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General Studies-01

Who were the first settlers of India?

• When did our species, Homo sapiens, first set foot in India? There are two competing versions of the answer: let’s call them the ‘early version’ and the ‘late version’.

What is early version?

• The ‘early version’ says they arrived 74,000 to 120,000 years ago from Africa through the Arabian peninsula with Middle Stone Age tools such as scrapers and points that helped them hunt their prey, gather food, or make clothes.

What is late version?

• The ‘late version’ says they arrived much later, around 50,000 to 60,000 years ago, with upgraded technology such as microlithic (tiny stone) tools that might have been used to give sharp tips to arrows and spears.

Difference between early & late versions:

• A geological event separates the two versions: the supervolcanic eruption at Toba in Sumatra, Indonesia, about 74,000 years ago, dumped tonnes of ash all over South-east Asia and South Asia, causing much stress to all life in the region.
• The ‘early version’ says migrants reached India before Toba; the ‘late version’ says the opposite.

General Studies-02

BRICS declares Lashkar, Jaish as global terror groups 

News:

• The Brazil-Russia-India-China-South Africa (BRICS) grouping unequivocally named Pakistan-based groups — Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) and Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) — as terror organisations, removing a key irritant in ties between New Delhi and Beijing and stepping up the fight against global extremism.

Beyond News:

• A joint communiqué released at the BRICS summit expressed concern about the regional security situation and listed the Taliban, IS/Daesh, Al-Qaeda and its affiliates, including the Eastern Turkistan Islamic Movement, the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan, the Haqqani network, Lashkar-e-Taiba, Jaish-e-Mohammad, TTP and Hizb-ut-Tahrir as sources of violence.
• Stressing that the formulation adopted at the ninth BRICS summit would strengthen the fight for banning terrorists and terror groups at the UN..

China, U.S. investing in Nepal 

• Indicating the growing importance of the Himalayan region in global politics, a new round of competition has begun in Nepal among the great powers.
• Nepal concluded one of the biggest infrastructure-related deals with China even as reports came of a big grant of funds by the U.S.
• Agreement on a cement venture was between the Investment Board of Nepal and Hongshi-Shivam Cement, a Nepal-China venture.
• The deal is likely to boost the infrastructure sector in Nepal, which is drawing international investment.
• The timing of the agreement is important as it came just four days before Nepal’s Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Krishna Bahadur Mahara will hold talks in Beijing on Nepal’s place in China’s One Belt One Road (OBOR) scheme.

Sabre-rattling

News:

• North Korea tested what it claims was a “hydrogen bomb”, its sixth nuclear weapons test, cocking a snook at non-proliferation and international test ban laws, as well as at U.S. President Donald Trump.

Beyond News: 

• North Korea’s adventurism continues unabated.
• Even as the tests drew global condemnation, this was clearly a response to Mr. Trump’s sabre-rattling rhetoric claiming that the U.S. would rain “fire and fury” over the country and implying that its nuclear weapons were “locked and loaded” to respond to any threat from North Korea.
• In response to the exacerbated tensions in the region, South Korea and Japan have significantly enhanced their defence capabilities, including spending on missile defence.
• South Korea’s new President Moon Jae-in, who is in favour of talks, has now accepted the U.S.’s missile defence system, THAAD, which is opposed locally by many South Koreans.

Why is significant?

This is not first test by Nkorea. Last one was on January 2016.But recent is significant because of :

-Closeness to actual expected output

-Uncontrolled rapid progress in Nuclear field.

-Reading together with ballistic missiles reaching USA.

-Chance of total destruction .

-Worsening attitude of ruler.

 

General Studies-03

Down but not out{Science and Technology}

• After 39 consecutive successful launches, the Indian Space Research Organisation had almost made it appear that launching satellites was indeed child’s play when it used its workhorse rocket, the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle.
• But the PSLV, which has been placing satellites in their respective orbits for the past 24 years, faced a setback on August 31.
• The PSLV-C39 rocket carrying the eighth satellite of the Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System (IRNSS) had a normal lift-off and flight events but ended in an unsuccessful mission.

Previous failures:

• This is just the second instance when the PSLV has had an unsuccessful mission in all of its 41 launches; the first setback was back in 1993.
• The failed mission serves as a reminder that utmost care and scrutiny are required before every single launch.
• The failure of the mission is particularly disheartening as the IRNSS-1H satellite was jointly assembled and tested by ISRO and a Bengaluru-based private company, the first time a single private company, rather than a consortium, was involved in building a satellite.

Previous achievements: 

• Over the years, the PSLV has played a pivotal role in ISRO’s programme, and this February it set a world record by launching 104 satellites in one go. This is especially so as the lift-off and the stage separation of the first and second stages, which are the most challenging parts of the mission, went off smoothly.

Significance:

• The IRNSS-1H satellite was launched as a replacement for the IRNSS-1A satellite, which became inoperational in terms of surveillance following the failure of all three atomic clocks.
• As only six of the seven satellites are operational, there are gaps in the navigation data sent by the IRNSS.
• With the failure of this mission, India will have to wait for some more time before the next mission to send a replacement for the IRNSS-1A satellite is ready.
• The IRNSS was created so that the country would not need to rely on American-based GPS data — the encrypted, accurate positioning and navigation information provided by the system will make Indian military operations self-reliant.

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