21 June 2023

DAILY CURRENT AFFAIRS ANALYSIS

1 – Assam Rifles: GS III – Internal Security

Context:

• According to reports, Meitei villagers have been blocking supplies from reaching to the Assam Rifles’ camp, which is where about seven battalions of the force are stationed in south Manipur. This has caused the troops to go 18 days without receiving fresh food.

Regarding Assam Rifles:

• The Assam Rifles are one of the six central armed police forces (CAPFs) that are governed by the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA).

Other forces consist of:

• the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), the Border Security Force (BSF), the Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB), the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF), and the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP).
• It guards the border between India and Myanmar, together with the Indian Army, and is in charge of upholding peace and order in the region’s North East.

The dual-level control scheme:

• This is the only paramilitary group with a dual control structure.
• The MHA has administrative jurisdiction over the force, while the Indian Army, which is a division of the Ministry of Defence (MoD), has operational control.
• This shows that the Army decides on personnel deployment, posting, transfers, and deputations while the MHA supplies the force’s infrastructure and salaries.
• The team is led by a Lieutenant General from the Indian Army.
• The force is distinct from other central paramilitary forces (CPMF) in that it has operational responsibility and regimentation similar to the Indian Army.
• The MHA’s CAPF statutes, however, regulate the Central Armed Police force’s hiring procedures, benefits, employee promotions, and retirement plans.

History:

• The first paramilitary group, the Assam Rifles, was established in British India in 1835 with only 750 members.
• Since then, it has taken part in operations against terrorist organisations in the North East as an anti-insurgency force, two World Wars, the Sino-Indian War of 1962, and more.
• The group, originally known as Cachar Levy, was established as a militia to protect nearby people and British tea estates from attacks by North Eastern tribes.
• It was then reorganised as the Assam Frontier Force when its mandate was expanded to include carrying out punitive operations outside of Assam’s borders.
• Due to its function in aiding administration and trade in the region, it was given the nickname “right arm of the civil and left arm of the military.”
• In 1917, the Force’s name was changed to the “Assam Rifles” to honour their participation in the Great War, where they fought alongside Rifle Regiments of the regular British Army.

Problem areas:

• Supporters of administrative control over the MoD assert that improved benefits, including as retirement payouts that are significantly larger than CAPFs under MHA, would arise from this.
• However, the CAPF has a retirement age of 60, whereas the Army has a retirement age of 35.
• In order to at least financially address the issue of CAPF officers’ careers stalling due to a lack of promotion possibilities, non-functional financial upgradation (NFFU) has recently been given to CAPF officers.
• On the other hand, CAPFs are not entitled to the same pension as Army soldiers get based on their rank.
• The MHA and MoD have long aimed for complete command of the military.

Source The Hindu

2 – Miyazaki Mango: GS III – Environmental Conservation

Context:

• Tripura is where the Miyazaki mangoes are cultivated. On the international market, the Miyazaki mango sells for roughly 2.70 lakh per kg.

Important details:

• The city of Miyazaki in Japan is where the Miyazaki mango was first grown.
• It frequently weights more than 350g and has at least 15% sugar.
• This variety needs a lot of warm rain and long, sunny days in order to thrive.
• This fruit with a reddish tinge is sometimes referred to as “Egg of the Sun” or Taiyo-no-Tamago in Japan.
• The yellow “pelican mango,” which is frequently grown in Southeast Asia, and the “irwin” mango variant known as “Miyazaki” are two different species.
• It has folic acid and beta-carotene and is known to be high in antioxidants.

Other parts of India are home to mangoes from Miyazaki:

• This Japanese mango variety was recently found to be prospering in West Bengal and Madhya Pradesh as well.

Source The Hindu

3 – Baikho Puja: GS I – Indian Culture

Context:

• The tribal community of the Rabha recently observed Baikho puja along the Assam-Meghalaya border.

Important details:

• At the Baikho Puja, the Rabhas offer adoration to 13 gods and goddesses.
• The Baikho is the principal Rabhas deity who is associated with agriculture.
• Both “bai” and “kho” are used to refer to gods.
• The fire test dance known as the Bar Nak-Kai ceremony is an important part of the Baikho puja.
• This involves running barefoot over hot coals while burning stacks of burned-out plant waste in the background.
• Over the course of the following two to three days, all of the villagers sing the hoimaru songs.
• Songs written by the Hoymaru people depict spiritual concepts and bravery.
• The songs have no known written record and are passed down orally from generation to generation.
• The day known as Baykho is also considered lucky for solemnising marriages.
• Rabha tribe
• The Rabhas are mostly found in Assam and West Bengal and are one of the Scheduled Tribes.
• Additionally, they are concentrated in Kamrup, Goalpara district, on the south bank of the river Brahmaputra, and Tikrikilla in the West Garo hills of Meghalaya.

Source The Hindu

4 – Fish Kill: GS III – Environmental Conservation

Context:

• Tens of thousands of dead fish have washed up on Texas’ Gulf Coast as a result of low ocean oxygen levels.

What is a fish kill?

• It is the sudden, mass extinction of fish or other aquatic species during a short period of time, typically in one area.
• Low dissolved oxygen levels in the water cause the fish to suffocate, which is the main cause of it.
• There were several potential variables that contributed to the Texas fish kill.
• Warm water: Fish find it harder to breathe as the sea surface temperature rises because oxygen dissolves more easily in colder water than in warmer water.
• Things start to go wrong when a school of fish is trapped in shallow water, which warms up more quickly.
• As a result, fish begin behaving more erratically, which further lowers the amount of oxygen in the water.
• Low oxygen levels may eventually cause the fish to pass away.
• When oxygen is combined with the wind and waves, it can enter the ocean.
• The absence of dissolved oxygen has resulted in exceptionally calm waves along the Texas Gulf Coast.
• Another way for phytoplankton to produce oxygen in the water is through the process of photosynthesis, which was impeded by the cloudy sky.
• The amount of dissolved oxygen in the air decreases due to the sun-powered process of photosynthesis, which is slowed down on overcast days.

How does the changing climate affect fish mortality?

• As ocean temperatures rise, these incidents will happen more frequently.
• Fish mortality will increase as a result of the decrease in dissolved oxygen in the water caused by global warming.
• Fish like herring, sardines, and pilchards will become smaller and unable to migrate to better environments.
• As some fish species started to migrate away from their natural habitat in search of cooler waters, it had an effect on the fish business.

Source The Hindu

5 – Predator UAVs: GS III – Science and Technology

Context:

• General Atomics Aeronautical Systems (GA-ASI), an American aerospace company, will sell Predator Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV) to the Defence Acquisition Council (DAC) for more than $3 billion.

A Predator UAV is exactly what?

Fundamental traits:

• The MQ-9 UAV has a maximum operating altitude of 50,000 feet, a top speed of 240 KTAS, and a payload capacity of 1,746 kilogrammes.
• The long-duration, ongoing observation and strike capabilities of the MQ-9 UAV are available to war fighters.

The nautical variant is:

• The maritime version of the MQ-9 UAV, called Sea Guardian, has a range of more than 30 hours.

Concerning the Indian Army:

• These high-altitude, long-endurance drones can improve the intelligence-surveillance-reconnaissance (ISR) capabilities of the Indian Armed Forces.
• The weaponized UAV will be able to hit significant targets in the marine domain and the highlands during lengthy missions.
• Only secondarily is the MQ-9 UAV used to attack moving targets; intelligence gathering is its primary purpose.

It is also capable of:

• Examples of close air support include buddy-lase, pinpoint strikes, convoy and raid overwatches, route clearing, target development, and terminal air guiding.

Source The Hindu

6 – WASP-76b: GS III – Science and Technology

Context:

• The extremely hot, huge exoplanet WASP-76 b has been the subject of an extensive research by a team of scientists from around the world.

Important details:

• The planet orbits around the massive star WASP-76, which is located approximately 634 light-years away from our planet, in the direction of the constellation Pisces.
• WASP-76 b travels around its parent star about 12 times as closely as Mercury does to the Sun.
• The planet’s mass is comparable to Jupiter’s, while having a volume more than six times larger.
• The planet is always facing the star it orbits because of its tidally locked orbit.
• It appears from this that one side is consistently very hot while the other side is noticeably colder.
• This may imply that the wind carries iron atoms from the dayside to the nightside.
• The iron cools as it gets closer to the line dividing the two sides, condensing into drops of liquid that fall to the ground.
• The researchers used the MAROON-X instrument on the Gemini-North Telescope to conduct a thorough analysis of the planet.

Source – The Hindu

7 – Kutumbari temple: GS I – Indian Culture

Context:

• The eighth-century Kutumbari temple, which has been preserved by the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) since 1915 but “disappeared” after 1964, hasn’t been located yet.

Important details:

• The Kutumbari Temple, an ancient Hindu temple, is located in Dwarahat, Almora, Uttarakhand.
• They guarded eight temples, according to ASI.
• The original position of the temple at Dwarahat was on the steeper side of the hill.
• It is believed that people took parts of the temple and used them to build their homes.
• The ASI recorded the temple’s disappearance and included it on its list of the 50 most lost buildings in India.
• The final mention of the temple was found in the records that were compiled in 1957.
• History of the temple:
• The temple was built by the Katyuri rulers in the seventh century.
• Three gods, Kutumbari, Baladev, and Gurjardev, were originally worshipped.

The temples of Almora:

• The two types of temples in Almora are Shaivite temples, which honour the female form of Shiva, and Tof Bhirava temples, which honour another form of Shiva.
• The Shaivite temples were built in 1688 to honour Udyot Chand, the ruler of Almora, who had defeated the Doti and Garhwal. These include Parbateshwer, Udyot Chandeshwer, and Tripur Sundari.
• In addition to the Shaivite temples, Almora also has eight Bhirava temples.
• Several temples were built while Gyan Chand was in power.

How does a monument get misplaced or vanish?

• Several monuments and sites have been destroyed as a result of circumstances including development, the construction of dams and reservoirs, and even encroachments.
• 50 monuments are currently missing after 14 were destroyed by rapid urbanisation, 12 are submerged by dams or reservoirs, and 24 are yet unaccounted for.
• Untraceable monuments are those that, in spite of ASI’s diligent efforts through its field offices, were unable to be located on the ground for a protracted length of time due to a number of reasons.

The following monuments are missing:

• The Copper Temple Ruins in Paya, Lohit (Arunachal Pradesh); the Kutumbari Temple Ruins in Dwarahat, Almora (Uttarakhand); the Rock Inscription in Satna (Madhya Pradesh); the Old European Tomb in Pune (Maharashtra); the 12th Century Temple in Baran (Rajasthan); and the Telia Nala Buddhist Ruins in Varanasi (Uttar Pradesh).

Source The Hindu