Essential key terms from the last week’s news headlines or between the lines categorised as per the relevance to the UPSC-CSE syllabus along with the MCQs followed. National Party Why in news? — The Election Commission Monday recognised the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) as a national party, while revoking that status of the All India Trinamool Congress, Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and the Communist Party of India (CPI). — The BJP, Congress, CPI(M), Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), National People’s Party (NPP) and the AAP are the remaining national parties now. KEY TAKEAWAYS Damini Nath Explains: What is a national party? — The name suggests that a national party would be one that has a presence ‘nationally’, as opposed to a regional party whose presence is restricted to only a particular state or region. — National parties are usually India’s bigger parties, such as the Congress and BJP. However, some smaller parties are also recognised as national parties. A certain stature is sometimes associated with being a national party, but this does not necessarily translate into having a lot of national political clout. — Some parties, despite being dominant in a major state — such as the DMK in Tamil Nadu, BJD in Odisha, YSRCP in Andhra Pradesh, RJD in Bihar, or TRS in Telangana — and having a major say in national affairs, remain regional parties. How is a national party defined? — The ECI has laid down the technical criterion for a party to be recognised as a national party. A party may gain or lose national party status from time to time, depending on the fulfilment of these laid-down conditions. — As per the ECI’s Political Parties and Election Symbols, 2019 handbook, a political party would be considered a national party if: i. it is ‘recognised’ in four or more states; or ii. if its candidates polled at least 6% of total valid votes in any four or more states in the last Lok Sabha or Assembly elections and has at least four MPs in the last Lok Sabha polls; or iii. if it has won at least 2% of the total seats in the Lok Sabha from not less than three states. (Source: AAP now national party; NCP, Trinamool lose tag: How is a ‘national party’ in India defined by Damini Nath) Point to ponder: What are pros and cons of first past the post system? 1. MCQ: Consider the following statements : (2017) 1. The Election Commission of India is a five-member body. 2. The Union Ministry of Home Affairs decides the election schedule for the conduct of both general elections and bye-elections. 3. Election Commission resolves the disputes relating to splits/mergers of recognised political parties. Which of the statements given above is/are correct? (a) 1 and 2 only (b) 2 only (c) 2 and 3 only (d) 3 only Flash droughts Why in news? — As global warming continues, more abrupt dry spells could have grave consequences for people in humid regions whose livelihoods depend on rain-fed agriculture. A new study found that flash droughts occurred more often than slower ones in tropical places like India, Southeast Asia, sub-Saharan Africa and the Amazon basin. — But “even for slow droughts, the onset speed has been increasing,” said Xing Yuan, a hydrologist at Nanjing University of Information Science and Technology in China and lead author of the study, which was published on Thursday in Science. (‘A global transition to flash droughts under climate change’) KEY TAKEAWAYS NYT writes: — Flash droughts, the kind that arrive quickly and can lay waste to crops in a matter of weeks, are becoming more common and faster to develop around the world, and human-caused climate change is a major reason, a new study has found. How have such events heightened? — The world has probably always experienced rapid-onset droughts, but only in the past decade or two have they become a significant focus of scientific research. New data sources and advances in computer modeling have allowed scientists to home in on the complex physical processes behind them. — The concept also gained attention in 2012 after a severe drought charged across the United States, ravaging farm fields and pastures and causing over $30 billion in losses, most of them in agriculture. — In general, this kind of rapid drying occurs when it is warm and rain would normally be falling but very little is, said Andrew Hoell, a climate scientist with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration who was not involved in the new research but has contributed to other studies on the subject. — In such circumstances, the ground might already be wet from earlier rain or snow, Hoell said. So when the precipitation suddenly shuts off, hot, sunny and windy conditions can cause large amounts of water to evaporate quickly. — This is why the humid tropics tend to experience more flash droughts than slow ones. The wet seasons there are usually rainy enough to keep land and vegetation damp. But when the rains fail unexpectedly, the equatorial heat can desiccate the ground to devastating effect. — The researchers looked at data from computer models on soil moisture worldwide between 1951 and 2014. They focused on drought episodes that were 20 days or longer, to exclude dry spells that were too short to cause much harm. — The trends varied from place to place, but, looked at globally, they show a shift toward more frequent and more rapid flash droughts. What else you should know? — By studying flash droughts between 1980 and 2015, an international team has now mapped the global distribution, trends, and drivers of flash drought occurrence. According to the paper published in Nature Communications (2019), India is a hotspot for flash droughts and this could have major implications on the country’s crop production. — “What makes flash drought unique from conventional drought development is a lack of rainfall coupled with increased evapotranspiration. Evapotranspiration is the combination of evaporation from the land surface and transpiration from vegetation. Both of these processes act to transfer water from the land surface to the atmosphere,” explains Jordan I. Christian, Postdoctoral Research Associate at the School of Meteorology, University of Oklahoma, in an email to indianexpress.com. He is the corresponding author of the paper. — “These processes are critical in flash drought development, as enhanced evapotranspiration with a lack of rainfall can quickly deplete soil moisture and lead to devastating impacts on agriculture and ecosystems,” notes Dr. Christian. Can we forecast flash droughts? — One of the authors of the paper, Vimal Mishra explains that his team has been working on improving the predictability of these events. “We have an almost accurate weather forecast for 30 days and expect to create a flash drought forecast for a week or two. We are working to develop an early warning system.” He is from the Civil Engineering Department, Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Gandhinagar. — A paper published by his team in January predicted that by the end of the 21st century, the frequency of concurrent hot and dry extremes in India will rise by about five-fold. This can cause approximately a seven-fold increase in flash droughts, adds the study. — “If a multi-week period of rapid drought development occurs, the agricultural sector can experience substantial economic losses and environments become more favourable for wildfire and heatwave development,” explains Dr. Christian. According to www.drought.gov: "Flash drought is simply the rapid onset or intensification of drought. It is set in motion by lower-than-normal rates of precipitation, accompanied by abnormally high temperatures, winds, and radiation. Together, these changes in weather can rapidly alter the local climate. Higher temperature increases evapotranspiration—the process by which water is transferred from the land to the atmosphere by evaporation from the soil and by transpiration from plants—and further lowers soil moisture, which decreases rapidly as drought conditions continue. If not predicted and discovered early enough, changes in soil moisture that accompany flash drought can cause extensive damage to agriculture, economies, and ecosystem goods and services. Flash drought can also be tied to rhythmic climatic patterns, such as La Niña events. Changes in the rate of evapotranspiration and soil moisture have been identified as key early warning indicators." (Sources: What a new study says on the link between ‘flash droughts’ and climate change by NYT, www.drought.gov, What are flash droughts, will it affect India? by Aswathi Pacha) Point to ponder: What are flash droughts, will it affect India? 2. MCQ: With reference to flash floods, consider the following statements: 1. Changes in the rate of evapotranspiration and soil moisture have been identified as key early warning indicators 2. Human-caused climate change is a major reason behind it. Which of the above statements are true? (a) Only 1 (b) Only 2 (c) Both 1 and 2 (d) Neither 1 nor 2 JUICE Mission Why in news? — The European Space Agency (ESA) launched the Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer, or Juice, mission on Friday (April 14) from its spaceport in French Guiana on an Ariane 5 launcher. — Planned to reach Jupiter in 2031, the mission aims to carry out a detailed exploration of the Solar System’s largest planet and its icy moons, which potentially have habitable environments. KEY TAKEAWAYS Alind Chauhan Explains: — Juice has been constructed by an industrial consortium led by Airbus Defence and Space — a division of the Airbus group responsible for the development and manufacturing of the corporation’s defence and space products — based on the parameters provided by the ESA. — Only two other spacecraft have ever examined Jupiter: the Galileo probe, which orbited the gas giant between 1995 and 2003, and Juno, which has been circling the planet since 2016. — Notably, by the time Juice reaches Jupiter, another spacecraft, NASA’s Europa Clipper, would already be orbiting the planet — scheduled to be launched in October this year, Europa Clipper would arrive at Jupiter in 2030 and aims to study its Europa moon. What is the Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer (Juice) mission? — According to ESA’s website, the Juice “will make detailed observations of the giant gas planet and its three large ocean-bearing moons — Ganymede, Callisto and Europa”, by using remote sensing, geophysical and in situ instruments. — Scientists for quite some time have known that these three moons of Jupiter possess icy crusts, which they believe contain oceans of liquid water underneath, making them potentially habitable. Juice will help probe these water bodies by creating detailed maps of the moons’ surfaces and enable the scientists, for the first time, to look beneath them. — Although the mission will examine all three moons, the main focus will be on Ganymede, as it is the largest moon in the Solar System — larger than Pluto and Mercury — and the only one to generate its own magnetic field. Juice, which will move into Ganymede’s orbit after approximately four of arriving at Jupiter, will “use its suite of ten sophisticated instruments to measure how Ganymede rotates, its gravity, its shape and interior structure, its magnetic field, its composition, and to penetrate its icy crust using radar down to a depth of about nine km.,” ESA said. — Another primary goal of the mission is to create a comprehensive picture of Jupiter by trying to understand its origin, history and evolution. — Scientists believe that this would help them provide “much-needed insight into how such a planetary system and its constituents are formed and evolved over time, as well as revealing how possibly habitable environments can arise in Jupiter-like systems around other stars.” — Juice will also analyse the chemistry, structure, dynamics, weather, and climate of Jupiter and its ever-changing atmosphere. Is Juice capable of detecting life? — As mentioned before, as the three moons, Ganymede, Callisto and Europa, are believed to hold immense amounts of water, which could be around six times more than the volume of water in Earth’s oceans, there is a possibility that life is present on them. — According to ESA, life on these moons could be in the form of microbes. “More advanced species might also be present, like the ones we detect in deep-sea trenches and at hydrothermal vents on Earth, such as various kinds of coral, worm, mussel, shrimp and fish,” it added. — However, Juice isn’t equipped to detect life. What it is capable of is finding out whether there could be places around Jupiter, inside the icy moons, where the necessary conditions, such as water, biological essential elements, energy, and stability, to sustain life are present. (Source: European Space Agency set to launch Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer (Juice): What is the mission about by Alind Chauhan) Point to ponder: India needs urgent and radical reforms in its space sector. Discuss. 3. MCQ: With reference to space missions to Jupiter, consider the following statements: 1. NASA lauched the Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer (Juice) Mission recently which aims to carry out a detailed exploration of the Solar System’s largest planet and its icy moons, which potentially have habitable environments. 2. Only two other spacecraft have ever examined Jupiter before. 3. By the time Juice reaches Jupiter, another spacecraft, ESA’s Europa Clipper, would already be orbiting the planet. Which of the above statements is/are correct? (a) Only 1 (b) Only 2 (c) Only 3 (d) 1 and 2 only SpaceX’s big Starship Why in news? — Elon Musk’s SpaceX is about to take its most daring leap yet with a round-the-world test flight of its mammoth Starship. KEY TAKEAWAYS AP writes: — It’s the biggest and mightiest rocket ever built, with the lofty goals of ferrying people to the moon and Mars. — Jutting almost 400 feet (120 meters) into the South Texas sky, Starship could blast off as early as Monday, with no one aboard. Musk’s company got the OK from the Federal Aviation Administration on Friday (April 14). — It will be the first launch with Starship’s two sections together. Early versions of the sci-fi-looking upper stage rocketed several miles into the stratosphere a few years back, crashing four times before finally landing upright in 2021. The towering first-stage rocket booster, dubbed Super Heavy, will soar for the first time. — For this demo, SpaceX won’t attempt any landings of the rocket or the spacecraft. Everything will fall into the sea. — The stainless steel Starship has 33 main engines and 16.7 million pounds of thrust. All but two of the methane-fueled, first-stage engines ignited during a launch pad test in January — good enough to reach orbit, Musk noted. — Given its muscle, Starship could lift as much as 250 tons and accommodate 100 people on a trip to Mars. The six-engine spacecraft accounts for 164 feet (50 meters) of its height. — Musk anticipates using Starship to launch satellites into low-Earth orbit, including his own Starlinks for internet service, before strapping anyone in. — Starship easily eclipses NASA’s moon rockets — the Saturn V from the bygone Apollo era and the Space Launch System from the Artemis program that logged its first lunar trip late last year. — It also outflanks the former Soviet Union’s N1 moon rocket, which never made it past a minute into flight, exploding with no one aboard. — The test flight will last one and half hours, and fall short of a full orbit of Earth. If Starship reaches the three-minute mark after launch, the booster will be commanded to separate and fall into the Gulf of Mexico. The spacecraft would continue eastward, passing over the Atlantic, Indian and Pacific oceans before ditching near Hawaii. — Starship is designed to be fully reusable but nothing will be saved from the test flight. — Starship will take off from a remote site on the southernmost tip of Texas near Boca Chica Beach. It’s just below South Padre Island, and about 20 miles from Brownsville. Down the road from the launch pad is the complex where SpaceX has been developing and building Starship prototypes for the past several years. — The complex, called Starbase, has more than 1,800 employees, who live in Brownsville or elsewhere in the Rio Grande Valley. — The Texas launch pad is equipped with giant robotic arms — called chopsticks — to eventually grab a returning booster as it lands. — SpaceX is retooling one of its two Florida launch pads to accommodate Starships down the road. Florida is where SpaceX’s Falcon rockets blast off with crew, space station cargo and satellites for NASA and other customers. — As usual, Musk is remarkably blunt about his chances, giving even odds, at best, that Starship will reach orbit on its first flight. — But with a fleet of Starships under construction at Starbase, he estimates an 80% chance that one of them will attain orbit by year’s end. He expects it will take a couple years to achieve full and rapid reusability. — With Starship, the California-based SpaceX is focusing on the moon for now, with a $3 billion NASA contract to land astronauts on the lunar surface as early as 2025, using the upper stage spacecraft. — It will be the first moon landing by astronauts in more than 50 years. The moonwalkers will leave Earth via NASA’s Orion capsule and Space Launch System rocket, and then transfer to Starship in lunar orbit for the descent to the surface, and then back to Orion. — To reach the moon and beyond, Starship will first need to refuel in low-Earth orbit. SpaceX envisions an orbiting depot with window-less Starships as tankers. But Starship isn’t just for NASA. — A private crew will be the first to fly Starship, orbiting Earth. Two private flights to the moon would follow — no landings, just flyarounds. Who are the other players? — There are other new rockets on the horizon. Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin is readying the New Glenn rocket for its orbital debut from Cape Canaveral, Florida, in the next year or so. Named after the first American to orbit the world, John Glenn, the rocket towers over the company’s current New Shepard rocket, named for Mercury astronaut Alan Shepard’s 1961 suborbital hop. NASA will use New Glenn to send a pair of spacecraft to Mars in 2024. — United Launch Alliance expects its new Vulcan rocket to make its inaugural launch later this year, hoisting a private lunar lander to the moon at NASA’s behest. — Europe’s Arianespace is close to launching its new, upgraded Ariane 6 rocket from French Guiana in South America. And NASA’s Space Launch System moon rocket that will carry astronauts will morph into ever bigger versions. (Source: What to know about first test flight of SpaceX’s big Starship by AP) Point to ponder: Why do we need a time zone for the moon? 4. MCQ: Which of the following pair(s) is/are correctly matched? (2014) Spacecraft Purpose Cassini-Huygens Orbiting the Venus and transmitting data to the Earth Messenger Mapping and investigating the Mercury Voyager Exploring the outer solar system Select the correct answer using the code given below. (a) 1 only (b) 2 and 3 only (c) 1 and 3 only (d) 1, 2 and 3 Uttaramerur inscription Why in news? — Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday (April 14) referred to the Uttaramerur inscription in Kanchipuram, Tamil Nadu, while discussing India’s democratic history, PTI reported. “India is the world’s oldest democracy, it is the mother of democracy. There are numerous historical references to this. An important reference is Tamil Nadu,” Modi said. “The inscription found there is like a local constitution for the gram sabha. It tells how the assembly should be run, what should be the qualification of members, what should be the process to elect the members, and how a member would be disqualified.” — While Uttaramerur has multiple inscriptions spanning centuries, the most famous one – being referred to by Modi is from the reign of Parantaka I (907-953 AD). These provide a detailed description about the village’s self-governance and have been cited by historians and political leaders alike as evidence of India’s history of democratic functioning. KEY TAKEAWAYS Arjun Sengupta Explains: Where is Uttaramerur? — Uttaramerur lies in present-day Kanchipuram district, approximately 90 km southeast of Chennai. Today, it is a small town and had a population of roughly 25,000 in the census of 2011. It is known for its historic temples built during Pallava and Chola rule. — The famous inscription from Parantaka I’s reign is found on the walls of the Vaikunda Perumal Temple. What does the inscription say? — The inscription gives details of the functioning of the local sabha, i.e. the village assembly. A sabha was an assembly exclusively of brahmans and had specialised committees tasked with different things. The Uttaramerur inscription details how members were selected, the required qualifications, their roles and responsibilities, and even the circumstances in which they could be removed. Appointing representatives to the sabha — Describing how the sabha shall be constituted, the inscription says, “There will be 30 wards. Everyone living in these 30 wards would assemble and select one representative for the village assembly.” It then goes on to describe what the qualifications for such a representative must be. — These include ownership of a certain amount of land, having a house, being between the age of 35 and 70 and “knowing mantras and Brahmanas” (from the Vedic corpus). An exception can be made on land ownership if the person has learnt at least “one Veda and four Bhashyas”. One must also be “well-versed in business” and “virtuous”. — The inscription then lists a number of factors which disqualify someone and their family (all the relations are systematically listed) from consideration. — These include, “not having submitted accounts” while previously serving in a committee, committing any of the first four of the five ‘great sins’ (killing a brahman, drinking alcohol, theft and adultery), being associated with outcastes, and eating ‘forbidden’ dishes. — All those eligible and willing would write their names on palm leaf tickets following which, the representative would be chosen on the basis of an elaborate draw of lots, conducted by priests in the inner hall of the building where the assembly meets. Detailing responsibilities — The inscription describes a number of important committees within the sabha with their own distinct functions. These include, the garden committee, the tank committee, the annual committee (an executive committee which required prior experience and knowledge to be a part of), the committee for supervision of justice (for supervising appointments and wrong doing), the gold committee (in charge of all the gold in the village temple) and the five-fold committee (its role is unclear in the inscription). — These committee assignments would last for 360 days after which the members would have to retire. Anyone in the committee who was implicated in any wrongdoing, such as forgery or having ridden an donkey (i.e. being punished for a crime), was removed instantly. — Also, the inscription emphasises upon the keeping of accounts – any discrepancy can also disqualify members of the sabha. Is this an example of a democracy? — While the Uttaramerur inscription gives details of local self-governance, on closer inspection, it is far from a truly democratic system. — Not only does it restrict sabha membership to a tiny subsection of land-owning brahmans, it also does not have true elections. Rather, it chooses members from the eligible pool of candidates through a draw of lots. — That being said, this does not mean that this inscription should not be cited as a precedent for democratic functioning. The idea of a democracy, as understood today, is a fairly recent phenomenon. The United States, often hailed as the epitome of a liberal democracy, only gave universal adult franchise to its population in 1965. — What the Uttaramerur inscription details is a system of local self-government, outside the direct authority of the king. Furthermore, for all intents and purposes, the inscription is like a constitution – it describes both the responsibilities of members of the sabha as well as the limitations to the authority of these members. — If the rule of law (rather than rule by personal diktat) is an essential component of a democracy, the Uttaramerur inscription describes a system of government which follows just that. (Source: What the Uttaramerur inscription, recently referred to by PM Modi, says by Arjun Sengupta) Point to ponder: What are sabha, samiti and vidhata? 5. MCQ: Consider the following statements with respect to the famous Uttaramerur inscription from Parantaka I’s reign found on the walls of the Vaikunda Perumal Temple: 1. The inscription gives details of the functioning of the local sabha, i.e. the village assembly. 2. The inscription does not restrict sabha membership to any particular class and mentions true excercise of elections. 3. The inscription describes a number of important committees within the sabha with their own distinct functions whose assignments would last for 360 days after which the members would have to retire. Which of the above statements is not correct? (a) Only 1 (b) Only 2 (c) Only 3 (d) None of the above ANSWERS TO MCQs: 1 (d), 2(c), 3(b), 4 (b), 5(b) (The UPSC Essentials Indian Express is now on Telegram. Click here to join our YouTube channel and stay updated with the latest updates. Subscribe to The Indian Express UPSC Key and prepare for the Civil Services and other competitive examinations with cues on how to read and understand content from the most authoritative news source in India. Note: Catch the UPSC Weekly Quiz every Saturday evening and brush up on your current affairs knowledge.) Share your views, answers and suggestions in the comment box or at manas.srivastava@indianexpress.com
