UPSC Essentials: Key terms of the past week with MCQs

Why in news?

— In an article published in the journal Nature Astronomy on Monday (August 15), scientists from Japan suggest that water and organic materials might have been brought to our planet from the outer edges of the solar system.

— The scientists made the hypothesis after analysing samples from the asteroid Ryugu, collected by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency’s (JAXA) Hayabusa-2 probe, which had brought 5.4 grams of rocks and dust from the asteroid to Earth in December 2020.

Key takeaways

— The Hayabusa-2 mission was launched in December 2014 when the spacecraft was sent on a six-year voyage to study the asteroid Ryugu. According to a report by Deutsche Welle from 2020, the spacecraft, which was approximately the size of a refrigerator, traveled more than 5 billion kilometers during its journey.

— The spacecraft arrived at the asteroid in mid-2018 after which it deployed two rovers and a small lander onto the surface. In 2019, the spacecraft fired an impactor into the asteroid’s surface to create an artificial crater with a diametre of a little more than 10 metres, which allowed it to collect the samples.

— In December 2020, Hayabusa-2 delivered a small capsule that contained the rock and dust samples when it was 220,000 km from the Earth’s atmosphere, which safely landed in the South Australian outback.

— Hayabasu2’s predecessor, the Hayabusa mission, brought back samples from the asteroid Itokawa in 2010.

— Since the capsule landed on Earth, scientists have been studying the invaluable material — weighing merely a few grams, but approximately 4.6 billion years old — in order to explore the foundations of the solar system. Their analyses of the samples have helped us explore the origins of life on our planet.

— In June, a group of scientists found that the materials contained amino acids, and suggested that these building blocks of life might have formed in space.

— The current study, published on Monday, states that “Volatile and organic-rich C-type asteroids may have been one of the main sources of Earth’s water,” which is essential for the emergence of life. While the delivery of volatiles (water and organics) to Earth has been a subject of debate amongst scientists, the materials found in the “Ryugu particles, identified in this study, probably represent one important source of volatiles.”

— The study claimed that the organic material collected probably originated from the fringes of the Solar System, but was “unlikely to be the only source of volatiles delivered to the early Earth”.

— While the composition of particles collected from Ryugu closely matches water on Earth, the study notes there were slight differences, leading scientists to hypothesise that our planet’s water might have also originated from places other than asteroids, as reported by Kyodo News.

— “In a broad sense, it is possible that small celestial bodies brought things that led to water and life on Earth,” Motoo Ito, a senior researcher of geomaterials science at the Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology was quoted as saying by the agency.

Point to ponder: What is an asteroid? How do scientists study asteroid?

1. MCQ:

Which of the following pairs is not correctly matched

a) Hayabusa— Ryugu

b) NEAR- Shoemaker—Mathilde

c) OSIRIS-REx — Bennu

d) Rosetta—Gaspara

Flash floods

Why in news?

— Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur on Saturday (August 20) expressed concern over the loss of life and property due to torrential rains and flash floods in various parts of Himachal Pradesh, in which 21 people were feared dead.

— Teams of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and state forces have been rushed to the spots to undertake relief and rescue operations where people have reportedly been stuck under the debris, he added. We explain what flash floods are, and why they are here to stay.

Key takeaways

— Excessive or continuous rainfall over a period of days, or during particular seasons can lead to stagnation of water and cause flooding. Flash floods refer to such a situation, but occurring in a much shorter span of time.

— For instance, the US’s meteorological agency, the National Weather Service, says flash floods are caused when rainfall creates flooding in less than 6 hours. It adds that flash floods can also be caused by factors apart from rainfall, like when water goes beyond the levels of a dam.

— In India, flash floods are often associated with cloudbursts – sudden, intense rainfall in a short period of time. Himalayan states further face the challenge of overflowing glacial lakes, formed due to the melting of glaciers, and their numbers have been increasing in the last few years.

— Flash flooding commonly happens more where rivers are narrow and steep, so they flow more quickly, as per the Met Office, UK’s national weather service. They can occur in urban areas located near small rivers, since hard surfaces such as roads and concrete do not allow the water to absorb into the ground.

— According to government data from a project by the Assam State Disaster Management Authority, India is the worst flood-affected country in the world after Bangladesh and accounts for one-fifth of the global death count due to floods. Flash floods have been commonly witnessed in cities like Chennai and Mumbai. Depression and cyclonic storms in the coastal areas of Orissa, West Bengal, Andhra Pradesh, and others also cause flash floods.

— Further, data from the National Disaster Management Authority states that one of the reasons for flood situations occurring so frequently, is that nearly 75 per cent of the total Indian rainfall is concentrated over a short monsoon season of four months (June to September). As a result, the rivers witness a heavy discharge during these months. About 40 million hectares of land in the country are liable to floods according to the National Flood Commission, and an average of 18.6 million hectares of land are affected annually.

— Flash floods may in the future, begin to take place after wildfires that have been taking place more frequently. This is because wildfires destroy forests and other vegetation, which in turn weakens the soil and makes it less permeable for water to seep through.

— Andrew Hoell, a meteorologist at the US’s National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Physical Sciences Lab, told the New York Times, “If heavy rains occur on land damaged by a fire, the water does not get absorbed by the land surface as effectively as it once did”.

—Indian glaciologist Syed Iqbal Hasnain, writing in The Indian Express, said one way of dealing with the current situation is a comprehensive strategy of monitoring on the ground in hilly areas, planning development works in a way that is sensitive to the region’s ecology, and mitigation to reduce the extent of damages.

Point to ponder: Holistic flood management strategies can help vulnerable communities, not just survive.

2. MCQ :

Which of the following are a part of the Prime Minister’s Ten Point Agenda on Disaster Risk Reduction?

a) Bring about greater cohesion in international response to disasters.

b) Women’s leadership and greater involvement should be central to disaster risk management.

c) Utilise the opportunities provided by social media and mobile technologies for disaster risk reduction.

d) All of the above

(source: ndma.gov.in)

Lord Curzon

Why in news?

— The 119-year-old Curzon Gate in Bardhaman in West Bengal is at the centre of a political row after it emerged earlier this week that the Trinamool Congress (TMC)-run Bardhaman municipality has decided to erect a statue of Bardhaman’s Maharaja Bijay Chand Mahatab and his wife Radharani in front of the city’s prominent landmark.

Key takeaways

— Of all the Viceroys of India, Curzon is possibly the most criticised — he is the man who partitioned Bengal in 1905, and triggered a wave of Bengali nationalism that contributed to the wider Indian national movement. He was also one of the more openly imperialist of viceroys, and a man who saw Britain’s rule over India as critical to the survival of empire. In 1900, Curzon famously stated, “We could lose all our [white settlement] dominions and still survive, but if we lost India, our sun would sink to its setting.”

— Born in 1859, George Nathaniel Curzon was a British conservative politician who was educated at the elite institutions of Eton and Oxford. He served as Under-Secretary of State for India (1891-1892), and for Foreign Affairs (1895-1898), before being appointed Viceroy of India in 1899.

— As viceroy, his administration was known for intense activity and emphasis on efficiency. He stated in his budget speech in 1904, “Efficiency of administration is, in my view, a synonym for the contentment of the governed.”(quoted in Sumit Sarkar, ‘Modern India 1885–1947’).

— Curzon created a separate Muslim majority province of the North-West Frontier Province, sent a British expedition to Tibet, established a separate police service, and established the Archaological Survey of India, in order to study and protect historical monuments. (Barbara and Thomas Metcalf, ‘A Concise History of Modern India’)

— Early on in his career, Curzon earned some praise from his colonial subjects, notes Sumit Sarkar, for taking action against Europeans in a number of high-profile racist attacks against Indians. In 1899, he punished white soldiers for raping a woman in Rangoon; he disciplined soldiers of the 9th Lancers for beating an Indian cook in Sialkot to death in 1902; and he tried unsuccessfully to get the Calcutta High Court to change the meagre punishment given to an Assam tea manager for murdering a “coolie”.

— Curzon was both vexed and enraged by the growing nationalist movement in India. and he sought to throttle the growing aspirations of the educated Indian middle class.

— A staunch imperialist, he took a series of extremely unpopular measures, including passing, in 1899, the Calcutta Municipal Amendment Act which reduced the number of elected representatives in the Calcutta Corporation; the Indian Universities Act (1904), that placed Calcutta University under government control, and the Indian Official Secrets Amendment Act (1904) that reduced the freedom of the press even further.

— Curzon believed that the Indian National Congress had lost its influence and appeal amongst the Indians, and in 1900 declared that the organisation was “tottering to its fall”. Ironically though, it was his biggest and most reviled decision — to partition Bengal in 1905 — that led to a spurt in nationalist sentiment and revitalized the Congress.

How and why did the partition of Bengal take place?

— Calcutta was the capital of the British Raj, and Bengal Presidency was one of the largest provinces in India, populated by more than 78 million people, encompassing present day West Bengal, Bangladesh, Bihar, parts of Chhattisgarh, Odisha, and Assam.

— For long, the British had maintained that Bengal was too large to efficiently manage and administer; it was also believed that with Calcutta as the nerve centre of the educated nationalists, the resistance to colonial rule would only increase. Home Secretary H H Risley noted in 1904, “Bengal united is a power; Bengal divided will pull in several different ways.”

— In July 1905, Curzon announced the partition of Bengal into two provinces. East Bengal and Assam, with a population of 38 million, was predominately Muslim, while the western province, called Bengal, was reduced to 55 million people, primarily Hindus.

— Protests began almost immediately after the announcement, with meetings taking place in more than 300 cities, towns, and villages across Bengal. (Ishita Banerjee-Dube, ‘A History of Modern India’) The educated Bengali bhadralok saw this move as an attempt to break apart their homeland, and curb their influence in the region, while later nationalists would argue that it was indicative of the British’s divide and rule policy.

Point to ponder: What were the consequences of the Partition of Bengal?

3. MCQ:

Consider the events from the history of India’s struggle for independence below and answer the following question

1. Komagata Maru incident
2. Partition of Bengal
3. Rowlatt Satyagrah
4. Non-Cooperation Movement

Which is the correct chronological order?
a) 1-2-3-4
b) 3-1-2-4
c) 2-1-4-3
d) 2-1-3-4

NAFIS

Why in news?

— Union Home Minister Amit Shah inaugurated the National Automated Fingerprint Identification System (NAFIS) on Wednesday (August 17), at the two-day National Securities Strategies (NSS) Conference 2022 held in New Delhi.

— According to the Ministry of Home Affairs, NAFIS, which was developed by the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB), would help in the quick and easy disposal of cases with the help of a centralised fingerprint database.
— In April this year, Madhya Pradesh became the first state in the country to identify a deceased person through NAFIS, PTI reported.

Key takeaways

— Conceptualized and managed by the NCRB at the Central Fingerprint Bureau (CFPB) in New Delhi, the National Automated Fingerprints Identification System (NAFIS) project is a country-wide searchable database of crime- and criminal-related fingerprints. The web-based application functions as a central information repository by consolidating fingerprint data from all states and Union Territories.

— According to a 2020 report by the NCRB, it enables law enforcement agencies to upload, trace, and retrieve data from the database in real time on a 24×7 basis.

— NAFIS assigns a unique 10-digit National Fingerprint Number (NFN) to each person arrested for a crime. This unique ID will be used for the person’s lifetime, and different crimes registered under different FIRs will be linked to the same NFN. The 2020 report states that the ID’s first two digits will be that of the state code in which the person arrested for a crime is registered, followed by a sequence number.

— By automating the collection, storage, and matching of fingerprints, along with digitizing the records of fingerprint data, NAFIS will “provide the much-needed unique identifier for every arrested person in the CCTNS (Crime and Criminal Tracking Network & Systems) database as both are connected at the backend,” former NCRB director Ram Phal Pawar had said in December 2020.

— Upon the recommendations of the National Police Commission in 1986, the Central Fingerprint Bureau first began to automate the fingerprint database by digitizing the existing manual records through India’s first Automated Fingerprint Identification System (AFI) in 1992, called Fingerprint Analysis & Criminal Tracing System (FACTS 1.0)

— The latest iteration, FACTS 5.0, which was upgraded in 2007, was considered to have “outlived its shelf life”, according to a 2018 report by the NCRB and thus needed to be replaced by NAFIS.

Point to ponder: How does technology help in fighting crime in India?

4. MCQ :

Which of the following statements is not true?

a) NAFIS project is a country-wide searchable database of crime- and criminal-related fingerprints.

b) NATGRID brings out the annual comprehensive statistics of crime across the country -‘Crime in India’ report.

c) CCTNS is a Mission Mode Project under the National e-Governance Plan (NeGP) of the Ministry of Home Affairs.

d) The Indian Version of Automated Fingerprint Identification System (AFIS) is called FACTS.

Megalodon

Why in news?

— Using fossil evidence to create a three-dimensional model, researchers have found new evidence about the life of one of the biggest predatory animals of all time — the Megalodon.

Key takeaways

— According to the new study published in the journal Science Advances, the Megalodon could “completely ingest, and in as few as five bites,” a prey as big as the killer whale.

— According to the study, the Megalodon was bigger than a school bus at around 50 feet from nose to tail. In comparison, the great white sharks of the present can grow to a maximum length of around 15 feet. Using their digital model, the researchers have suggested that the giant transoceanic predator would have weighed around 70 tonnes — or as much as 10 elephants.

— Megalodons roamed the oceans an estimated 23 million to 2.6 million years ago.

— Using a previously established relationship between speed and body mass, researchers calculated that the Megalodon had an average cruising speed faster than sharks today. According to the research team, the Megalodon had the ability to migrate across multiple oceans.

3D modelling research

— The technique was used as the Megalodon’s skeleton is made of soft cartilage that doesn’t fossilize well. Using fossils that were available, including mainly teeth and a rare collection of vertebrae that has been with a Belgium museum since the 1860s, computer modelling was used to reconstruct the entire body of the extinct and largest known macropredatory shark.

Point to ponder: History and Technology walk hand in hand. Comment.

5. MCQ:

Consider the following statements and answer the question below.

1) Fossils are typically found in igneous rocks.

2) Taphonomy is the study of the processes that lead to fossilization.

3) Fossils are useful in the exploration of minerals and mineral fuels.

Which of the following statements is/are true?

a) 2 and 3                                            b) 1 and 2
c) 1 and 3                                             d) 1, 2 and 3

Answer to the MCQs: 1 (d) , 2 (d) , 3 (d) , 4 (b) , 5 (a)