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Time: 45 min Date : 15-11-2021

Modern History

Syllabus: GS1/ Modern History, GS 2/Government Policies and Interventions

In News:

● The name of Bhopal’s Habibganj railway station has been changed to Rani

Kamlapati station.

○ The renamed and redeveloped railway station was inaugurated on

November 15, the birth anniversary of the iconic 19th-century tribal

freedom fighter Birsa Munda.

Objectives behind the move

● According to the state government, the renaming is to honour the memory and

sacrifices made by a queen of the Gond community.

About Gond community ● The Gond community comprises the largest tribal group of India with more

than 1.2 crore population. ● Gond is a Scheduled Tribe (ST) from central and south-central India. The

Gond is spread across Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Bihar and Odisha.

● Linguistically, the Gonds belong to the Gondi–Manda subgroup of the South Central branch of the Dravidian language family.

Who was Rani Kamlapati?

● Rani Kamlapati was the widow of Nizam Shah, whose Gond dynasty ruled the

then Ginnorgarh, 55 km from Bhopal, in the 18th century.

● It is said that she avenged her husband's death by killing Alam Shah, Nizam

Shah's nephew.

○ Alam Shah had poisoned his uncle.

● She built the seven-storey Kamlapati Palace that overlooks Upper and Lower

Lakes and is now an ASI-protected monument.

○ Rani Kamlapati Palace is a secular architecture of the 18th century built

of Lakhauri bricks, cusped arches over crumpled pillars.

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● Kamlapati was the “last Hindu queen of Bhopal”, who did great work in the

area of water management and set up parks and temples.

How are railway station names changed?

● It is a common misconception that Indian Railways can change the name of its

stations. That is not the case.

● While Indian Railways may own the station, it does not get involved in the

business of naming it.

● This is left to the discretion of the state government concerned.

○ Change of station names is entirely a state subject even though

Railways belong to the Union government.

● The state governments send the request to the Ministry of Home Affairs, the

nodal ministry for these matters, which then accords its approval, keeping the

Ministry of Railways in the loop.

Methods to Display languages, spellings on the signboard

● This aspect is governed by what is known as the Indian Railway Works

Manual.

○ It is a 260-odd-page document that codifies everything related to civil

engineering construction works.

● Traditionally, station names were written only in Hindi and English.

● Over time, it was instructed that a third language, which is the local language,

should be included.

● Railways should obtain approval from the state government concerned on the

spelling of the names (in all three languages) before putting them on its

signboards.

● The station names shall be exhibited in the following order: Regional

Language, Hindi and English, except for Tamil Nadu where the use of Hindi

will be restricted to important stations and pilgrim centres as determined by

the Commercial Department.

Indian Polity

Independence of Judiciary

Syllabus: GS 2/Judiciary

In News

● There is nothing more important than to “preserve, protect and promote" the

independence of the judiciary at all levels” CJI N V Ramana said.

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What is Independence of the Judiciary?

● Fair and neutral judicial system:

○ Which can take its decision without any interference of the executive or

legislative branch of government.

● Mentioned in Basic Structure of Constitution:

○ Judicial Independence is guaranteed in the constitution and reaffirmed by

the Kesavananda Bharati (1973) Judgement.

● Principle of separation of powers:

○ The Judiciary keeps in check the executive and Legislature in accordance

with the derived from Article 13.

○ Separation of judiciary from the executive (Article 50)

Provisions that ensure Judicial Independence

● Security of Tenure:

○ Judges continue to remain in office till they reach the age of 65 years in the

case of judges of the Supreme Court (Art. 124(2)) and

○ 62 years in the case of judges of the High Courts (Art. 217(1)).

● Removal of Judges:

○ They cannot be removed from the office except by an order of the

President and that too on the ground of proven misbehaviour and

incapacity.

○ The resolution has also to be accepted to that effect by a majority of the

total membership of each House of Parliament.

■ Also by a majority of no less than two-third of the members of the

house present and voting.

○ It is so complicated that there has been no case of the removal of a Judge

of the Supreme Court or High Court under this provision.

● Salaries and Allowances of Judges:

○ The judges are independent as their salaries and allowances are fixed and

are not subject to a vote of the legislature.

● Powers and Jurisdiction of Supreme Court:

○ Parliament can only add to the powers and jurisdiction of the Supreme

Court but cannot curtail them.

○ In civil cases, Parliament may change the pecuniary limit for the appeals

to the Supreme Court.

● Power to Punish for Contempt:

○ Both the Supreme Court and the High Court have the power to punish

any person for their contempt.

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○ Article 129 provides that the Supreme Court shall have the power to

punish for contempt of itself.

○ Likewise, Art. 215 lays down that every High Court shall have the power

to punish for contempt of itself.

● Separation of the Judiciary from the Executive:

○ Article 50 states that the state shall take steps to separate the judiciary

from the executive in the public services of the state.

Need for Independent judiciary

● Welfare State:

○ The decisions of the constitutional courts of this country have enabled

social democracy to thrive

○ To function with absolute independence and necessary boldness in the

face of adversity defines the character of the Indian judiciary.

● Live up to people’s aspirations:

○ Judiciary’s ability to uphold the Constitution sustains its impeccable

character.

○ The immense trust reposed by the public at large upon the judiciary, as a

last resort of hope.

● Checks and balances in a political democracy:

○ A robust justice delivery system at the grassroots level ensures better

functioning of the state.

● Accountability to the people:

○ To uphold the democratic principle of accountability.

○ It helps to keep the executive and legislature accountable to the people

through judicial review and judicial activism.

● Constitution interpretation:

○ The written constitution is considered as the basic law of the land and

requires some authority to interpret it without prejudice and self-interest.

● Protection of individual rights:

○ Independent India inherited a deeply fragmented society from its colonial

past

■ The stark divide between the haves and have nots is still a reality

○ Only an impartial and independent judiciary protects the rights of the

individual without fear and favour.

● Prevent autocracy:

○ Without an independent judiciary, we will have a dictatorship, as the

executive will be able to do whatever it likes.

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Issues with Judicial Independence

● Opacity in judge’s appointment:

○ India’s judges have been appointed by a “Collegium” of judges.

○ Collegium considers the opinion of the government when appointing

judges, but the final decision about who to appoint rests with the

judiciary.

○ Their decisions are taken behind closed doors, and the opacity of the

process has been a long-standing issue.

● Roaster System:

○ There is opacity in the internal workings of the Court that impact

independent decision-making.

○ The Chief Justice of India, as the senior-most judge of the Court, decides

the allocation of certain cases to judges and benches of judges.

○ Some judges have spoken out publicly on the opaqueness and case

allocation procedures of the Supreme Court.

○ Criticisms point to many issues with the procedure, which included the

allocation of politically sensitive cases to favourable judges.

● Nepotism, Favouritism and Politically Biased:

○ Often, judges who have favours or relationships with senior judges of the

Supreme Court or the Executive get promoted to or appointed to more

favourable positions.

● Judicial overreach:

○ Since there is no system of checks on the Supreme Court, it can interfere

with the purview of the legislature and judiciary.

Way Forward

● Judicial independence ensures public confidence as an institute of the last

resort where justice will be served despite any opposition and Influence.

● People place high credibility and trust in the judiciary to get justice in case of

any kind of misconduct by the executive.

● The latter clause and confidence will be meaningless if executive interference is

allowed into the process of judicial proceedings as well as judicial bias over the

executive.

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Polity and Governance

Five-year terms for CBI and ED chiefs

Syllabus: GS2/ Governance, Government policies and interventions

In News ● The President promulgated two ordinances that would allow the Centre to

extend the tenures of the directors of the Central Bureau of Investigation and the Enforcement Directorate from two years to up to five years.

About ● Current tenure: The chiefs of the Central agencies currently have fixed two-year

tenure, but can now be given three annual extensions. ● Amendments: While the change in tenure of the CBI Director was effected by

amending the Delhi Special Police Establishment Act, 1946, the change to the tenure of the ED Director was brought in by amending the Central Vigilance Commission Act, 2003.

○ It provided further that no such extension shall be granted after the completion of a period of five years in total, including the period mentioned in the initial appointment.

Criticism ● Brought through ordinance: The move has riled the Opposition as the

ordinances were brought in barely two weeks before the winter session of Parliament gets underway.

● 17th Lok Sabha: The BJP government has brought in 3.7 ordinances for every 10 Bills in the 17th Lok Sabha.

● Pet parrots in ED and CBI: Some criticized that the same stunts are repeated to keep their pet parrots in ED and CBI.

Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) ● It is the main investigation agency of the central government for cases relating

to corruption and major criminal probes. ● It has its origin in the Special Police Establishment set up in 1941 to probe

bribery and corruption during World War II. ● CBI was set up by a resolution of the Ministry of Home Affairs in 1963 after the

Santhanam committee recommendation. ● The superintendence of CBI rests with CVC in corruption cases and with the

Department of personnel and training in other matters. ● Presently it acts as an attached office under DOPT. ● Although DSPE Act gives legal power to CBI, CBI is not a statutory body as:

○ Word ‘CBI’ is not mentioned in the DSPE act. ○ The executive order of MHA did not mention CBI to be constituted under

DSPE Act. ● Functions of CBI include solving:

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○ Corruption Cases ○ Economic Crimes like financial frauds, narcotics, antiques, smuggling etc. ○ Special Crimes like Terrorism, ransom for kidnapping etc

Enforcement Directorate ● The Directorate of Enforcement (ED) is a law enforcement agency and economic

intelligence agency responsible for enforcing economic laws and fighting economic crime in India.

● It is part of the Department of Revenue, Ministry of Finance. ● It is composed of officers from the Indian Revenue Service, Indian Police Service

and the Indian Administrative Service as well as promoted officers from its own cadre.

● The origin of this Directorate goes back to 1 May 1956, when an ‘Enforcement

Unit’ was formed, in the Department of Economic Affairs, for handling Exchange Control Laws violations under Foreign Exchange Regulation Act, 1947.

● The prime objective of the Enforcement Directorate is the enforcement of two key Acts of the Government of India namely, the Foreign Exchange Management

Act 1999 (FEMA) and the Prevention of Money Laundering Act 2002 (PMLA)

● The Directorate of Enforcement, with its headquarters at New Delhi, is headed by the Director of Enforcement. There are five regional offices at Mumbai, Chennai, Chandigarh, Kolkata and Delhi headed by Special Directors of Enforcement.

Internal Security

North East Insurgency

Syllabus: GS3/ Role of External State and Non-state Actors in creating challenges to Internal Security.

In News ● The People’s Liberation Army and the Manipur Naga People’s Front have jointly

claimed responsibility for the recent ambush of an Assam Rifles convoy in Manipur.

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Reasons for recent ambush ● Porous border:

○ The international border with Myanmar is porous and there is a free movement of locals on either side.

○ This gives easy access to unlawful activities by the insurgent groups which can range from gun-running, smuggling of drugs and timber which generate revenue streams for these insurgent groups to sustain their activities.

● Revenge killing: ○ To target the Commanding Officer of an Assam Rifles battalion must have

been undertaken as a revenge killing, knowing fully well that a strong retaliation will follow.

● ZRA’s security lapse: ○ Bahiang, where the attack has taken place, borders Myanmar but falls

under the territorial jurisdiction of the Zomi Revolutionary Army (ZRA), a powerful insurgent group in Churachandpur.

○ How the PLA could have operated in this area without ZRA permission, and have pointed to ZRA’s security lapse.

● Myanmar coup: ○ Insurgent leaders have also pointed to the Myanmar coup as a reason for

both the revival of insurgent activity as well as the choice of Churachandpur district.

○ An active People’s Defence Force, the armed wing of the National Unity Government, which claims to be Myanmar’s legitimate government, is believed to have pushed Indian insurgent groups towards the Indian border.

Image Courtesy: Indapedia

Background of insurgent Groups In Manipur ● The United National Liberation Front (UNLF) was formed in the 1960s owing to

resentment among a portion of Meitei society over Manipur’s merger into the Union of India. This led to the beginning of the insurgency in Manipur.

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● Later, various more insurgent organisations arose to demand the independence of Manipur.

● The Meiteis were further radicalised by the creation of the People’s Liberation Army.

● After separating from the UNLF in 1969, N Bisheshwar founded the People’s Liberation Army.

● The goal was to free the northeastern area via a meticulously organised revolutionary revolt. This was used as a basis for ‘liberating’ the rest of India.”

● Bisheswar claimed to have built his organisation on Marxism-Leninism and Mao’s ideas, as well as appealing to the Naga and Mizo groups to join the PLA.

● The Revolutionary People’s Front (RPF), the PLA’s political branch, was founded in 1979.

● The Manipur Naga People’s Front (MNPF), which claimed responsibility for the attack, claims it arose from a combination of two Naga underground organisations operating in Manipur.

● Valley groups in Manipur: There are six main valley groups in Manipur: ○ UNLF, ○ PLA, ○ KCP, ○ KYKL, ○ PREPAK, ○ MPLF ○ – apart from numerous splinter groups from each.

● All the groups operate out of Myanmar and raise funds for operations and arms largely through extortion.

● They use guerrilla tactics in their operations and the attacks on Indian security forces in the northeast are largely carried out by these groups.

Solutions ● The political leadership and the bureaucracy have to step up their efforts to

interact with the tribal leaders and bring about a consensus amongst all to bring about peace.

● The Assam Rifles and the Indian Army since independence have been working towards creating a peaceful environment for the civil government to function.

● Rampant corruption, lack of infrastructure, basic amenities as well as forces inimical to peace and tranquillity in the region keep the flames burning to meet their ends. It needs to be taken care of.

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Science and Technology

Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) Mission: NASA

Syllabus: GS 3/Space

Context ● NASA will launch the agency’s first planetary defence test mission named the

Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) on November 24, 2021.

About the DART Mission ● It is a planetary defence-driven test of technologies for preventing an impact on

Earth by a hazardous asteroid. ● The spacecraft will be launched on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Vandenberg

Space Force Base in California. ● Objectives: DART is the first technology demonstration of the kinetic impactor

technique that could be used to mitigate the threat of an asteroid hitting Earth.

○ The kinetic impactor mitigation technique is the impulsive deflection of the asteroid through the sudden addition of momentum. In simpler terms, DART is being sent to collide with an asteroid to change its orbital period.

● Configuration ○ Weight: A considerably low-cost spacecraft DART weighs about 610 KG

at the time of its launch and will shed a little of its weight during its flight and weigh about 550 KG during the impact.

○ Structure: The main structure is a box (1.2 × 1.3 × 1.3 metres). It has two solar arrays and uses hydrazine propellant for manoeuvring the spacecraft.

○ The spacecraft has been appended with a high-resolution imager called Didymos Reconnaissance and Asteroid Camera for Optical Navigation (DRACO) which will give precise images and information to the scientists to study the impact of the collision on the trajectory of the asteroid.

○ DART will also carry a small satellite or CubeSat named LICIACube (Light Italian CubeSat for Imaging of Asteroids).

Image Courtesy : NASA

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[Two different views of the DART spacecraft. The DRACO (Didymos Reconnaissance &

Asteroid Camera for OpNav) imaging instrument is based on the LORRI high-resolution imager

from New Horizons. The left view also shows the Radial Line Slot Array (RLSA) antenna with

the ROSAs (Roll-Out Solar Arrays) rolled up. The view on the right shows a clearer view of the

NEXT-C ion engine.]

Targeted asteroid by the DART mission

● It will target Dimorphos, the much smaller “moonlet” of a binary (two-body)

asteroid system .

● Dimorphos orbits a larger asteroid named Didymos (Greek for “twin”) which

has a diameter of 780 metres.

● Why Dimorphos?

○ Didymos is a perfect system for the test mission because it is an eclipsing

binary which means it has a moonlet that regularly orbits the asteroid

and it can be seen when it passes in front of the main asteroid.

○ Earth-based telescopes can study this variation in brightness to

understand how long it takes Dimorphos to orbit Didymos.

DART Importance to planetary defence

● NASA established the Planetary Defense Coordination Office to manage its

ongoing mission of planetary defence.

○ The PDCO’s goals are to provide early detection of potentially hazardous

objects, track and characterize the objects, study strategies and

technologies for mitigating possible impacts, and play a leading role in

U.S. government response planning for an actual impact.

○ DART is the first planetary defence test mission for PDCO.

What are Asteroids?

● Asteroids, sometimes called minor planets, are rocky, airless remnants left

over from the early formation of the solar system about 4.6 billion years ago.

● Most of this ancient space rubble can be found orbiting the Sun between Mars

and Jupiter within the main asteroid belt.

○ Some asteroids go in front of and behind Jupiter, which are called

Trojans.

○ Asteroids that come close to Earth are called Near-Earth Objects

(NEOs) for short. NASA keeps close watch on these asteroids.

● Asteroids range in size from Vesta (the largest at about 329 miles in diameter)

to bodies that are less than 33 feet across. The total mass of all the asteroids

combined is less than that of Earth's Moon.

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● Asteroids are not all round like planets. They have jagged and irregular

shapes.

● Structure

○ Most asteroids are made of different kinds of rocks, but some have

clays or metals, such as nickel and iron.

(Image Courtesy: LTS)

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● NASA Space Missions

○ Several NASA space missions have also flown by and observed

asteroids. The NEAR Shoemaker spacecraft landed on Eros, an asteroid

near Earth, in 2001.

○ The Dawn spacecraft travelled to the asteroid belt in 2011 to orbit and

study the second largest object there, Vesta.

○ In 2016, NASA launched the OSIRIS-REx spacecraft to study Bennu, an

asteroid near Earth.

● Detecting Asteroids Mission

○ Asteroid Impact and Deflection Assessment (AIDA): This includes

NASA’s Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) mission and Hera

Mission.

○ Hera Mission: It is the asteroid deflection mission of European Space

Agency (ESA) that is scheduled to be launched in 2024 to measure the

impact crater produced by the DART collision and study the change in

the asteroid’s orbital trajectory. It will arrive at the Didymos system in

2027.

Source: FE

Indian Economy

Landraces

Syllabus :GS 3/Indian Economy & Related Issues/Agriculture

In News

● Recently, Rahibai Popere popularly known as Seedmother, from Maharashtra

was awarded Padma Shri Award for recognition of her work to save hundreds

of landraces (wild varieties of commonly grown crops) at the village level.

What are Landraces?

● They refer to naturally occurring variants of commonly cultivated crops.

● These are as opposed to commercially grown crops, which are developed by

selective breeding (hybrids) or through genetic engineering to express a certain

trait over others.

● Example of Landraces: kalbhat is a unique landrace of scented rice.

○ Over the years, this variant had almost vanished from cultivators’ fields as

hybrid variants became popular.

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○ It has better climate resilience than popularly grown rice and can

withstand floods or drought better.

● Importance:

○ Naturally occurring landraces have a large pool of still untapped genetic

material, which can provide solutions.

■ Genetic diversity is nature’s survival mechanism.

■ The wider the gene pool, the more the chance of developing a trait

that can help in surviving extreme climate events.

○ A common misconception was that landraces have lower yields than

hybrids.

■ With proper agricultural practices, landraces can give better yield

with lower input costs.

● Initiatives: Bharatiya Agro Industries Foundation (BAIF)has initiated a

community-led programme to preserve landraces Since 2008.

○ BAIF’s programme involves the community in saving this rich

biodiversity in their own backyard.

Way forward

● At present, landraces survive in only a few rural and tribal pockets.

● Traditional knowledge needs to be grown, or how seeds are to be saved.

● There is much remains to be understood about the germplasms of the landraces.

○ Research is in the early stages.

● It is necessary to understand how these landraces can contribute to climate-

resilient agriculture; nutritional profiling too can hold the key to fighting

deficiencies, as many landraces are richer in nutrients than commercially grown

variants.

Bharatiya Agro Industries Foundation (BAIF) ● This concept was inaugurated by Dr Zakir Hussain, then the President of India

on August 24, 1967. ● It is an apolitical, secular and professionally managed organisation. ● It is an organization governed by Gandhian values and a blend of development

research, capacity building and improved quality of life. ● Mission: To create opportunities for gainful self-employment for the rural

families, especially disadvantaged sections, ensuring sustainable livelihood, enriched environment, improved quality of life and good human values.

What are Hybrid Crops?

● A hybrid crop is a result of two different varieties of plants that are cross-

pollinated to create an off-spring or hybrid that contains the best traits of each

of the parents.

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● In hybridization, pollination is carefully controlled to ensure that the right

plants are crossed to achieve the desired combination of characteristics, such

as bigger size or better disease resistance.

● Benefits

○ In general, hybrids offer some combination of these favourable traits:

■ Dependability, less required care, early maturity, higher yield,

improved flavour, specific plant size, and/or better disease

resistance.

● Related Issues

○ Crop improvement through selection and breeding over several decades

has narrowed the genetic base of most crops.

○ Biodiversity allows a natural mechanism for crops to develop traits to

face challenging situations.

○ However, given the large-scale human interference in crop selection,

that ability is now lost in most commercial crops.

Source: IE

Defence

S-400 Air Defence System

Syllabus: GS 3/ Defence

In News ● Russia has started supplying S-400 air defence system to India, and the first

division will be delivered by the end of 2021

Background ● US$ 5 billion deal: India has contracted five S-400 Triumf (NATO designation

SA-21 Growler) regiments from Russia under a $5.43 billion deal signed in October 2018.

● Delivery was originally slated to begin in 24 months by the end of 2020 but was slightly delayed due to late payments as well as the COVID-19 pandemic.

● Already available with China: It has deployed it along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in eastern Ladakh.

● Upgrade of the S-300 System: The S-400 is an upgrade of the S-300 surface-to-air missile system and can detect the target from up to 600 km.

What is the S-400 system? ● Surface-to-air missile: The S-400 is known as Russia’s most advanced long-range

surface-to-air missile defence system.

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● Capable of handling multiple objects: It is capable of simultaneously tracking numerous incoming objects including aircraft, missiles and UAVs in a radius of a few hundred kilometres and launching appropriate missiles to neutralise them.

● Radars: It has radars that can pick up an incoming object up to a distance of 1,000 kilometres, track several dozen incoming objects simultaneously, distribute the targets to missile systems and ensure a high success rate.

● Range of targets: S-400 has been specifically designed to detect and destroy a range of targets including strategic bombers, aircraft used for electronic warfare, early warning, and reconnaissance; and even fighter jets such as F-16 and F-22.

● Deployment: The IAF will start focusing on the eastern borders along with providing resources for training personnel within the country after the first squadron is deployed.

Image: The Hindu

Significance of S-400 for India ● The S-400 fills important gaps in India’s national air defence network and

would complement India’s indigenous Ballistic Missile Defence system developed by the Defence Research and Development Organisation.

● Handling a two-front threat: S-400 will be a game-changer once inducted and will also partly make up for the dwindling fighter strength of the force especially in the backdrop of growing two-front threat from China and Pakistan.

● Russia is also developing a more capable S-500 air defence system.

Possible implications on India ● Countering America's Adversaries through Sanctions Act (CAATSA): It would

be surprising to see how the United States will react to the delivery of the S-400 to India as in the past US had indicated this could be considered as a significant transaction under its Countering America's Adversaries through Sanctions Act (CAATSA) and that it could attract sanctions. However, India is expecting a waiver from the United States.

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○ Example of Turkey: Following US sanctions on Turkey over the procurement of S-400 missile systems, there have been apprehensions that the US may impose similar punitive measures on India.

What is CAATSA? ● US law to impose sanctions: CAATSA is a tough US law that authorises the

administration to impose sanctions on countries that purchase major defence hardware from Russia in response to Russia’s annexation of Crimea in 2014 and its alleged meddling in the 2016 US presidential elections.

● Sanctions targeting Russia’s defence and intelligence sectors: Its provisions include sanctions targeting Russia’s defence and intelligence sectors, serving as an important tool for the US government to discourage Russian arms purchases around the world.

● Imposed on various countries: It has been imposed on Iran, Russia and North Korea.

Indo-Russia Defence ties ● Defence trade between India and Russia was $15 billion in the last three years

because of several big-ticket deals. ● Few big pending deals: On the defence front, which is a major pillar of

cooperation, few big pending deals are lined for the conclusion which includes Ka-226T utility helicopters, Ak-203 assault rifles and Igla-S Very Short Range Air Defence (VSHORAD) systems.

● Emergency procurement: India recently made an emergency procurement of the Igla-S systems and signed a deal for off the shelf procurement of 70,000 Ak-103 assault rifles.

● Russian Origin Weapon Systems in India: Nuclear submarine INS Chakra, ○ Kilo-class conventional submarine, ○ Brahmos cruise missile, ○ MiG 21/27/29 and Su-30 MKI fighters, ○ Mi-series of helicopters, and ○ Vikramaditya aircraft carrier

Other Missile systems ● Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD): It is an American anti-ballistic

missile defense system designed to shoot down short-, medium-, and intermediate-range ballistic missiles in their terminal phase by intercepting with a hit-to-kill approach.

○ THAAD has been deployed in Guam, the United Arab Emirates, Israel, Romania, and South Korea.

● Iron Dome: is a mobile all-weather air defense system developed by Rafael Advanced Defense Systems and Israel Aerospace Industries.

○ The system is designed to intercept and destroy short-range rockets and artillery shells fired from distances of 4 kilometres to 70 kilometres away and whose trajectory would take them to an Israeli populated area.

Source: IE

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Facts In News

Science and Technology

Kamo’oalewa

Syllabus: GS 3/Scienec & Technology, Space

In Context

● Recently, scientists have observed a quasi-satellite named Kamo`oalewa,

tracking the Earth’s orbit around the Sun, which could be a fragment from the

moon.

○ A mission to collect Kamo’oalewa’s samples has been scheduled for a

launch in 2025.

About Kamo`oalewa

● Kamo’oalewaa word that is part of a Hawaiian chant, and alludes to an

offspring that travels on its own.

● It is one of Earth’s quasi-satellites, a category of the asteroid that orbits the Sun,

but remains relatively close to the planet – in this case about 9m miles away.

● It was discovered in 2016 by the PanSTARRS telescope in Hawaii but until

now relatively little has been known about it.

● Despite being close in astronomical terms, the asteroid is about the size of a

Ferris wheel and about 4m times fainter than the faintest star that can be seen

with the naked eye.

● It could have broken away from the Moon due to a possible impact, and gone

on to orbit the Sun rather than the Earth-like its parent does.

Image Courtesy: BBC

Source: IE

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Ecology and Environment

Nallamala Hills

Syllabus: GS 3/ Environment

In News ● The hills of Nallamala are now open for tourists to explore.

About the Nallamala Hills ● Location: These are a section of the Eastern Ghats which forms the eastern

boundary of the Rayalaseema region of the state of Andhra Pradesh and Nagarkurnool district of the state of Telangana.

● Major rivers: They run in a nearly north-south alignment, parallel to the Coromandel Coast for close to 430 km between the rivers, Krishna and Pennar.

● Northern and southern Boundaries: Its northern boundaries are marked by the flat Palnadu basin while in the south it merges with the Tirupati hills.

● An extremely old system: The hills have extensively weathered and eroded over the years.

● Peaks: The average elevation today is about 520 m which reaches 1100 m at Bhairani Konda and 1048 m at Gundla Brahmeswara.

● Rock system: The rocks of the Nallamala ranges belong to the Kadapa system. ● Climate: The Nallamalas have a rather warm to hot climate throughout the year.

Rainfall averages about 90 cm and is concentrated in the months of the South West Monsoon.

● Geography and land use: Agriculture is almost nonexistent apart from isolated patches near villages where subsistence farming is practised.

● Tribe: The indigenous population consists of the Chenchus, a forest-dwelling tribe who have remained cut off from the modern world even today.

○ Farming is the primary occupation of the people in the plateaus while the Chenchus are still hunter-gatherers.

● Transport: A state highway and the Nallapadu-Nandyal line of the Guntur railway division pass through the hills.

● Important locations: Srisailam on the River Krishna is the site of a large hydroelectric power project as also an ancient temple dedicated to Lord Shiva.

○ Mahanandi temple and Ahobilam Nava Narasimha Temples are situated here.

○ A stream descends down the Gundla Brahmeswara peak and ends in a waterfall and sacred pool called Nemaligundam (Peacock Pool).

○ The Mallela Theertham waterfall on the river Krishna is also located in this forest.

● Nagarjunsagar-Srisailam Tiger Reserve: which is spread over Nalgonda and Nagarkurnool is the largest Tiger reserve in the country.

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○ The Nagarjunsagar-Srisailam Tiger Sanctuary was declared officially in the year 1978 and has been recognized by the Project Tiger in the year 1983.

○ This Reserve has been renamed the Rajiv Gandhi Wildlife Sanctuary in the year 1992.

○ The mighty River Krishna which rises in Sahyadri Hills and makes its way through Maharashtra and Karnataka flows across the Nallamala tiger reserve.

Source: TH

Ecology and Environment

Kaiser-i-Hind Butterfly

Syllabus: GS 3/ Environment

In News ● Recently, Arunachal Pradesh has approved the large, brightly coloured Kaiser-i-

Hind as the State butterfly. ○ The Cabinet also adopted the Pakke Tiger Reserve 2047 declaration on

climate change-resilient and responsive Arunachal Pradesh aimed at lowering emissions and sustainable development.

Key Points

● An elusive swallowtail butterfly carrying ‘India’ in its name and found in next-door China will become the State butterfly of Arunachal Pradesh.

● It has a strong and fast flight. It usually flies at tree-top level but when there is strong morning sunlight it descends to sit on low vegetation.

● Location: Kaiser-i-Hind (Teinopalpus imperialis) literally means Emperor of India.

○ This butterfly with a 90-120 mm wingspan is found in six states along the Eastern Himalayas at elevations from 6,000-10,000 feet in well-wooded terrain.

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○ The butterfly also flutters in Nepal, Bhutan, Myanmar, Laos, Vietnam and southern China.

Significance ● The proposal was made with a view to boosting butterfly tourism and saving

the species from extinction in the State. ● Although the Kaiser-i-Hind is protected under Schedule II of Wildlife

(Protection) Act, 1972, it is hunted for supply to butterfly collectors. ● The State butterfly tag can translate into its habitat conservation.

Other Important Key Facts ● A Himalayan butterfly named Golden Birdwing is India’s largest, a record an

unknown specimen had held for 88 years. ○ The smallest is the Quaker (Neopithecops zalmora) with a wingspan of

18 mm and forewing length of 8 mm. ● Other State Butterflies:

○ Maharashtra was the first in the country to announce its state butterfly (Blue Mormon).

○ Uttarakhand has Common Peacock. ○ Karnataka has the Southern Birdwing. ○ Kerala has Malabar banded peacock or buddha butterfly. ○ Tamil Nadu has declared the Tamil Yeoman Butterfly species (endemic

to the Western Ghats) as the state butterfly.

Source: TH