IASTODAY DAILY CAPSULES -General Studies-01

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Keeladi: Unearthing the ‘Vaigai Valley’ Civilisation of Sangam era Tamil Nadu

News

• The Beta Analytic Lab in Miami, Florida, for carbon dating had found that the cultural deposits unearthed during the fourth excavation at Keeladi in Sivaganga district could be safely dated to a period between 6th century BCE and 1st century CE.
• These place Keeladi artefacts about 300 years earlier than previously believed.

Keeladi

• The Keeladi tale began to unravel in March 2015. The first round of excavation, undertaken by the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI), unearthed antiquities that may provide crucial evidence to understanding the missing links of the Iron Age [12th century BCE to 6th century BCE] to the Early Historic Period [6th century BCE to 4th century BCE] and subsequent cultural developments.
• The second round (2016) threw up strong clues about the existence of a Tamil civilisation that had trade links with other regions in the country and abroad. This civilisation has been described by Tamil poets belonging to the Sangam period. (Tamil Sangam, an assembly of poets, had its seat in Madurai between 4th century BCE and 2nd century BCE. The works of this period are collectively called Sangam Literature).
• This round was significant as it provided archaeological evidence about what was found in Tamil literature. Results of carbon dating of a few artefacts, which were released in February 2017, traced their existence to 2nd century BCE (the Sangam period)
• In the fourth round (2018), 5,820 antiquities were found. These included brick structures, terracotta ring wells, fallen roofing with tiles, golden ornaments, broken parts of copper objects, iron implements, terracotta chess pieces, ear ornaments, spindle whorls, figurines, black and redware, rouletted ware and a few pieces of Arretine ware, besides beads made of glass, terracotta and semi-precious stones.
• The fifth round (2018-19), , was a game changer. The SDA plunged into “guided excavation” using the Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Survey, the Magnetometer Survey and the Ground Penetrating Radar Survey.
• The Keeladi findings have led academics to describe the site as part of the Vaigai Valley Civilisation.
• The SDA report concludes that the recent excavations and the dates arrived at scientifically clearly suggest that the people were living in Tamil Nadu continuously… and the Keeladi excavation [has] clearly ascertained that they attained literacy or learnt the art of writing [Tamil-Brahmi] in as early as 6th century BCE during [the] Early Historic Period.
• Artefacts from the fourth round proved that Keeladi was indeed an urban habitation.
• Seventy samples of animal skeletal fragments, which were tested show 53% of them belonging to oxen, cows, buffaloes and goats.
• This indicates that the habitants were predominantly cattle-rearing people. Balakrishnan is excited about the presence of oxen and cows belonging to the Bos indicus species.
• The hump of the Bos indicus species is referred to as imil in Tamil literature, which later came to be known as timil.
• The grandeur of this species, which was also present in the Indus Valley, lies in its hump, points out Balakrishnan.
• Bos indicus is also the icon of the ancient sport eru thazhuvuthal or eru anaithal (embracing the bull), which was prevalent in villages around Keeladi. In this sport, now practised as jallikattu, the contestant is supposed to hold on to the hump of the bull inside the arena for a particular distance or period of time.
• Analysis of samples of materials used in the construction of walls, has shown that every specimen contained elements like silica, lime, iron, aluminium and magnesium.
• The potters of Keeladi were familiar with the technique [of using carbon material for black colour and hematite for red] and knew the art of raising the kiln temperature to 1100°C to produce the typical black-and-red ware pottery.
• They had also followed the same technique and materials from 6th century BCE to 2nd century BCE.
• A few pottery samples of 2nd century BCE do contain earth content similar to that of other regions, thereby suggesting that they exchanged goods with neighbouring regions, probably through traders, craftsmen and visitors.
• The antiquities, taken together, suggest that the prime occupation of the people of Keeladi was agriculture, which was supplemented by the iron industry, carpentry, pottery-making and weaving.
• Many institutions of higher learning have come forward to collaborate with the SDA in the scientific analysis of Keeladi’s artefacts. Madurai Kamaraj University is in the process of finalising its plans to conduct a DNA analysis of bones.
• The Keeladi excavations have triggered a healthy debate on Indian civilisation and added value to the discipline of archaeology.

 ‘Women to be inducted in Army by 2021’

News

• The first batch of 100 women will start training for the Corps of Military Police (CMP) in December and will be inducted by end 2021.
• On Permanent Commission (PC) for women women officers commissioned from April 2020 onwards can opt for it in six streams.

First batch

• Women were being inducted only as officers and this is the first time they would be joining the army as the soldiers or “Personnel Below Officer Rank” (PBOR). The army plans to induct 1700 women MP over 17 years.
• Army has identified the units where the first batch will be posted and they have started preparing the infrastructure. For the training which will on the lines of Assam Rifles and Karnataka Women Police Battalion, four women instructors have already been posted at CMP centre in Bengaluru including a doctor and a Judge Advocate General (JAG) officer.
• The first women officer, who had trained the Assam Rifles is among the four instructors.
• One of the four instructors will be present at the women’s barracks at all times to ensure safety of women soldiers undergoing training.
• From every CMP unit, two males will be reduced and women will be posted. The Divisional Provost unit will have an entire section of women.
• On PC women officers have to make up their mind after 2-3 years to identify one of the six streams like interpreter or air traffic controller so that can be trained in that afterwards.
• So far women officers in the Army had PC in only three streams – medical, education and legal.
• During the Independence Day address last year, Prime Minister announced that “women officers who have been selected through the Short Service Commission (SSC) in our defence forces will now have the option to take up PC.”

IASTODAY DAILY CAPSULES -General Studies-02

Centre releases political map of new Union Territories Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh

News

• The government released the maps of newly created Union Territories (UTs) of Jammu and Kashmir, and Ladakh and the map of India depicting these UTs.

Political map

• The UT of Ladakh consists of two districts of Kargil and Leh while the rest of the erstwhile State of Jammu and Kashmir is in the UT of Jammu and Kashmir.
• In 1947, the erstwhile State of Jammu and Kashmir had the following 14 districts.
• By 2019, the government of erstwhile State of Jammu and Kashmir had reorganised the areas of these 14 districts into 28 districts.
• Out of these, Kargil district was carved out from the area of Leh and Ladakh district.
• The maps prepared by Surveyor General of India depicting the new UTs of Jammu and Kashmir, and Ladakh, as created,along with the map of India, are released.

Unions upset over draft wage rules

News

• The draft rules that would govern wages, including norms for minimum wages and fixing floor-level wages, were published by the Union Labour and Employment Ministry, leading some workers’ unions to raise concerns about the potentially low floor wages.

Labour law reform agenda

• As part of its labour law reform agenda, the Narendra Modi government had in July introduced the Code on Wages, 2019 in Parliament, which passed it in August. The code, which subsumed four laws regarding payment of wages, equal pay, payment of bonus and minimum wages, got the President’s assent.
• The rules drafted under the code were published by the Ministry on Friday and opened up for public comments for one month.
• For coming up with minimum wages, the criterion would be a standard working class family of one earning worker, a spouse and two children equivalent to three adult consumption units that would have a net intake of 2,700 calories per unit per day.
• Under the criterion, the family would be entitled to 66 metres of cloth per year; housing rent expenditure of 10% of the food and clothing expense; fuel, electricity and other miscellaneous items of 20% of the minimum wage; and 25% of the minimum wage for expenditure on children’s education, medical, recreation and contingencies.
• While the code will extend minimum wage protection to a large section of workers, including in the unorganised sector, it will not provide for a single minimum wage.

IASTODAY DAILY CAPSULES -General Studies-03

• Afghan Islamic State after Baghdadi

  News

  • Baghdadi was the leader of the IS insurgency since its inception and had executed many gruesome attacks in Iraq, Syria and elsewhere. His death is widely expected to weaken the global IS structure, including in its wing in Afghanistan.

  Islamic State

  • The Islamic State of Khorasan Province (ISKP), as the Afghan IS is referred to, has been on the rise for the last few years.
  • Largely concentrated in Nangarhar in eastern Afghanistan, the group has carried out several suicide attacks, primarily targeting the country’s minorities.
  • Of the 5,117 civilian casualties reported by the UN this year, 1,013 were attributed to the ISKP, including the suicide bombing at a Hazara Shia wedding ceremony in August in Kabul that resulted in the death of more than 90 people.
  • The rise of the IS in Afghanistan, a country ravaged by conflicts, is a complicated one. The IS is still a struggling insurgency that’s fighting several battles at the same time.
  • But at the same time, the ISKP is organisationally independent from the IS core in Iraq and Syria.
  • Still, Baghdadi’s death gives governments of the countries affected by the IS insurgency an opportunity to tackle the problem.
  • The Afghan state remains fragile, and will need concentrated efforts that go beyond military operations to tackle the IS.

  Germany to invest €1 billion for green urban mobility in India

  News

  • German Chancellor Angela Merkel pledged to invest €1 billion over the next five years on environmentally-friendly urban mobility in India.

  Invest €1 billion

  • Merkel, whose visit to the country coincided with one of the worst spells of air pollution in Delhi/NCR, also emphasised on the need to replace diesel-run public transport with electric vehicles.
  • Germany would also put in €200 million to reform the bus sector in Tamil Nadu.
  • Delhi recorded its worst air quality of the season on Friday as the pollution level touched the ‘severe plus’ category, prompting authorities to shut schools till November 5, ban all construction activities and declare a “public health emergency“.
  • Germany would also like to work with India on various segments including healthcare, agriculture and artificial intelligence.
  • India and Germany agreed to deepen efforts to resume stalled negotiations for a free trade agreement between India and the European Union (EU).
  • Both the sides also agreed to intensify efforts for an early conclusion of an investment protection agreement between the EU, the EU member states and India.

  Wind brings down pollution levels in Delhi, still in ‘severe’ category

  News

  • Pollution levels in Delhi and neighbouring cities dropped marginally with a slight increase in the wind speed, a day after the region recorded its worst air quality forcing authorities to shut schools, ban all construction activities and declare a public health emergency.

  Pollution levels dropped

  • The city’s overall air quality index (AQI) stood at 407 at 10 a.m. It was 484 at 4 p.m., according to official data.
  • The levels of PM2.5 tiny particulate matter of less than 2.5 microns in diameter that can enter the lungs and even the bloodstream, were 269 micrograms per cubic meter at 10 am, more than four times the safe limit of 60 micrograms per cubic meter.
  • The PM10 level was at 436.
  • There is a significant improvement in wind speed and it will increase gradually. Winds gusting up to 20-25 k.m. per hour are likely in the region.
  • Scattered rainfall in Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan and Delhi is likely under the influence of Cyclone Maha and a fresh western disturbance,.
  • This rainfall, however light, will be significant in terms of reducing the effect of stubble burning, and will wash away pollutants, they said.
  • Chief Minister termed Delhi a “gas chamber” and blamed stubble burning in neighbouring Haryana and nearby Punjab for the apocalyptic haze shrouding the city.
  • The share of stubble burning in Delhi’s pollution stood at 46%, the highest so far.

  Competing species help each other out as “frenemies,” finds study

  News

  Social connections between animals, including those belonging to competing species, play a much bigger role in ecology than previously believed, according to a study.

  Social connections

  • The researchers said that some animals in the wild like gazelles, wildebeests, or zebras become aware of the presence of a predator such as a lion by seeing how other species in their vicinity react, using their social network to keep themselves safe.
  • The study is the first to describe an ecology model taking this kind of short-term information sharing into account at the population level.
  • According to the researchers, ecologists traditionally focused on competition between species for food and other resources.
  • The researchers hope to understand how the populations of different species interact with each other and change over time.
  • The effects of such short term behaviour are especially strong at low population densities.
  • When the number of animals of a species living in a specific region is high, the models show that the competition between species is a stronger influence of their overall behavior.
  • According to the researchers, the new theory could clear up some existing puzzles in ecology such as how competing species coexist without one driving the other out.

   

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