IASTODAY DAILY CAPSULES -General Studies-01

Habibganj to Rani Kamlapati: How a railway station’s name is changed

Source: PIB INDIA

News:

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

Beyond News:

• The station has been redeveloped at a cost of around Rs 100 crore with private participation — a first such large-scale PPP model in station redevelopment in India, in the works for the past few years.

Who was Rani Kamlapati?

• The 18th-century queen was one of the seven wives of Gond warlord Nizam Shah, who ruled his territory from Ginnor fort, the present day Ginnorgarh, in what is now Sehore district.
• Nizam Shah had built a palace, the Kamlapati Mahal, for the queen in Bhopal, which was completed in 1722.
• Kamlapati was the “last Hindu queen of Bhopal”, who did great work in the area of water management and set up parks and temples.
• According to Gond tale, she avenged her husband’s death by killing Alam Shah, Nizam Shah’s nephew. Alam Shah had poisoned his uncle.

The Gond are one of the largest tribal communities in India, spread across Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Bihar and Odisha.

The birth anniversary of Bhagwan Birsa Munda – will be celebrated as Janjatiya Gaurav Diwas.

Source: PIB INDIA

News:

Government of India has declared that the birth anniversary of Bhagwan Birsa Munda will be celebrated as Janjatiya Gaurav Diwas on November 15 2021.

Beyond News:

• He led rebellion in the south of Ranchi in 1899-1900known as munda rebellion ,one of the most important tribal movements.
• It forced the colonial government to introduce laws so that the land of the tribals could not be easily taken over by dikus (Chotanagpur Tenancy Act, 1908).

Daivasahayam pillai- Saint from south india

Source: The Hindu.

News:

Hindu man converted to Christian is set to become a saint.

Beyond News:

• Devasahayam Pillai is a Hindu man from Kanyakumari district in Tamil Nadu, who converted to Christianity in the 18th century.
• He is set to become the first Indian layman to be declared a saint by the Vatican on May 15, 2022.
• Devasahayam is said to have faced harsh persecution and imprisonment after he decided to convert to Christianity, ultimately resulting in his killing in 1752.

IASTODAY DAILY CAPSULES -General Studies-02

US allows automatic job authorisation for spouses of H-1B visa holders

Source: Indian Express

News:

The United States has agreed to provide automatic work authorisation permits to the spouses of H-1B visa holders — a move that is likely to benefit thousands of Indian professionals based in the US.

Beyond News:

The US government’s latest immigrant-friendly policy amendment is likely to be particularly beneficial for Indian women whose spouses hold H-1B or L-1 visas, as they will now be allowed up to 180 days auto extension on work authorisation.

Types of visas to know

• In 1952, after the US started expanding its presence in the science, technology, engineering and mathematics disciplines, it felt the need to hire quality workers who could help the country achieve innovation in these areas at reasonable costs. The need to hire workers paved way for the introduction of the H-1 work visa system in US.

• H-4 visa is issued to the immediate family members (spouse and children under the age of 21) of H-1B visa holders. Over 94 per cent of H4 visa holders are women, and of these, around 93 per cent are from India.
• L-1 visas are non-immigrant visas that are valid for a relatively short time. With this visa, multinationals are able to shift foreign employees to their US offices for specialised positions on a temporary basis.
• The dependent spouse or unmarried children under 21 years of age of an L-1 visa holder are issued L-2 visas to enter the United States. L2 visa holders can acquire EAD (Employment Authorisation Documents) to find employment.

S400 system from Russia to India

Source: Indian Express.

News:

Russia has started deliveries of the S-400 air defence systems to India.

Beyond News:

• The S-400 Triumf is a mobile, surface-to-air missile system (SAM) designed by Russia.
• It can simultaneously track numerous incoming objects — all kinds of aircraft, missiles and UAVs — in a radius of 400km and launch appropriate missiles to neutralise them.
• It is the most dangerous operationally deployed modern long-range SAM (MLR SAM) in the world, considered much ahead of the US-developed Terminal High Altitude Area Defense system (THAAD).

• More to know: This risks the possibility of sanctions from the U.S. under the Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA) which would come up for discussion at the India-U.S. 2+2 ministerial dialogue, also scheduled for early December.
• Countering America’s Adversaries through Sanctions Act (CAATSA) enacted in 2017 with core objective to counter Iran, Russia and North Korea through punitive measures.

Norovirus in kerla

Source: Indian Express.

News:

More than 10 people have been found infected with Norovirus in Kerala’s Wayanad district.

Beyond News:

• Norovirus is highly contagious, and can be transmitted through contaminated food, water, and surfaces. The primary route is oral-faecal. One may get infected multiple times as the virus has different strains.
• Norovirus is resistant to many disinfectants and can heat up to 60°C. Therefore, merely steaming food or chlorinating water does not kill the virus. The virus can also survive many common hand sanitisers.

Five-year terms for CBI and ED chiefs

Source: The Hindu.

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.

Beyond News:

• 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.

IASTODAY DAILY CAPSULES -General Studies-03

PLA and North east insurgency

Source: The Indian Express.

News:

The People’s Liberation Army and the Manipur Naga People’s Front have jointly claimed responsibility for the ambush of an Assam Rifles convoy on Saturday (November 13) morning in Churachandpur district of Manipur, killing seven, including a Commanding officer, his wife and their five-year-old son.

Beyond News:

The ambush is one of the biggest in the state since the attack on the Dogra Rifles in 2015.

What is the People’s Liberation Army (PLA)?

• The group was founded on September 25, 1978, under the leadership of N. Bisheshwar, after having broken away from its parent body, the United National Liberation Front. In 1979, the PLA’s political wing Revolutionary People’s Front (RPF) was set up.
• 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.”

Punjab Land Preservation Act of 1900 –Tweaked

Source: The Indian Express.

News:

According to the government’s proposal and the Punjab Land Preservation (Haryana Amendment) Bill, 2019, several changes have been proposed to the Punjab Land Preservation Act was enacted by the then government of Punjab in 1900.

Beyond News:

• 1900 Act provided for the conservation of subsoil water and/or prevention of erosion in areas found to be subject to erosion or likely to become liable to erosion.
• Among ammendments section 3 is cause of concern. Section 3 explains government’s powers to bring any area ‘subject to erosion or likely to become liable to erosion’ under the ambit of the PLPA through a notification.
• After Section 3 of the principal Act, the government has inserted Section 3A into the Bill to exclude certain areas from the ambit of the Act.

Environmentalists view.

Environmentalists feel that the latest move by the government has exposed thousands of acres land falling on the hills and foothills of Aravallis, which cover over 26,000 acres in Gurgaon and Faridabad districts, to mining and real estate development. They feel that under original PLPA, the tilling or digging of the land was not allowed but the amendments will permit constructions activities.

Nallamala Hills

Source: The Hindu.

News

• The hills of Nallamala are now open for tourists to explore.

Beyond News:

• 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.
• 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.
• 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.

Kaiser-i-Hind: Arunachal’s State butterfly

Source: The Hindu.

News:

A swallowtail butterfly carrying ‘India’ in its name will become the State butterfly of Arunachal Pradesh.

Beyond News:

The State butterfly tag can translate into its habitat conservation. The butterfly also flutters in Nepal, Bhutan, Myanmar, Laos, Vietnam and southern China.

• 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.

Kamo’oalewa

Source: The Indian Express.

News:

A new study offers insights into where the Kamo’oalewa could have come from.

Beyond News:

• It is a near-Earth object (NEO) that orbits the Sun and gets as close as about 9 million miles from Earth.
• It is Earth’s wobbly companion that was spotted in 2006 by the PanSTARRS telescope in Hawaii.
• It was named as Kamo’oalewa, a word that is part of a Hawaiian chant, and alludes to an offspring that travels on its own.

More to know: A mission to collect Kamo’oalewa’s samples has been scheduled for a launch in 2025.