May 4

May 19 – 25, 2022

COVERAGE
Places of Worship Act
GST Council recommendations are not binding
National Biofuel Policy
Two New Naval Warships Launched
Practice Questions (Prelims based MCQs)

+91-9873643487
 INDEX
POLITY 2–5
 Places of Worship Act
 Article 142 : The source of complete justice

ECONOMY 6 – 10
 GST Council recommendations are not binding
 National Biofuel Policy

INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS 11 – 13
 India-Maldives Relation

ENVIRONMENTAL AFFAIRS 14 – 19
 Drought
 Madden-Julian Oscillation (MJO)

TECHNOLOGICAL AFFAIRS 20 – 23
 Two New Naval Warships Launched
 Platform Manipulation

HISTORY 24 – 25
 Mesolithic Site in Telangana

TidBits 26 – 32
 Denisovans
 Rani Chennamma
 Macolin Convention
 Kudumbashree: ‗prosperity of the family‘
 Dust storms in Iraq - provoked by the Shamal
 IFLOWS
 Raja Ram Mohan Roy
 Artefacts
 Places in News

ANSWERS TO MCQs 33
 Places of Worship Act Penalty
 The Act prescribes a punishment of a
The Supreme Court directed maximum of three years imprisonment along
officials to ensure protection with a fine for contravening the provisions of
of the area at the Gyanvapi the Act.
mosque complex in Varanasi
after a video survey was Pros
conducted in the area and a ‗Shivling‘ is alleged  Secularism: While delivering the Ayodhya
to have been found. The Places of Worship Act, verdict in 2019, the Supreme Court had
1991 has been invoked in the court against referred to the Places of Worship Act and
conduction of the survey. said that it manifests the secular values of
the Constitution and strictly prohibits
What is the Places of Worship (Special retrogression.
Provisions) Act, 1991?  Upholds basic features of the
 It is an Act to prohibit conversion of any Constitution: It enforced a constitutional
place of worship and to provide for the commitment and obligation to uphold the
maintenance of the religious character of equality of all religions and secularism
any place of worship as it existed on the which is a part of the basic features of the
15th of August, 1947. Constitution.
 Implements the Fundamental Duties:
Provisions Fundamental Duties under Article 51A are
 It bars the conversion, in full or part, of a positive mandates to every citizen. Thus, the
place of worship of any religious Act places the responsibility on both the
denomination into a place of worship of a State and the individual citizens of the State.
different religious denomination — or
even a different segment of the same Concerns raised
religious denomination.  Bars judicial review: By barring judicial
 It also says that all pending cases related review into any such dispute, some contend
to religious structures will come to an that the Act violates the basic feature of the
end, and no further proceedings can be Constitution.
filed.  It imposes an ―arbitrary irrational
retrospective cutoff date‖: Apart from the
Exceptions under the law fact that 15th of August, 1947 is our day of
 The Ramjanmabhoomi-Babri Masjid case; independence, there is no valid justification
 Any place of worship that is an ancient and for applying this date to all religious
historical monument or an archaeological structures in India.
site, or is covered by the Ancient  It abridges the right to religion of Hindus,
Monuments and Archaeological Sites and Jains, Buddhists and Sikhs. This is said to
Remains Act, 1958; be treating communities differently based on
 A suit that has been finally settled or religion and is said to be violative of Article
disposed of; 15, 25 and 26.
 any dispute that has been settled by the  ―Pilgrimages‖ or ―burial grounds‖ are
parties or conversion of any place that took under the state list: Thus, by making a law
place by mutual acceptance before the Act on this matter, the Center impinges on the
commenced. fundamentals of federalism.

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Conclusion: As the SC said ―historical wrongs may pass such a decree or make such
cannot be remedied by the people taking the law order as is necessary for doing complete
in their own hands. In preserving the character justice in any matter pending before it.
of places of public worship, Parliament has  Article 142(2) says that the Supreme
mandated in no uncertain terms that history Court shall have all powers to make any
and its wrongs shall not be used as instruments order for the purpose of summoning any
to oppress the present and the future.‖ The Act person/documents and to investigate or
is thus a necessary step in maintaining the punish for its contempt. This power is
vibrant and diverse social fabric of the present exercised based on the law passed by the
and future India. Parliament.
 Article 142(1) is taken as the judiciary‘s
power to issue any order for ensuring
Q1. With reference to the Places of Worship
complete justice.
Act, 1991, consider the following
statements:
1. All places of worship under the History of Article 142
jurisdiction of the Archaeological  When the draft Constitution was prepared by
Survey of India are kept out of the the drafting committee and placed before the
purview of this Act. Constituent Assembly, Article 142 was
2. It bars the conversion of a place of numbered as Article 118.
worship even to a different segment of
 It was placed before the Constituent
the same religious denomination.
Assembly and got adopted on the same day
Which of the above statements is/are
without any debate possibly because
correct?
everyone agreed that in order to ensure
(a) Only 1 (b) Only 2
judicial independence, the highest court of
(c) Both 1 and 2 (d) Neither 1 nor 2
the country must be empowered with plenary
power to do complete justice.
Q1. ―In preserving the character of places of
public worship, Parliament has mandated Scope of Article 142
in no uncertain terms that history and its
 While the powers under Article 142 are
wrongs shall not be used as instruments
sweeping, the Supreme Court has over the
to oppress the present and the future.‖
years defined its scope and extent through
Evaluate the provisions of the Places of
its judgments.
Worship Act, 1991 in this context.
 The SC has said that :
(250 Words / 15 Marks)
 In the Union Carbide case, the court ruled
that it would be wholly incorrect to say
Article 142 : that powers under Article 142 are
subject to statutory prohibitions as
The source of complete justice
statutory provisions cannot override a
constitutional provision.
The Supreme Court has  In ‗Supreme Court Bar Association‘ case,
recently invoked Article 142 in the court ruled that its powers under
the release of Perarivalan Article 142 were supplementary and
(Rajiv Gandhi case convict) curative in nature. It cannot supplant
and Azam Khan. It was also invoked recently for the existing law but only supplement
clubbing of multiple FIRs in scam cases as the it.
court said multiplicity of proceedings is not in  These powers are not meant to be
public interest. exercised when their exercise may
come directly in conflict with what
What is Article 142? has been expressly provided for in a
 Article 142 is titled ‗Enforcement of decrees statute dealing with that subject.
and orders of the Supreme Court and orders  In the Ayodhya case, the court said that
as to discovery, etc.‘ Article 142 embodies both the notion
 It has two clauses. of justice, equity and good conscience
 Article 142(1) says that the Supreme as well as a supplementary power to
Court in the exercise of its jurisdiction the court to effect complete justice.

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 interest of the public in order to fabricate
Important instances when
trust in the rule of law.
Article 142 was invoked
 Bhopal Gas tragedy case: The Supreme
Concerns raised
Court awarded a compensation of $470
 Undefined jurisdiction: There is no
million to the victims and held that
restraint placed on the use of this power by
―prohibitions or limitations or provisions
the Supreme Court. Although it has been
contained in ordinary laws cannot, ipso
used judiciously till now, there is no
facto, act as prohibitions or limitations on
mechanism to keep a check on this power.
the constitutional powers under Article 142.‖
 Invoking Article 142 sometimes by
 Ayodhya case: The Supreme Court ordered
ignoring even the fundamental rights of
framing of a scheme by the Centre for
individuals.
formation of trust to construct Ram Mandir
 Concerns of Judicial overreach: The
at the Babri Masjid demolition site in
Supreme Court is said to interfere in the
Ayodhya. It was the first time that the court
legitimate jurisdiction of the legislature and
invoked Article 142 in a case involving a civil
executive via Article 142. This is a violation
dispute between private parties.
of the doctrine of separation of powers.
 Liquor sale ban case: The Supreme Court
 Supplanting the Statutory provision: It is
banned liquor shops within a distance of 500
sometimes seen to be used to correct the
meters from National as well as State
mistakes of one party, mostly the
highways in order to prevent drunk driving.
government. But this is not the role
 Perarivalan case: The Supreme Court ruled
envisaged for Article 142.
that inordinate delay by the Tamil Nadu
Governor in exercising his powers under
Article 161 can be subject to judicial review
Way forward
and used its powers under Article 142 to  Set up guidelines: The Supreme Court can
release Perarivalan. regulate the use of Article 142 as an
independent source of power using strict
Need for Article 142 guidelines.

 Prevent injustice: Article 142 gives  Judicial restraint must be exercised in

unlimited power to the Supreme Court to do using this provision, so that it remains an
complete justice in cases where the litigants exception and not a rule in judicial
have suffered injustices during the pronouncements.
proceedings.  All cases invoking Article 142 can be
 Natural justice is above law: Those people referred to a Constitution Bench (at least
who do not get their necessary reliefs due to five judges) as a restraint on the
their disadvantaged position in the judicial discretionary power.
system would be assisted by Article 142.  In all cases where the court invokes Article
 Judicial activism: Sometimes law or statute 142, the government can bring out a white
may not provide a remedy. Here, the Court paper to study the beneficial as well as
can extend itself to put an end to a dispute the negative effects of the judgment. This
based on the facts of the case. While using would also help it with dealing with the
Article 142, the SC will not be deterred by negative fallouts in a more transparent
the provision of any rule or law or executive manner.
regulation. For instance, Vishakha guidelines
on the prevention of sexual harassment at It is true that Article 142 has been invoked for
workplace. the purpose of doing tremendous good to large
 The power is conferred only on the SC: sections of the population and indeed to the
This is because the SC is the final authority nation as a whole. The Supreme Court has
to ensure that justice is served. perceived its role as one which would require it
 Maintain trust in rule of law: The Supreme to ‗wipe away every tear from every eye‘, but
Court can deal with exceptional perhaps it is time that the use of this vast,
circumstances interfering with the larger unlimited power included checks and balances.

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Q2. With reference to the Constitution of India, prohibitions or limitations or provisions contained in
ordinary laws cannot act as prohibitions or limitations on the constitutional powers under Article
142. It could mean which one of the following? (UPSC 2019)
(a) The decisions taken by the Election Commission of India while discharging its duties cannot be
challenged in any court of law.
(b) The Supreme Court of India is not constrained in the exercise of its powers by laws made by
the Parliament.
(c) In the event of a grave financial crisis in the country, the President of India can declare a
Financial Emergency without the counsel from the Cabinet.
(d) State Legislatures cannot make laws on certain matters without the concurrence of the Union
Legislature.

Q2. Article 142 is a powerful tool in the hands of the Supreme Court to ensure delivery of justice.
Its use has been termed as judicial activism by some and as judicial overreach by others.
What are your views? Discuss.
(250 Words / 15 Marks)

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 levy on Indian importers for the supply of
GST Council recommendations services would be in violation of the
are not binding Central GST Act.

The Supreme Court has ruled Goods & Services Tax (GST)
that recommendations of the  It is an indirect tax (not directly paid
Goods and Services Tax (GST) by customers to the government)
Council only have persuasive which replaces various indirect taxes
value, and cannot be binding on the Center and such as service taxes, VAT, excise duty,
States. The GST Compensation to States is also etc.
scheduled to end in June 2022, and despite  It came into effect from 1st July, 2017
multiple requests from the States, the deadline through the 101st Amendment to the
has not been extended. Constitution of India.
 It is levied on the manufacturer or seller
Present case of goods and the providers of services.
 The Supreme Court was listening to a The price the customers pay is inclusive of
special leave petition against the Gujarat GST.
High Court order that quashed the levy of  It is divided into five different tax slabs for
Integrated GST (IGST) on the component collection of tax - 0%, 5%, 12%, 18% and
of ocean freight filed by the Revenue 28%.
Department.
Types of GST
 The value of imported goods includes the  State Goods and Services Tax (SGST):
Cost, Insurance and Freight components. Charged on intrastate services and goods
 Ocean freight is a method of transport by transactions and this revenue is given to the
which goods and cargo is transported by states.
ships through shipping lines.  Central Goods and Services Tax (CGST):
 Customs duty is levied on this composite Charged on intrastate transactions of
value. goods and services and it is collected by the
 GST is paid by the supplier, but if the central government.
shipping line is located in a non-taxable  Integrated Goods and Services Tax (IGST):
(foreign) territory, then GST is payable by the It is generally charged on the inter-state
importer, the recipient of service. transactions of goods and services and is
applied on exports and imports and both the
 The government said the levy of IGST State and Central governments share this
and Customs is not unconstitutional as revenue.
the tax is on two different aspects of
the transaction, namely, the supply of
Constitutional provisions dealing with
service and import of goods,
GST
respectively.
 The other side argued that Customs duty  Article 246A: Both Parliament and State
is already levied on the component of legislatures have concurrent or
ocean freight and the levy of IGST on the ―simultaneous‖ power to legislate on GST.
same component in the course of Thus, the Centre and States have
transportation would amount to double separate GST Acts.
taxation.  The Parliament of India is given the
 The Supreme Court upheld the view that exclusive power to make laws
since the Indian importer is liable to pay with respect to inter-state supplies
Customs on composite supply, a separate (IGST).

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 Article 269A: Provisions dealing with IGST  States can already reject the Council‘s
decisions but none has chosen to do so
 The manner of distribution of revenue
till now.
from inter-state supplies between the
 States, even though having differences on
Centre and the State is covered in Article
tax rates imposed on a particular good or
269A. service, never went back and framed
 It allows the GST Council to frame rules legislations that were not in line with the
in this regard. Council recommendations.
 Import of goods or services will also be
called inter-state supplies. Concerns raised due to the judgement
 Article 279A: GST Council (Constitutional  Threatening the idea of ‗One Nation, One
body) Tax‘: If Individual States start vetoing the
 The President of India shall constitute Council‘s recommendations that they do not
a joint forum of the Centre and States agree with and refuse to implement them,
called the GST Council, consisting of the- the very basis of GST would collapse.
 Union Finance Minister -  Operational issues: Now, even tweaking
Chairperson rates for products will become more
 The Union Minister of State, in-charge challenging as the Council recommendations
of Revenue of finance - Member will not be seen as binding. The induction of
fuel and alcohol into GST would also be more
 The Minister in-charge of finance or
problematic now.
taxation or any other Minister
 IGST concerns: While the power to legislate
nominated by each State
on inter-state transactions is with the
Government - Members
Centre, the rate is a function of both the
 50% of the members of the GST Centre and state GST rates. If states start
Council shall constitute the quorum. having different rates, the distribution of
 Decisions in the GST Council are taken IGST between them will become a complex
by a majority of not less than 3/4th of problem.
weighted votes cast.
 There has been only one instance
Compensation Cess
where the Council took a decision by
 The Parliament by law was to provide
voting. All other decisions were
compensation to States for a period of five
taken by consensus. years for loss of revenue due to introduction
 Differential voting share: Centre has of GST.
1/3rd weightage of the total votes cast  Accordingly, the GST (Compensation to
and all the States taken together have States) Act provided for release of
2/3rd of weightage of the total votes cast. compensation against 14% year-on-year
 Some products (Petroleum Crude, High- growth over revenues in 2015-16 from
Speed Diesel, Motor Spirit, Natural Gas taxes subsumed in GST.
and Aviation Turbine Fuel) are excluded  All compensation is paid out from a
from the scope of GST until compensation fund which would have the
recommended by the GST Council. amount received from a compensation
 The GST Council shall establish a cess levied on goods like pan masala,
dispute adjudication mechanism. But tobacco, coal and cars.
this hasn’t been done yet.  ₹ 7.35 lakh crore has been released to States
till now and, currently, compensation for
only four months of the financial year
Some observations from the SC
2021-22, ~₹78,000 crore, is pending.
 Article 279A (GST Council) envisions that the
Centre and the states are not actually
GST has been the finest example of
dependent on each other. The collaborative and cooperative federalism. The
recommendations of the GST Council are judgement may have a significant impact on the
the product of a collaborative dialogue working of the GST Council. But the Council
involving the Union and the states. could meet more often and the Centre could
 They are recommendatory in nature and strive to be more conciliatory towards the
only have a persuasive value. States‘ concerns, especially now that their
 To regard them as binding would assured compensation period is about to end, to
disrupt fiscal federalism. minimise trust deficits.

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Q3. Consider the following about the GST Council:
1. The GST Council is a Constitutional body.
2. The quorum needed for the GST Council is 10%.
3. There has only been one instance of voting in the GST Council.
Which of the above statements is/are correct?
(a) Only 1 and 2 (b) Only 2 and 3
(c) Only 1 and 3 (d) 1, 2 and 3

Q3. Explain the rationale behind the Goods and Services Tax (Compensation to states) act
of 2017. What are the arguments raised by States and the Centre with regards to it ending
in 2022?
(250 Words / 15 Marks)

National Biofuel Policy

The Union Cabinet is amending the National Biofuel Policy, 2018 to set the 20%
ethanol blending target for 2025-26 instead of 2030.

Recent amendments approved in the National Biofuel Policy, 2018

 To advance the ethanol blending target of 20% in petrol to the Ethanol Supply Year (ESY) 2025-
26 from 2030.

 To allow more feedstocks (input material like sugarcane, surplus foodgrains, etc.) for
production of biofuels.

 To promote production of biofuels under the ‗Make in India‘ programme in Special Economic
Zones, Export Oriented Units.

 To permit the export of biofuels in specific cases.

 To add new members to the National Biofuel Coordination Committee (NBCC) and allow the
committee to make changes to the policy.

 The National Biofuel Coordination Committee (NBCC) is headed by the Union Minister for
Petroleum and Natural Gas.

 It is the agency to coordinate the biofuel blending programme.

 NBCC has members from 14 other ministries.

National Biofuel Policy 2018

 The ―National Policy on Biofuels - 2018‖ was notified by the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural
Gas superseding the National Policy on Biofuels, 2009.

 The objective of the policy is to promote biofuels in the country and reduce dependence on
imports by encouraging fuel blending.

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 About Ethanol What is the current blending
 It can be produced from sugarcane, corn, status?
wheat, etc. which have high starch content.
 Presently, the all India average blending
 In India, ethanol is mainly produced from according to the Ministry of Petroleum and
sugarcane molasses by the process Natural Gas stands at 9.90%.
of fermentation.  Around 16 lakh tonnes of sugar was
 Why ethanol? subsumed to produce this ethanol.
 Ethanol contains oxygen, which allows  Oil Marketing Companies (OMCs) have
the engine to more completely combust
already been mandated to buy ethanol from
the fuel, resulting in fewer emissions
and thus lesser environmental sugar mills and clear payments within 21
pollution. days.

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Advantages of the recent amendment changes to engines, 20% blending could
 Reduce the crude oil import bill and require some changes.
increased energy security: This is  Diversification of land: More land may be
important in the context that India is the diverted for water-intensive crops such as
world's 3rd biggest oil importer and sugar cane. This would also raise the
consumer and relies on foreign suppliers for concerns of groundwater depletion.
about 85% of its demand.  Banks are reluctant to finance sugar mills:
 Cleaner Environment: Use of ethanol- Lack of funds may hamper the potential of
blended petrol decreases emissions such as ethanol production on the ground.
carbon monoxide (CO), hydrocarbons (HC)
and nitrogen oxides (NOx). Q4. National Biofuel Policy 2018 is
 By reducing crop burning & conversion implemented by the:
of agricultural residues/wastes to (a) Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas
biofuels there will be further reduction (b) Ministry of New and Renewable Energy
in GHG emissions. (c) Ministry of Environment, Forest and
 Increased farmers‘ incomes and greater Climate Change
investment opportunities: It will also help (d) Ministry of Science and Technology
diversify the portfolios of the sugar-mills
faster and help them become self-reliant in Q5. According to the National Policy on
paying cane-growers. Biofuels - 2018, which of the following
 Health benefits: Used Cooking Oil is a raw materials can be used for ethanol
potential feedstock for biodiesel and its use production?
for making biodiesel will prevent diversion of 1. Damaged food grains like wheat, rice,
used cooking oil in the food industry. This Rotten Potatoes
along with reduced emissions has great 2. Non-edible oilseeds
potential to improve the health of people 3. Lignocellulosic Materials
 It will also boost initiatives like Make in 4. Short Gestation crops
India and Atmanirbhar Bharat with less Select the correct answer using the code
reduction on foreign resources and given below:
improvement in Indian capabilities. (a) Only 1, 3 and 4 (b) Only 1, 2 and 4
(c) Only 2 and 3 (d) 1, 2, 3 and 4
Challenges to recent amendment
 Supply challenges: In order to achieve 20% Q6. According to India‘s National Policy on
blending, India would require a consistent Biofuels, which of the following can be
supply of 1,500 crores litres of ethanol used as raw materials for the production
annually. of biofuels? (UPSC 2020)
 Niti Aayog has talked about managing 1. Cassava
760 crore litres from sugar and 740 2. Damaged wheat grains
crore litres from grains to meet this 3. Groundnut seeds
ethanol requirement. Diversion of both 4. Horse gram
sugar and grains is a challenge in India. 5. Rotten potatoes
 India being a major sugar exporter, 6. Sugar beet
meeting the ethanol target will be Select the correct answer using the code
challenging: Once 20% blending is achieved, given below:
6 mn tonnes of sugar would have to be (a) Only 1, 2, 5 and 6
diverted annually to produce ethanol. (b) Only 1, 3, 4 and 6
 Increased prices of vehicles: While 10% (c) Only 2, 3, 4 and 5
blending of petrol does not require major (d) 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6

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 India-Maldives Relation

Recently there have been protests against India in Maldives called ―India out‖.
The President of Maldives has issued a decree banning protests.

What is the ‗India Out‘ Campaign?

 In Maldives, the ruling political party Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) has growing proximity
towards India whereas opposition party Abdulla Yameen has a pro-China outlook and brought the
India Out campaign in 2020.

Causes of recent unrest against India

 Military Investment by India: Protesters contend that India‘s military deployment in the Maldives is
a step towards interfering in its domestic affairs. India‘s major investments are:
 India and the Maldives signed an agreement in development of the Uthuru Thilafalhu (UTF)
harbor to strengthen Maldivian Coast guard capability.
 India extended a $50 million-line credit for defence purchases.
 Two Dhruv Advanced Light Helicopters (ALH) and a Dornier aircraft to the Maldives were sent to
assist with medical evacuations and sea surveillance.
 The Opposition party is known to be pro-China and thus the protests are often said to be on the
behest of China. China has been heavily investing in infrastructure, trade and tourism in Maldives.
Thus, India‘s anti-China posture is often used to attack India.
 Mismatch between India's promises and delivery:
 India announced that it will lend and contribute $500 million to the Maldives. But according to
government documents, only $17 million of that sum has been invested so far.
 The Chinese investments on the other hand are visible investments.

Components of India-Maldives Relations

Defence Cooperation Disaster Management Developmental Activities
 India has been assisting in  India provided assistance to  Indira Gandhi Memorial
capacity building through Maldives in 2004 for the Hospital (IGMH)
defense training and Indian Ocean tsunami and in  India-Maldives Friendship
2014 for Male water crisis. Faculty of Hospitality &
equipment.
Tourism Studies
 India provides the largest  The Indian Coast Guard would
 Addu Development Project
be providing equipment for oil
number of training  Gulhifalhu Port project
spill control.
opportunities for
 In 2014, Under Operation Greater Male Connectivity
Maldivian National Defence
NEER, India provided bottled Project
Force.
drinking water to fend off a  Construction of a 6.74 km long
 To consolidate defense bridge connecting the capital
severe water crisis.
partnership, a Male with the adjoining islands
 Operation Sanjeevani: During
comprehensive Action of Villingli, Gulhifalhu and
Covid-19 threat, essential Thilafushi.
Plan for Defence was
medical aid supplied from  A planned new airport at
signed in 2016. India to the Maldives in 2020. Gulhifalhu.

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 Economic Relation Tourism Cultural
 Trade Relation: India and  In 2019, India was the 2nd  Both the countries share long
Maldives signed a trade cultural links and continuous
largest source of tourist
agreement in 1981. efforts are underway to further
 India emerged as Maldives arrivals in Maldives. strengthen these links.
2nd largest trade partner  Recently three historical
 A ‗Bilateral Agreement on
in 2020. mosques in Maldives were
 GoI announced a financial the facilitation of Visa restored by Indian experts from
package in the form of Lucknow.
arrangements‘ was signed in
budgetary support, buying  Both countries participated in
of treasury bills, currency 2018. the South Asian Theater
swap and concessional  Indians are the second largest Festival.
Line of Credit to fulfill the  Ministry of Tourism and
socio‐economic expatriate community in the Culture and India Club
development programme of Maldives. organized the India-Maldives
the Maldives. Friendship Festival [INMAFF].

Why is the Maldives Important to India?

 Strategic Importance of the Geographic Location:
Maldives is strategically located along major sea lanes in the Indian Ocean between the Gulf of
Aden, Strait of Hormuz in western Indian Ocean and Strait of Malacca in the eastern Indian Ocean.
For trade and security reasons its location is very significant for India.
 Around 80% of the world‘s maritime oil trade and 50% of India‘s external trade flows through
the Indian Ocean and all the energy supplies coming from Gulf nations transits these islands.
 So, Maldives ensures uninterrupted energy supplies to countries like India, China and Japan.

 Chinese presence:
 Due to the above benefits, Chinese presence in this region has the potential to impede trade
movement that is vital to India‘s economic interests.
 Support at international level:
 Maldives supports India‘s candidature for permanent membership of an expanded and
reformed UN Security Council.
 It also has reiterated support for India‘s candidature for a non-permanent seat for the year
2020-21.
 India‘s Role in Regional Security
 India has a responsibility to address not only its own security concerns but also those of other
countries in its maritime neighbourhood
 The Indian Diaspora in the Maldives
 There are more than 25,000 Indian nationals and Persons of Indian Origin (PIOs), living in the
Maldives. Also, Indian tourists account for close to six per cent of the total Foreign Tourist Arrivals
(FTAs) to the Maldives, annually.

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 Instead of viewing the dynamics from a
About the Maldives
China centric perspective, India must keep
its eyes firmly on its long-term relation
with Maldives and work towards building
confidence to the extent that the neighbouring
countries emerge from its ―Big Brother
Syndrome‖.
Greater involvement with its neighbours will
fetch greater returns for India in the future.

Q7. Which one of the following pairs of

islands is separated by the ‗Eight Degree
Channel‘?
(a) Andaman and Nicobar
(b) Nicobar and Sumatra
(c) Maldives and India
(d) Sumatra and Java

Q8. Recently the islands of Villingli,

 It is an archipelago comprising Gulhifalhu and Thilafushi were in the
approximately 1,200 small coral news. They are associated with which
islands located in the Indian Ocean. country?
 It is also the smallest country in Asia and is (a) Thailand (b) Indonesia
categorized as a Small Island Developing (c) Sri Lanka (d) Maldives
State (SIDS) and lowest-lying country on the
planet.
 Maldives‘ proximity to the west coast of Q4. Analyse ―the Maldives strategic
India and its situation at the hub of importance for India due to its location in
commercial sea‐lanes running through the the Indian Ocean‖.
Indian Ocean and its potential to allow a (150 Words / 10 Marks)
third nation‘s naval presence in the area
imbues it with significant strategic Q5. Discuss the political developments in
importance. Maldives in the last two years. Should
 The Equator passes through 13 countries they be of any cause of concern to India?
including Maldives. (150 Words / 10 Marks)

Q6. In respect of India-Maldives relations,

Conclusion: At present the new Maldivian
discuss how domestic factors influence
government will need Indian support in the
foreign policy.
region as the institutional fabric of the country
has been shattered. (150 Words / 10 Marks)

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  Drought is not simply aridity or
Drought
water scarcity. It is a failure of the system
which drives the hydrological balance.
The United Nations
This can include reduced rainfall, inadequate
Convention to Combat
timing or ineffectiveness of precipitation,
Desertification (UNCCD)
etc.
report named ―Drought in
 They are challenging to define,
Numbers, 2022‖ has revealed
characterize and manage due to their slow
that many parts of India fall under the list of
onsets (in most cases) and indeterminate
regions that are vulnerable to drought globally.
ends.
The State of the Global Climate in 2021 report
released by the World Meteorological
 Droughts are a recurring feature of all
climates.
Organization (WMO) also raises this issue.
 Not all droughts result in disasters: A
drought becomes hazardous when water
United Nations Convention to Combat
demands are no longer met and becomes a
Desertification (UNCCD) risk when there is a diminishing capacity to
 It was established in 1994 as part of the cope with the lack of water.
Rio Convention, 1992 (a.k.a. Earth
Summit)
Types of droughts
 It is the sole legally binding international 1. Based on tenure: Droughts are highly
agreement linking environment and
variable in tenure. They range from flash
development to sustainable land
droughts (with very fast onsets and which
management.
often end within a few days or weeks) to
 Members: 197 parties - 196 member States multi-decadal events. Thus, they can be seen
as well as the European Union as:
 UNCCD‘s COP15 is currently being held in  Flash droughts: These have fast onset,
Abidjan, Côte d‘Ivoire. undergo rapid intensification and often
 COP15 focuses on desertification, land end within a few days or weeks. Flash
degradation, and drought, with the theme droughts are generally driven by
for the conference being ―Land. Life. precipitation deficits, extremely high
Legacy: From scarcity to prosperity.‖
temperatures and a rapid increase in
 It proposes to tackle ―the interconnected
evaporative demand.
challenges of land degradation, climate
 Mega-droughts: Mega-droughts are
change, and biodiversity loss‖ as we move
defined as multi-decadal events.
into the UN Decade on Ecosystem
2. Based on factors: Droughts are usually
Restoration (2021-30)
termed
 The Delhi Declaration was signed by the
 Meteorological (climate based),
14th CoP of the UNCCD in 2019.
 Ecological (i.e., agricultural or soil
 Some 128 countries have pledged to the moisture based);
UNCCD to achieve land degradation
 Hydrological (water level based)
neutrality.
droughts;
 It publishes the Global Land Outlook (GLO)  Cold region droughts: A below-normal
snow accumulation constrains
What are droughts? downstream water use and weakens
 The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate ecosystems dependent on snow-melt.
Change (IPCC) defines drought as ―a period However, these are all progressive stages of
of abnormally dry weather long enough to the same drought propagating through the
cause a serious hydrological imbalance‖. hydrological cycle.

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Reasons for Droughts Key Highlights of the Report
Droughts result from a complex interaction of  The number and duration of droughts
natural and anthropogenic processes due to the around the world has increased by an
strong influence of human activities on the alarming 29% since 2000.
water balance.  A large chunk of the global population
 Shortfall of precipitation over a certain (around 700 million) is at the risk of being
period, from the inadequate timing or the displaced due to drought by 2030 & ~2/3rd
ineffectiveness of the precipitation. of the world‘s population will be water-
 A lack of snow- or glacier-melt following stressed by 2025.
a drop in winter precipitation can also  Africa, especially sub-Saharan and Eastern
cause or worsen drought. Africa, is the most affected by droughts.
 Atmospheric conditions: El Niño Southern  The Deccan region sees the highest
Oscillation (ENSO), the Pacific Decadal frequency (of more than 6%) of severe
Oscillation (PDO) and the Inter-decadal droughts in all of India. The report found
Pacific Oscillation are key indicators of ―significant drought conditions‖ once in
every three years in the Deccan Plateau
changes in atmospheric conditions
leading to large-scale migration and
associated with drought conditions across
desertification.
the world.
 Since 1997, there has been a 57% increase
 Drought hazard and human activities
in the country‘s drought-prone areas.
(e.g., land and water management) are
Nearly 68% of Indian districts have been
strongly intertwined: For instance,
facing droughts and drought-like situations.
increased water demand due to heatwaves  The yearly average of drought-affected
and high average temperatures can lead to districts increased 13 times after 2005. A
mitigation responses like increased severe drought strikes every 8-9 years
groundwater pumping for irrigation. in India.
 It can alleviate water stress but can  India is one of the severely drought-
increase vulnerability for subsequent impacted countries.
droughts.  Geographically, India‘s drought
 Overdependence on groundwater vulnerability compares with that of sub-
resources and lack of water-retaining Saharan Africa.
structures has significantly increased
vulnerability in Indian cities during severe Impact of drought
drought events. Drought impacts result from the complex
 Agriculture in low rainfall areas and interaction of drought hazards, exposure and
Virtual Water Transport through export of vulnerability.
grains.  Drought is deadly: Weather, climate and
 Land degradation and desertification water hazards have accounted for 50% of all
reduce the resilience to future droughts. disasters and 45% of all reported deaths
 Rapid changes in spatial and temporal since 1970. 9 in 10 of these deaths have
occurred in developing countries.
water consumption patterns, as recently
seen during the Covid-19 pandemic, may put  Drought is costly: Globally, droughts
caused economic losses of ~ $124 billion
additional stress on water supply systems
between 1998 and 2017.
that can exacerbate drought impact.
 India‘s GDP reduced by 2-5% between
 Climate change is intensifying drought
1998 and 2017 due to severe droughts
impacts, increasing the frequency, severity
in the country.
and duration in many regions of the world.
 Drought is devastating: An estimated 55
 According to the report, climate change million people globally are directly affected by
alone will cause 129 countries to droughts every year and over 2.3 billion
experience an increase in drought people are facing water stress, making it the
exposure in the next few decades. most serious hazard to livestock and crops in
 If global warming reaches 3°C by 2100, nearly every part of the world.
drought losses could be five times  In 2022, almost 160 million children are
higher than today‘s levels. exposed to severe and prolonged
Other factors at play along with drought could droughts. It is estimated that 1 in 4
be water scarcity, rise in sea levels, and children will be living in areas with
overpopulation. extreme water shortages.

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 Drought leads to other problems: Drought Including drought monitoring, forecasting,
leads to food shortages and food security early warning and measures to reduce
concerns, forced displacement or migration, vulnerability, multi-risk, cross-sectoral and
etc. systemic drought risk management
 Drought can force up to 216 million approaches, coupled with adaptation to a
people to migrate by 2050. changing climate and actions to increase
 As per FAO study, ~86% of reported societal and environmental resilience.
loss and damage in agriculture in 2015  Land restoration and drought resilience
was due to drought events. focusing on ―future-proofing land use.‖
 Drought affects women and girls  The UNCCD envisions restoring
disproportionately: Women and girls suffer one billion hectares of degraded land by
greater losses in terms of education levels, 2030, creating a land degradation-neutral
nutrition, health, sanitation, and safety due world.
to droughts. The burden of water collection  Urgent adaptation action to reduce water
also disproportionately falls on women demand, for example, by more-efficient
(72%) and girls (9%). irrigation methods, cultivating drought-
 Women may spend up to 40% of their resistant varieties and adequate water
caloric intake fetching water. pricing.
 Drought is underestimated: Droughts have  With the highest water efficiency rate in
deep, widespread and underestimated agriculture, reaching a 70-80% rate, drip
impacts on societies, ecosystems, and irrigation has helped to solve the problem
economies with only a portion of the actual of water scarcity in Israel.
losses accounted for.  Turning the tide: Limiting global warming
 Drought is one of the drivers of to 1.5 degrees Celsius, along with
desertification and land degradation: regenerative land and improved water
Drought increases fragility of ecosystems and management practices, is expected to
social instability, especially in rural substantially reduce the probability of
communities. extreme drought events
 ~12 million hectares of land is lost  Transitions to sustainability: It refers to
each year due to drought and multidimensional and fundamental
desertification. processes through which established
 Cascading impacts of drought include socioecological–technical systems transform
forest loss, soil erosion and degradation, or shift to more sustainable modes of
flood vulnerability, and more-frequent production and consumption in line with
wildfires. SDG 12.
 Drought leads to loss of diversity: For  Public awareness-raising and development
instance, Australia‘s mega-drought in of water-saving practices and policies to
2019-2020 contributed to ―mega-fires‖ promote and enforce sustainable land and
resulting in one of the most extensive losses water management are needed for
of habitat for threatened species. Similarly, successfully introducing required changes.
drought-induced peatland fires in  MGNREGA has been effective in
Indonesia resulted in decreasing biodiversity mitigating drought.
 84% of all terrestrial ecosystems are  Take local knowledge and practices into
threatened by changing and intensifying account as it promotes mutual trust and a
wildfires and droughts intensify this community‘s sense of ownership and self-
threat. confidence.
 Data driven research and policy making:
Ways to moderate drought No two droughts are the same; no single
 Shift from ‗reactive‘ and ‗crisis-based‘ formula to manage them is sufficient. Thus,
approaches to ‗proactive‘ and ‗risk-based‘ every region must be evaluated for drought
drought management approaches: at parameters set in its context.

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 Some major Initiatives
 The Bonn Challenge: To bring 150 million hectares of the world‘s deforested and degraded land into
restoration by 2020, and 350 million hectares by 2030.
 India‘s National Action Programme for combating desertification
 Forest Landscape Restoration (FLR)
 Delhi Declaration

Conclusion: Droughts are among the greatest threats to sustainable development, especially in
developing countries. Reducing the impacts of drought will contribute to the achievement of SDGs, in
particular poverty reduction, zero hunger, good health and well-being, gender equality, clean water and
sanitation, and sustainable cities and communities. Prevention has far lower human, financial and
environmental costs than reaction and response thus, our focus must be on averting the conditions
causing drought.

Q9. Consider the following international agreements:

1. The United Nation Convention on Biological Diversity.
2. The United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification
3. The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change
Which of the above are said to be part of the Earth Convention?
(a) Only 1 and 2 (b) Only 3
(c) Only 1 and 3 (d) 1, 2 and 3

Q7. Prevention has far lower human, financial and environmental costs than reaction and response.
Evaluate. (250 Words / 15 Marks)

Madden-Julian Oscillation (MJO)

A pulse of the Madden–Julian Oscillation (MJO) has strengthened and moved into the
West Indian Ocean setting up lower pressure, clouds and moisture off the Kerala
coast and just across the peninsular tip into the waters of the South-West Bay of
Bengal off the Tamil Nadu and Sri Lanka coasts.

What is Madden-Julian Oscillation (MJO)?

 MJO is an eastward moving disturbance of clouds, rainfall, winds, and pressure that traverses
the planet in the tropics and returns to its initial starting point in 30 to 60 days, on
average.

It was discovered in 1971 by Roland Madden and Paul Julian of the American National Center for
Atmospheric Research

Characteristics of MJO
 It is a tropical phenomenon i.e. it moves between 30 degrees North and 30 degrees South of the
equator.
 It usually originates near the western Indian Ocean and propagates over the warm waters of the
Indian and Pacific Ocean.
 It is an oscillation between the wet phase (enhanced convection and precipitation) followed by a dry
phase (suppressed convection and almost no rainfall)
 Intra-seasonal tropical climate variability: There can be multiple MJO events within a season
(i.e. it varies on a week-to-week basis).
 Each cycle lasts approximately 30–60 days and sometimes 90 days. Because of this pattern, the
MJO is also known as the 30- to 60-day oscillation or 30- to 60-day wave.

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Phases of MJO: The eastward movement goes through following 8 phases

 Phase1 includes signals both from the initiation of an MJO event in the western Indian Ocean basin
and the breakdown of MJO events in the mid- Pacific Ocean.
 During phases 2 through 8 the MJO travels east at 4-10 days/phase.

Effects of MJO
Madden and Julian, (1972, 1994) have demonstrated that the MJO is responsible for a large part of the
intra-seasonal climate variance observed not only in the tropics, but also in higher latitudes.

Monsoon The MJO can modulate the timing and strength of monsoons.
When MJO is over the Indian Ocean i.e., phase 2 (Wet phase), it aids monsoons and brings
good rainfall over the Indian Subcontinent.
On the other hand, when MJO is in phase 7, 8, it brings a deficit/delay in monsoon
rainfall.

Tropical  MJO influences tropical cyclone numbers and strength in nearly all ocean basins.
cyclone  It aids the formation of cyclones when its wet phase coincides with other conditions for
cyclone formation. The converse is also true i.e. dry phase may weaken the formation of
cyclones.
 As the MJO progresses eastward, the favoured region for tropical cyclone activity
also shifts eastward.

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Jet stream When a MJO moves eastward it influences atmospheric circulation and when it spreads
into higher latitudes it disrupts the jet streams.
 When jet streams move south towards the tropics and if the MJO is active in that
region, the clouds and the moisture get transported like a river from the Southeast
Asian region to the US coast.
 This is called an atmospheric river.
 Atmospheric rivers is a term used for narrow regions in the atmosphere that
transport moisture from the tropics to northern latitudes
 This atmospheric river is also popularly known as the Pineapple Express (as it passes
over Hawaii where pineapple is a popular fruit).
 Jet stream changes lead to cold air outbreaks during winter months, or extreme
heat events, and even flooding over the American continent.

ENSO  The MJO tends to be low or absent during the El Niño episodes, due to weakening
cycle trade winds.
 During La Niña, the MJO is more concentrated to the West with greater activity on
the Indian Ocean and the Western Pacific.
 Presence of MJO over the Pacific Ocean along with an El Nino is detrimental for
Monsoon rains.

Global
rainfall
patterns

Difference between MJO and ENSO

 El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO) has a standing pattern i.e., it is stationary in the Pacific
region only. The Madden–Julian oscillation is a traveling pattern that propagates eastward from the
Indian Ocean to the Pacific Ocean.
 ENSO lasts several seasons over the Pacific Ocean basin while there can be multiple MJO events
within a season.

Q10. Consider the following statements with respect to Madden Julian Oscillation (MJO):
1. MJO is a phenomenon limited to the Indian Ocean just like ENSO is a circulation pattern over
the Pacific Ocean.
2. During the wet MJO cycle over the Indian Ocean, India gets more rainfall.
Which of the above statements is correct?
(a) Only 1 (b) Only 2 (c) Both 1 and 2 (d) Neither 1 nor 2

Q11. ―This is a tropical atmospheric-oceanic phenomenon associated with variations in sea surface
temperature, organized precipitation, low-level winds, vertical wind shear, and atmospheric
humidity and temperature. It is a band of rain clouds and wind patterns that move eastward over
the tropics and create wet and dry conditions in respective regions‖.
Which of the following atmospheric-oceanic phenomena matches the above description?
(a) El Niño-Southern Oscillation/ENSO (b) Indian Ocean dipole
(c) Madden-Julian Oscillation (MJO) (d) Jet stream

Q8. What is Madden-Julian Oscillation? What are its characteristic features? Discuss its impact on
Indian monsoon. (250 Words / 15 Marks)

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 Two New Naval Warships Launched

The Defence Minister recently launched two indigenous warships of the Indian Navy-
INS Surat and INS Udaygiri. Both INS Surat and INS Udaygiri will be among
the most technologically advanced missile carriers in the world with around
75% of the equipment and systems required being sourced from indigenous firms,
including MSMEs.

 They are designed by the Directorate of Naval Design (DND) and built at Mazagon Dock Ltd (MDL).

What does ‗launch‘ of warships mean?

 The launch of a ship refers to it entering water for the first time. The process is carried out in tandem
with the rising and receding tides.
 The next step after launch involves outfitting inside the ship.
 It is followed by sea trials.
 Once trials are done, a ship is commissioned.

The first warship constructed in India for the Navy was in 1960, and since then 130 warships and
submarines have been made in India.

Project 15B
 ‗Surat‘ is the fourth ship of Project 15B Destroyers.
 The P-15B destroyers were to incorporate new design concepts for improved survivability, sea
keeping, stealth and maneuverability.
 The first ship of this class was INS Visakhapatnam. It was commissioned in 2021. INS Mormugao
and Imphal have been launched but not commissioned yet.

Project 17A
 Udaygiri is the third ship of Project 17A Frigates.
 Project 17A frigates have improved stealth features, advanced weapons and sensors and platform
management systems.
 The first two ships of the P-17A - were launched in 2019 and 2020.

Why is modernisation of the Navy important right now?

 Importance of the Navy is bound to grow in the coming years because of the over 7,500-km long
coastline and the wide expanse of the Indian Ocean Region which it defends.
 This is because India is largely dependent on the Indian Ocean for most of its international trade,
which includes getting oil and gas.
 The modernisation of the People‘s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) by China to increase its
presence in the Indian Ocean, both military and civil.
 According to reports, China has ―numerically the largest navy in the world‖. China is also said to
be enhancing its anti-submarine warfare capabilities and competencies to protect the PLAN‘s
aircraft carriers and ballistic missile submarines.
 India‘s security role in the Indo-Pacific: The Navy‘s role is bound to grow as India projects itself as
a preferred security partner in the Indian Ocean Region for countries such as the US, Japan,
Australia, France, etc. All these nations have deep interests in the Indian Ocean Region, but none
can have the presence that India has for a large swathe of that area.

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Q12. As part of defence indigenisation, Project 17 seen in news is related to construction of which of the
following:
(a) Destroyer ships (b) Frigates
(c) Aircraft Carriers (d) Corvettes

Q13. Consider the following pairs:

Project name Warship type
1. Project 15 Stealth Frigates
2. Project 17 Destroyers
3. Project 16 Guided Frigates
4. Project 28 Corvettes
Which of the above pairs are correctly matched?
(a) Only 1 and 2 (b) Only 2 and 3
(c) Only 1 and 4 (d) Only 3 and 4

Q14. Which one of the following is the best description of ‗INS Udaygiri‘, that was in the news recently?
(a) Destroyer
(b) Nuclear-powered submarine
(c) Stealth frigate warfare ship
(d) Nuclear-powered aircraft carrier

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 Platform Manipulation

Recently, Twitter (During its purchase process by Elon Musk), has stated that less
than 5% of its daily users in the first quarter of 2022 were actually false or spam
accounts.

What is a ―Spam‖?
 Generally, Spam is any kind of unwanted, unsolicited digital communication that gets sent out in
bulk. Often spam is sent via email, text messages, phone calls, or social media.

What is ‗Spam‘ according to Twitter?

 Spam has been defined as a set of unsolicited and repeated actions that negatively impact other
users on a platform with the aim to re-direct attention towards a certain product, website, or idea.
 The objective behind amplifying spam content is platform manipulation.

Platform Manipulation
 Platform manipulation is an attempt to undermine the public conversation with an intent to
negatively impact the experience of people on a platform (such as Twitter).
 It is a violation of the Twitter Rules.
 Spam is a form of platform manipulation.

Examples of behaviors which would violate Twitter‘s Rules against spam include:
 Consistently Tweeting or DMing links only, without any commentary.
 Posting duplicate or very similar content across multiple accounts.
 Posting multiple, duplicate updates on one account.
 Creating duplicate or very similar accounts; or creating fake accounts, impressions or account
interactions (such as followers, Retweets, likes, etc.)
 Posting multiple updates in an attempt to manipulate or undermine Twitter trends.
 Sending large numbers of unsolicited replies or mentions.
 Purchasing or attempting to artificially inflate account interactions (such as followers, Retweets,
likes, etc.)
 Using or promoting third-party services or apps that claim to get you more followers, Retweets, or
likes; or that claim to be able to get topics to trend.

Twitter in a blog post categorized the above activities into the following:
1. Technical coordination: Use of certain detectable techniques to amplify a message or narrative on
the platform, such as an individual user tweeting identical messages from multiple accounts.
2. Social coordination: A group of people (or accounts) doing Platform manipulation at the same time.
For example, asking followers to respond to a targeted individual with abusive messaging.

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Why does spamming worry social media platforms?
 As we know, Social media platforms get a majority of their revenue from advertisements.
 Presence of spam or fake accounts implies that the social media platform is unable to determine the
precise number of authentic users.
 This is because the spam accounts are usually removed from the list of daily users. This makes the
number of views presented to the advertiser incorrect.

Q15. The term ‗Platform Manipulation‘ is sometimes seen in the news in the context of:
(a) A process to buy followers on Instagram
(b) Posting multiple updates on one account
(c) Unauthorized use of Twitter to mislead others
(d) All options (a), (b) and (c) are part of Platform Manipulation

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 Mesolithic Site in Telangana

Recently a Mesolithic age rock art site was discovered at Kasipet in Yadadri Bhuvanagiri
district, Telangana.

Key Findings

 The painting is in red ochre.

 It has four bison, two men, and an animal resembling a horse.
 The human figure standing behind the four bison was drawn using the X pattern.
 The painting of the other man standing near the bison is similar to the petroglyph of a man with a
weapon at the Regonda site (The Pandavula Gutta in Regonda mandal (Telangana), is popular for its
rock art paintings).
 Microlith rock tools are on the downside of the hillock, apart from a cairn cyst and a Menhir
identified in the vicinity.

What is Menhir?
 A menhir is a large man-made upright stone usually of prehistoric origin. They are erected in memory
of a dead person and for other reasons.

 There was the evidence of prehistoric iron melting in a nearby cave in the form of iron slag and
iron pieces.
 The microlithic tools, rock art style, and the items and bisons in the paintings indicate that the rock
art site belongs to the Mesolithic age.

About Mesolithic period rock art

The Mesolithic Period dates approximately from 10,000 BCE to 7,000 BCE (Period varies by geographical
region.)
This period mainly saw the use of red ochre (red color).

Themes of paintings
 It has a huge variety of themes but has a smaller size of painting than Paleolithic Paintings.
 The hunting scenes were predominant, like animals chasing men or being chased by hunter men.
 Hunters carry arms like barbed spears, pointed sticks, arrows and bows.
 Hunting of animals like elephants, bison, tiger, boar, deer, antelope, leopard, panther,
rhinoceros, fish, frog, lizard, squirrel and at times birds were prominent.
 People of Different age groups were depicted in the paintings: young, old, children and women have
equally found their place.

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 Women are painted both in nude and clothed.
 Community dances provide a common theme.
 Family life was also shown in a few pictures.
 In many of the rock-shelters hand prints, fist prints, and dots made by the fingertips can be seen.

A Mesolithic Painting

The important Mesolithic Sites in India

Q16. With reference to the prehistoric Mesolithic rock paintings, consider the following statements:
1. Mesolithic rock cut painting predominantly used green and red colour.
2. Mesolithic paintings have a smaller size than Palaeolithic Paintings.
Which of the statements given above is /are incorrect?
(a) Only 1 (b) Only 2
(c) Both 1 and 2 (d) Neither 1 nor 2

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 Recently, a wisdom tooth of a child, most likely a girl, was
discovered in a cave in Laos, where it was likely deposited
13,000 to 16,000 years ago. The tooth is closer to
Neanderthals and Denisovans, but as Neanderthals are
only adapted to Western Europe and to cold regions, it is
said to belong to Denisovans.
 Denisovans are an extinct hominin species that co-
existed with Neanderthals and modern humans.
 The present evidence is only the second Denisovan
fossil to be found outside the Denisova caves in Altai
mountains, Siberia.
Denisovans

 Denisovans are believed to have interbred with

Neanderthals as well as Homo sapiens, giving the
present racial mix in the global population.

Significance
 So far, it was known that Denisovans were only found
in cold and high-altitude regions such as in Siberia
and Tibet. This discovery proves that they were also adapted to a warm
environment.
 The ability to live in a wide range of climates would set the Denisovans apart from
Neanderthals — whose bodies were adapted for colder places — and make them
more similar to modern human species.
 It also confirms recent genetic findings that some populations (Negrito from
Philippines, Papuans and Australian Aborigines) have 3 to 5% of Denisovan genes.

Recently, Rani Chennamma‘s statue was inaugurated in

Kittur in Belagavi district of Karnataka. Rani Chennamma
is referred to as the first Indian ruler to lead an armed
rebellion against the British East India Company.
 Rani Chennamma, the queen of Kitturu was a warrior
who led one such war against British forces in the early
part of the 19th Century.
 Rani Chennamma is said to belong to the Lingayat
Rani Chennamma

community.
 Chennamma became the queen of Kitturu (now in
Karnataka) when she married Raja Mallasarja of the
Desai family.
 In 1824, the British East India Company tried to take
away her kingdom under the Doctrine of Lapse, a
policy of annexation devised by the British East India
Company.
 Although the Doctrine was officially applied by Lord Dalhousie, she became a
victim to this policy much before Dalhousie‘s tenure. Thus, it is sometimes cited as
the first instance of the use of the Doctrine of Lapse.
 A war broke out between Rani Chennamma and the British
 Although she was defeated in her last battle, she is still remembered for her valour
and for leading the first armed revolt against British rule in India.

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  Interpol's Match-Fixing Task Force (IMFTF), has recently concluded with a call for
harmonized global efforts to curb competition manipulation in line with the Macolin
Convention. India‘s Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) was one of the participants
in IMFTF.

Created in 2011, the IMFTF now has 100 member units, with more than 150 national
points of contact worldwide.
Macolin Convention

 The Macolin Convention, also known as the Council of Europe Convention on the
Manipulation of Sports Competitions, is a multilateral treaty aimed at checking
match-fixing.
 Purpose: To combat the manipulation of sports competitions in order to protect the
integrity of sport and sports ethics in accordance with the principle of the autonomy of
sport.
 It is a legal instrument and the only rule of international law on the manipulation of
sports competitions.
 It proposes a common legal framework for an efficient international cooperation to
respond to this global threat.
 It came into force in 2019, and has been signed by 30 European countries apart from
Australia and Morocco, and ratified by seven (Greece, Italy, Norway, Portugal, the Republic
of Moldova, Switzerland and Ukraine).
 Thus, India has neither signed nor ratified the Macolin Convention.

 Kudumbashree is a poverty eradication and women

empowerment programme which has recently completed 25
years.
 The largest women‘s organization network in the world was set
‘prosperity of the family’

up in 1997 for the purpose of the devolution of powers to

the Panchayat Raj Institutions (PRIs) in Kerala, and the
Kudumbashree:

Peoples‘ Plan Campaign .

 It is being implemented by the State Poverty Eradication
Mission (SPEM) of the Government of Kerala.
 Its aim has evolved from poverty alleviation under the local
self-government to empowerment of women.
 It supports socio-economic empowerment programmes and works as an agency for
enhancing women‘s citizenship.
 It also ensures convergence of the community network and local government institutions.
 In 2011, the central Ministry of Rural Development recognised Kudumbashree as the
State Rural Livelihoods Mission (SRLM) under the National Rural Livelihoods Mission
(NRLM).

 In early April 2022, a dust storm engulfed parts of Iraq for multiple days.
 Earlier most of the dust was drifting over northern Iraq; two days later, the plume
provoked by the Shamal
Dust storms in Iraq -

extended south past Baghdad.

 Dust storms in Iraq are most common in the summer, provoked by the shamal.
 Shamal are strong winds that blow from the northwest. (Most sand having been picked
up from Jordan and Syria)
 Shamal is more prevalent during the spring and summer months. But they can occur
in other seasons too.
 As per the World Bank, northern Iraq—between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers and along
the border of Syria—has the highest density of dust sources in the Middle East.
 Dozens of people across the country were hospitalized with respiratory problems during
the recent storm.
 The dust also appears to have darkened the snow on mountains in Turkey.

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 Integrated Flood Warning System : ‗IFLOWS-Mumbai‘
 It is a joint initiative between the Ministry of Earth Sciences (MoES) and
Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC).
 It is a monitoring and flood warning system that will relay alerts of possible flood-prone
areas anywhere between six to 72 hours in advance.
IFLOWS

 Mumbai is the second city in the country after Chennai to get this system.
 It will give information about the height of the floodwater and location-wise problem
areas.
 It will calculate the vulnerability and risk of elements exposed to flood.
 The system incorporates weather models from the National Center for Medium Range
Weather Forecasting (NCMRWF), India Meteorological Department (IMD), Indian Institute
of Tropical Meteorology (IITM), etc.

Raja Ram Mohan Roy: the

father of Modern Indian
Renaissance (250th birth
anniversary)
 Roy spent considerable time
studying the Vedas and
the Upanishads along with
religious texts of Islam and
Christianity.
 He was intrigued by the
Unitarian faction of
Christianity and was drawn by
the precepts of monotheism.
 He wrote matters on theology,
polity and human rights, and
Raja Ram Mohan Roy

translated and made

accessible Sanskrit texts into
Bengali.
 Tagore called him a
‗Bharatpathik‘- the one who
has combined in his personality,
the spirit of Indic civilisation, its
spirit of pluralism, tolerance
and a cosmic respect for all
forms of life.
 Roy was among India's first
liberals as he was Confident
about the strength of his own
heritage and open to imbibing
from other cultures too.
 Atmiya Sabha (Society of Friends): In 1814, he started Atmiya Sabha to nurture
philosophical discussions on the idea of monotheism in Vedanta and to campaign
against idolatry, casteism, child marriage and other social ills. The Atmiya Sabha
paved the way for the Brahmo Sabha in 1828.
 He campaigned for the modernisation of education based on a Western curriculum.
 With the help of Scottish philanthropist David Hare, he set up the Hindu College (now
Presidency University) in 1817.
 Roy worked for the abolition of Sati and the property rights of women.

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 Artefacts
Following are the gifts that the Prime Minister of India presented to world leaders on his recent
trip to Europe.
Article Gifted Significance
Dokra Boat from  Dokra is a non-ferrous metal casting technique.
Chhattisgarh  It uses the lost- wax casting technique that has been in
Gifted to : the
use in India for over 4,000 years.
crown prince of
Denmark.  Dhokra Damar tribes are traditional metal-smiths from West
Bengal and Odisha.

Rogan Painting  It is a form of cloth printing practiced in Gujarat's Kutch.

from Gujarat  Paint made from boiled oil and vegetable dyes is used
Gifted to: Queen on fabric using either a metal block (printing) or a stylus
of Denmark (painting).
 'Rogan' means Oil in Persian. It is practiced among the
Khatris, a community in Kutch.
Meenakari bird  Meenakari is basically an enamelling technique on
figure from metals. It is the art of ornamenting and enamelling metal
Varanasi. surfaces by painting and decorating them with marvelous
Gifted to: Crown designs, and then they are fired in the kiln.
Princess of  Meenakari has originated from Persia. This art was then
Denmark familiarized by Mughals for their love towards jewellery.
 It was familiarized in Rajasthan, in the 16th century by
Raja Man Singh (Amber) who called for Meenakars from the
court of the Mughals.
 Silver is the most commonly used metal for Meenakari.
 Meenakari is practiced today at many places in India, and each place has a style
of their own.
For Example: In Varanasi the rose-pink color (gulabi meena) is used the most.
'Tree of Life' from  It symbolizes development and growth of life.
Rajasthan Gifted
 The hand-crafted wall decorative art piece is made of brass.
to: Prime Minister
of Finland.

Pashmina stole in Pashmina

a Papier Mache  Pashmina shawls are made of the finest Cashmere
box from Jammu wool.
and Kashmir.  Ladakh hosts an exotic variety of goats, which grow
Gifted to: Prime Cashmere as down fiber.
Minister of
Sweden.  This fiber is processed to make Pashmina products.
 The word Pashmina comes from 'Pashm', or 'soft
gold'.

Papier Mache
 The origin of the paper mache crafts in Kashmir
dates back to the 15th century when the eighth ruler
of Kashmir, Zain-ul-Abidin, brought many craftsmen from central Asia along
with him to the Kashmir valley to train his subjects on the same.

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  The making of Paper Mache Crafts involves two main steps- Sakthsazi
(making the object with the pulp of paper) and Naqashi (the painting and
decoration part).
Wall hanging with  It is a handicraft and textile signature art tradition of the tribal
kutch community of Kutch in Gujarat.
embroidery
Gifted to the  The embroidery sparkles when small mirrors called ‗abhla‘ are
prime minister of sewn over the geometrically shaped designs.
Denmark.

Places in News

 Armenia has been witnessing anti-government protests

against possible concessions over the Nagorno-Karabakh
territory, disputed with neighbouring Azerbaijan.
 Location: Nagorno-Karabakh is a mountainous and
Nagorno-Karabakh Territory

heavily forested region that under international law is

recognised as part of Azerbaijan.
 In this region, the vast majority of the population are
Ethnic Armenians, hence they reject Azeri rule.
 Azerbaijan‘s troops were pushed out of the region in the
1990s and ethnic Armenians took administrative control of
Nagorno-Karabakh, with support from Armenia.
 September 2020: Clashes broke out which rapidly
escalated.
 In the past three decades, ceasefires brokered by Russia
and the United States have failed.
 Azerbaijan wants Armenia to recognise the region as part
of Azerbaijan.
 Latest developments: Armenia has been witnessing domestic unrest since April this year
related to its PM's handling of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

 Recently, the Ministry of External Affairs

(MEA) said that two bridges are built by
China in the Pangong area.
 The Pangong area has been under the illegal
occupation of China since the 1960s.
 Pangong Lake is a long boomerang-
shaped endorheic (landlocked) water
Pangong Lake Area

body (The lake was not always endorheic in

character in the past)
 It is located at an elevation of roughly
more than 4,200 meters (13,800 ft) above
sea level, which makes it the highest
saltwater lake in the world.
 Around 40% of the lake lies within Indian territory, 50% in Tibet (China), and the rest 10%
is reportedly disputed between the two and is a de facto buffer zone.
 It derives its name from the Tibetan word, ―Pangong Tso‖, which means ―high grassland
lake‖.
 During winters, the lake freezes even though it is a saline lake.
 The Karakoram Mountain range ends at the north bank of Pangong Tso.
 The Northern bank of the lake has finger projections while the Southern bank lacks
such features.

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  The strategically significant Sela Tunnel project in
Sela Tunnel Project Arunachal Pradesh is nearing completion.
 It is located in West Kameng district of Arunachal
Pradesh which will provide an alternate axis to the
Sela pass.

Why is the project important?

 It will provide all-weather connectivity to Tawang
region of Arunachal Pradesh (At present, Sela pass
stays closed for a few winter months).
 The project will also provide a new alignment on the axis towards the LAC along with
movement of military and civil vehicles all through the year.

Q17. The word 'Denisovan' is sometimes 2. It is being implemented by the State

mentioned in media in reference to Poverty Eradication Mission of the
Government of Kerala.
(UPSC 2019)
Which of the statements given above
(a) Fossils of a kind of dinosaurs
is/are correct?
(b) An early human species
(a) Only 1 (b) Only 2
(c) A cave system found in North-East
(c) Both 1 and 2 (d) Neither 1 nor 2
India.
(d) A geological period in the history of
Q21. Which of the following describe the term
Indian subcontinent "Shamal",seen in news recently:
(a) It is a strong wind system in the Gulf
Q18. Consider the following statements with Region that blows from the northwest.
respect to Rani Chenamma: (b) It is a north-easterly wind system in
1. She was the first victim of the Doctrine the Mongolian Region.
of Lapse. (c) It is a non-directional wind system in
2. The Doctrine of Lapse was imposed on the Horn of Africa.
Kitturu by Lord Dalhousie. (d) It is a cyclonic wind system in the
3. She was a key part of the Revolt of Arabian Sea.
1857.
Which of the statements given above Q22. Consider the following statements with
is/are incorrect? respect to Raja Ram Mohan Roy:
(a) Only 1 and 2 (b) Only 1 and 3 1. He started Atmiya Sabha to nurture
(c) Only 2 and 3 (d) Only 1 philosophical discussions on the idea
of monotheism in Vedanta.
Q19. The Macolin Convention which was seen 2. He campaigned for an education
in the news recently, is related to which of system based on the Ancient Indian
Past.
the following?
Which of the statements given above
(a) To reduce terror financing in West
is/are correct?
Asia.
(a) Only 1 (b) Only 2
(b) To check the match-fixing in Sports
(c) Both 1 and 2 (d) Neither 1 nor 2
Competitions.
(c) To improve IPR policies in participant
Q23. Consider the following pairs:
counties.
Craft Region
(d) To reduce deforestation in developing 1. Dokra Odisha
countries. 2. Rogan Paintings Rajasthan
3. Papier Mache Kashmir
Q20. Consider the following statements with Which of the pair given above are
respect to the Kudumbashree Scheme: correctly matched?
1. It is the largest women‘s organization (a) Only 1 and 2 (b) Only 1 and 3
network in the world. (c) Only 2 and 3 (d) 1, 2 and 3

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Q24. The region known as "Nagorno-Karabakh" is sometimes appears in the news in context of the
events related to:
(a) Area around Black Sea
(b) Area Around Caspian Sea
(c) Area Around Aral Sea
(d) Area Around Mediterranean Sea

Q25. Consider the following statements with respect to the Pangong Lake:
1. Pangong Lake is an endorheic water body.
2. It is the highest saltwater lake in the world.
3. It is spread over two regions- Ladakh and Tibet.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
(a) Only 1 and 2 (b) Only 3
(c) Only 2 and 3 (d) 1, 2 and 3

Q26. Sela Tunnel project was in news recently, connects:

(a) Itanagar with the Tawang in Arunachal Pradesh
(b) Banihal in Jammu with the Kashmir Valley
(c) Aizawl in Mizoram with Paletwa in Myanmar
(d) Balipara in Assam to Tawang in Arunachal Pradesh

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1. Ans. : (c) 14. Ans. : (c)

2. Ans. : (b) 15. Ans. : (d)

3. Ans. : (c) 16. Ans. : (a)

4. Ans. : (a) 17. Ans. : (b)

5. Ans. : (d) 18. Ans. : (c)

6. Ans. : (a) 19. Ans. : (b)

7. Ans. : (c) 20. Ans. : (c)

8. Ans. : (d) 21. Ans. : (a)

9. Ans. : (d) 22. Ans. : (a)

10. Ans. : (b) 23. Ans. : (b)

11. Ans. : (c) 24. Ans. : (b)

12. Ans. : (b) 25. Ans. : (d)

13. Ans. : (d) 26. Ans. : (a)

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