the WPP provides a historical time series of population indicators starting in 1950.
• It does so by taking into account newly released national data to revise estimates of past trends in fertility, mortality or international migration.

Takeaways for the global population

• Currently, with 7 billion Asia is the most populous continent and has 61 per cent of the global population, 17 per cent reside in Africa (1.3 billion), 10 per cent in Europe (750 million), 8 per cent in Latin America and the Caribbean (650 million), and the remaining 5 per cent in Northern America (370 million) and Oceania (43 million).
• The world’s population continues to grow, but the pace of growth is slowing down: The global population is expected to grow to around 8.5 billion in 2030, 7 billion in 2050 and 10.4 billion in 2100.
• In 2020, the global growth rate fell under 1% per year for the first time since 1950.
• Rates of population growth vary significantly across countries and regions: More than half of the projected increase in global population up to 2050 will be concentrated in just eight countries: the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Egypt, Ethiopia, India, Nigeria, Pakistan, the Philippines and the United Republic of Tanzania.
• The 46 least developed countries (LDCs) are among the world’s fastest-growing.
• Many are projected to double in population between 2022 and 2050, putting additional pressure on resources and posing challenges to the achievement of the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Syllabus: General Studies Paper 2

PM unveils National Emblem cast on the roof of the new Parliament Building.

• The National Emblem is made of bronze with a total weight of 9500 Kg and is 6.5 m in height.

State Emblem

• The State Emblem of India is the national emblem of the Republic of India and is used by the union government, state governments, and other government agencies.
• The State Emblem is an adaptation of the Lion Capital of Asoka at Sarnath.
• In the original, there are four lions, mounted back to back, on a circular abacus, which itself rests on a bell-shaped lotus.
• The frieze of the abacus has sculptures in high relief of an elephant, a galloping horse, a bull and a lion separated by intervening Dharma Chakras.
• The profile of the Lion Capital showing three lions mounted on the abacus with a Dharma Chakra in the centre, a bull on the right and a galloping horse on the left, and outlines of Dharma Chakras on the extreme right and left was adopted as the State Emblem of India on January 26, 1950.
• The bell-shaped lotus was omitted.
• The motto Satyamev Jayate, which means ‘Truth Alone Triumphs’, written in Devanagari script below the profile of the Lion Capital is part of the State Emblem of India.

Syllabus: General Studies Paper 3

Dark matter detector experiment named LUX-ZEPLIN (LZ) in South Dakota in the U.S. was recently in news

• As of today, this is the most sensitive dark matter detector in the world.

What is dark matter and why is it so elusive?

• All interactions in the universe are a result of four fundamental forces acting on particles — strong nuclear force, weak nuclear force, electromagnetic force and gravitation.
• Dark matter is made up of particles that do not have a charge — which means they do not interact through electromagnetic interactions.
• So, these are particles that are “dark”, namely because they do not emit light, which is an electromagnetic phenomenon, and “matter” because they possess mass like normal matter and hence interact through gravity.
• Gravitational force, besides not being fully integrated and understood by particle physicists, is extremely weak.
• For one thing, a particle that interacts so weakly becomes rather elusive to detect.
• This is because interactions from other known particles could drown out signals of dark matter particles.

Why do physicists believe strongly that dark matter exists?

• There is strong indirect evidence for dark matter, and this evidence is reflected at various levels (or distance scales).
• The discrepancy between the calculated and observed value of velocities in rotating galaxies proves that there is a certain fraction of matter which exerts a gravitational pull on the rest of the stars in the galaxy.
• This means that there is a definite amount of dark matter in the galaxy.

What are the evidences from other distance scales?

• The second evidence came from observations of the so-called Bullet cluster of galaxies.
• The Bullet cluster is formed through the merging of two galaxy clusters.
• Physicists found from their calculations that the way these mergers took place could not be fully explained if we believed that the visible universe were all that existed.
• Therefore, there should be something like dark matter as well as an estimate of how much dark matter there should be in the universe.

What are the candidates for dark matter particles?

• Postulated entities include the super symmetric partner of the Z boson, a particle that mediates the electro-weak interaction.
• Yet other explanations talk about “hidden sector particles” and Axions, a boson and a condensate of dark matter.
• There are many other theories.

The search is on to find one of these candidates, for the story is one that spins together gravity.

Syllabus: General Studies Paper 2

The Supreme Court held that Centre was bound to advise the President of India for the exercise of his powers under Article 72 of the Constitution and to release the appellant (Abu Salem).

Background

• The then Deputy Prime Minister and Home Minister L. K. Advani had given a ‘solemn sovereign assurance’ to a Portugal court that Abu Salem would neither be sentenced to death nor serve more than 25 years in prison.
• The case had triggered concern in the Supreme Court about the “international ramifications” India may face if seen to take back on solemn promises made to foreign powers and their courts while securing an extradition.
• However, the Central Bureau of Investigation, in a recent affidavit, had maintained that Mr. Advani’s assurance was no guarantee.

Article 72

Pardoning Power of the President in India:

• Under Article 72 of the Constitution, the President shall have the power to grant pardons, reprieves, respites or remissions of punishment or to suspend, remit or commute the sentence
• Although the President is bound by the Cabinet’s advice, Article74 (1) empowers him to return it for reconsideration once. If the Council of Ministers decides against any change, the President has no option but to accept it.

President to grant pardons to persons who have been tried and convicted of any offence in all cases where the:

• Punishment or sentence is for an offence against a Union Law;
• Punishment or sentence is by a court martial (military court); and
• Sentence is a sentence of death.
• The pardoning power of the President is independent of the Judiciary; it is an executive power.
• But, the President while exercising this power, does not sit as a court of appeal.
• The object of conferring this power on the President is two-fold:

1. to keep the door open for correcting any judicial errors in the operation of law; and,
2. To afford relief from a sentence, which the President regards as unduly harsh.

• Under Article 161, the Governor in India too has pardoning powers.

Difference Between Pardoning Powers of President and Governor:

• The scope of the pardoning power of the President under Article 72 is wider than the pardoning power of the Governor under Article 161 which differs in the following two ways:
• Court Martial: The power of the President to grant pardon extends in cases where the punishment or sentence is by a Court Martial but Article 161 does not provide any such power to the Governor.
• Death sentence: The President can grant pardon in all cases where the sentence given is the sentence of death but the pardoning power of the Governor does not extend to death sentence cases.

The pardoning power of the President includes the following:

• Pardon: It removes both the sentence and the conviction and completely absolves the convict from all sentences, punishments and disqualifications.
• Commutation: It denotes the substitution of one form of punishment for a lighter form.
• Remission: It implies reducing the period of sentence without changing its character..
• Respite: It denotes awarding a lesser sentence in place of one originally awarded due to some special fact, such as the physical disability of a convict or the pregnancy of a woman offender.
• Reprieve: It implies a stay of the execution of a sentence for a temporary period.

Its purpose is to enable the convict to have time to seek pardon or commutation from the President.

General Studies Paper 2

Northern Zonal Council was held recently.

• Three states and as many Union Territories discussed issues of river water sharing, safety of women, setting up fast-track courts, cyber security and the issue of strengthening rural banking with union Home Minister during a meeting of the Northern Zonal Council in Jaipur.

Issues Discussed

• Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) asked the states to resolve the issues amicably and through discussion.
• Ministry stressed to take a cordial approach to the issue and find a time-bound solution.
• Discussion stressed that all stakeholders should come together to establish a strong cooperative mechanism for development, for which purpose the regional councils were created
• Meeting also stressed upon the States and Union Territories to conduct awareness campaigns on cyber-vigilance through various mediums
• It was also decided in the meeting that a committee chaired by the Union Home Secretary, along with all departments concerned and state governments, will prepare a strategy to deal with growing menace of cybercrime.

Zonal Council

• Zonal Councils are the statutory bodies.
• They are established by an Act of the Parliament – States Reorganisation Act of 1956.
• The act divided the country into five zones– Northern, Central, Eastern, Western and Southern and provided a zonal council for each zone.

While forming these zones, several factors have been taken into account which includes:

• The natural divisions of the country
• The river systems and means of communication
• The cultural and linguistic affinity
• The requirements of economic development, security and law and order
• In addition to the above mentioned Zonal Councils, a North-Eastern Council was created by a separate Act of Parliament, the North-Eastern Council Act of 1971.
• Its members include Assam, Manipur, Mizoram, Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, Meghalaya, Tripura and Sikkim.
• These are advisory bodies that make recommendations with regard to any matter of common interest in the field of economic and social planning between the Centre and States border disputes, linguistic minorities, inter-State transport or matters connected with the reorganisation of States.

Organizational Structure:

• Chairman: The Union Home Minister is the Chairman of each of these Councils.
• Vice Chairman: The Chief Ministers of the States included in each zone act as Vice-Chairman of the Zonal Council for that zone by rotation, each holding office for a period of one year at a time.
• Members: Chief Minister and two other Ministers as nominated by the Governor from each of the States and two members from Union Territories included in the zone.
• Advisers: One person nominated by the NITI Aayog for each of the Zonal Councils, Chief Secretaries and another officer/Development Commissioner nominated by each of the States included in the Zone.

Functions of the Councils:

• Any matter of common interest in the field of economic and social planning,
• Any matter concerning border disputes, linguistic minorities or inter-State transport,
• Any matter connected with or arising out of, the reorganization of the States under the States Reorganisation Act.

Syllabus: General Studies Paper 1

Hardly paid attention to for two decades, Archaeological Survey of India has now taken up conservation work at this important Buddhist site near Kalaburagi.

• The ancient Buddhist site on the bank of Bhima river near Kanaganahalli (forming part of Sannati site) in Kalaburagi district, has finally got some attention.
• The conservation project taken up now envisages the resetting of the remains of Maha Stupa retrieved in the excavation
• The stupa was built with locally available limestone.

About the place

• Sannati and Kanaganahalli were small and ordinary villages on the bank of Bhima till 1986 when the Kali temple at the Chandralamba temple complex in Sannati collapsed.
• In the process of clearing the debris, they discovered an Ashokan edict which put the villages on the world map and opened new avenues of historical research on Mauryan Emperor Ashoka and Buddhism in its early years.
• It prompted the ASI excavations at Sannati and nearby Kanaganahalli and attracted historians across India and beyond.

Kanaganahalli excavation

• An ‘abandoned well’ in the eyes of local villagers turned out to be the magnificent Maha Stupa, which was referred to as Adholoka Maha Chaitya in the inscriptions.
• More significantly, the stone-portrait of Emperor Ashoka, surrounded by his queens and female attendants was also found
• While the Stupa is believed to be one of the largest of its time, the stone-portrait is considered to be the only surviving image of the Mauryan Emperor which had the inscription ‘Raya Asoko’ in Brahmi on it.
• The Maha Stupa is believed to have been developed in three constructional phases – Maurya, Early Satavahana and Later Satavahana periods stretching from 3rd Century B.C. to 3rd Century A.D. The Stupa is believed to have been destroyed in an earthquake.

The recoveries included

• Around 60 dome slabs with the sculptural rendering of Jataka stories, Portrait of Ashoka, Satavahana monarchs and certain unique depictions of Buddhist missionaries sent by Ashoka to different parts;
• 72 drum-slabs decorated with a variety of Dharma-Chakra, Stupas, the first sermon, Bodhi-tree, Naga Muchulinda, Vihara complexes;
• Over 10 inscribed sculptures of the Buddha, over a dozen Buddha-Padas;
• Fragments of Ayaka pillars, umbrella stones and shafts, parts of sculptures of Yakshas and lion and 250 Brahmi inscriptions with varied palaeographical features.

yllabus: General Studies Paper 3

Singalila National Park launches programme that aims to release about 20 red pandas in a period of five years

• The number of red pandas has been declining in the wild, even in the Singalila and Neora Valley National Parks, the two protected areas where the endangered mammal is found in the wild in West Bengal.
• Recent studies estimate that there are 38 of them in Singalila and 32 in Neora.

Red Panda

• Scientific Name: Ailurus fulgens
• Geographic habitat: Sikkim, West Bengal, Meghalaya and Arunachal Pradesh
• IUCN Status: Endangered
• The red panda is a small arboreal mammal found in the forests of India, Nepal, Bhutan and the northern mountains of Myanmar and southern China.
• It is a state animal of Sikkim.
• Red pandas are shy and solitary and considered an indicator species for ecological change.
• It thrives best at 2,200-4,800m, in mixed deciduous and conifer forests with dense under stories of bamboo.
• The recent studies have concluded that India is home to both the (sub) species — Himalayan red panda (Ailurus fulgens) and the Chinese red panda (Ailurus styani) and the Siang river in Arunachal Pradesh splits the two phylogenetic species.

Singalila National Park

• Singalila National Park is a National park of India located on the Singalila Ridge at an altitude of more than 7000 feet above sea level, in the Darjeeling district of West Bengal.
• The park was declared a wildlife sanctuary in 1986, and was made an Indian national park in 1992.
• The park is part of the Eastern Himalayas.
• The Singalila Ridge, which runs roughly North to South and separates Himalayan West Bengal from the other Eastern Himalayan ranges to the west of it.
• The two highest peaks of West Bengal, Sandakphu (3630 m) and Phalut (3600 m), are located on the ridge and inside the park.
• Rammam river and Srikhola River flow through the park.

Syllabus: General Studies Paper 1

New species of Miliusa spotted in Agasthyamala

• Researchers have identified a new species of evergreen tree belonging to the genus Miliusa from the Agasthyamala biosphere reserve in the southern arm of the Western Ghats in the Thiruvananthapuram district.
• What makes the discovery special is that only two mature trees have been spotted so far in its natural habitat
• The tree, which grows to a height of about six to nine metres with drooping branches, has been named Miliusa agasthyamalana after the location where it was found.
• The identification of the new species has also taken the total number of species of Miliusa found in India to 25.
• Spotted during a floristic survey in the Athirumala range of the Agasthyamala biosphere, the new species is morphologically similar to Miliusa paithalmalayana and Miliusa wightiana.
• The researchers came across the new Miliusa species at elevations ranging between 1000-1250 metres.
• Miliusa agasthyamalana has brown bark, and solitary flowers which are yellowish-pink in colour.
• Flowering and fruiting occur during April-July.
• Given the small number of mature individuals that have been found, researchers have recommended that the species be categorised as critically endangered (CR).

Agasthyamala Biosphere Reserve (ABR)

Syllabus: General Studies Paper 3

New forest rules dilute tribal rights.

• Recently, the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC) has issued the Forest (Conservation) Rules, 2022.

Key Provisions

Formation of Committees:

• It constituted an Advisory Committee, a regional empowered committee at each of the integrated regional offices and a screening committee at State/Union Territory (UT) government-level.

Advisory Committee:

• The role of the Advisory Committee is restricted to advise or recommend with regards to grant of approval under relevant sections in respect of proposals referred to it and any matter connected with the conservation of forests referred to it by the Central government.

Project Screening Committee:

• The MoEFCC has directed the constitution of a project screening committee in each state/UT for an initial review of proposals involving diversion of forest land.
• The five-member committee will meet at least twice every month and will advise the state governments on projects in a time bound manner.

Regional Empowered Committees:

• All linear projects (roads, highways, etc), projects involving forest land up to 40 hectares and those that have projected a use of forest land having a canopy density up to 0.7 — irrespective of their extent for the purpose of survey — shall be examined in the Integrated Regional Office.

Responsibility to states:

• States are given the responsibility of settling forest rights of forest dwellers (Forest Rights Act, 2006) and allowing diversion of forest land.

Allows compensatory afforestation (CA) in other states:

• If the state already has over two-thirds area under green cover or over one-third area under forest cover, then CA could be taken in other states/UTs where the cover is less than 20%

Concerns

• The new Forest Conservation Rules do not mention the earlier requirement of attaining a gram sabha NOC before diverting forest land for a project.
• They also allow forest rights to be settled after the final approval for forest clearances has been granted by the Centre
• Since forest rights now needs to be carried out by the state government, state governments will be under even greater pressure from the Centre to accelerate the process of diversion of forest land

Syllabus: General Studies Paper 1

Highly-localised rains in Amarnath, J&K, caused flooding and loss of lives.

What is a cloudburst?

• A cloudburst refers to an extreme amount of rain that happens in a short period, sometimes accompanied by hail and thunder.
• The India Meteorological Department (IMD) defines it as unexpected precipitation exceeding 100mm (or 10 cm) per hour over a geographical region of approximately 20 to 30 square km.
• Basically, all instances of cloudbursts involve heavy rain in a short period, but all instances of heavy rain in a short period are not cloudbursts if they do not fit this criterion.

Why do cloudbursts occur in hilly areas?

• Due to their definition dealing with a very small area, it is difficult to accurately predict and identify cloudbursts immediately.
• However, they are more likely to occur in mountainous zones mainly because of terrain and elevation.
• This is because, in hilly areas, sometimes saturated clouds ready to condense into rain cannot produce rain, due to the upward movement of the very warm current of air.
• Instead of falling downwards, raindrops are carried upwards by the air current. New drops are formed and existing raindrops increase in size.
• After a point, the raindrops become too heavy for the cloud to hold on to, and they drop down together in a quick flash.