Hindu Notes from General Studies-01

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Stone tools offer insights into history of human evolution.

News

• Based on the study of over 7,200 stone artefacts collected from the archaeological site at Attirampakkam in the Kortallayar river basin about 60 km from Chennai, researchers suggest that hominins in India may have developed a Middle Palaeolithic culture phase around 3,85,000 years ago and continuing up to around 1,72,000 years ago.

Beyond News

• According to earlier evidence, the Middle Palaeolithic culture in India was dated to around 1,25,000 years ago.
• The Middle Palaeolithic is an important cultural phase, associated as it is globally with both modern humans and Neanderthals or other archaic hominins, with complex histories of interaction, cultural transitions and change and dispersals.
• Based on stone tool and fossil studies, the Middle Palaeolithic culture (called the Middle Stone Age in Africa) is associated with modern humans in Africa, while it is associated with both modern humans and Neanderthals in Israel. But in Europe, the Middle Palaeolithic culture is associated only with Neanderthals.
• In 2011, Prof. Shanti Pappu from the Sharma Centre for Heritage Education in Chennai and her team reported the discovery of 1.5-million-year-old stone artefacts belonging to the Lower Palaeolithic (Acheulian) culture from Attirampakkam.
• The objects were buried in sediments at the lowest levels in the excavation. In the top three metres of the soil, the same site has yielded artefacts that reflect a distinct Middle Palaeolithic culture.

Hindu Notes from General Studies-02

Indian aid for Palestine diplomatic institute

News

• Sources said that, prime Minister Narendra Modi will fly from Amman in Jordan on February 10 to arrive in Palestine where he is expected to lay the foundation stone of a new diplomatic training institute.

Beyond News

• Modi’s visit will be the first by an Indian Prime Minister to Palestine and comes weeks after India voted in favour of Palestine’s rights over Jerusalem in the United Nations General Assembly.
• Sources also said that,the Government of India has already sanctioned US$4.5 million for the Indo-Palestine Diplomatic Institute which will be a unique institute in the region and it is one of the several events that are likely to feature in the PM’s visit to Ramallah.
• Visit is aimed at de-hyphenating India’s policy towards Israel and Palestine that was reflected in Mr. Modi’s 2017 visit to Tel Aviv when he skipped Palestine.
• A new agreement on IT-training was sealed during President Mahmoud Abbas’s visit to Delhi on May 16, 2017 when both sides signed five agreements.
• Continuing India’s commitment, New Delhi also pledged $1.25 million humanitarian assistance to UNRWA (UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East) in 2016.
• India’s support to UNRWA is in contrast to U.S. policy to the organisation as President Donald Trump has announced slashing of American funds to UNRWA.

Hindu Notes from General Studies-03

INS Karanj boosts Navy’s firepower

News

• The Navy’s third state-of-the-art Scorpene class submarine, INS Karanj, was launched by Reena Lanba, wife of Chief of Naval Staff Admiral Sunil Lanba.

Beyond News

• The new submarine is named after the earlier Kalvari class INS Karanj, which was decommissioned in 2003.
• Six Scorpene class submarines are being built under Project 75 by the Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders Limited (MDSL), Mumbai, under a $3.75 billion technology transfer signed in October 2005 with the Naval Group of France.
• The Scorpene class is the Navy’s first modern conventional submarine series in almost two decades, since INS Sindhushastrawas procured from Russia in July 2000.
• Wednesday’s launch follows the launch of the first two Scorpene submarines – INS Kalavari and INS Khanderi.
• According to Navy officials, INS Kalvari, the first to be launched, was commissioned in December 2017 by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. INS Khanderi, which was launched in January 2017, is currently undergoing deep dive trails and is expected to be commissioned later this year.
• INS Kalvari, manned by a team of eight officers and 35 sailors, carries sea-skimming SM39 Exocet missiles and the heavyweight wire-guided Surface and Underwater Target (SUT) torpedoes. For self-defence, it has mobile anti-torpedo decoys.

‘Bhu Seva’ project to be rolled out by October

News

• Land administration is going to be hassle-free with the rolling out of the ‘Bhu Seva’ project by October-end.

Beyond News

• It is being successfully piloted in the Jaggaiahpet mandal and the Vuyyuru municipality in Krishna district in Andhra Pradesh.
• Each land will be assigned a unique ‘Bhudhaar’ number, which will be the single point of reference for all transactions.
• Deputy Chief Minister (revenue) said that, this system will be a repository of 2.84 crore agricultural land parcels and 50 lakh urban and 85 lakh rural properties.
• A land would be geo-tagged and an 11-digit temporary Bhudhaar number starting with 99 would be given.
• An 11-digit permanent number starting with 28 (A.P.’s census code) would be assigned after the physical attributes and records available with the Revenue, Registration and Stamps, Survey, Municipal Administration, Panchayat Raj and Forest departments were cross-checked.
• The survey and mapping of lands were being done using high-resolution satellite imagery and Differentiated Global Positioning System (DGPS) and Electronic Total Stations (ETS) wherever possible.
• Farmers could get mutations done online automatically, which saves time and money, and all the electronic records would be aligned with the information contained in the field measurement books.

Rs. 370 cr. allotted for building border infra

News

• An official said that,laying emphasis on building infrastructure along the Indo-Pak and Sino-India borders, the government has sanctioned nearly Rs. 370 crore to the BSF and the ITBP for construction of bunkers and special climate-controlled huts in forward areas.

Beyond News

• A total of Rs. 369.84 crore has been sanctioned by the Home Ministry for construction of infrastructure for Border Security Force (BSF) and Indo Tibetan Border Police (ITBP).
• The amount will be spent for construction of bunkers, fortifying border outposts of the BSF along the Indo-Pak border, construction of climate-controlled huts, procurement of snow scooter for the ITBP besides other necessary works of the two forces.
• The BSF guards the 2,526.86-km-long Indo-Pak border, including 237.2 km of the Line of Control, and 4096.7 km of the Indo-Bangladesh border.
• The Indo-Pakistan border has been witnessing massive ceasefire violation from across the border since the beginning of 2017.
• ITBP guards the 3,488-km-long Sino-India border that runs through Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Sikkim and Arunachal Pradesh.

The force is specially trained to operate in high altitude mountainous terrain along the border.

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