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Repost from UPSC Smart Study
💡Gujarat’s Modhera is India’s first fully-solar village:
• Modhera in Gujarat was declared as India’s first 24x7 solar-powered village.
• More than 1,300 rooftop solar systems have been installed on houses for power generation.
• Modhera is also happens to be the first modern village having a solar based modern electric vehicle charging station.
Repost from UPSC Smart Study
🚂 World's longest passenger train:
• The Rhaetian Railway (RhB) announced that it had beat the world record for the longest passenger train, at an event marking the 175th anniversary of Switzerland's famous railway system.
• The 1.9km (1,910 m/6,266 foot) train, composed of 25 separable multiple-unit trains, or 100 coaches, travelled through the Alps in the eastern Swiss canton of Graubunden.
Repost from UPSC Smart Study
Who drafted the resolution on fundamental rights for the Karachi session of Congress in 1931? [PYQ-2005]
Repost from UPSC Smart Study
■ National Unity Day (Rashtriya Ekta Diwas), October 31:
• National Unity Day is celebrated in India on 31 October.
• It was introduced by the Government of India in 2014.
• The day is celebrated to mark the birth anniversary of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel who had a major role in the political integration of India.
□ About Sardar Vallabhbhai Jhaverbhai Patel:
• He was born on 31st October 1875 in Nadiad, Gujarat.
• He was the first Home Minister and Deputy Prime Minister of independent India.
• Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel is known as the "Iron Man of India".
• After the signing of the Gandhi–Irwin Pact, Patel was elected president of Indian National Congress for its 1931 session (Karachi).
• The Bardoli Satyagraha movement was started in 1928. It was led by Vallabhbhai patel. Women of Bardoli bestowed the title ‘Sardar’ on Vallabhbhai Patel, which means ‘a Chief or a Leader’.
• He is also remembered as the ‘Patron saint of India’s civil servants as he established the modern all-India services system.
• The Statue of Unity at Kevadiya in the Narmada district of Gujarat (2018) was built in his honour. It is the tallest statue in the world (182m/597feet).
• He died on December 15, 1950.
• He was posthumously awarded the country’s highest civilian award, Bharat Ratna, in 1991.
Repost from UPSC Smart Study
🌾 Kalanamak rice:
• Kalanamak, a traditional variety of paddy with a black husk and a strong fragrance, which is considered a gift from Lord Buddha to the people of the Sravasti when he visited the region after enlightenment, is all set to get a new look and name.
• The problem with the traditional variety of Kalanamak paddy is that it’s tall and prone to lodging, which badly impacted grain filling and quality.
• The yield, as a result, fell drastically, and the market for the rice dwindled, too. The traditional Kalanamak paddy’s yield is barely two to 2.5 tonnes per hectare.
• Lodging is a condition in which the top of the plant becomes heavy because of grain formation, the stem becomes weak, and the plant falls on the ground.
• Addressing the problem, the Indian Agriculture Research Institute (IARI) has successfully developed two dwarf varieties of Kalanamak rice.
• For the old variety, the length of the plant is 140 centimetres, and for the new variety it is between 95-100 centimetres.
• They have been named Pusa Narendra Kalanamak 1638 and Pusa Narendra Kalanamak 1652.
• The traditional Kalanamak rice is protected under the Geographical Indication (GI) tag system.
Repost from UPSC Smart Study
In October 1920, who headed a group of Indians gathered at Tashkent to set up a communist party of India? [PYQ-2005]
Repost from UPSC Smart Study
Recently, who has become India’s No.1 Women’s Singles Tennis Player?
Repost from UPSC Smart Study
■ World's first inhalable COVID-19 vaccine:
• China launches World's first inhalable COVID-19 vaccine.
• The vaccine is a mist that is sucked in through the mouth.
• The inhalable vaccine has been developed by the Chinese biopharmaceutical company CanSino Biologics Inc.
• It is as an aerosol version of its one-shot adenovirus vaccine.
• It is being offered for free as a booster dose for previously vaccinated individuals.
Repost from UPSC Smart Study
India's first cable stayed cum suspension bridge will be built across which one of the following rivers?
Repost from UPSC Smart Study
📰 Five new varieties to expand India’s Basmati platter:
• Five new varieties of seeds of Basmati rice, developed by a group of scientists led by the Indian Agriculture Research Institute (IARI) Director Dr. Ashok Kumar Singh in 2020 and 2021, are all set to bring revolutionary changes in the way Basmati rice is cultivated in the country.
• Three of the five varieties can resist two common diseases of paddy (one bacterial and one fungal).
• The other two varieties can save 35% of water as the method of Direct Sowing of Rice (DSR) can be used to raise them. These two seeds are resistant to herbicides too, helping the farmers control weeds more efficiently.
• India is known for its Basmati rice, with seven States — Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Punjab, Haryana, Delhi, Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand — earmarked for geographical indication.
• Basmati, known for its mouthfeel, aroma, length of the grain when cooked and taste, has a market abroad and brings about ₹30,000 crore foreign exchange every year.
• Over a period of time, as the area of cultivation increased, traditional varieties become susceptible to two major diseases — bacterial leaf blight (BLB) and blast (leaf and collar) diseases caused by the fungus Magnaporthe oryzae.
• The traditional way of paddy cultivation relied on transplanting the plants into a water-filled field midway through the cycle.
• “Around 3,000 litres of water is required for one kilogram of Basmati rice. This has impacted the groundwater table of States like Punjab and Haryana.
□ What are the advantages?
• It changes the practice of cultivating transplanted variety of paddy to direct sowing of rice (DSR). Water saving is 35% in DSR and the requirement will be 2,000 litres of water for a kilogram of rice.
• The second advantage is that the green house gas emission is reduced by 35% as water is not stagnating in this process.
• Labour cost of transplantation, which is about ₹3,000, is also saved. Overall, saving will be at least ₹4,000 per acre.
• Farmers need not use pesticides and it will decrease the cost of farming by ₹3,000 per acre.
Repost from UPSC Smart Study
🌳 World's largest Jungle safari park coming up in Haryana.
• Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar informed that the World's largest Jungle safari park will be set up in an area of about 10 thousand acres falling in the Aravalli mountain range of Gurugram and Nuh districts of the state.
• “The proposed Aravalli park would be five times more this size and it would include a large herpetarium (a zoological exhibition space for reptiles and amphibians), aviary/bird park, four zones for big cats, a large area for herbivores, an area for exotic animal birds, an underwater world, nature trails, visitors, tourism zones, botanical gardens, biomes, equatorial, tropical, coastal, desert, etc," the government said in the statement.
• The jungle safari project is a joint venture of the Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change and the Haryana Government.
• The project will boost tourism and provide employment to locals.
• Currently, the largest curated park outside Africa is situated in the United Arab Emirates’ Sharjah. The park in Sharjah opened in February 2020 and covers an area of 2,000 acres.
□ What is a Safari Park?
• A safari park is smaller than a game reserve and larger than a zoo.
• It is also known as a wildlife park where people can ride their vehicles to watch freely roaming animals.
• It is a zoo-like commercial that attracts tourists to observe the wildlife on their own or in visitors' vehicles.
Repost from UPSC Smart Study
Which Indian State/Union Territory launches the "Red Light on Gaadi off" campaign again to curb vehicular pollution?
Repost from UPSC Smart Study
■ GM Mustard:
• Recently, the Genetic Engineering Appraisal Committee (GEAC) that functions under the Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change has yet again cleared the proposal for the commercial cultivation of genetically modified (GM) mustard.
• The recommendation will now go for the approval of the Environment Ministry.
• GM Mustard is the first GM food crop that India has permitted for commercial release.
• GM Mustard will be the second GM crop after GM cotton that can be commercially cultivated in the country now.
□ What are Genetically Modified crops (GM Crops)?
• Genetically modified crops are plants used in agriculture, the DNA of which has been modified using genetic engineering methods.
• Genetic engineering aims to transcend the genus barrier by introducing an alien gene in the seeds to get the desired effects.
• The alien gene could be from a plant, an animal or even a soil bacterium.
• Genetic modification of plants involves adding a specific stretch of DNA into the plant’s genome, giving it new or different characteristics. This could include changing the way the plant grows, or making it resistant to a particular disease.
□ What is the legal position of genetically modified crops in India?
• In India, the Genetic Engineering Appraisal Committee (GEAC) is the apex body that approves trials and allows for commercial release of GM crops.
• In 2002, the GEAC had allowed the commercial release of Genetically Modified Bt cotton.
□ What exactly is Hybrid Mustard?
• Hybridisation involves crossing two genetically dissimilar plant varieties that can even be from the same species.
• The first-generation (F1) offspring from such crosses tend to have higher yields than what either parent can individually give.
• Such hybridisation isn’t easy in mustard, as its flowers have both female (pistil) and male (stamen) reproductive organs, making the plants largely self-pollinating.
• Since the eggs of one plant cannot be fertilised by the pollen grains from another, it limits the scope for developing hybrids — unlike in cotton, maize or tomato, where this can be done through simple emasculation or physical removal of anthers.
□ So, how has hybridisation been achieved in mustard?
• By genetic modification (GM). Scientists at Delhi University’s Centre for Genetic Manipulation of Crop Plants (CGMCP) have developed the hybrid mustard DMH-11 containing two alien genes isolated from a soil bacterium called Bacillus amyloliquefaciens.
• The CGMCP scientists have deployed the barnase-barstar GM technology to create what they say is a robust and viable hybridisation system in mustard.
• This system was used to develop DMH-11 by crossing a popular Indian mustard variety ‘Varuna’ (the barnase line) with an East European ‘Early Heera-2’ mutant (barstar).
• DMH-11 is claimed to have shown an average 28% yield increase over Varuna in contained field trials carried out by the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR).
□ What are the criticisms?
• The first is the presence of a third ‘bar’ gene, which makes GM mustard plants tolerant to the spraying of glufosinate ammonium, a chemical used for killing weeds. This, the opponents allege, will cause displacement of manual labour engaged in weeding by promoting use of chemical herbicides.
• The second concern is over GM mustard threatening or undermining the population of honey bees. Mustard flowers are a source of nectar for honey bees and many other pollinator insects.
□ So, will Indian farmers finally plant GM mustard?
• Definitely not this year, since there are no seeds available and the planting season for the crop (October to early-November) is virtually over.
• Also, it remains to be seen if the central government will accept the GEAC’s recommendations.
Repost from UPSC Smart Study
🎾 India’s No. 1 Women’s Singles Tennis Player.
• Karman Kaur Thandi has become India’s No. 1 Women’s Singles Tennis player.
• She is at 217th position in the latest WTA tennis rankings.
Repost from UPSC Smart Study
📰 LCA to be integrated with lighter BrahMos-NG supersonic cruise missile in few years:
• In few years from now, the indigenous Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) Tejas will be able to carry and launch the BrahMos supersonic cruise missile.
• This will be possible once the lighter version of the supersonic cruise missile, BrahMos-NG (next generation), is ready, according to the company officials.
• The current air-launched missile weighs 2.65 tonnes, which will come down to 1.33 tonnes with the NG. With this, a SU-30MKI will be able to carry up to four BrahMos-NG missiles, while the LCA can carry two missiles, the official added.
□ About BrahMos:
• BrahMos is a joint venture between DRDO and Russia’s NPO Mashinostroyeniya and the missile derives its name from Brahmaputra and Moskva rivers.
• The missile is capable of being launched from land, sea, sub-sea and air against surface and sea-based targets and has been long inducted by the Indian armed forces.
• The range of the missile was originally capped at 290 km as per obligations of the Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR). Following India’s entry into the club in June 2016, DRDO officials had stated that the range would be extended to 450 km and to 600 km at a later stage.
Repost from UPSC Smart Study
What is the IUCN status of the Indian Gaur (Indian Bison)?
