IAS UPSC Prelims and Mains Exam – 26th March 2019

(PRELIMS + MAINS FOCUS)

SC asks EC to increase the VVPAT count

Part of: GS Mains II – Polity; Constitutional bodies; Role of Judiciary

In news:

Supreme Court held that VVPATs were “working absolutely right” and everything that the ECI did was based on expert statistical data.
SC said it was in favour of increasing the random physical verification of Voter Verified Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) in the Lok Sabha and Assembly elections.
However, the EC said the current practice of physically checking the VVPAT paper slips of one randomly selected polling station in an Assembly constituency and each Assembly segment in the case of the Lok Sabha election was “all that is needed.”
The court directed the Election Commission to explain why it seemed to be “fully satisfied” with restricting the counting of VVPATs to one polling station.

Do you know?

Swamy case – In 2013, in the Subramanian Swamy case, the Supreme Court held that the paper trail through VVPAT of votes cast was an indispensable requirement of free and fair elections.
It was the SC which pushed EC into introducing the VVPATs in the first place. Supreme Court had faced stiff opposition from the Election Commission while brining in VVPATs.

Garibi Hatao 2.0: Rahul Gandhi promises to wipe out poverty (About NYAY)

Part of: GS Prelims and Mains II – Government schemes and policies; Welfare/Poverty issue In news:

Congress president Rahul Gandhi announced that 20% of the poorest families in the country would be annually given 72,000 each under the Nyuntam Aay Yojana (NYAY) or minimum income guarantee, if his party was voted to power.
Gandhi asserted that five crore families and 25 crore people would be lifted out of poverty under NYAY – the acronym to convey a sense of ‘justice’ for the poor.

Chandrayaan 2 to carry NASA’s laser instruments to Moon

Part of: GS Prelims and Mains III – Science and Technology; Space Missions In news:

Chandrayaan 2 – is India’s lunar mission scheduled to launch next month
Chandrayaan 2 will carry NASA’s laser instruments
NASA’s laser instruments to help scientists to make precise measurements of the distance to the Moon
Israeli lander Beresheet to also carry NASA-owned laser retroreflector arrays.

Do you know?

Retroreflectors are essentially sophisticated mirrors. Scientists on Earth can shoot them with lasers and study the light that is reflected back. That signal can help pinpoint precisely where the lander is, which scientists can use to calculate its — and the moon's — distance from Earth.

About Chandrayaan 2

India’s second lunar exploration mission after Chandrayaan 1.
Developed by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), the mission is planned to be launched to the Moon by a Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle Mark III (GSLV Mk III).
It includes a lunar orbiter, lander and rover, all developed by India.
Chandrayaan-2 is scheduled to launch in April 2019 and will attempt to soft land a lander and rover in a high plain between two craters, Manzinus C and Simpelius N, at a latitude of about 70degree south.
If successful, Chandrayaan-2 will be the second mission to land a rover near the lunar south pole.

ISRO’s PSLV-C45 project or Emisat mission

Part of: GS Prelims and Mains III – Science and Technology; Space Missions In news:

PSLV-C45/Emisat mission scheduled to lift-off from Sriharikota on April 1^st will be a memorable one for the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO).

PSLV-C45 will mark the 47th flight of the PSLV.
It will be ISRO’s first attempt at placing payloads in three different orbits.
436 kg Emisat — will be injected into a 749 km orbit. Emisat, the chief payload on PSLV-C45, is meant for electromagnetic spectrum measurements, according to the ISRO.
After that, the fourth stage of the rocket will be manoeuvred to a 504 km orbit for releasing 28 international satellites.
Once that job is over, the fourth stage will be restarted and guided to an altitude of 485 km.
This stage will serve as an orbital platform for space-based experiments. This is another first for the ISRO. Normally, the spent stage simply becomes space junk.
The orbital platform will also sport solar panels, which too is a first.
The launch vehicle itself is a new variant, designated PSLV-QL.
For the first time, ISRO will be employing four XL strap-on motors on the first stage.

Do you know?

One of the three experiments aboard the orbital platform is the Indian Institute of Space Science and Technology (IIST)’s Advanced Retarding Potential Analyser for Ionospheric Studies (ARIS).
ARIS will study the structure and composition of the ionosphere.
The other two experimental payloads aboard the orbital platform are the Automatic Identification system (AIs), an ISRO payload for maritime satellite applications, and the Automatic Packet Repeating System (APRS), meant to assist amateur radio operators.

Chinook will improve reaction capabilities, says IAF chief

Part of: GS Prelims and Mains III – Defence; Technology

In news:

Indian Air Force (IAF) inducted the first batch of four Chinook CH-47F (I) heavy-lift helicopters.
Induction of Chinook helicopters to significantly improve airlift to high-altitude areas.
The modern, multi-mission-capable, heavy-lift transport helicopter will enhance heli-lift capability across all types of terrain to the full effect.
The service ceiling of 20,000 feet would redefine heavy lift not just in operations but also for inter-valley transport and the artillery.
These helicopters will be deployed in northern and eastern regions.

Do you know?

India finalised a contract for 15 Boeing Chinook helicopters in September 2015. The first batch arrived at the Mundra Port in Gujarat in February this year. All helicopters will be delivered by March next year.
The Chinook CH-47F (I) heavy-lift helicopters can carry a maximum payload of 11 tonnes and 54 combat-ready troops or 24 stretcher patients.
The Army’s recently inducted M-777 Ultra-Light Howitzers can also be carried to forward areas.
Boeing CH-47 Chinook: It is an American twin-engined, tandem rotor, heavy-lift helicopter developed by American rotorcraft company Vertol and manufactured by Boeing Vertol (later known as Boeing Rotorcraft Systems).
The CH-47 is among the heaviest lifting Western helicopters. Its name, Chinook, is from the Native American Chinook people of modern-day Washington State.

Indian Accounting Standards (Ind AS)

Part of: GS Prelims and Mains III – Indian Economy and related issues; Banking

In News:

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has deferred the implementation of new accounting rules, Indian Accounting Standards (Ind AS) for banks till further notice.
This is the second extension provided by the RBI. Earlier in April 2018, RBI had postponed the implementation of Ind AS by the banks by one year.

Do you know?

The new rules based on the IFRS9 standards created in the aftermath of the financial crisis were supposed to kick in at the start of the new fiscal year that starts on April 1, after being delayed last year.
According to Fitch Ratings' local unit, India’s state-run lenders would have had to increase provisions by as much as 1.1 trillion rupees ($16 billion) in the fiscal first quarter ending June 30 if the rules had gone ahead.
That would have forced public sector lenders to raise “substantial” amounts of extra capital, beyond the estimated 1.9 trillion rupee infusion already committed by the government.

About Indian Accounting Standard:

Indian Accounting Standard (abbreviated as Ind-AS) is the Accounting standard adopted by companies in India and issued under the supervision of Accounting Standards Board (ASB) which was constituted as a body in the year 1977. MCA has to spell out the accounting standards applicable for companies in India.
The implementation of Ind-AS for public sector banks requires an amendment to the Banking Regulation Act. The schedule in BR Act relating to financial statement disclosures needs to be changed to the Ind-AS format.
Section 29 of the BR Act deals with the accounts and balance sheets of public sector banks. Private sector banks are covered by the Companies Act, which is based on the new accounting standards.

GRAPES-3 muon telescope facility

Part of: GS Prelims and Mains III – Science and Technology; Space Missions

In News:

For the first time in the world, researchers at the GRAPES-3 muon telescope facility in Ooty have measured the electrical potential, size and height of a thundercloud that passed overhead on December 1, 2014.
Learning about the properties of thunderclouds can be useful in navigation of aircraft and preventing short circuits.

About GRAPES-3

GRAPES-3 is designed to study cosmic rays with an array of air shower detectors and a large area muon detector.
It aims to probe acceleration of cosmic rays in the following four astrophysical settings. These include acceleration of particles to,
1. ~100 MeV in atmospheric electric fields through muons,
2. ~10 GeV in the Solar System through muons,
3. ~1 PeV in our galaxy,
4. ~100 EeV in the nearby universe through measurement of diffuse gamma ray flux.
The observations began with 217 plastic scintillators and a 560 m2 area muon detector in 2000.
The scintillators detect charged particles contained in extensive air showers produced by interaction of high energy cosmic rays in the atmosphere.

About Muons:

Muons and other particles are produced when cosmic rays bombard air particles surrounding the earth. The muons produced can have positive or negative charge.
When a positively charged muon falls through a cloud, it loses energy If its energy falls below 1 giga electron volt (GeV), which is the threshold of detection of the GRAPES-3 muon telescope, it goes undetected.
On the contrary, a negatively charged muon gains energy when falling through the cloud and gets detected. Since there are more positive than negative muons produced in nature, the two effects don't cancel out, and a net change in intensity is detected.