2 April 2018

Konark Sun Temple

An aesthetically designed interpretation centre with world-class facilities that showcases the unique

architectural features of Kalingan era was recently inaugurated at Sun Temple, Konark. The Indian Oil

Foundation has developed the interpretation centre and the tourist facilitation centre at a cost of Rs. 45

crore.

Built in the 13th century, the Konark temple was conceived as a gigantic chariot of the Sun God, with 12

pairs of exquisitely ornamented wheels pulled by seven horses.

It was built by King Narasimhadeva I, the great ruler of Ganga dynasty.

The temple is included in UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1984 for its architectural greatness and also for

the sophistication and abundance of sculptural work.

The temple is perfect blend of Kalinga architecture, heritage, exotic beach and salient natural beauty.

It is protected under the National Framework of India by the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological

Sites and Remains (AMASR) Act (1958) and its Rules (1959).

The Konark is the third link of Odisha’s Golden Triangle. The first link is Jagannath Puri and the second

link is Bhubaneswar (Capital city of Odisha).

This temple was also known as ‘BLACK PAGODA’ due to its dark color and used as a navigational landmark

by ancient sailors to Odisha. Similarly, the Jagannath Temple in Puri was called the “White Pagoda”.

It remains a major pilgrimage site for Hindus, who gather here every year for the Chandrabhaga

Mela around the month of February.

The new Rs 10 note in the Mahatma Gandhi series is designed in the base colour of chocolate brown and

has the motif of the Konark Sun Temple in Odisha

Kalamkari art museum

A ‘Kalamkari art museum’ has been opened at Pedana in

Andhra Pradesh. The museum traces the history of the art and

displays the process of extraction of natural colours from

various sources.

Kalamkari is an ancient style of hand painting done on cotton

or silk fabric with a tamarind pen, using natural dyes. The

word Kalamkari is derived from a Persian word where ‘kalam‘

means pen and ‘kari‘ refers to craftsmanship.

There are two identifiable styles of Kalamkari art in India –

Srikalahasti style and Machilipatnam style.

In the Machilipatnam style of Kalamkari, motifs are

essentially printed with hand-carved traditional blocks

with intricate detailing painted by hands.

On the other hand, Srikalahasti style of painting draws

inspiration from the Hindu mythology describing scenes

from the epics and folklore. This style holds a strong

religious connect because of its origin in the temples.

World Autism Awareness Day

The United Nations General Assembly

declared 2 April as World Autism Awareness

Day.

It is to highlight the need to help improve the

quality of life of those with autism so they can

lead full and meaningful lives as an integral

part of society.

Autism is a lifelong neurological condition

that manifests during early childhood,

irrespective of gender, race or socio-

economic status.

The term Autism Spectrum refers to a range

of characteristics.

It is mainly characterized by its unique social

interactions, non-standard ways of learning,

keen interests in specific subjects, inclination

to routines, challenges in typical communications and particular ways of processing sensory information.

The 2018 Autism Awareness Day observance at United Nations Headquarters New York will focus on the

importance of ‘Empowering women and girls with autism’.

Tiangong-1 is crashing down in to Earth.

China’s first space station, Tiangong-1 is crashing down in to Earth.

The event brought the focus on space junk or space debris.

Space debris encompasses both natural (meteoroid) and artificial (man-made) particles.

Meteoroids are in orbit around the sun.

Most artificial debris is in orbit around the Earth and is referred to as orbital debris.

Orbital debris is any man-made object in orbit about the Earth which no longer serves a useful function.

Such debris includes non-functional spacecraft, abandoned launch vehicle stages, mission-related debris

and fragmentation debris.

Since 1957, more than 4,900 space launches have led to an on-orbit population today of more than 18,000

tracked objects out of which only 1,100 are functional spacecraft.

Kessler effect or syndrome is related to the space debris.

It is a theory proposed by NASA scientist Donald J. Kessler, used to describe a self-sustaining cascading

collision of space debris in Low Earth Orbit (LEO).

Point Nemo

Point Nemo, or “ocean point of

inaccessibility,” is a region in the

South Pacific that is the loneliest

place on the planet. It is used as a

graveyard for controlled re-entries

and a place where space junk can be

dropped safely.

It is located about 2,688 kilometers

from the nearest land – Pitcairn

Islands – which lies to the north of this

point. Also, Motu Nui — one of the

Easter Islands — lies to the northeast

and Maher Island, part of Antarctica,

to the south.

The region is safe to land all kinds of

waste because there is also not much life in the water here. Coincidentally, it is also biologically not very

diverse. So it gets used as a dumping ground — ‘space graveyard’ would be a more polite term — mainly

for cargo spacecraft.

RemoveDebris system

RemoveDebris system, a UK-led experiment to tackle space junk is set to head into orbit. The system is going

to the International Space Station where astronauts are expected to set the experiment running in late May.

About the RemoveDebris mission:

RemoveDebris is an EU (European Union) research project to develop and fly a low cost in-orbit demonstrator

mission that aims to de-risk and verify technologies needed for future ADR (Active Debris Removal) missions.

RemoveDebris is aimed at performing key ADR technology demonstrations (e.g., capture, deorbiting)

representative of an operational scenario during a low-cost mission using novel key technologies for ADR. The

project is based on and aimed at contributing to global/European ADR roadmaps.

How it works?

A microsatellite called here RemoveSAT, will release, capture and deorbit two space debris targets, called

DebrisSats, in sequence using various rendezvous, capture and deorbiting technologies thus demonstrating in

orbit, key ADR technologies for future missions in what promises to be the first ADR technology mission

internationally.

Permanent Indus Commission (PIC)

The 114th meeting of the Permanent Indus Commission (PIC) between India and Pakistan was held in New

Delhi. Representatives from both sides discussed Indus Water Treaty (IWT) dispute and resolution of

outstanding issues.

The meeting took place in backdrop of continuing tension between two neighbouring countries over host of

issues, including alleged harassment of diplomats. Pakistan has been expressing concerns over India’s Pakal

Dul (1000 MW), Ratle (850 MW) and Lower Kalnai (48 MW) projects — located in Chenab basin – contending

they violated IWT, signed in 1960. India, however, has been maintaining that designs of these projects are very

much in accordance with IWT.

Permanent Indus Commission (PIC)

The Indus Waters Treaty (IWT)

was signed in 1960. It covers the

water distribution and sharing

rights of six rivers of Indus river

system viz, Beas, Ravi, Sutlej,

Indus, Chenab and Jhelum.

The treaty specifies that waters

from three western rivers viz.

Indus, Jhelum and Chenab are

reserved for Pakistan, while

waters from eastern rivers viz.

Ravi, Sutlej and Beas are for

reserved for India.

The PIC is established mechanism

under IWT. Its mandate is to

establish and maintain cooperative arrangements for implementation of water distribution pact and

promote cooperation in development of Indus water systems between India and Pakistan. The meeting

of PIC is held alternately in India and Pakistan at least once every year as mandated by treaty. The PIC had

last met in Islamabad in March 2017.

Delhi becomes first city to roll-out BS-VI fuel

Delhi became the first city in India to supply ultra-clean Bharat Stage (BS) VI grade fuel (both petrol and

diesel) with an aim to combat the rising levels of air pollution in Delhi-NCR region. State-owned oil firms have

started supplying the BS-VI fuel (equivalent to fuel meeting Euro-VI emission norm

Other cities in NCR like Noida, Gurugram, Ghaziabad and Faridabad as well as other 13 major cities,

including Mumbai, Chennai, Bengaluru, Hyderabad and Pune will roll-out cleaner BS-VI grade fuel from January

1 2019. However, BS-VI fuel will be rolled out in rest of the country by April 2020. By switching to BS-VI, India

will join league of US, Japan and European Union, which follow Euro Stage VI emission norms.

Background

The Union Government in October 2016 had decided to skip one stage and migrate to BS-VI directly from BS-

IV from April 2020 to fight the growing pollution. The deadline for it in Delhi was brought forward to 2018 due

to higher level of pollution i.e. thick toxic smog faced in winter season. It was part of concerted efforts of

Government to reduce vehicular emissions and improve fuel efficiency with an aim to reduce carbon footprints

and keep environment healthy.

Benefits of BS-IV fuel

The major difference in standards between the existing BS-IV and new BS-VI auto fuel norms is presence of

sulphur. BS-IV fuels contain 50 parts per million (ppm) sulphur, while BS-V and BS-VI grade fuel will have 10

ppm sulphur. Thus, newly introduced BS VI fuel is estimated to reduce amount of sulphur released by 80%. It

will also bring down the emission of NOx (nitrogen oxides) from diesel cars by nearly 70 % and 25% from cars

with petrol engines. It will also bring down cancer causing particulate matter emissions from diesel engine cars

by phenomenal 80%.

Fast track task Force

The fast track task Force, a body under Ministry of Electronics and IT, has set target to achieve around 500

million mobile phone production in India by 2019, with value estimated to be around USD 46 billion.

About Fast track task force:

Department of Electronics and Information Technology (DeitY) formed a Fast Track Task Force to re-establish

growth in the country’s mobile handset and component manufacturing eco-system.

It has members from industry and government.

It promotes large-scale manufacturing/assembling activity to achieve production of 500 million units by

2019. This can create additional employment opportunities for 1.5 million approximately.

The task force has to create a roadmap to align technology, demand, standards and regulations for

enhancing the competitiveness of domestic manufacturing across the supply chain for manufacturing

mobile phone.

National Register of Citizens (NRC)

The verification of citizenship documents of 29 lakh married women, mostly migrant Muslims, for the Supreme

Court-monitored exercise to update the 1951 National Register of Citizens (NRC) has begun in Assam. The

verification of family trees and the documents of married women has to be completed by May 31, the deadline

set by the court.

What is National Register of Citizens (NRC)?

The NRC was introduced to identify illegal immigrants from Bangladesh and recognise the Indian citizens

in Assam. It was first prepared in 1951 and Assam is the only state having this arrangement.

Under NRC, immigrants who have documents proving that they entered Assam before 1971 will be

considered Indian citizens and others have to show that they their ascendants have lived in Assam even

before 1971.

Why the National Register of Citizens (NRC) is being updated in Assam?

National Register of Citizens (NRC) updation basically means the process of enlisting the names of those

persons (or their descendants) whose names appear in any of the Electoral Rolls up to 1971, 1951 NRC or

any of the admissible documents stipulated.

The NRC will be updated as per the provisions of The Citizenship Act, 1955 and The Citizenship

(Registration of Citizens and Issue of National Identity Cards) Rules, 2003.