Hindu Notes from General Studies-01

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Egypt uncovers Old Kingdom cemetery

News

• Egypt’s Antiquities Ministry unveiled a 4,500-year-old burial ground near the Giza pyramids containing colourful wooden coffins and limestone statues dating back to the Old Kingdom.

Beyond News

• The site on the southeastern side of Giza plateau contains tombs and burial shafts from various periods, but the oldest is a limestone family tomb from the fifth dynasty (around 2,500 B.C.).
• There are inscriptions on the walls, intricately painted wooden sarcophagi and sculptures of animals and humans.
• The Ministry said the tomb was that of two people: Behnui-Ka, who had seven titles, including the Priest and the Judge, and Nwi, also known as Chief of the Great State and “purifier” of the pharoah Khafre.
• Khafre, known to the Ancient Greeks as Chephren, built the second of the three famous Pyramids of Giza.
• Many artefacts were discovered in the tomb, including limestone statues of one of the tomb’s owners, his wife and son.
• The cemetery was re-used during the Late Period, starting from the early seventh century B.C. Wooden coffins with hieroglyphics inscriptions were also displayed.

Hindu Notes from General Studies-02

Centre gives incentives to 10 States for successful implementation of police reforms

News

• The Centre has released ₹7.69 crore each as an incentive to 10 States, under the scheme of modernisation of police force in the last fiscal.

Beyond News

• A Home Ministry official said the amount has been given for the States that have succeeded in implementing police reforms such as filling up of vacancies, use of technology in tackling crime and welfare of police personnel.
• The following States were found eligible for the incentive: Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Punjab, Telangana, Tamil Nadu, Odisha, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Uttar Pradesh, the official said.
• The 10 States that were rewarded have shown a tremendous progress in fulfilling vacant posts, use of emerging mobile and IT applications, GIS-based computer-aided dispatch, online complaints system and electronic record keeping among others.
• The other areas where the States showed progress include procurement of modern weapons, equipment, vehicles, CCTV surveillance, data centres, command and control centres.
• Welfare measures such as provision of housing and medical facilities for police personnel and rest-room facilities for women personnel in police stations have also been taken into account while choosing the State for the incentive.

Centre releases additional ₹1,000 crore to cyclone-hit Odisha

News

• The Home Ministry announced the release of an additional ₹1,000 crore to the cyclone-hit Odisha as announced by Prime Minister.

Beyond News

• A statement from the Home Ministry said the amount would be in addition to the ₹341 crore that had been provided to the Odisha’s State Disaster Response Force in advance.
• As announced by Prime Minister after his aerial survey and review of relief efforts with the Odisha government, the Home Ministry has announced a further release of ₹1,000 crore for assistance to the State, the statement said.
• The cyclone Fani made a landfall in Odisha, causing extensive damage in the State and claiming at least 34 lives.

Anti-dumping duty put on saccharine

News

• The Finance Ministry has, on the recommendations of the Commerce Ministry, imposed an anti-dumping duty of $1,633.17 per tonne on the import of saccharine from Indonesia.

Beyond News

• Saccharine is a compound most commonly used in sugar-substitute sweeteners. Indonesia, until recently, accounted for a large chunk of India’s saccharine imports. In 2017-18, India imported $4.36 million worth of saccharine from Indonesia, which is 43% of the total imports of the sugar-substitute compound.
• However, imports from Indonesia have declined since then. In the April 2018 to February 2019 period, India imported only $1.48 million worth of saccharine from Indonesia, about 20% of its total imports from around the world.

Hindu Notes from General Studies-03

Scientists carry out genetic study on people of Lakshadweep Islands

News

• Genetic studies done on the people of the archipelago by a team, for the first time have shown that a majority of human ancestry in Lakshadweep is largely derived from South Asia with minor influences from East and West Eurasia.
• And, there was no evidence of early human migration through the Lakshadweep islands.

     Beyond News

• Lakshadweep is an archipelago of 36 islands, scattered over approximately 78,000 square km of the Arabian Sea, 200-440 kms off the south-western coast of India, with population of approximately 65,000.
• The islands were known to sailors since ancient times and historical documents say that the spread of Buddhism to these islands happened during 6th century B.C., Islam in 661 A.D. by Arabians.
• Cholas ruled the islands in 11th century, Portuguese in 16th century, Ali Rajahs in 17th, Tipu Sultan in 18th before the British Raj of 19th century.

     Findings

• The islands are located between Africa and southwestern part of India. Through earlier studies shows that early human migration from Africa to Andaman and Australia happened through western coast of India.
• So, presumed that Lakshadweep Islands might have played a major role in early human migration and expected the presence of genetic signatures of ancient people, such as Andamanese and Australian aboriginals.
• DNA samples of 557 individuals from eight major islands for mitochondrial DNA and 166 individuals for Y chromosome markers were analysed.
• They found a strong founder effect for both paternal and maternal lineages a sign that the island population had limited genetic mixing.
• They have studied the major islands of Agatti, Andorth, Bitra, Chetlat, Kadmat, Kalpeni, Kiltan and Minicoy of Lakshadweep and demonstrated a close genetic link of Lakshadweep islanders with people from Maldives, Sri Lanka and India.

Fourth Scorpene-class submarine Vela launched

News

• The Scorpene-class submarine Vela, the fourth of six underwater warships being built in India with French collaboration, was launched in Mumbai with an aim to boost Indian capability to defend and secure the strategic sea lanes.

Beyond News

• The Vela submarine will undergo a number of tests conducted by the Navy before it is commissioned in the defence fleet, an official said.
• The State-owned Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders Limited has entered into a contract for construction and transfer of technology for six Scorpene-class submarines with French collaborator Ms Naval Group (formerly DCNS). INS Velais the fourth in that series. The fifth Scorpene-class submarine will be launched soon.
• Before Vela, MDL launched Kalvari, Khanderi, Karanj submarines. While Kalvari has been commissioned, the others are at various levels of trials and tests.
• INS Velawas first commissioned on August 31, 1973 in the Indian Naval Service and continued to serve for 37 years. It was the country’s oldest submarine when it was decommissioned on June 25, 2010, MDL said in a statement.
• Eight warships and five submarines are under construction at MDL, the company said, adding the submarines’ capacity includes anti-surface and anti-submarine warfare.
• The first submarine in the Scorpene-class, INS Kalvari, has been commissioned and the second is on the cusp of delivery.
• Under the Mission Raksha Gyan Shakti initiative launched a year ago, MDL was asked to file 50 intellectual patents and it exceeded largely by 130%.

Two neutron stars collided near solar system billions of years ago

News

• Scientists have identified a violent collision of two neutron stars 4.6 billion years ago as the likely source of some of the most coveted matter on Earth.

Findings

• This single cosmic event, close to our solar system, gave birth to 0.3 per cent of the Earth’s heaviest elements, including gold, platinum and uranium, according to the study.
• The researchers compared the composition of meteorites to numerical simulations of the Milky Way.
• They found that a single neutron-star collision could have occurred about 100 million years before the formation of Earth, in our own neighbourhood, about 1,000 light years from the gas cloud that eventually formed the solar system.
• A neutron star is the collapsed core of a giant star.

Space rock hit Moon at 61,000 km

News

• A space rock collided with the Moon at 61,000 km an hour, making a 10-15 metres crater during January’s total lunar eclipse, say astronomers.

Beyond News

• Unlike the Earth, the Moon has no atmosphere to protect it and even small rocks can hit its surface.
• Since these impacts take place at huge speeds, the rocks get instantaneously vapourised at the impact, producing an expanding plume of debris whose glow can be detected from our planet as short-duration flashes.

UN agency praises India’s timely response

News

• The UN agency for disaster reduction has commended the Indian Meteorological Department’s “almost pinpoint accuracy” of early warnings of Cyclone Fani that helped authorities conduct a well-targeted evacuation plan and minimise the loss of life.

Beyond News

• India’s zero casualty approach to managing extreme weather events is a major contribution to the implementation of the SendaiFramework, said, head of the UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNISDR).
• The Sendai Framework is a voluntary and non-binding agreement which recognises that the State has the primary role to reduce disaster risk but that responsibility should be shared with other stakeholders, including the local government.
• The almost pinpoint accuracy of the early warnings from the Indian Meteorological Department had enabled the authorities to conduct a well-targeted evacuation plan, which had involved moving more than one million people into storm shelters.

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