Current Affairs 16th April 2019
Current Affairs from PIB, The Hindu and Indian Express
Current Affairs 16th April 2019
GS Paper 1: Geography
Indian Monsoon
Why in news?
ON MONDAY, while releasing its monsoon forecast, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) expressed the projected rainfall in terms of Long Period Average (LPA), saying that it was expected to be 96% of LPA.
What is LPA (Long Period Average)?
The LPA of the monsoon season over the country is 89 cm, calculated for the period 1951-2000. This is the average rainfall recorded during the months from June to September, calculated during the 50-year period, and is kept as a benchmark while forecasting the quantitative rainfall for the monsoon season every year.
Like the countrywide figure, IMD maintains an independent LPA for every homogeneous region of the country, which ranges from 71.6 cm to 143.83 cm. The region-wise LPA figures are 143.83 cm for East and Northeast India, 97.55 cm for Central India, 71.61 cm for South Peninsular India, and 61.50 for Northwest India, which put together bring the all-India figure to 88.75 cm.
The monthly LPA figures for the season are 16.36 cm for June, 28.92 cm for July, 26.13 cm for August and 17.34 cm for September.
So, when IMD forecasts the category of rainfall, be it for country, region or month, the forecast is based on these standardized figures calculated for a period of 50 years. As per the outputs obtained from the weather models, the rainfall is categorized as normal, below normal, or above normal.
Categories of rainfall distribution in India -
IMD maintains five rainfall distribution categories on an all-India scale. These are:
- Normal or Near Normal: When percent departure of actual rainfall is +/-10% of LPA, that is, between 96-104% of LPA
- Below normal: When the departure of actual rainfall is less than 10% of LPA, that is 90-96% of LPA
- Above normal: When actual rainfall is 104-110% of LPA
- Deficient: When the departure of actual rainfall is less than 90% of LPA
- Excess: When the departure of actual rainfall is more than 110% of LPA
Source: Indian Express
GS Paper 3: Science and Technology
Concept of blackhole
Why in news?
This week, scientists produced the first real image of a black hole, in a galaxy called Messier 87. The image is not a photograph but an image created by the Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) project. Using a network of eight ground-based telescopes across the world, the EHT collected data to produce the image. The black hole itself is unseeable, as it’s impossible for light to escape from it; what we can see is its event horizon. The EHT was also observing a black hole located at the center of the Milky Way but was unable to produce an image. While Messier 87 is further away, it was easier to observe, due to its larger size.
What is the General theory of relativity?
Albert Einstein’s General Theory of Relativity showed that massive objects in the universe, like Earth or the Sun and other stars, created curvatures in space-time, very similar to what a heavy object would do when placed on a taut rubber sheet. And, that the force of gravity is nothing but the drag that another object feels when inside this curvature. It is because of this curvature that an object either falls on the Earth or keeps orbiting it. To escape this curvature, an object needs to move at fast-enough speeds, called the escape velocity. The escape velocity to move out of Earth’s gravity is 11.2 km per second.
The more massive a body, the bigger and deeper the size of the curvature it creates in space-time. Consequently, the higher is the escape velocity required to pull away from its gravity.
It was soon evident that this reasoning would lead to the concept of black holes, areas from where nothing could ever hope to escape. That is because there is an upper-speed limit in the universe. Nothing can move faster than light, or electromagnetic waves in general. But there is no upper limit, as yet known, on the massiveness of a heavenly body.
Stars that are billions of times more massive than our Sun are known to exist. The Sun itself is about 1.4 million km in diameter and has a mass of about 2×10^30 kg. Massive stars, when they are dying, are known to collapse under their own gravity, forming extremely dense spheres of astronomical masses. They pack the mass of thousands or millions of Suns into a radius of a few kilometers.
Such mindboggling bodies create incredibly narrow and deep curvatures in space-time, from where even light, traveling at nearly 300,000 km per second, is unable to escape. Once an object falls inside this curvature, there is absolutely no hope of coming out, ever. That is why black holes do not send out any signals or radiation because nothing can escape from it.
Initially, many scientists, including Einstein himself, were skeptical about black holes. Over the years, however, scientists have gathered several pieces of evidence of the existence of black holes. For example, the observed orbits of several heavenly bodies could be explained only by the presence of a black hole nearby.
What does the image of the black hole show?
The main subject of the photograph, a black hole located 55 million light-years from Earth, at the center of a galaxy named Messier 87, was confined to the small and dark central core of the doughnut shape in the image, identifiable only because of the bright surroundings it was enclosed within. This was the only way that a black hole could have been photographed — by capturing the entire area surrounding it. The black hole itself does not emit or radiate light, or any other electromagnetic waves that can be detected by instruments built by human beings. But the area just outside the boundary of the black hole — referred to as event horizon — which has vast amounts of gas, clouds, and plasma swirling violently, emit all kinds of radiations, including even visible light.
Source: Indian Express
Prelims
AUSINDEX-19
The Australian and Indian Navy have concluded a two-week long bilateral maritime exercise code-named AUSINDEX on 14 Apr 19.
The bilateral exercise was aimed “to strengthen and enhance mutual cooperation and interoperability between the IN and RAN, providing opportunities for interaction and exchange of professional views between the personnel of the two navies”.
Source: PIB
HOME EXPO INDIA 2019
Why in news?
The 8th edition of HOME EXPO INDIA 2019 opened at India Expo Centre and Mart, Greater Noida. The three-day exhibition has been organized by the Export Promotion Council for Handicrafts (EPCH).
Select exhibitors, premium products and invited buyers are the attention of this year’s home expo.
What is it?
Home Expo India covers sectors with maximum thrust and growth potential in home décor, furnishing, furniture, flooring, and textiles. About 500 companies in permanent marts will be exhibiting their collection under these categories at the state of the art India Expo Centre & Mart from 16 – 18 April 2019.
During Home Expo India, a thematic display of the North Eastern region and other artisans will also attract the visitors.
Exports of furniture and accessories grew by about 27.13%, houseware and decorative 15.19%, home furnishing, flooring, and home textiles 6.3% last year. Handicrafts exports during the year 2018-19 were Rs. 26,590.25 crores [prov.] registering a growth of 15.46% over the previous year.
EPCH is the nodal export promotion body for handicrafts in India and plays an important role with the main objective of boosting trade in handicrafts and also projects India’s image in the global market as a reliable supplier.
Source: PIB
Long range cruise missile Nirbhay
Why in news?
The Defence Research and Development Organisation(DRDO) on Monday successfully testfired the underdevelopment long-range subsonic cruise missileNirbhay from the integrated test Range (ITR), Chandipurin Odisha. “It is the sixth development flight trial with the objective to prove the repeatability of boost phase, cruise phase using waypoint navigation at low altitudes,”
Facts about Nirbhay missile
- Nirbhay is a long-range, all-weather, subsonic cruise missile designed and developed in India by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO).
- The missile can be launched from multiple platforms and is capable of carrying conventional and nuclear warheads.
- It is a two-stage missile powered by Solid rocket motor booster.
- It is capable of carrying warheads of up to 300kg at a speed of 0.6 to 0.7 Mach. Anything less than 1 Mach is subsonic.
- It has an operational range of 1000 km (long range).
- The Nirbhay cruise missile is an Indian version of the American Tomahawk.
Source: The Hindu and Wikipedia
Editorial
Types of respect in democracy
Directive respect: Egalitarian
‘Respect’ has multiple senses, of which three are relevant here. Onesense, that might be called ‘directive respect’, was elaborated by the late 18th-century German philosopher Immanuel Kant. For him, respect had the force of an authoritative moral instruction, a directive. Why? Kant understood that humans in their social interactions can never entirely eliminate using one another for personal benefit. However, Kant argued, while this may well be so, each must also keep in mind that we are moral agents with distinct purposes, with our own subjective take on the world, with the capacity to endow the world with meaning, purpose and value. In short, we have inherent dignity that imposes limits on the extent to which we can use each other for personal benefit.
Directive respect: Hierarchical
This egalitarian feature alone differentiates it from another instance of directive respect where the quality that commands respect from others inheres not in the person qua person but in the social position she occupies or the role she performs. Thus, children must respect their fathers; wives, their husbands; servants, their masters; lower caste people, those in higher castes; and so on. Indeed, this unequal status is the original site of the idea of respect, it's breeding ground. The notion of respect was for long intertwined with ideas of superiority and inferiority and had deep hierarchical overtones. Virtually indistinguishable from fear and deference, it was expressed not only in words but through silence and bodily stances. Thus, a person believed to be inferior could not call a superior by his name; could not look him in the eye; always had his or her head bowed or covered; could not touch any part of the superior person or could, at best, touch only his feet; was always to obey, do as he was told, never question or even respond. This hierarchical notion of directive respect has not disappeared from our society. The hierarchical notion of respects a one-way street and incompatible with the very idea of democracy. The egalitarian notion of respect articulated by Kant, a prefect riposte to respect as deference, is presupposed by democracies and relevant as a value in relationships among citizens but is too general to be of use in the specific context of citizen ruler relationship.
Evaluative respect
Another kind of respect exists: this is owed to people not because of what they are or their social position but by virtue of what they have achieved. This may manifest in some praiseworthy qualities of character such as moral integrity or by perfecting some skills as a cricketer or scholar. This respect consists of an attitude of positive appraisal of the person’s moral qualities or not-moral skills. Here respect is not presumed but earned.
There is no question of hierarchical respect or deference to our leaders in modern, democratic politics. It is our right to question, challenge and criticize our politicians. All power-wielders, including the Prime Minister, must submit to these demands. All of us, the rulers and the ruled, is bound by norms of egalitarian respect more generally, and evaluative respect specific to democratic politics in particular. To our politicians, we can only say: perform well, and earn our respect!
Source: - The Hindu
India’s relationship with Muslim nations
Main point - self-interest versus religion in international diplomacy. This can also be an example of real politic
Within the Subcontinent, Afghanistan and Bangladesh see India as a valuable partner and their engagement with India has gained a strong foundation. Both Kabul and Dhaka have better relations with Delhi than with Islamabad. The Organisation of Islamic Cooperation invited India’s Minister for External Affairs, Sushma Swaraj to address a meeting of its foreign ministers in the face of Pakistan’s strong objections.
India’s relations with Sunni Arab states like Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates have never been better than today. At the same time, the last four years have seen progress in implementing strategic projects like the Chabahar port in Shia Iran. Modi has also brought out India’s longstanding partnership with Israel from behind the veil. There have been few objections from the Arab or Muslim world.
One would think Pakistan would be the last government that wants to welcome Modi’s return to power. But as Prime Minister Imran Khan put it, a strong government under Modi may be more credible interlocutor than a weak coalition government.
The key to Modi’s success in the Muslim neighborhood has been the decision to focus on India’s national self-interest rather than religion.
To his credit, Modi persuaded the BJP units in Assam and Bengal to stop opposing the agreement and got it ratified by the Parliament. He was also quick to accept an award of the international tribunal on the maritime boundary dispute with Dhaka. It was certainly possible to quibble over the technical details of an award that went largely in favor of Bangladesh.
Contrast this with Modi’s difficulties with Nepal, the world’s only Hindu nation that Modi likes to call “devabhumi” — the land of the gods. Yet, Modi’s tenure saw the tensions between the two countries spike.
There is no doubt that most countries love to demonstrate solidarity with other states and peoples on the basis of shared political values, common religious faith or ethnic kinship. Yet, this empathy is more often than not discarded when a government has to choose between national interest and external solidarity. There is no better example than Pakistan’s muted voice on China’s current controversial treatment of the Muslim population in the Xinjiang province. For Islamabad, the logic of strategic partnership with Beijing is far more compelling than the declared commitment to take up Muslim causes around the world.
Examples other than India
In the Middle East, the fear of Iran’s expansionism and potential hegemony has driven Saudi Arabia and the UAE into political collaboration with the Jewish state of Israel. Much in the manner that communist ideology was not strong enough to bind the Soviet Union and China in the 1960s and 1970s, religion has never been a sticky enough glue for Muslim majority nations.
Conclusion
While the proposition that national interest trumps all else appears self-evident, it was not easy for Independent India to operate on that premise. The partition of the Subcontinent and Pakistan’s claim to speak in the name of Islam and its relentless efforts to mobilize the Islamic world in its favor on disputes with India complicated Indian diplomacy. It has been a rather long learning curve for Delhi to separate presumed transcendental religious solidarity and the logic of national self-interest in engaging the Middle East.
Source: Indian Express