In news

• The government’s committee on the MSP (minimum support price), natural farming and crop diversification has recently held its first meeting.
• Three internal sub-groups were established to discuss the subjects under discussion.

About the Meeting

• The committee decided to form four sub-groups or committees on four mandated topics namely MSP, Zero Budget Natural Farming, Micro Irrigation and Crop Diversification.
• Objectives of the Committee
  • To offer advice on "pragmatic ways to increase the autonomy of the Commission on Agricultural Costs and Prices (CACP) and steps to make it more scientific."
  • Strengthen the agricultural marketing system in accordance with the evolving needs to ensure better value to the farmers through remunerative prices of their produce by utilising the domestic and international opportunities.

• Recommendations made:
  • A methodical rollout of a farmer-friendly alternative certification and marketing system for organic farming practices and goods was made.
  • To promote the value-chain growth of natural farming, suggestions were made for the establishment of a network of laboratories for international coordination of techniques and organic certification of the products produced.
• Concerns raised in the meeting
  • Only 6% of the farmers are getting the benefits of the present system of MSP, while 94% are deprived of it.
  • Agricultural holding of 86% of the farmer of the country is less than two acres, whose condition can be considered for strengthening through Agricultural Producer Organizations (FPOs) or cooperatives.

About Agro-climatic regions

• In 1989, the planning commission developed the concept of agro-climatic areas. The land, soil, and agricultural surveys of rural India served as its foundation.
• In terms of main climates, an "agro-climatic zone" is a land area that is ideal for a particular variety of crops and cultivars.

• Planning seeks to manage local resources scientifically so that food, fibre, fodder, and fuel wood needs are met without jeopardising the state of the environment and natural resources.
• The key components of agro-climatic conditions include soil types, rainfall, temperature, and water availability, all of which have an impact on the varieties of plants

Content Source link: 

• https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/committee-on-msp-holds-broad-discussion-on-key-issues-in-first-meeting-but-skm-skips/article65797166.ece/amp/,
• https://www.business-standard.com/article/current-affairs/committee-on-msp-sets-up-four-sub-groups-to-discuss-key-issues-122082200951_1.html, 

Image Link:

• https://www.researchgate.net/figure/Examples-of-crop-diversification-and-potential-benefits_tbl1_341932414 

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In news

• To assist seafarers from Iran and India in accordance with the International Convention on Standards of Training, Certification, and Watch Keeping for Seafarers (1978), Iran and India have recently signed a memorandum of understanding on the "recognition of certificate of competency in unlimited trips".

India-Iran Relations

Background:

• Since the era of the Indian kingdoms and the Persian Empire, Iran and India have had deep cultural links.
• Iran is a significant neighbour of India; in fact, the two countries had a common border prior to the partition and independence of India in 1947.
• The two nations' common vision for an "equitable, pluralistic, and cooperative international order" was reaffirmed in the "Tehran Declaration," which was signed during former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee's visit to Iran.
• It acknowledged the idea of a "conversation among civilizations," advanced by the then-president of Iran, Mohammad Khatami, as a model for international relations based on tolerance, pluralism, and respect for difference.

Significance of India-Iran Ties:

• Geographical Location:
  • Iran is situated in a strategically significant region, sandwiched between the Caspian Sea and the Persian Gulf.
• Provides an alternate route:
  • Iran is significant to India because it offers a different means of communication to Afghanistan and the Central Asian republics through the Chabahar Port, bypassing the land route through Pakistan.

• Crude Oil Market:
  • Iran has some of the world's greatest reserves of natural gas and crude oil.
  • India may seriously contemplate resuming its Iranian oil purchases. If India reverses course and starts importing Iranian oil again, it might inspire some other nations to do the same and expand the supply of oil on the market, which could eventually drive down the price of crude oil.
• Reviving the IOI Pipeline:
  • The Iran-Oman-India gas pipeline (IOI) is another large-scale endeavour that has been stalled for a considerable amount of time.
  • An agreement was reached between Iran and Oman to build two gas pipelines and an oil field along their maritime boundaries.

• If successful, the pipeline may be extended to India, which would help make up for the loss of the abandoned Iran-Pakistan-India (IPI) pipeline and make it easier to supply natural gas to India.

What lies ahead?

• India and Iran may thus accomplish a lot by working together.
  • India's muscular diplomacy, which emphasises standing up for its friends and neighbours while putting only its own national interests first, is a welcome shift.
• There is a significant possibility for cooperation between these two great countries and civilizations if India can extend the same vision to its engagement with Iran. Therefore, the time is right for a restart.

Content Source link: 

• https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/sonowal-meets-iran-vp-commits-to-boost-ties/articleshow/93718046.cms, https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/india-iran-sign-mou-for-smooth-movement-of-seafarers-between-both-countries/article65798154.ece,

Image Source Link:

• https://www.cbnme.com/analysis/an-alternate-route-chabahar-port-for-india/
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/India%E2%80%93Iran_relations,
• https://www.tasnimnews.com/en/news/2017/02/22/1336065/construction-of-iran-oman-india-pipeline-imminent-sage

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In News:

Recent studies have provided new evidence that suggests that giant asteroid impacts have created the Continents

About the News:

• In the research recently conducted by Curtin University, evidence has been found to corroborate the formation of continents on Earth.
• New research has uncovered the strongest evidence yet that Earth’s continents were formed by giant meteorite impacts, which were especially common during the first billion years or so of our planet’s four-and-a-half-billion-year history.
• To date, the most commonly accepted theory in place attributes continent formation to the movement of tectonic plates.
• However, the idea that the continents originally formed at sites of giant meteorite impacts has been around for decades but has little solid evidence to support the theory.

Major findings of the study:

• Evidence: By examining tiny crystals of the mineral zircon in rocks from the Pilbara Craton in Western Australia, which represents Earth’s best-preserved remnant of ancient crust, evidence of these giant meteorite impacts was found.
• Process: The mineral deposits are the end result of a process known as crustal differentiation, which began with the formation of the earliest landmasses, of which the Pilbara Craton is just one of many.
• Mineral: Zircons are formed by the crystallisation of magma or are found in metamorphic They act as tiny time capsules, recording the period of geologic activity. Newer zircon adds to the original crystal as time progresses.
• Method: Studying the composition of oxygen isotopes in these zircon crystals revealed a ‘top-down’ process starting with the melting of rocks near the surface and progressing deeper, consistent with the geological effect of giant meteorite impacts.
• Proposition: The meteorite impact generated vast amounts of energy to form oceanic plates, which later evolved into continents.
• Importance:
  • Valuable resource: Understanding the formation and ongoing evolution of the Earth’s continents is crucial because these landmasses host the majority of Earth’s biomass, all humans, and almost all of the planet’s important mineral deposits.
  • Offsetting climate change: The continents host critical metals such as lithium, tin, and nickel, commodities that are essential to the emerging green technologies needed to fulfil our obligation to mitigate climate change.
  • Pattern finding: Data related to other areas of ancient continental crust on Earth appears to show patterns similar to those recognized in Western Australia and if successful, this model will be more widely applicable.

Major theories on continent formation:

Continental drift: It was proposed by German scientist Alfred Wegener in 1912.

• It proposes that the continental landmasses were “drifting” across the Earth, sometimes plowing through oceans and into each other. He called this movement continental drift.
• All of Earth’s continents were once part of an enormous, single landmass called Pangaea one of the earliest ways geologists thought continents moved over time.
• Today, the theory of continental drift has been replaced by the science of plate tectonics.

Plate Tectonics: This theory had its beginnings in 1915 when Alfred Wegener proposed his theory of "continental drift."

• Wegener proposed that the motions of the 15 to 20 large rigid and brittle tectonic plates into which the Earth's outermost layer (called the "lithosphere") is broken.
• It does a good job at explaining the distribution of most of Earth's earthquakes, mountains and other geological features, and a particularly good job at explaining features on the ocean floor.
• However, it is challenged to explain the details of the older rocks on the continents, and the occurrence of deformation and earthquakes off of plate boundaries.

Source:

• https://www.downtoearth.org.in/news/science-technology/how-did-continents-form-giant-meteorite-impacts-could-be-responsible-says-study-84284
• https://education.nationalgeographic.org/resource/plate-tectonics
• https://education.nationalgeographic.org/resource/continental-drift

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• Context: A spectacular ‘Mandala’ art installation, bigger than the size of a football field, is currently covering a public park in Liverpool in the United Kingdom.
• Mandala patterns are motifs that are centuries old and are used to depict the cosmos.
• Literally meaning the “circle” or the “centre” in Sanskrit, mandala is defined by a geometric configuration that usually incorporates the circular shape in some form.

• While it can also be created in the shape of a square, a mandala pattern is essentially interconnected.
• It is rooted in Hinduism and Buddhism. Mandala imagery first appeared in the Vedas (c. 1500-500 BC), and Buddhist missionaries travelling along the Silk Road are believed to have taken it to regions outside India. By the 6^th century, mandalas were recorded in China, Korea, Japan, Indonesia and Tibet.
• It is believed that by entering the mandala and moving towards its centre, one experiences a cosmic process of transforming the universe and that of moving from emotions of suffering to the feeling of joy.
• In Hindu philosophical systems, a mandala or yantra is usually in the shape of a square with a circle at its centre.
• A traditional Buddhist mandala is a circular painting that is meant to help its creator discover their true self.
• There are various elements incorporated within the mandala, each of which has its own meaning. For instance, the eight spokes of the wheel (the Dharmachakra) represent the eight-fold path of Buddhism that brings liberation from the cycle of birth and death. The lotus flower depicts balance, and the sun represents the universe. Facing up, triangles represent action and energy, and facing down, they represent creativity and knowledge.

Source:

• https://indianexpress.com/article/explained/mandala-art-history-buddhism-james-brunt-8101223/lite/

Image source:

• https://indianexpress.com/article/explained/mandala-art-history-buddhism-james-brunt-8101223/lite/

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• Context: The Anang Tal lake in South Delhi, has been recently declared a monument of national importance by the Ministry of Culture.
• The lake is situated in Mehrauli, Delhi and is said to have been created by the Tomar King, Anangpal II, the builder of Lal Kot.

• Anang Tal is situated to the north of Jog Maya temple and approximately 500 metres to the northwest of Qutub Complex and dates back to 1,060 AD.
• It is said to have been a place of a general resort but now it is dried up and used for cultivation.
• The millennium-old Anang Tal signifies the beginning of Delhi.
• Anang Tal has a strong Rajasthan connectionas Maharaja Anangpal is known as nana (maternal grandfather) of Prithviraj Chauhan whose fort Rai Pithora is on the list of the Archaeological Survey of India.

Source:

• https://indianexpress.com/article/cities/delhi/anang-tal-lake-declared-monument-of-national-importance-8110070/lite/

Image source:

• https://indianexpress.com/article/cities/delhi/anang-tal-lake-declared-monument-of-national-importance-8110070/lite/

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• Context: The James Webb Space Telescope has recently captured stunning new images of Jupiter.
• The new infrared images show the gas giant in a new blueish hue, complete with all its storms and auroras, as well as the planet's rings and moons.
• Jupiter, fifth in line from the Sun, is, by far, the largest planet in the solar system.

• It is one among the three Jovian Planets, the other three being Saturn, Uranus and Neptune which are also called the Gas Giant Planets.These have a thick atmosphere, mostly of helium and hydrogen.
• Jupiter’s iconicGreat Red Spot is a giant storm bigger than Earth that has raged for hundreds of years.
• The numerous bright white ‘spots’ and ‘streaks’ are likely very high-altitude cloud tops of condensed convective storms.
• It rotates once about every 10 hours(a Jovian day), but takes about 12 Earth years to complete one orbit of the Sun (a Jovian year).
• The planet has more than 75 moons and the four largest moons (Io, Europa, Ganymede, and Callisto) are called the Galilean satellitesafter Italian astronomer Galileo Galilei, who first observed them in 1610.
• In 1979, theVoyager mission discovered Jupiter’s faint ring system.
• Nine spacecrafthave visited Jupiter. Seven flew by and two have orbited the gas giant. Juno, the most recent, arrived at Jupiter in 2016.

Source:

• James Webb Space Telescope captures stunning new images of Jupiter | Technology News,The Indian Express

Image source:

• James Webb Space Telescope captures stunning new images of Jupiter | Technology News,The Indian Express

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• Context: Recent report by the IUCN has stated that the Rhino poaching rates in Africa have declined to 2.3% in 2021 from 3.9% in 2018.
• South Africa accounted for 90% of all reported cases, predominantly affecting white rhinos in Kruger National Park.

• It found that populations of Vulnerable greater one-horned rhinos (Rhinoceros unicornis) and Critically Endangered Javan rhinos (Rhinoceros sondaicus) have both increased since 2017, while the Critically Endangered Sumatran rhino (Dicerorhinus sumatrensis) has suffered population declines of 13% per year. 
• Poaching of rhinos, fuelled by the demand for their horns in Southeast Asia, a prized ingredient in traditional medicine, is carried out by sophisticated trans-national organised crime networks.
• Global lockdowns and restrictions due to the COVID-19 pandemic reduced poaching rates in 2020 compared to previous years.
• The number of white rhinos in the continent declined by almost 11.8% during this period (end of 2021), while populations of black rhinos increased by just over 12.2 per cent.

SOURCES:

• https://www.iucn.org/press-release/202208/rhino-poaching-and-illegal-trade-decline-remain-critical-threats-new-report#:~:text=At%20least%202%2C707%20rhinos%20were,black%20rhino%20(Diceros%20bicornis).
• Lockdowns pull down poaching rates in Africa but rhinos still threatened (downtoearth.org.in)

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Essence – The editorial discusses the issue related to linking of Aadhaar with Voter ID. It highlights that periodic updating of the electoral roll to keep it error-free is a major task for ECI to keep the election process healthy and running. Later it questions the need for the coercive mandate of linking Aadhaar with Voter ID. It mentions that the linking will defeat the purpose of clearing the electoral roll as the error in the Aadhaar database is higher than that in the electoral roll.

In the end, it mentions that the electoral process needs to be simpler and that constitutional machinery has to be effective to keep up the spirit of electoral democracy and the mandate of Aadhar voter ID linkage is against this principle. It recommends that this linkage should be kept voluntary.

Why should you read this editorial?

• To know about the various reason for the errors in the electoral roll.
• To know about what issues can come up if Aadhaar – Voter ID linkage is made mandatory.

Source:

• https://www.thehindu.com/opinion/editorial/keep-it-simple-the-hindu-editorial-on-aadhaar-voter-id-linking/article65806369.ece

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Essence - The article talks about the structural reforms that are necessary to achieve and sustain a 7% plus growth rate in the Indian economy. This is in wake of the recent predictions by IMF’s World Economic Outlook that has predicted that India will register a GDP growth rate of 7.4% in 2022, while the global growth rate is slated to be at 3.2%.

The article argues that the ongoing high growth rate is in fact the continuation of economic growth acceleration that started in the 1990s following the economic reforms. The present growth can be attributed to India’s buoyant tech sector, agricultural productivity gains, and decent manufacturing growth. However, for the growth to sustain it needs to export a lot more. While the recent investment in logistics by the present government is a good start in this direction, India might be losing the market owing to unfavourable economic situations prevailing in China, the US, and Europe.

While it is theoretically possible to sustain the present growth rate, India needs to remove the present bottlenecks by ensuring export growth, greater FDI inflow, more investment in infrastructure, structural reforms, and labour laws.

Why should you read this editorial?

• The article gives insights into the mechanism and drivers of India’s economic growth.
• The article is must read to understand the bottlenecks in India’s growth and gives a roadmap to remove these.

Source:

• https://www.livemint.com/opinion/online-views/indias-fast-economic-expansion-will-take-deep-reforms-to-sustain-11661359537871.html

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Background:

Statues of Swami Vivekananda and Maharashtra-born freedom fighter and agriculturalist Pandurang Khankhoje will be unveiled in Mexico.

About Pandurang Khankhoje

He was born in Wardha, Maharashtra, in the late 19th century, and came in contact with other revolutionaries early on.

• As a student, Khankhoje was an ardent admirer of the French Revolution and of the American War of Independence.
• He was inspired by the spirit of reform and social change from the Arya Samaj movement, which made him lead a young student group.
• After initially spending time with nationalists from Japan and China, Khankhoje eventually moved to the US, where he enrolled in college as a student of agriculture, to later join the Mount Tamalpais Military Academy in California.
• Further, Khankhoje was one of the founding members of the Ghadar Party, established by Indians living abroad in 1914.
• Inspired by the Mexican Revolution of 1910 which had led to the overthrow of the dictatorial regime, he set out to plan militant action in India, by reaching out to Bhikaji Cama in Paris & Vladimir Lenin in Russia, thereby seeking support for the Indian cause.
• As he was facing possible deportation from Europe and could not go to India, he sought shelter in Mexico, where he was appointed a professor at the National School of Agriculture. He became part of efforts to bring in the Green Revolution in Mexico.
• Thus, Pandurang Khankhoje won Mexico and is revered as Hero for his contribution to India as well.

Quote:

To be a revolutionary you have to be a human being. You have to care about people who have no power - Jane Fonda

Source:

• Explained: Who was Pandurang Khankhoje, Ghadarite revolutionary and a hero of Mexico?

Image source:

• https://www.firstpost.com/explainers/explained-who-is-freedom-fighter-pandurang-khankhoje-whose-statue-will-be-in-inaugurated-in-mexico-11100451.html

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