15 JULY 2023

Topic 1: Namda Art

Context: Skill India project successfully revives the dying Namda Art of Jammu and Kashmir

About the Art:

• Namada is said to have begun in the 16th century when Mughal Emperor Akbar wanted to get a covering for his horses to protect them from the cold.
• The term Namda is derived from Nubi, the name of the person who came up with the idea of felted woollen carpets.
• It is believed that a Sufi saint named Shah-e-Hamdan introduced Kashmiris to the Namda art.
• Namda carpets and rugs are created by felting wool.
  • Wool is spread in a thick layer over a mat, then soap water in sprinkled on it, following which the layer may be pressed using a tool called pinjra.
  • This is followed by rolling the mat and tying it with a rope and compressing by rolling it on the floor using the hands and feet.
  • Then, the rope is untied and the mat is unrolled.
• Namda has been practiced by the Pinjara and Mansuri communities and Sama Muslims in Kachchh.
• Today, Namda is an endangered craft of Kashmir which requires efforts for its revival.
  • One such initiative is the introduction of a machine rolling process that uses a blend of silk and wool fibres.
  • Another initiative for the revival of Namda is the brand Incredible Kashmir Craft.

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Topic 2: Maputo Protocol

Context: There has been some progress on gender equality in African countries due to the Maputo Protocol, but it has been uneven, according to a new report.

Key details:

• It is also known as the Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa.
• It is an international human rights instrument established by the African Union that went into effect in 2005.
• It guarantees comprehensive rights to women including:
  • the right to take part in the political process,
  • to social and political equality with men,
  • improved autonomy in their reproductive health decisions, and
  • an end to female genital mutilation.
• It was adopted by the African Union in Maputo, Mozambique, in 2003 in the form of a protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights (adopted in 1981, enacted in 1986).
• The Protocol is considered one of the world’s most progressive legal frameworks for women’s rights.

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Topic 3: Aspartame

Context: Artificial sweetener aspartame has been labelled “possibly carcinogenic to humans”, according to the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC).

About Aspartame:

• Aspartame is a low-calorie artificial sweetener that is approximately 200 times sweeter than sugar.
• It is a white, odourless powder and is used in more than 5,000 food products globally.
• Aspartame is a non-nutritive sweetener, meaning it contains an extremely tiny or zero amount of carbohydrates
• Health effects:
  • A number of studies have found correlations between artificial sweeteners and various health issues, such as migraines, depression, heart disease, cognitive, behavioral and developmental issues, and the development of dementia, diabetes and cancer.

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Topic 4: How Electric vehicle tires cause pollution

Context: Due to their bigger batteries, EVs tend to be significantly heavier than their internal combustion engine counterparts, which burdens the tires of the vehicle.

How tires cause pollution?

• EVs also tend to have more torque than combustion engines, which their tires need to be able to transfer to the road within seconds.
• Tires wear down over time — with every revolution, they shed tiny particles.
• The smallest of these pieces go into the air where they can be inhaled or drift off the road to settle on the soil nearby.
• A recent study confirms that tire particulate pollution has significantly surpassed tailpipe emissions.
• A single car sheds 4 kilograms (8.8 pounds) of tire particles weight per year, on average.
• Multiplied across the global fleet that equates to 6 million tons of tire particles annually.
• Every year the amount coming from the tailpipe gets lower and lower, and the amount coming from tires is growing because vehicles are getting heavier.

Environmental hazard

• Polluting the water resources:
  • The particulate itself washes into waterways and has been found to be a significant source of oceanic microplastics.
  • Tires contain volatile organic compounds (VOCs), which are hazardous to human health, and react in the atmosphere to create smog.
• Toxic chemical:
  • A particularly concerning chemical in tires is 6PPD, which is used to prevent the rubber from cracking or breaking down.
  • 6PPD is also water-soluble, so it is carried off of roads by rain and washed into rivers and oceans where it has been linked to mass salmon and trout die-offs.
  • 6PPD is absorbed by edible plants like lettuce and that the compound can be found in human urine.

Solution:

• Less cars:
  • The obvious solution is to be driving and selling fewer cars as that would reduce tire emissions.
• More investment in tires:
  • To create a market mechanism where it’s in the interest of the tire companies to invest a lot and come up with the best formulations.
  • Currently there is a two to three times difference between certain tires in terms of VOC toxicity.
• Individual responsibility:
  • On an individual level, avoiding rapid accelerations and immediate stops can reduce tire wear.
  • It’s also advisable to use tires to the end of their lifespan because new tires shed twice as much particulate during their first couple thousand kilometers.

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Topic 5: Person in News: Nawab Wajid Ali Shah

Context: An exhibition in Kolkata will mark the bicentenary year of Nawab Wajid Ali Shah, the last king of Awadh.

About the Nawab:

• Mirza Wajid Ali Shah was the eleventh and last King of Awadh from 1847 to 1856.
• Wajid Ali Shah’s first wife was Alam Ara who was better known as Khas Mahal.
• His second wife, Muhammadi Khanum, better known as the Begum Hazrat Mahal, rose against the British East India Company during the Indian Rebellion of 1857 as the regent of Awadh.
• His kingdom, long protected by the East India Company (EIC) under a treaty, was annexed by the EIC in 1856.
• He was a poet, playwright, dancer and great patron of the arts.
• He introduced Kathak, a major form of classical Indian dance as a court dance after the decline of Mughals.
• He started building the Qaiser bagh palace complex. Important buildings under the complex were:
  • The inner court yard of Qaiserbagh, with its lawns was called Jilo Khana.
  • In the centre was a Baradari flanked by two mermaid gates ( Lakkhigate ) at eastern and western ends.
  • Chandiwali Baradari was paved with sliver and the khas muqam and Badshah manzil, which used to be the special residence of the king.
  • A large group of buildings termed as chaulakkhi kothi, built by Azimutla Khan, which was later sold to the king.
  • The Roshan-ud-daula kothi, built by Nasir-ud-din-Haider’s Wazir, later confiscated by Wajid Ali Shah and renamed as ‘Qaiser Pasand’.

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Topic 6: Three pillars of India and France relationship

Context: India and France agreed on a slew of new initiatives and agreements.

Key details:

• The roadmap for bilateral relations has three pillars:
  • partnership for security and sovereignty;
  • partnership for the planet;
  • partnership for the people.

Partnership for security, sovereignty

• Defence:
  • Delivery of the 36 Rafale jets for the IAF and the success of the P75 programme (six Scorpene submarines).
• Space:
  • Scientific and commercial partnership is being enhanced through several agreements between France’s CNES and India’s ISRO.
    • reusable launchers;
    • finalization of the joint Earth observation satellite, TRISHNA;
    • the first phase of the constellation of maritime surveillance satellites in the Indian Ocean; and
    • the protection of Indo-French satellites in orbit against the risk of collision.
• Civil nuclear energy:
  • Both sides welcomed progress on the 6-EPR power plant project in Jaitapur.
  • They decided to launch a cooperation programme on small modular reactors and advanced modular reactors.
• Indo-Pacific:
  • Adoption of a roadmap for joint actions in the Indo-Pacific, covering all aspects of our comprehensive strategy for the region.
  • Work on finalising an Indo-French development fund for third countries, which will enable joint financing of sustainable development projects in the Indo-Pacific region.
• Counter-terrorism:
  • Strengthening of cooperation between France’s GIGN and India’s National Security Guard.
• Critical technology:
  • Strengthening of cooperation on cutting-edge digital technology, particularly on supercomputing, cloud computing, artificial intelligence, and quantum computing.
• Civil aviation:
  • Signing of pacts in civil aviation, towards supporting the expansion of routes between France and India.

Partnership for the planet

• Plastic pollution:
  • Commitment for the adoption of an international treaty to end plastic pollution throughout the entire life cycle of plastic products.
• Health:
  • Signing of a Letter of Intent on health and medicine, to structure cooperation in hospitals, medical research, digital technology, biotechnology, public health and combating micro-bacterial resistance as part of the One Health approach

Partnership for people

• Student mobility:
  • New target of welcoming 30,000 Indian students in France by 2030.
  • Issuance of a 5-year short-stay Schengen visa for Indian students with a Master’s degree who have studied at a university in France.
• Diplomacy:
  • Opening of a Consulate General of India in Marseille and a Bureau de France in Hyderabad announced.
• Research:
  • France and India will increase funding of the Indo-French Centre for the Promotion of Advanced Research (IFCPAR/CEFIPRA) in order to fund new projects together.
• Sports:
  • Signing of a Letter of Intent to structure cooperation in this field, particularly in view of major upcoming sporting events.
• Civil society:
  • Objective of doubling the number of solidarity and civic service international volunteers in India and France by 2025.

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Topic 7: Death of cheetah

Context: After another cheetah death at Kuno, officials looking into ‘satellite collars’ as possible cause.

Key details:

• Total eight cheetahs died this year in the Kuno National Park since they were relocated to India from South Africa.
• Possible causes:
  • Wounds on the neck and back.
  • Internal weakness
  • Traumatic shock
  • Degradation of internal organs
  • Possible infection due to wrapping of satellite collars around the Cheetah’s neck.

Kuno Palpur Forest ReserveLocated in the Chambal region of Madhya Pradesh, the Kuno-Palpur National Park is spread over an area of 750 square kilometres.It currently has leopards, jackals, spotted deer, sambhar, neelgai, chinkara, wild boar and the four-horned antelope, a prey base ideal for felids.The sanctuary was also chosen for the lion reintroduction project in 2013.Kuno Palpur, therefore, was well on its way to become the only wildlife sanctuary in the world to host all four major cat species—lion, tiger, cheetah and leopard. About satellite collaring:Satellite collaring is also known as Radio-collars.These are GPS-enabled collars that  can be fitted around the neck of animals.They relay information about an animal’s whereabouts.GPS information from the collar helps track and study the movement patterns of the animals, across regions and habitats. This would help in understanding what is driving the conflict.The collars serve as an early warning system.

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Topic 8: African Union

Context: India’s proposal to include the African Union as a full member of the G20 has been

About AU:

• The African Union (AU) is a continental union consisting of 55 member states.
• The bloc was founded in 2001 in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia and launched in 2002 in Durban, South Africa.
• Aim:
  • To replace the Organization of African Unity (OAU).
• Decision making:
  • The most important decisions of the AU are made by the Assembly of the African Union, a semi-annual meeting of the heads of state and government of its member states.
• Secretariat:
  • The AU’s secretariat, the African Union Commission, is based in Addis Ababa.
• The African Union is made up of both political and administrative bodies.
  • The highest decision-making organ is the Assembly of the African Union, made up of all the heads of state or government of member states of the AU.
  • The AU also has a representative body, the Pan-African Parliament.

India Africa Union Relations:

• India undertook two initiatives in association with the AU:
  • The Pan African E network Project (PANEP) was implemented in 47 African countries and ran successfully for a decade beginning in 2009.
    • The PANEP supported capacity building in education and medicine in Africa and contributed to decision-making capacity within the AUC itself.
  • India-Africa Forum Summit (IAFS)
    • The India-AU partnership became vibrant and robust leading to the first India Africa Forum Summit (IAFS) in 2008.
    • The IAFS is held every three years.
    • The Summit adopted the Delhi Declaration and the Africa-India Framework for Cooperation, which constituted the blueprint for cooperation between India and Africa in the 21st century.
  • India announced unilateral duty-free and preferential market access for exports from all Least Developed Countries, 34 of which are in Africa.