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1. Rabindranath Tagore

In News: Nationalism (JNU, NIT Controversy)

! Tagore saw nationalism imposing a kind of harmful uniformity, diluting the vigour of

difference. He had spoken of nationalism as a ‘Bhougolik Apadevata’, a geographical

demon, and his Shantiniketan – temple to exorcise that demon.

! Tagore warned against terrorism in his novel ‘Ghaire Baire’ but his disapproval of

terrorism was more direct and forceful in ‘Char Adhyay’.

!

Tagore was instrumental in resolving Gandhi-Ambedkar dispute on separate electorates.

2. B.R.Ambedkar

In News: (125th

Birth Anniversary, UN celebration)

! 1920 – starts a Marathi weekly ‘Mook Nayak’. In its first issue he claimed that India is a

land of inequality and Hindu society a tower having many stores but without any ladder.

One was to die in the story one was born in.

! 1924 – Starts ‘Bahishkrit Hitakarini Sabha’ for the well being of depressed classes.

! 1926 – nominated to the Bombay Legislative Council.

! At the second Depressed Classes Conference he publicly burned the copies of Manu

Smriti.

! Participated in all the three Round Table Conferences.

! Ambedkar was invited to speak at ‘Jat Pat Todak Samaj’ and, later, the invitation was

cancelled. He got his speech, which he had to deliver at the event, published as a book

‘Annihilation of Caste’.

! Along with Jinnah, Ambedkar celebrated the Day of Deliverance and wrote a book

‘Thoughts on Pakistan’ where he defended the creation of Pakistan.

3. ADIZ (Air Defence Identification Zone)

!

In News: Establishment of ADIZ by China in East China Sea.!

An ADIZ is airspace over land or water in which the identification, location and control

of aircraft is required in the national interest.

! ADIZ extends beyond a country’s airspace to give the country more time to respond to

foreign, and possibly, hostile aircraft.

! The authority to establish and ADIZ is not given by any international treaty, nor is

prohibited by international law, and is not regulated by any international body.

! The first ADIZ was established by the US soon after Worls War II.


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! Usually, such zones do not overlap. But when China established an ADIZ in the East

China Sea, it overlapped with the Japanese ADIZ. Japan, in 2010, had established an

ADIZ which overlapped with that of Taiwan.

4.

Vienna ConventionConvention on Diplomatic Relations

Convention of Consular Relations.

In News: Rape of Nepali maids by Saudi diplomat.

The Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relatuions is an international treaty that defines

framework for diplomatic relations between independent nations. It specifies the privileges of a

diplomatic mission that enable diplomats to perform this function without fear of coercion or

harassment by the host country.

This forms the basis of diplomatic immunity.

Article 9: The Host country, may at any time and for any reason, declare a particular member ofthe diplomatic staff to be Persona Non Grata. The sending state must recall this person, or

otherwise the person may lose his diplomatic immunity.

Article 22: The premises of a diplomatic mission, such as an embassy, are inviolate and must not

be entered by the host country without the permission of the head of the mission.

Article 30 extends this provision to the private residence of the diplomats.

Is this immunity the same for all diplomats?

No. The Vienna Convention classifies diplomats according to their posting in the embassy,consular or international organisations such as the UN. A nation has only one embassy per

foreign country, usually in the capital, but may have multiple consulate offices, generally inlocations where many of its citizens live or visit. Diplomats posted in an embassy get immunity,

along with his or her family members. While diplomats posted in consulates too get immunity, but they can be prosecuted in case of serious crimes, that is, when a warrant is issued. Besides,

their families don’t share that immunity.

Devyani case?

In December 2013, Devyani Khobragade, a deputy consul general at the Indian consulate in

New York, had been arrested and reportedly strip-searched for alleged visa fraud on groundsthat she did not honour the commitment to pay minimum wages as per US rules to her domestic

help. Since she was a diplomat in the consulate, she was governed under the Vienna Conventionon Consular Relations which provided her limited immunity. But the Indian government side-

stepped this rule by transferring Khobragade to the Permanent Mission of India to the UN,which has the status of an embassy. That move gave her full diplomatic immunity as the

Permanent Mission is covered by the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations besides otherUN rules. She was later moved to Ministry of External Affairs in New Delhi. The issue had

escalated into a full-blown diplomatic spat between the US and India, which retaliated bydowngrading privileges of certain category of US diplomats, among other steps.


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5. Ethanol Blending

In News: India to have 5% ethanol blended petrol by Sep, 2016; Dharmendra Pradhan

WHY?

! Ethanol blending reduces GHG emissions. Its because ethanol burns completely and,therefore, there is net reduction in the emission of Green House Gases.

! We are over dependent on imported fuel. This has an impact on our Current AccountDeficit. By blending ethanol, which is locally manufactured, with petrol we’ll end upsaving a lot of money.

! Net reduction in the emission of CO2, CO and HC.

!

India stands to save a huge amount of foreign exchange through the blending programme, provided it gets ethanol at a viable price. There is also an environment

dividend. Unlike in the case of ethanol derived from food crops such as corn, whichcould have an adverse impact on prices, as it happens in the U.S., India’s ethanol

source is sugarcane. It ought to follow the example of Brazil, 51 per cent of whosefuel market is made up by sugar-based ethanol, making it the leading biofuel exporter

and the second biggest producer after the U.S.

Sources of Ethanol:

Ethanol is derived from sugarcane, corn, sorghum.

India is the second largest sugarcane producer in the world. This will help our farmers as well.Farmers will get better price for their yield.

Ethanol is basically manufactured from molasses – byproduct in sugar mills.

Here lies the problem. Sugar mills prefer to send molasses to alcohol manufacturers because itgives them more profit. Thereore, we need a robust policy on this front- incentivise the sugar

mills to manufacture more and more ethanol for Oil Marketing Companies.

National Policy on biofuels (2008)

In the National Policy on Biofuels announced in 2008, the Government of India mandated phased implementation of a programme of ethanol blending with petrol.

Other Uses:

Ethanol is also used in:

Fuel. Antiseptics (hand sanitizers) and cough syrups.

Biodeisel:

! Biodiesel is a renewable, biodegradable fuel manufactured from vegetable


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oils, animal fats.

! Biodiesel causes for less damage than diesel is spilled as released to the

environment.

!

It is less combustible.

! The flash point for diesel is higher than 130

0 C, compared to about

520 C of diesel. Biodiesel is safe to handle, transport and store.

75% of the world’s demand of petroleum based fuel in future is going to come from countrieslike India, China, Brazil - need for shifting to alternate fuel is urgent.

Focus on electric vehicles.

NATIONAL ELECTRIC MOBILITY MISSION PLAN, 2020

- By 2020, 6-7 million units of electric vehicles will be manufactured in India.

-

Emphasis will be on indigenisation of technology – that will also help in make inIndia and job creation

- Dept. of Heavy Industries – responsible for NMEM.

6. LEPROSY

Leprosy is a chronic, progressive bacterial infection caused by the bacterium Mycobacteriumleprae. It primarily affects the nerves of the extremities, the lining of the nose, and the upperrespiratory tract. Leprosy produces skin sores, nerve damage, and muscle weakness. If it isn’t

treated, it can cause severe disfigurement and significant disability.

The main symptoms of leprosy include:

• muscle weakness

• numbness in the hands, arms, feet, and legs

• skin lesions

The skin lesions have decreased sensation to touch, temperature, or pain. They don’t heal after

several weeks and are lighter than your normal skin tone.

Leprosy Causes deformity like clawed finger.

Transmission! Leprosy is transmitted through aerial route via droplets from the nose andmouth during close and frequent contact.

India accounts for more than 60% of the worldwide leprosy

incidents. Leprosy is treated by MDT {Multi – drug Therapy} –

an antibiotic course.


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7. CHIKUNGUNYA

- is a viral disease transmitted to humans by infected mosquitos.

- causes fever and severe joint pain

!

The disease shares some clinical signs with dengue.

! There is no cure for the disease. Treatment is focused on relieving the symptoms.

! The virus is transmitted from human to human by the bites of infected female mosquito

! Primarily occurs in Africa, Asia and the Indian subcontinent.

8 APJ ABDUL KALAM

In News: Died in July, 2015.

Read with Office of ProfitBooks authored by the ‘People’s President’:

! Wings of Fire {An autobiography}

! 2020 – A vision for the New Millennium

! Envisioning an empowered nation

! Ignited Minds

! My Journey

! Developments in Fluid Mechanics and Space Technology

!

The luminous sparks

! The Life tree

! Mission India

! Children Ask Kalam

! Guiding Souls

! Inspiring Thoughts

8. STRATEGIC URANIUM RESERVES

SUR refers to Uranium inventories held by the Govt. of a particular country for the purpose of

providing economic and national security doing an energy crisis.

Why India? To ensure its atomic energy power reactors do not face shortage of the crucialnuclear fuel.

India buys Uranium from Australia, Kazakhstan, Russia, Uzbekistan, France.

India is mostly dependent on the Uranium from Australia. Once we start getting it, we can start

building the reserve. Uranium is a rare commodity, so one should keep piling it whenever it is


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available at a cheaper rate in the international market.

Indian reactors had been “under-performing” as they did not get enough fuel from the outsideworld prior to the historic Indo-US Nuclear Deal due to sanctions.

Nuclear Energy’s contribution to India’s total energy production is 3%. To raise this number,consistent and uninterrupted supply of Uranium is required.

But it is also important that safety – both environmental and human is ensured.

“Growth for the sake of growth is the ideology of the cancer cell”.

KAKRAPAR in Gujarat was shut down after a major Heavy water leak.

used in Nuclear Reactors

where it acts as a

neutron moderator to

slow down fast moving-neutrons

Other examples of moderators – solid Graphite, Beryllium and Beryllium Oxide (very costly).

URANIUM DEPOSISTS IN INDIA – Jharkhand, Andhra Pradesh, Rajasthan, Karnataka,Chhattisgarh, Meghalaya

Three – Stage Nuclear Power Programme

! The first stage is the setting up of Pressurised Heavy Water Reactors (PHWR)

! The second stage of Fast Breeder Reactors (FBR) will be fueled by Plutonium(obtained from the first stage PHWR)

! The third stage uses Thorium for power generation.

9). SPECIAL CATEGORY STATES

First introduced in 1969 when 5th Finance Commission sought to provide certaindisadvantaged states with preferential treatment in the form of tax breaks and centralassistance.

11 Special Category States: Assam, Tripura, Nagaland, Mizoram, Meghalaya, Manipur,

Arunachal Pradesh, Sikkim, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Jammu & Kashmir.


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Power to grant SCS lies with NDC.

Rationale for awarding SCS: -

1) strategic location along borders of neighbouring countries

2) economic and infrastructural backwardness

3) hilly and difficult terrain

4) low population density or sizeable share of tribal population

5) non – viable nature of state finances

How does it help?In Centrally Sponsored Schemes the Union Government favours the SCS 90:10, whereas general

category states get 70:30 (or 65:35).

Planning Commission used to provide funds under Central Assistance category, favouring themover the general category states.

Raghuram Rajan Committee set up by UPA II:This committe recommended MDI.

MULTI – DIMENSIONAL INDEX

Characterizes backwardness on monthly per capita consumption, female literacy, financialinclusion, household amenities, connectivity....MDI classified states as :

Least Developed (above 0.6 out of 1) Less Developed (0.4 to 0.6 out of 1)

Relatively Developed (less then 0.4 out of 1) Odhisha was declared as the least developed state

while Goa was declared as the relatively developed state on MDI scale.This report was not

accepted. Dilution: With the replacement of Planning Commission with the NITI Aayog, and

the fact that NITI Aayog does not have the powers of the erstwhile Planning Commission the

status of SCS has got diluted. Further, the 14th

Finance Commission did not talk about special

and general category states in its report. This has led to the dilution in the status of SGS


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Current Affairs Notes: BYJU’S Classes PH. No.-9980837187


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