PERIYAR IAS CURRENT AFFAIRS 1-FEBRUARY- 2018
Paper 1:
Topic: Indian culture will cover the
salient aspects of Art Forms, Literature and Architecture from ancient to
modern times.
Medaram Jatara
Context: The four-day ‘Sammakka –
Saralamma Jatara’ at Medaram in Telangana has begun. Considered the biggest
tribal festival across South Asia, the Jatara witnesses a huge number of
devotees thronging the village to take the blessings of Goddess Sammaka-Saralamma.
About the Medaram’s
Sammakka-Sarakka/Saralamma Jatara:
What is it? Sammakka-Sarakka Jatara
held by forest dwelling Koya tribe of Telangana and surrounding States, is the
biggest Tribal festival in Asia which is attended by one crore people on an
average.
Why is it held? The event is held
bi-annually to honour the twin goddesses Sammakka and her daughter Sarakka.
Several communities in Telangana society support Jatara as it is also a
mythical narrative of two tribal women leaders who fought against the Kakatiya
rulers who tried to annex their land and forests. According to the myth it was
Sammakka’s curse which caused gradual decline and death of Kakatiya rule.
Facts for Prelims:
Where is Medaram located?
Medaram is a remote place in the Eturnagaram Wildlife Sanctuary, a part of
Dandakaranya, the largest surviving forest belt in the Deccan.
Sources: the hindu.
Topic: Social empowerment,
communalism, regionalism & secularism.
Democracy Index
Context: The Economist
Intelligence Unit has released 2017 Democracy Index report. The report shows
that democracy is in decline across the world. It is the worst performance
since 2010-’11 in the aftermath of the global financial crisis.
The index ranks 165 independent
states and two territories on the basis of five categories: electoral process
and pluralism, civil liberties, the functioning of government, political
participation and political culture. The list has been divided into four broad
categories — full democracy, flawed democracy, hybrid regime and authoritarian
regime.
Performance of various
countries:
Top and bottom countries:
Norway, Iceland and Sweden are the top three on the list while Chad, Syria and
North Korea bring up the bottom.
Performance of India: The total
score of 89 countries fell when compared to their ranking in 2016. India was
one of the countries whose score declined the most. It fell ten places in the
rankings from 32 to 42 as its score deteriorated by 0.58 points to 7.23 (on a
scale of 0 to 10). In the ‘media freedom ranking’, India ranked 49 out of 167
countries that the index covered.
Continents: Asia recorded the
biggest decline compared to other regions of the world. According to the index,
Asia (5.63) lagged behind North America (8.56), Western Europe (8.38) and Latin
America (6.26). Indonesia was the worst-performing nation, falling to 68th
position from 48th rank.
Classification: Only top-19
countries have been classified as ‘full democracies’, while the hybrid regimes
include Pakistan (110th), Bangladesh (92nd), Nepal (94th) and Bhutan (99th).
Those named as ‘authoritarian regimes’ include China (139th), Myanmar (120th),
Russia (135th) and Vietnam (140th). North Korea is ranked the lowest at 167th,
while Syria is a notch better at 166th place.
What lies behind India’s poor
performance?
The report has classified India
as a flawed democracy and attributed the dip in India’s rankings to lack of
freedom of speech and free media. The report notes that the rise of
conservative religious ideologies has mainly affected India. The strengthening
of right-wing Hindu forces in an otherwise secular country led to a rise of
vigilantism and violence against minority communities, particularly Muslims, as
well as other dissenting voices.
In some states in India, the
authorities there have restricted freedom of the press, closed down several
newspapers and heavily controlled mobile internet services. Several journalists
were murdered in India in 2017, as in the previous year.
Way ahead:
A Human Rights Watch report
published on January 22 had also alleged that Indian failed to protect its
minorities in 2017. This report should serve as a warning sign for the country.
Urgent steps are needed to protect democratic values of the country, without
which our fundamental credentials as a democracy will be seriously undermined.
Sources: the hindu.
Topic: Important Geophysical
phenomena.
‘Super Blue Blood Moon’
Context: Large parts of the globe
experienced a rare ‘Super Blue Blood Moon’ on January 31st, 2018. A supermoon, a blue
moon and a total lunar eclipse took place at the same time.
So, what is a ‘Super Blue Blood
Moon?’
A ‘Super Moon’ is simply a moon
that is closer to the Earth than normal. As a result, it appears bigger and
brighter in the sky.
A ‘Blue Moon’ is also simple
and means the second full moon in a calendar month.
A ‘Blood Moon’ happens when
sunlight passes through the atmosphere above the Earth, casting a dark colour
across the surface of the moon.
Sources: the hindu.
Paper 2:
Topic: Welfare schemes for
vulnerable sections of the population by the Centre and States and the
performance of these schemes; mechanisms, laws, institutions and bodies
constituted for the protection and betterment of these vulnerable sections.
Coach Factory in Marathwada,
Maharashtra
A massive rail coach factory
will be set up in Latur, Maharashtra by Indian Railways. This plant would
manufacture Electric Multiple Units for suburban trains and coaches for metros.
Significance of the project:
Marathwada, the region where
Latur lies, is amongst the most backward areas of Maharashtra. There have been
few central government projects in this region. This will massively benefit
‘Make in India’, and bring employment to a large number of people. In addition,
it will create an industrial ecosystem in the drought prone region boosting
shift from agriculture to industry. It may be noted that the region suffers
from heavy migration to other parts of the country.
Sources: pib.
Topic: Issues relating to
development and management of Social Sector/Services relating to Health,
Education, Human Resources.
Technical Education Quality
Improvement Programme (TEQIP)
Context: Post-graduates and
doctorates from premier institutes are going to teach undergraduates in
engineering colleges in backward regions of 11 districts as part of an HRD
Ministry initiative. This is being done under the third phase of Technical
Education Quality Improvement Programme (TEQIP). The initiative is aimed to
improve quality of education and help secure NBA accreditation of the
engineering programme.
Under the initiative there will
be focus on seven districts which have been called aspirational. They include
Gaya and Muzaffarpur in Bihar, Kalahandi in Orissa and Dumka in Jharkhand.
Significance of this move:
There are a lot of vacancies
for teachers in engineering colleges in backward states and quality teachers
are not willing to go there to teach. Therefore, this initiative aims to
address the problem of dearth of well qualified faculty in the country.
About TEQIP:
TEQIP or Technical Education
Quality Improvement Programme is an initiative of the National Project
Implementation Unit (NPIU) which implements World Bank Assisted Projects in
Technical Education. The initiative is aimed at improving the quality of
engineering graduates.
Under this project, all the
Government engineering colleges are selected for direct intervention, and all
private engineering colleges are selected for indirect intervention. The focus
is on the most-backward states like Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Bihar, North-East,
Rajasthan, MP etc.
The measures include:
Institution based:
accreditation of the courses through NBA, governance reforms, improving the
processes, digital initiatives, securing autonomy for the colleges.
Student based: improving the
quality of teaching, teacher training, equipping the class rooms, revision of
syllabus, industry interaction, compulsory internships for students, training
the students in industry-relevant skills, preparing them for the GATE exam etc.
Way forward:
Technical education of our
country is in the threshold of having to undergo major reforms for building a
credible professional workforce which has to build the nation for the welfare
of our future generations.
Sources: pib.
Topic: Important aspects of
governance, transparency and accountability, e-governance- applications,
models, successes, limitations, and potential.
Government E Marketplace
Context: Government has launched
the advanced version of GeM – the Government E Marketplace portal. The new
version GeM would offer standardised and enriched catalogue management,
powerful search engine, demand aggregation, user rating and analytics.
GeM 3.0 has undergone a digital
transformation with superior technology and ability to scale from the previous
version. This will bring together many sellers and service providers for
products and services across the country under one roof. This will also give a
huge uplift for growth of MSME’s, manufacturers & service providers.
About GeM:
Government e-Marketplace (GeM)
aims to transform the way in which procurement of goods and services is done by
the Government Ministries/Departments, PSUs, autonomous bodies etc. DGS&D
with technical support of NeGD (MeitY) has developed GeM portal for procurement
of both Products & Services.
GeM is a completely paperless,
cashless and system driven e-market place that enables procurement of common
use goods and services with minimal human interface.
Sources: et.
Topic: India and its neighbourhood-
relations.
Rohingya issue
Context: In response to a
submission by Rohingya refugees that the BSF was “pushing back” their
compatriots at the borders with chilli spray and stun grenades, the Union
government recently told the Supreme Court that it does not want the country to
become the refugee capital of the world.
The government said it is in
talks and should be allowed to take a decision. There was no contingency as of
now and this was not a matter for the court to intervene.
What’s the issue?
Outbreaks of violence in
Rakhine State, Myanmar, have forced hundreds of thousands of Rohingya people to
flee their homes. There are numerous reports of widespread violence against
men, women and children. Here are five things you need to know about the deepening
crisis.
WHO ARE THE ROHINGYA?
Often described as the “world’s
most persecuted minority,” the Rohingya are a predominantly Muslim ethnic
group, mostly concentrated in Rakhine, one of Myanmar’s poorest states. The
Rohingya have lived in Myanmar for generations, many migrating from Bangladesh during
British rule. After gaining independence, Myanmar, a majority Buddhist nation,
refused to acknowledge the Rohingya as citizens, rendering them a stateless
people.
Without recognition as citizens
or permanent residents of the country, the Rohingya have limited access to
education, jobs, and health services, resulting in chronic poverty and
marginalization. Violence targeting Rohingya over the last several decades has
driven hundreds of thousands to neighboring countries.
Way ahead:
Minimum humanitarian morality
should be shown to the refugees at the border before sending them back. There
is a need to balance national interests with humanitarian concern about the
refugees.
Sources: the hindu.
Paper 3:
Topic: Awareness in the fields of
IT, Space, Computers, robotics, nano-technology.
LiFi technology
Context: In a recent pilot
project, the ministry of electronics and IT successfully tested a technology
called LiFi (Light Fidelity), which uses LED bulbs and light spectrum to
transmit data at speeds as high as 10 GB per second over a 1-km radius. Indications
are strong that it will be soon launched in India on a commercial basis.
The idea is to connect
difficult terrains of the country that can’t be reached by fiber but have
access to electricity. The technology can be used to connect hospitals where
regular internet signals interfere with certain equipment as well as to provide
underwater connectivity.
What is Li-Fi?
Li-Fi, or light fidelity,
invented by German physicist and professor Harald Haas, is a wireless
technology that makes use of visible light in place of radio waves to transmit
data at terabits per second speeds—more than 100 times the speed of Wi-Fi.
How it works?
Li-Fi is a Visible Light
Communications (VLC) system. This means that it accommodates a photo-detector
to receive light signals and a signal processing element to convert the data
into ‘stream-able’ content. Unlike Wi-Fi, which uses radio waves, Li-Fi runs on
visible light.
Here, data is fed into an LED
light bulb (with signal processing technology), it then sends data (embedded in
its beam) at rapid speeds to the photo-detector (photodiode). The tiny changes
in the rapid dimming of LED bulbs is then converted by the ‘receiver’ into
electrical signal. The signal is then converted back into a binary data stream
that the user would recognise as web, video and audio applications that run on
internet enables devices.
An LED lightbulb is a
semi-conductor light source meaning that the constant current of electricity
supplied to an LED lightbulb can be dipped and dimmed, up and down at extremely
high speeds, without being visible to the human eye.
Advantages:
§
Li-Fi could make a huge impact on the internet of things too, with
data transferred at much higher levels with even more devices able to connect
to one another.
§
Li-Fi offers great promise to overcome the existing limitations of
Wi-Fi by providing for data-heavy communication in short ranges.
§
Due to its shorter range, Li-Fi is more secure than Wi-Fi.
§
Since it does not pollute, it can be called a green technology for
device-to-device communication in the Internet of Things (IoT).
§
Li-Fi systems consume less power.
Limitations of Li-Fi:
§
As visual light can’t pass through opaque objects and needs line
of sight for communication, its range will remain very restricted to start
with. In order to enjoy full connectivity, more capable LED bulbs will need to
be placed at various places.
§
Li-Fi requires the lightbulb is on at all times to provide
connectivity, meaning that the lights will need to be on during the day.
§
Li-Fi is likely to face interference from external light sources,
such as sunlight and bulbs, and obstructions in the path of transmission, and
hence may cause interruptions in communication.
§
Also, initially, there will be high installation costs of visual
light communication systems as an add-on to lighting systems.
Sources: et.
Facts for Prelims:
Floating island to come up on
Neknampur Lake:
A floating island of 2,500
sq.ft with about 3,500 wetland plants will be introduced on the Neknampur Lake
in Hyderabad on the eve of World Wetland Day on February 2nd. It will be introduced by
Dhruvansh, a voluntary organisation working for protection of water bodies.
The ‘island platform’ has been
designed using styrofoam, bamboo, gunny bags, coir and so on and could bear the
weight of four persons, according to Madhulika Choudhary of the body.
Comments
Post a Comment