Hindu Notes from General Studies-01

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The cave temples of Elephanta

Nb: This is not a news/beyond news item, still this article from Hindu is significant for preparation.

Located on the Elephanta island off the coast of Mumbai, the Elephanta Caves are cave temples dedicated predominantly to Siva, the Hindu god. It also contains a Buddhist stupa mound.

Archaeologists believe the rock-cut caves were hewn between the 5th and 7th centuries AD.

Over the years, several dynasties laid claim over the island. These include the Konkan-Mauryas, Trikutakas, Chalukyas of Badami, Silaharas, Rashtrakutas, Kalyani Chalukyas, Yadavas of Deogiri, Muslim rulers of Ahmedabad and the Portuguese.

Many of the art work in the caves were destroyed during the Portuguese rule. The monuments were restored in the 1970s and were conferred the world heritage status in 1987 by UNESCO.

There are seven cave excavations on the Elephanta island. The caves have been named Cave 1 to 7 with Cave 1 being the most important.

Cave 1

• The highlight of Cave 1 is the 7 m-high sculpture of ‘Sadashiva’, the most important sculpture in Elephanta. This sculpture represents three aspects of Siva  the creator, the preserver and the destroyer.
• Some of the other important sculptures in Cave 1 include the ‘Andhakasuravada murti’, the ‘Nataraja’ sculpture, ‘Kalyanasundara murti’, and Ravana shaking Kailasa and Siva as Lakulisa.

Caves 2-7

• Located on Cannon hill are Caves 2 to 5. These previously destroyed caves were restored in the 1970s. The sanctum inside these caves is destroyed, but suggests the caves were once Saiva shrines.
• Caves 6 and 7, on the other hand, are perched on the Stupa hill. Cave 6 was also a Hindu temple but was converted and used as a Christian church by the Portuguese.
• Past the 7th cave is a dry pond with artificial boulders and Buddhist cisterns. Next to this is a mound that resembles a Buddhist stupa. Experts believe this might be the remains of a much higher Buddhist stupa from the 2nd Century BC.

Warming could threaten half of species in 33 key areas: report

News

• Global warming could place 25 to 50% of species in the Amazon, Madagascar and other biodiverse areas at risk of localised extinction within decades.

Beyond News

• The lower projection is based on a mercury rise of two degrees Celsius over pre-Industrial Revolution levels the warming ceiling the world’s nations agreed on in 2015.
• The highest is for out-of-control warming of 4.5 degrees Celsius.

Findings in the Report

• The report focused on 33 so-called “Priority Places” which host some of the world’s richest and most unusual terrestrial species, including iconic, endangered, or endemic plants and animals.
• The team looked at the impact of climate change on nearly 80,000 terrestrial plant, mammal, bird, amphibian, and reptile species.
• The Miombo Woodlands risks losing 90 % of its amphibians, 86 % of birds, and 80 % of mammals, according to the report.
• Under the 2015 Paris Agreement, countries made voluntary pledges to curb planet-warming greenhouse gas emissions from burning coal, oil and natural gas.
• But even if those pledges are met, scientists predict warming over 3 degrees Celsius, a recipe for disastrous climate change-triggered sea level rises, superstorms, floods, and droughts.
• Limiting warming to 2 degrees Celsius would enable many species to continue inhabiting the areas they currently occupy.
• And if animals can move freely not constrained by roads, fences, or human settlements  the proportion of species at extinction risk at warming of 2 degrees Celsius drops from 25 to 20 %.

Job- and revenue-generating tourism would suffer greatly if species disappear, and as-yet-undiscovered medicines from plants forever lost.

Hindu Notes from General Studies-02

Survey of cities: Why Bengaluru has dropped to the bottom

News

• With no citizen’s charter, low per-capita expenditure and no sanitation plans, Bengaluru rapidly descended into the bottom of the table in this year’s Annual Survey of India’s City-Systems (ASICS) 2017.

Beyond News

• The survey, carried out by Janaagraha Centre for Citizenship and Democracy, places the IT City at 23rd rank, lower than the major cities and towns in the country. The 2016 report had placed the city in the 16th position, while in 2015, it was 12th.
• On a score of 10, Bengaluru secures 3 points, or 0.3 points lower than the previous year, and 2.1 points below the chart-topper Pune.
• Out of 140 points, covering parameters such as collection of taxes, per capita expenditure or producing budgets that can be implemented in the time frames proposed, or power of the BBMP to utilise or raise funds on its own, the city scores a meagre 29.3 points, the lowest among all urban local bodies (ULBs) compared.
• Another deficiency is in transparency, with key documents still out of public reach, and in citizen participation where the survey finds that BBMP does not have participatory budgetary process nor a scheme for citizen volunteers.

Hindu Notes from General Studies-03

Air India Twitter account hacked

News

• Air India’s official Twitter account was hacked for many hours before being restored, the airline has said.

Beyond News

• Messages in Turkish language were posted on the official Twitter handle @airindiain, said an Air India spokesperson
• All the malicious contents posted on the handle have been removed and the official handle has now been restored.
• One of the posts by the hackers read, “Last minute important announcement. All our flights have been cancelled. From now on, we will fly with Turkish Airlines’
• Air India has 1,46,000 followers on Twitter.

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