31 MARCH 2023

Topic 1: Rajasthan Day

Context: Festivities celebrating Rajasthan Day are undergoing across the state which marks the date of the state’s creation, unifying a motley group of princely states and chiefships.

Key details:

• At the time of Independence, Rajasthan was almost wholly contained in the Rajputana Agency, a political office of the British Indian Empire.
• It consisted of 22 princely states and estates.
• Less than 22 months after Independence, all 22 had assimilated to form India’s largest state.
• Modifications were made to the boundaries after the State Reorganisation Act (1956), giving Rajasthan its present shape.

Integration of Rajasthan in various stages:

• The question of princely states
  • The outgoing British administration handed over only 60 per cent of India’s land to the Indian government.
  • The rest was in the hands of rulers of 565 princely states.
  • The ruler of every princely state had three options:
    • join India,
    • join Pakistan or
    • remain independent.
  • Thus, the States Ministry, headed by Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel with VP Menon as secretary, was launched with the task of merging princely states into the Indian Union.
• The Rajputana Agency
  • The Rajputana Agency spanned roughly 330,330 sq. km, with an agent under the Governor General in charge, residing at Mount Abu.
  • All the princely states and estates in the agency (22 in total) were ruled by Hindu rulers with the exception of Tonk (which had a Muslim ruler).
  • Most rulers were Rajput with the exception being Bharatpur and Dholpur which had Jat rulers.
  • Since they largely remained loyal to the British during the revolt of 1857, there were no major administrative changes made in these areas during British rule.
  • After independence, these states were slowly integrated into the Indian Union, in stages.
• The Matsya Union
  • The States Ministry believed that four princely states – Alwar, Bharatpur, Dholpur and Karauli at the eastern edge of the erstwhile Rajputana Agency had natural, racial and economic affinities with each other.
  • Thus, the Matsya Union was inaugurated on March 18, 1948.

• The Rajasthan Union in south-east Rajputana
  • Almost parallelly, the idea of the state of Rajasthan began to take shape in the south-east of the erstwhile Rajputana Agency.
  • Ten princely states, with Udaipur (also known as Mewar) being the largest, wanted to form a union.
  • An idea to merge these into Madhya Bharat (roughly today’s Madhya Pradesh) was also floated, but that did not go through.
  • Another idea to merge these states into the much larger Udaipur was proposed by the Maharana of Udaipur, Bhupal Singh Bahadur.
  • However, this was not agreeable to the other princely states.
  • Hence, on March 25, 1948, the nine other states came together to form the Rajasthan Union.
  • Udaipur decided to join this union.
  • After renewed discussions, the second Rajasthan Union was inaugurated by PM Jawaharlal Nehru on April 18, 1948.
• Greater Rajasthan
  • While the Matsya Union and the Rajasthan Union accounted for much of the east and south-east of the erstwhile Agency, the four largest princely states – Jaipur, Jodhpur, Bikaner and Jaisalmer still remained independent.
    • The latter three also shared a border with Pakistan, making their swift integration into the Indian Union even more important.
  • VP Menon suggested that these three, in addition to the other border state of Kutch (currently in Northern Gujarat), should be unified and put under the direct rule of the Centre.
    • However, this move did not receive many backers.
  • The alternative, backed by Patel, was to merge all four states into the newly formed Rajasthan Union.
  • Greater Rajasthan was officially inaugurated by Patel on March 30, 1949 the date still celebrated as Rajasthan Day.
  • The capital of the new Union was picked as Jaipur with the 36-year-old Maharaja of Jaipur, Sawai Man Singh II, selected as the Rajpramukh.
  • On May 15, 1949, the Matsya Union merged with Greater Rajasthan to create a single, unified state of Rajasthan.
• Modifications made by the State Reorganisation Commission
  • The State Reorganisation Commission (SRC) formed in 1953 to recommendnew state boundaries to the government brought some minor changes for Rajasthan:
    • Ajmer had continued to exist as a small, independent “Class C” state (under direct control of the Centre) which was integrated into Rajasthan as a district.
    • Also integrated was the Abu Road Taluk which was sliced and included in the Bombay State in 1950.
    • Finally, the enclave of Sunel in Rajasthan’s south eastern edge was received from Madhya Pradesh in exchange for the enclave of Sironj, due to administrative reasons.

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Topic 2: Rare diseases

Context: All drugs and food for special medical purposes, imported for personal use for the treatment of all rare diseases listed under the National Policy for Rare Diseases 2021, have been exempted from basic customs duty by the central government.

The new duty exemption

• The exemption has been granted by the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC).
• It has been granted by substituting “Drugs, Medicines or Food for Special Medical Purposes (FSMP)” instead of “drugs or medicines”.
• Now, in order to avail of this exemption, the individual importer has to produce a certificate from the central or state director health services or district medical officer/civil surgeon of the district.
• Exemptions have already been provided to specified drugs for treatment of spinal muscular atrophy or duchenne muscular dystrophy.
• Need for exemption:
  • Drugs or special foods required for the treatment of these diseases are expensive and need to be imported.
  • This exemption will result in substantial cost savings and provide much needed relief to the patients.
• What is the tax on life-saving drugs and medicines?
  • Drugs/medicines generally attract basic customs duty of 10 per cent, while some categories of lifesaving drugs/vaccines attract a concessional rate of 5 per cent or nil.

What is a Rare Disease?

• A rare disease is a health condition of low prevalence that affects a small number of
  people compared with other prevalent diseases in the general population.
• It is estimated that globally around 6000 to 8000 rare diseases exist with new rare diseases
  being reported in the medical literature regularly.
• However, 80% of all rare disease patients are affected by approximately 350 rare diseases.
• Rare diseases include genetic diseases, rare cancers, infectious tropical diseases and
  degenerative diseases.
• 80% of rare diseases are genetic in origin and hence disproportionately impact children.
• There is no universally accepted definition of a rare disease.
• Different countries define rare diseases differently.

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Topic 3: Western Disturbance

Context: Northwest India has seen multiple spells of rainfall due to western disturbances.

Key details:

• Which states have experienced rainfall?
  • Out of the 10 States and Union Territories of northwest India, six have recorded a large excess in rainfall so far this month, including Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan and Chandigarh.

• What are western disturbances?
  • A western disturbance is an extratropical cyclone that originates in the Mediterranean region and provides heavy winter rain to the Indian subcontinent’s northern regions. 
  • A Western Disturbance is defined by as a low-pressure depression or trough over the surface or upper-air in the westerly winds regime north of 20 degrees north, causing pressure, wind pattern, and temperature fields to fluctuate.
• How is it formed and travel through Indian subcontinent?
  • Cloudiness, with or without precipitation, is present.
  • Low pressure usually forms over the Mediterranean Sea and moves across Iran, Iraq, Afghanistan, and Pakistan before arriving in India, where it is filled with moisture.
  • These moisture-laden western disturbances finally collide with the Himalayas and become blocked.
  • As a result, moisture is trapped, and precipitation is distributed across Northwest India and occasionally other portions of North India in the form of snow and rain.
  • During the winter season, an average of 4-5 western disturbances emerge.
• Why is it called Western Disturbance?
  • The term ‘Western’ alludes to the direction they came from in India.
  • Because the air in low-pressure systems is unstable or disturbed, the term “disturbance” is used.
  • It was coined by Indian meteorologists to describe systems moving from west to east.
• How do Western Disturbances Affect Weather?
  • Most winter and pre-monsoon season rainfall in North-West India is due to Western Disturbances.
  • Cloudy skies, warmer night temperatures, and unexpected rain are frequently linked with this event.
  • Western disturbances are thought to account for around 5-10% of India’s total yearly rainfall.
  • In the winter, western winds bring moderate to heavy rain to low-lying areas and heavy snow to the Indian subcontinent’s mountainous regions.
  • Rain during the winter season is critical for rabi crops such as wheat, barley, mustard, gram, lentil, etc., one of India’s most important crops.
  • Crop failure and water shortages are linked to weak western disturbances in north India.
  • Farmers can benefit from strong western disturbances as it helps with water scarcity.

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Topic 4: PAHCHAN cards

Context: Ministry of Textiles issued PAHCHAN cards to 30.53 lakhs handicrafts artisans and 30.90 lakhs handloom weavers across the country

Key details:

• Pehchan’ card is launched by Textile Ministry to register and provide identity cards to handicraft artisans and link them to a national database.
• PAHCHAN scheme was launched in 2016 to provide new universal identity to handicrafts artisans so that the benefits of various schemes of Government of India can reach them.
• Features:
  • All Insured Persons will be issued with two magnetic cards, one for the Insured persons and the other for family members
  • A central database will be created with their demographic and biometric details. 
  • They can avail treatment in any Employees’ State Insurance (ESI) Hospital or dispensary across India. 
  • It will enable the artisans to avail easy loans at a four percent interest rate.
  •  They will get 1200 per year for their children studying between Class IX and Class XII.

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Topic 5: Piezoelectric effect

Context: For the first time, scientists have reported evidence of the piezoelectric effect in liquids.

Key details:

• The effect has been known for 143 years and in this time has been observed only in solids.
• The effect was found in ionic liquids (liquids which are made of ions instead of molecules) at room temperature.

What is Piezoelectricity?

• Piezoelectricity is the electric charge that accumulates in certain solid materials such as crystals, ceramics, and biological matter such as bone, DNA, and various proteins in response to applied mechanical stress.
• The word piezoelectricity means electricity resulting from pressure and latent heat.

What is the piezoelectric effect?

• In the piezoelectric effect, a body develops an electric current when it is squeezed.
• Quartz is the most famous piezoelectric crystal.
  • It is used in analog wristwatches and clocks.
  • Such crystals are also used in other instruments where converting mechanical stress to a current is useful.
  • Quartz is silicon dioxide (SiO2).
  • The quartz crystal consists of silicon and oxygen atoms at the four vertices of a three-sided pyramid.
  • Each oxygen atom is shared by two pyramids.
  • These pyramids repeat themselves to form the crystal.
  • The effective charge of each pyramid is located slightly away from the centre.
  • When a mechanical stress is applied, that is when the crystal is squeezed, the position of the charge is pushed further from the centre, giving rise to a small voltage.

Hooke’s law:

• Physicists explain the effect using a combination of Hooke’s law — that the force required to squeeze an object is linearly (i.e. non-exponentially) proportional to the amount of squeezing — and the properties of dielectric materials.
• These are materials that don’t conduct electricity but whose electrons are still mildly affected by an electric field.
• Hooke’s law is not clear when the body isn’t very compressible.

Possible new applications

• The discovery opens the door to applications which are more readily recyclable and in many instances pose fewer environmental issues than many currently used piezoelectric materials.
• The liquids also displayed the inverse piezoelectric effect – they became distorted when an electric charge was applied.
• Having a theory to explain the liquids’ behaviour could reveal why these liquids behave the way they do, which in turn could reveal better ways to develop newer applications.

Advantages

• No external power sourcerequired:
  • Due to their ability to produce a voltage when acted upon by a force, piezo materials require no external power source.
• Easy installation:
  • With small dimensions, they’re a great fit and easily installed in high-density electronic devices.
• Responsiveness to high-frequencies:
  • Compared to other devices, piezo materials have a substantially higher frequency response which makes them wonderfully responsive in even the most demanding situations.
• Highly flexible materials:
  • Most piezo materials can be constructed in a wide variety of shapes and sizes, so they’re highly useful across various applications and fields.
     

Limitations:

• Small amount of electric charge:
  • Though they’re self-generating, piezo materials produce fairly small electric charges, which means a high impedance cable is required to connect them to an electrical interface.
• Environmental conditions affect performance:
  • Piezo materials are affected by temperature and changes in humidity.
  • While in the static condition, they can’t measure output.
• Output is relatively low:
  • While some piezo materials produce more output than others, they’re all relatively low.
  • For their use to be optimized, an external circuit will often be required.

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Topic 6: Sarbat Khalsa

Context: In a video statement issued from hiding, the head of Waris Punjab De, has asked Akal Takht Jathedar to call the Sarbat Khalsa on Baisakhi Day.

Key details:

• The word sarbat means ‘all’, and literally, the Sarbat Khalsa is an assembly of all factions of Sikhs (Khalsa).
• The idea of a deliberative assembly of Sikhs dates back to the 18th century.
• Following the death of the tenth Guru, Guru Gobind Singh, the Sikh misls (military units) began to convene the Sarbat Khalsa to discuss political, social, and religious issues of great importance to the community.
• These gatherings were called twice a year on the occasion of Baisakhi and Diwali.
• It had the power to issue directions to all Sikhs.
• The Sarbat Khalsa was first institution of Sikhs that took shape after the tradition of Guru in human form came to end, and turned out to be very effective amid the internal conflicts among the misls.
• Despite their fierce sense of independence, all the Sikh misls sat together at the Sarbat Khalsa without any conflict.

Fading of the practice

• The establishment of the Sikh kingdom by Maharaja Ranjit Singh in 1799 ended the era of the Sikh misls, and also the primary need for the institution of the Sarbat Khalsa.
• This was also the beginning of a period in which Sikhs experienced independence for the first time, which solved most of their issues.
• In the 20th century, the formation of the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) further reduced the need for an institution like the Sarbat Khalsa.

When the Sarbat Khalsa was convened in the recent century?

• In 1920, the Sarbat Khalsa was called to discuss control over gurdwaras and subsequently, the SGPC was born.
• After the Army action at the Golden Temple in 1984, some organiserscalled the Sarbat Khalsa.
  • But prominent Sikh bodies including the SGPC were not part of the call.
• One of the most important of these gatherings was called on January 26, 1986, when radical Sikhs sought to discuss kar sewa at the Akal Takht, which had been damaged in Operation Bluestar.
  • A panthic committee that was formed to decide on the future of the Sikh struggle later that year, gave a call for Khalistan.
  • Operation Blue Star was an Indian Armed Forces operation in 1984 to remove Damdami Taksal leader Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale and his followers from the Golden Temple, the holiest site of Sikhism, in Amritsar, Punjab.
• More recently, Sikh bodies opposed to the Shiromani Akali Dal (Badal) called the Sarbat Khalsa in 2015.
• Resolutions were passed to remove Jathedars of the Akal Takht, Takht Damdama Sahib, and Takht Kesgarh Sahib, and to appoint other, parallel Jathedars.

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Topic 7: The Quality Control Orders for fibres

Context: Quality Control Orders (QCO) have been issued for fibres — cotton, polyester and viscose — that constitute the basic raw materials for majority of the Indian textile and clothing industry.

Key details:

• While the standards were available earlier too, these are now revised and made mandatory for a few, and yet to be finalised for others.
• International manufacturers of these fibres, who supply to India, are also mandated to get a certificate from the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS), which is the certifying authority for the QCOs.
  • The Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) is the National Standards Body of India under Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food & Public Distribution.
  • It is established by the Bureau of Indian Standards Act, 2016.

• The Indian textile and clothing industry consumes both indigenous and imported fibres and filaments.
• The imports are for different reasons:
  • cost competitiveness,
  • non-availability in the domestic market, or
  • to meet a specified demand of the overseas buyer.
• Aim of QCO:
  • The main aim of the QCO is to control import of sub-quality and cheaper items and to ensure that customers get quality products.

Challenges:

• India imports annually 50,000 – 60,000 tonnes of viscose fibre and its variants.
• Getting the certificate from the BIS involves a cost and and hence not all are interested in getting the certificate.
• The Indian textile manufacturers who are dependent on these suppliers for the raw material will have to either look at other suppliers or lose orders.
• BIS officials have to visit the manufacturing unit abroad before issuing the certificate and this process is yet to be completed for all suppliers who have applied for the BIS registration.
• There is no clarity on the fibres that were shipped before the certification and which will reach India in the coming days.
• The textile buyers, be it domestic or international, have established a supply chain over the years and when there are constraints because of certification, the value chain is disrupted.

Way forward

• Be it viscose or polyester, some varieties of the fibre have special functional properties and separate HS (Harmonised Commodity Description and Coding System) code when imported.
• But, these are bundled in the QCO and thus have uniform quality standards.
• The textile industry imports just small quantities of such fibres and restricting its availability will deny Indian consumers of niche products.
• Several textile units use lower grade fibres that are generated from rejects and wastes and these are not covered under the QCO.
• There is also a fear of costs going up for basic garments.
• Polyester spun yarn mills in the MSME sector need capital support to set up labs to test products.
• The QCO should be implemented only after the ambiguities are cleared and the anomalies set right.

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Topic 8: Vaikom Satyagraha

Context: Tamil Nadu Chief Minister announced in the Assembly that his government was planning year-long events to commemorate the Vaikom Satyagraha that was launched to end caste discrimination in a local temple a century ago.

About Vaikom Satyagraha:

• The Vaikom Satyagraha of 1924 was a movement in Travancore (now part of Kerala) against untouchability in Hindu society.
• The movement was centered at the Shiva temple at Vaikom.
• It was a movement for temple entry of the depressed classes.
• Persons associated with Vaikom Satyagraha:
  • Kunjappy,
  • Venniyll Govinda Panicker,
  • Bahuleyan TK Madhavan
  • KP Kesava Menon
  • Periyar E.V Ramaswamy
    • He is popularly known as the only Satyagrahi who was arrested twice, thus earning him the title of Vaikom Virar (the fearless hero of Vaikom)
  • Sree Narayana Guru
  • Meenakshi Amma,
  • Narayani Amma,
  • Nagammai Amma,
  • Thirumalai Amma
  • Mahatma Gandhi
    • In 1925, Gandhiji wrote to W. H. Pitt, then Police Commissioner of Travancore to resolve the ongoing matter.
    • Thus, Pitt intervened and a settlement was signed between Government and Gandhiji.
    • In 1925, the Government agreed to nullify the prohibitory orders passed in and Gandhiji gave his consent to withdraw the Satyagraha.
• The Akali society of Punjab also extended their support to the Vaikom Satyagraha and set up a kitchen to provide food to the satyagrahis.
• Significance:
  • The Vaikom Satyagraha proclaimed its significance almost a decade later when in 1936, the historic Temple Entry Proclamation was passed.
    • It lifted the ban on the entry of marginalized depressed castes into the temples of Travancore.
  • It embarked on the beginning of a temple entry movement that not only gained prominence nationwide but also all over the globe continues and is remembered till today.

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Topic 9: Gamosa

Context: A newly formed Bangla Sahitya Sabha Assam (BSSA) used a hybrid creation, an Assamese gamosa and a Bengali gamcha, each cut in half and sewn together to felicitate guests at a function which created controversy.

About Gamusa/Gamosa:

• The word ‘Gamusa’ originated from the Sanskrit word “Gatro Marjuni,” which translates to a cloth to wipe the body.’
• It is a white rectangular piece of cloth with embroidered red borders.
• It is rectangular in shape and around 2 feet in width and 4 feet in height.
• While most Gamosas are made of cotton, few utilized on special occasions are made from Silk too
• There are nine types of Gamosas used for different occasions. They are:
  • Uka Gamosa,
  • Phulam Gamosa,
  • Bihuwan Gamosa,
  • Tiyoni Gamosa,
  • Pani Gamosa,
  • Anakota Gamosa,
  • Telosh Gamusa,
  • Jor Gamosa and
  • Xadharon Gamosa

• The traditional red border of the Gamusa is called the “anchu” and is believed to be representing the Ahom rule and their strength.
• During the Ahom King Syo-Kha-Pha’s rule, this unique piece of cloth was worn by men as headgear.