UPSC Current Affairs Pointers of the past week | July 29 to August 4, 2024

— This overturns the apex court’s 2004 decision in E V Chinnaiah v. State of Andhra Pradesh, which held that the SC/ST list is a “homogeneous group” that cannot be divided further.

— Article 341 of the Constitution allows only the President to issue a notification to list as SC “castes, races, or tribes” that suffered from the historical injustice of untouchability. SC groups are jointly accorded 15% reservation in education and public employment.

— Only Parliament has the power to amend, add, delete, or modify the Scheduled Castes list through enacted law.

• NIPUN

— Under Samagra Shiksha, a dedicated mission ‘National Initiative for Proficiency in Reading with Understanding and Numeracy’ (NIPUN Bharat) was launched by the government of India on 5th July 2021.

— The mission aims to ensure that every child in the country attains foundational literacy and numeracy by Grade 3 by 2026-27.

 

Report

A drone view shows a landslide site after multiple landslides in the hills in Wayanad district, in the southern state of Kerala, India, July 31, 2024. REUTERS/Francis Mascarenhas

• Gadgil Committee Report 

— A landslide in Karnataka’s Wayanad district that has claimed more than 300 lives has brought back into focus the 2011 Dr. Madhav Gadgil report and the K. Kasturirangan report on the conservation of the Western Ghats.

— In 2010, then Union Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh appointed the Western Ghats Ecology Expert Panel (WGEEP), to be chaired by ecologist Dr Madhav Gadgil. The commission submitted its 552-page report to the Centre in August 2011.

— The report recommended classifying 64 percent of the Western Ghats, spread over six states, into Ecologically Sensitive Zones called ESZ 1, ESZ 2 and ESZ 3. It also recommended designating the entire region as an Ecologically Sensitive Area (ESA).

— A major recommendation was a ban on growing single commercial crops like tea, coffee, cardamom, rubber, banana and pineapple, which have led to “fragmentation of forest, soil erosion, degradation of river ecosystems and toxic contamination of the environment”.

— The Western Ghats are a 1,600-km-long mountain chain running the western coast of the country covering six states — Gujarat, Maharashtra, Goa, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Kerala. It has been accorded the World Heritage status by UNESCO.

— In August 2012, then Environment Minister Jayanthi Natarajan constituted a High-Level Working Group on Western Ghats under former Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) chief Dr K Kasturirangan.

— While the Gadgil panel recommended 64 percent area in the Western Ghats, a report by a panel led by Dr K Kasturirangan notified only 37 percent of the area as ecologically sensitive.

(Just FYI: The main purpose of the data is to develop an understanding of the topic, you don’t need to learn all the data. Having an approximate idea of data can help you in the fact-based questions of prelims and as fodder for the answers of UPSC Mains.)

Environment

Prime Minister Narendra Modi launches the ‘Ek Ped Maa ke Naam’ campaign on World Environment Day on June 5, 2024. (X/@narendramodi)

•  Ek Ped Maa Ke Naam

— The ‘Ek Ped Maa Ke Naam’ campaign was launched by Prime Minister Modi on the occasion of World Environment Day on 5th June 2024.

— The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia hosted the celebrations of World Environment Day.

— The theme of World Environment Day 2024 is “Our Land, Our Future.”

— The Republic of Korea will host World Environment Day 2025 with a focus on ending plastic pollution globally.

(Source: unep.org )

Science and Technology

ISRO announced Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla (left) as the prime mission pilot and Group Captain Prasanth Balakrishnan Nair (right) as the backup.

• Astronaut for the Axiom-4 mission

— Group Captain Subhanshu Shukla will likely become the first Indian in space in 40 years.

— ISRO has named Shukla as the ‘prime’ astronaut for the first ISRO-NASA mission to the International Space Station, scheduled for any time after October this year.

— ISRO has also selected Group Captain Prasanth Balakrishnan Nair as the backup astronaut for the Axiom-4 mission. If Shukla is unable to go, Nair will take his place.

— The only Indian to have been in space so far is Rakesh Sharma, who flew on a Soviet spacecraft in 1984.

— Axiom-4 is the fourth mission by private space company Axiom Space in collaboration with NASA. The spacecraft would be launched by a SpaceX rocket.

 

Diseases

Paris 2024 Olympics – Boxing – Women’s 66kg – Prelims – Round of 16 – North Paris Arena, Villepinte, France – August 01, 2024. Imane Khelif of Algeria and Angela Carini of Italy react after their fight. (REUTERS)

• Disorder of Sex Development (DSD)

— Italy’s Angela Carini withdrew from her Round of 16 boxing bout against Algeria’s Imane Khelif after just 46 seconds and a few punches to her face at the Paris Olympics.

— Disorders of Sexual Development (DSD) encompass a group of congenital conditions associated with atypical development of internal and external genital structures.

— Swyer syndrome is a condition in which individuals have a typical female appearance and external genitalia but possess XY chromosomes and non-functional gonads or reproductive glands, often leading to delayed puberty and infertility.

— Complete Androgen Insensitivity Syndrome is a condition where individuals have XY chromosomes but their bodies cannot respond to androgens (male hormones), resulting in a female appearance.

— Mixed Gonadal Dysgenesis is a condition where individuals have both ovarian and testicular tissue, leading to ambiguous genitalia and atypical development of secondary sexual characteristics.

• Oropouche fever

— Brazil has reported the first-ever deaths from Oropouche fever, a mosquito-borne disease with symptoms similar to dengue.

— Oropouche is common in Latin America and the Caribbean. The virus was first detected in Trinidad and Tobago in 1955.

— Oropouche fever is caused by the Oropouche virus, which is transmitted most often through the bite of the Culicoides paraensis midge.

— Symptoms of the disease are similar to dengue and typically start between four and eight days after the bite. The onset is sudden, and symptoms usually include fever, headaches, pain, chills, joint stiffness and sometimes nausea and vomiting.

(Just FYI: UPSC has frequently asked questions on health and diseases in its examinations over the years. For instance, in 2014, a question about the Ebola virus appeared in the Prelims, and in 2017, a question about the Zika virus was featured. Therefore, it is crucial to stay updated on diseases that are currently in the news.)

Persons in News

Venezuela’s President Nicolas Maduro.

• Nicolas Maduro

— President Nicolas Maduro was declared re-elected in the Venezuela election held on July 28.

— The opposition, led by María Corina Machado, has alleged electoral fraud, while the government has threatened to crack down on opposition leaders.

— An amendment in 2009 removed the President’s six-year term limit and allowed the incumbent to remain in power in perpetuity.

• Andy Murray

— Andy Murray has retired from professional tennis following his appearance at the Paris Olympic Games.

— He became the first player to win two Olympic singles gold medals (2012 and 2016), defeating Roger Federer in the London final and Juan Martin del Potro in the Rio de Janeiro championship match. He also partnered Laura Robson to win the mixed doubles silver medal in 2012.

• Ismail Haniyeh

— Ismail Haniyeh, a senior Hamas leader, was assassinated in Iran, according to the Palestinian militant group. Hamas has accused Israel of the killing.

— Haniyeh led Hamas’ political operations from exile in Qatar and served as the leader of Hamas in Gaza in 2006.

— In 2017, he became the leader of Hamas’ political bureau, leading the group while moving between Qatar and Turkey.

• Udham Singh

— Udham Singh was born Sher Singh on December 26, 1899, in Sunam city, Sangrur district.

— A survivor of the 1919 Jallianwala Bagh massacre, Singh planned revenge against Michael O’Dwyer, the former lieutenant governor of Punjab, and assassinated him on March 13, 1940.

— On July 31, 1940, Udham Singh was executed at Pentonville prison in London for killing Michael O’Dwyer.

• Newly Appointed Governors

States	Governor
Jharkhand	Santosh Gangwar
Chhattisgarh	Ramen Deka
Rajasthan	Haribhau Kisanrao Bagde
Telangana	Jishnu Dev Varma
Sikkim	O P Mathur
Puducherry	K Kailashnathan
Maharashtra	C P Radhakrishnan
Punjab & Administrator of the Union Territory of Chandigarh	Gulab Chand Kataria
Assam	Lakshman Prasad Acharya

 

Places in News

India inaugrated it’s first underground museum at the Humayun’s Tomb Complex. (Source: Wikimedia Commons)

• Humayun’s Tomb Complex

— The first ‘sunken’ museum of India has been opened at the Humayun’s Tomb Complex. Sunken museums are nothing but museums that take visitors underground to present their exhibits.

— The museum, whose layout is inspired by the medieval ‘baolis’, or traditional water tanks, showcases the legacy of Mughal emperor Humayun, including lesser-known facets of his life, and the heritage of the Nizamuddin area over the last seven centuries.

— The tomb of Humayun was built by his widow, Biga Begum (Hajji Begum), in 1569-70, 14 years after his death, according to a portal of the Ministry of Culture. It is a UNESCO World Heritage site.

• Kakadu National Park

— Australia has banned mining in the Jabiluka site which is located in the famous Kakadu National Park.

— The Jabiluka site became the focus of intense legal wrangling between the Mirarr people and mining companies after the uranium deposit was discovered there in the early 1970s.

— Kakadu National Park is inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List.

(Just FYI: The location of the place is important, considering that UPSC has asked several questions about places that were in the news, such as Aleppo and Kirkuk, in the 2018 UPSC Prelims. The best way to remember them is to plot them on a world map.)

Sports

Swapnil Kusale of India reacts during the 50m Rifle 3 Positions Men event of the Shooting competitions in the Paris 2024 Olympic Games at the Shooting centre in Chateauroux, France.(PTI)

• India at the Paris Olympics

—  Manu Bhaker won India’s first medal of the Paris Olympics, in the process becoming the first-ever female shooter from India to win an Olympic medal. She won the bronze medal in the 10m air pistol women’s.

— Manu Bhaker and Sarabjot Singh won the Bronze medal in the 10m Air Pistol Mixed Team event of the Shooting competitions at the Olympics. The result also made Manu Bhaker the first athlete of independent India to win two medals in one edition of the Olympics.

— Swapnil Kusale has won the bronze medal in the men’s 50m rifle 3 positions final at the Paris 2024 Olympics shooting competition. This was India’s first-ever Olympic shooting medal in the 50m 3P and the third medal in rifle shooting.

Full list of Indian shooting medallists so far at the Olympics

Shooter	Event	Medal	Olympics
Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore	Men’s double trap	Silver	Athens 2004
Abhinav Bindra	Men’s 10m air rifle	Gold	Beijing 2008
Gagan Narang	Men’s 10m air rifle	Bronze	London 2012
Vijay Kumar	Men’s 25m rapid fire pistol	Silver	London 2012
Manu Bhaker	Women’s 10m air pistol	Bronze	Paris 2024
Manu Bhaker, Sarabjot Singh	Mixed team 10m air pistol	Bronze	Paris 2024
Swapnil Kusale	Men’s 50m rifle 3P	Bronze	Paris 2024

 

• The first medal of Paris Olympics

— The first medal of Paris 2024 was won by Kazakhstan. Alexandra Le and Islam Satpayev of Kazakhstan secured the Bronze medal and their country’s first shooting medal since 1996.

— China became the first nation to win Gold in the Paris Olympics. The pairing of Huang Yuting and Sheng Lihao won the first gold medal at the Paris Olympics in the 10m Air rifle.

• Olympic cauldron

— A few months before the opening of the Olympic Games, a flame is lit at Olympia, in Greece. From there, the Flame is carried for a number of weeks to the host city, mainly on foot by runners, but also using other forms of transport.

— The Olympic torch relay ends with the lighting of the Olympic cauldron during the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games.

— Marie-José Pérec and Teddy Riner lit the Cauldron of the Olympic Games Paris 2024.

By lighting the Cauldron, Marie-José Pérec and Teddy Riner launched the Olympic Games Paris 2024 and concluded the Torch Relay.

— This is the first cauldron in Olympic history to light up without the use of fossil fuels. Instead, it depends on water and electric light. It is created by French designer Mathieu Lehanneur.

— The cauldron is seven metres in diameter, and the ring at the base of the balloon has 40 LED lights installed in it.

(Source: Paris2024.org)

•  Women’s Asia Cup 2024

— Sri Lanka secured their first Women’s Asia Cup title win on Sunday, beating India. This is the first time Sri Lanka has won the Women’s Asia Cup title.

— This was also just the second time in their nine final appearances that India failed to win the Women’s Asia Cup.

(Just FYI: With the unpredictability of the UPSC examinations and questions like the ICC World Test Championship question 2021, you can’t be sure of anything. It is wise to know what it is and not go into too much detail.)

Terms making buzz

— Axis of resistance:  A coalition of Iranian-backed groups is known as the ‘axis of resistance’. Hezbollah, Hamas, the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ), and the Houthis are some of the major groups in the alliance.

— Wing Stall: A wind stall occurs when the airflow over an aircraft’s wings becomes disrupted due to an excessive angle of attack, causing a loss of lift and potentially leading the aircraft to descend uncontrollably.

Test Your Knowledge

(Note: The best way to remember facts for UPSC and other competitive exams is to recall them through MCQs. Try to solve the following questions on your own.)

A. ‘Gadgil Committee Report’ and ‘Kasturirangan Committee Report’, sometimes seen in the news, are related to

(a) constitutional reforms

(b) Ganga Action Plan

(c) linking of rivers

(d) protection of Western Ghats

B. Which midge is commonly associated with the transmission of Oropouche Virus?

(a) Anopheles

(b) Aedes aegypti

(c) Culex pipiens

(d) Culicoides paraensis

C. What is the theme of World Environment Day 2024, and which campaign was launched in India to mark this occasion?

(a) “Restore Our Earth”; “Plant a Tree for the Future”

(b) “Our Planet, Our Health”; “Trees for Life”

(c) “Our Land, Our Future”; “Ek Ped Maa Ke Naam”

(d) “Biodiversity Conservation”; “Green Earth Initiative”

UPSC Current Affairs Pointers of the past week | July 15 to July 21, 2024

UPSC Current Affairs Pointers of the past week | July 8 to July 14, 2024

UPSC Current Affairs Pointers of the past week | July 1 to July 7, 2024

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