Questions:-
Consider the following statements regarding Corals.
Corals are marine invertebrate species.
Corals grow in shallow waters so as to absorb sunlight for photosynthesis to produce their food.
Corals secrete calcium carbonate which form outer skeleton.
Which of the above statements is/are correct?
a) 1, 2
b) 1, 3
c) 3 only
d) 1, 2, 3
2) Which of the following is correct about Profundal zone?
a) It is upper zone of inland body of free-standing water.
b) It is a deep zone of an inland body of freestanding water, located below the range of effective light penetration.
c) It is a deep zone of the sea located below the range of effective light penetration.
d) It is upper zone of the sea with maximum light penetration.
3) Most of the world biomass can be found in the oceans due to
Its large area vis-à-vis other ecosystems.
Its higher primary productivity as compared to all other ecosystems.
Select the correct answer code:
a) 1 only
b) 2 only
c) Both 1 and 2
d) Neither 1 nor 2
Reef-building or hermatypic corals live only in the photic zone (above 50 m), the depth to which sufficient sunlight penetrates the water. Coral polyps do not photosynthesize, but have a symbiotic relationship with zooxanthellae
The profundal zone is a deep zone of an inland body of freestanding water, such as a lake or pond, located below the range of effective light penetration. This is typically below the thermocline, the vertical zone in the water through which temperature drops rapidly.
The profundal is often defined, as the deepest, vegetation-free, and muddy zone of the lacustrine benthal. The profundal zone is often part of the aphotic zone
Oceans have the lowest primary productivity. Swamps and tropical rainforests have the highest productivity. Despite low primary productivity, oceans score higher on total biomass due to its huge spread over globe.
Prelims Specific News Items
1) Demand for Triparaland :- Several tribal outfits in Tripura have joined hands to push their demand for a separate state called Greater Tipraland for indigenous communities in the region.
Demand for Greater Tipraland
The Protestants are demanding a separate state of ‘Greater Tipraland’ for the indigenous communities of the north-eastern state.
They want the Centre to carve out a separate state under Articles 2 and 3 of the Constitution.
How did the demand originate?
Accessed state: Tripura was a kingdom ruled by the Manikya dynasty from the late 13th century until the signing of the Instrument of Accession with the Indian government on October 15, 1949.
Demographic changes: There is an anxiety among the indigenous communities in connection with the change in the demographics of the state due to the displacements from the erstwhile East Pakistan.
Existential threats: From 63.77 per cent in 1881, the population of the tribals in Tripura was down to 31.80 per cent by 2011.
Ethnic conflicts: In the intervening decades, ethnic conflict and insurgency gripped the state, which shares a nearly 860-km long boundary with Bangladesh.
Autonomous District Council :-
The Sixth Schedule of the Constitution of India allows for the formation of autonomous administrative divisions which have been given autonomy within their respective states.
Most of these autonomous district councils are located in North East India but two are in Ladakh, a region administered by India as a union territory.
Presently, 10 Autonomous Councils in Assam, Meghalaya, Mizoram and Tripura are formed by virtue of the Sixth Schedule with the rest being formed as a result of other legislation.
Each district is an autonomous district and Governor can modify / divide the boundaries of the said Tribal areas by notification.
The Governor may, by public notification:
(a) Include any area.
(b) exclude any area.
(c) create a new autonomous district.
(d) increase the area of any autonomous district.
(e) diminish the area of any autonomous district.
(f) alter the name of any autonomous district.
(g) define the boundaries of any autonomous district.
Powers and competencies
Under the provisions of the Sixth Schedule, autonomous district councils can make laws, rules and regulations in the following areas:
Land management
Forest management
Water resources
Agriculture and cultivation
Formation of village councils
Public health
Sanitation
Village and town level policing
Appointment of traditional chiefs and headmen
Inheritance of property
Marriage and divorce
Social customs
Money lending and trading
Mining and minerals
Judicial powers
Autonomous district councils have powers to form courts to hear cases where both parties are members of Scheduled Tribes and the maximum sentence is less than 5 years in prison.
Taxation and revenue
Autonomous district councils have powers to levy taxes, fees and tolls on; building and land, animals, vehicles, boats, entry of goods into the area, roads, ferries, bridges, employment and income and general taxes for the maintenance of schools and roads.
2) The 1817 Paika Rebellion of Odisha would be included as a case study in the Class 8 NCERT history textbook, informed the Union Culture Minister.
Who were the Paiks?
The Paiks of Odisha were the traditional landed militia and enjoyed rent free land tenures for their military service and policing functions on a hereditary basis.
Paika Rebellion
When the British started tinkering with the revenue system in 1803, the farming community of Odisha rose in rebellion.
At that critical juncture, Bakshi Jagabandhu Bidyadhar — the military chief of the King of Khurda — led his army of Paikas forcing the British East India Company forces to retreat.
The rebellion came to be known as Paika Bidroh (Paika rebellion).
When did it take place?
The rebellion, by the landed militia of Khurda called Paiks, predates the first war of independence in 1857 but did not get similar recognition.
It took place when the British East India Company wrested the rent-free land that had been given to the Paiks for their military service to the Kingdom of Khurda.
3) Anaemia and its Increased Prevalence :-
4) Dhawan-1 :- Skyroot Aerospace successfully tested ‘Dhawan-1’, it became the country’s first privately developed fully cryogenic rocket engine running on two high-performance rocket propellants — Liquid Natural gas (LNG) & Liquid Oxygen (LoX) last month. The indigenous engine was developed using 3D printing with a super alloy.
Skyroot Aerospace has an ambitious plan to launch the first private space launch vehicle using cryogenic engine ‘Vikram-2’ into orbit in two years time. Before that, the two co-founders and ex-IITians Pawan Kumar C. (Kharagpur 2012 batch) and Naga Bharath D, (Madras, 2012 batch) plan to put its first launch vehicle 20 metre tall ‘Vikram 1’ vehicle based on solid propulsion engine into space. This was after successfully designing and developing the solid propulsion rocket engine, the first private firm in the country to do so.
5) Mt. Semeru – Indonesia :-
Recently, Semeru volcano erupted in Indonesia’s East Java province. Other volcanoes, such as the Merapi volcano (Java) and Sinabung volcano (Sumatra), also erupted recently.
Semeru Volcano:
Semeru – also known as “The Great Mountain” – is the highest volcano in Java and one of the most active.
It previously erupted in December, 2019.
Indonesia, with the maximum number of active volcanoes in the world, is prone to seismic upheaval due to its location on the Pacific’s Ring of Fire.
Semeru volcano is also the part of the Island arcs formed by the subduction of the Indo-Australian plate below Sunda Plate (part of Eurasian Plate). The trench formed here is called Sunda trench whose major section is the Java Trench.
Text and Context
Has Russia and China beaten USA in the Hypersonic Weapon Race :- A race for Hypersonic weapons has started. China and Russia have both tested the Hypersonic Weapons.
Subsonic conditions occur for Mach numbers less than one, M < 1 . For the lowest subsonic conditions, compressibility can be ignored.
As the speed of the object approaches the speed of sound, the flight Mach number is nearly equal to one, M = 1, and the flow is said to be transonic.
At some places on the object, the local speed exceeds the speed of sound. Compressibility effects are most important in transonic flows and lead to the early belief in a sound barrier. Flight faster than sound was thought to be impossible.
In fact, the sound barrier was only an increase in the drag near sonic conditions because of compressibility effects. Because of the high drag associated with compressibility effects, aircraft do not cruise near Mach 1.
Supersonic conditions occur for Mach numbers greater than one, 1 < M < 3. Compressibility effects are important for supersonic aircraft, and shock waves are generated by the surface of the object.
For high supersonic speeds, 3 < M < 5, aerodynamic heating also becomes very important for aircraft design.
For speeds greater than five times the speed of sound, M > 5, the flow is said to be hypersonic. At these speeds, some of the energy of the object now goes into exciting the chemical bonds which hold together the nitrogen and oxygen molecules of the air. At hypersonic speeds, the chemistry of the air must be considered when determining forces on the object. The Space Shuttle re-enters the atmosphere at high hypersonic speeds.
Different Types of Weapons
Ballistic missiles, as the name suggests, are warheads mounted on rockets that are launched on an unpowered ballistic (parabolic) trajectory that arch upward before descending to their targets. Ballistic missiles generally have very high speed (several times the speed of sound) as they descend to their targets, but have lower accuracy. Thus they are typically preferred for attacking large targets or for carrying nuclear warheads.
Cruise missiles, again as the name suggests, “cruise” to their targets through the atmosphere. They are essentially unmanned aircraft powered by miniature jet engines. Such missiles typically have lower speeds than ballistic missiles, but higher accuracy—as they can mount a range of guidance systems like terrain reference equipment, GPS and radar homing, and can manoeuvre in flight to avoid detection by radar.
Hypersonic weapons comprise a third category that is characterised by high speeds, which are typically over five times the speed of sound when moving through the atmosphere.
Hypersonic weapons currently in development by various nations are of two types:
1. Hypersonic glide vehicles (HGVs), which are launched by a ballistic missile and glide to their targets
2. Hypersonic cruise missiles that are powered by high-speed, air-breathing jet engines called scramjets.
While almost as fast as ballistic missiles, hypersonic weapons are distinct in the fact that they can manoeuvre to their targets. This enables them to not only have a better chance at evading defences such as surface-to-air missiles but also makes it harder for radars to track them. Western analysts have warned China and Russia could use hypersonic weapons to defeat the US’s ground-based network of early-warning radars.
Air Breathing Engine
Air-breathing engines use oxygen from the atmosphere in the combustion of fuel. They include the turbojet, turboprop, ramjet, and pulse-jet
Types of Air Breathing engines :-
Ramjet: A ramjet is a form of air-breathing jet engine that uses the vehicle’s forward motion to compress incoming air for combustion without a rotating compressor.
Ramjets work most efficiently at supersonic speeds but they are not efficient at hypersonic speeds.
Scramjet: A scramjet engine is an improvement over the ramjet engine as it efficiently operates at hypersonic speeds and allows supersonic combustion.
Dual Mode Ramjet (DMRJ) : A dual mode ramjet (DMRJ) is a type of jet engine where a ramjet transforms into a scramjet over Mach 4-8 range, which means it can efficiently operate both in subsonic and supersonic combustion modes.
Editorial of the Day
Importance of Anganwadi’s
Anganwadi’s are important because :-
1. Anganwadi’s help in the early age care of the children.
2. They are very important part of the ICDS scheme
3. Providing Nutrition to the Child is one of the important tasks.
4. Women can Work by leaving the child at the Anganwadi Centre and thus improve the Labor force Participation rate
5. Anganwadi’s will be helpful in the proper implementation of the New Education Policy for early age care of the children.
Major Challenges for the Anganwadi’s:-
1. Infrastructure issues
2. Don’t have good Hygiene Conditions, which needs to be solved
3. Good Trained Anganwadi Workers are needed
4. Financial Constraints
