DAILY CURRENT AFFAIRS IAS | UPSC Prelims and Mains Exam – 23nd January 2025

Syllabus:

• Prelims & Mains – HISTORY

Context: Since 2021, January 23, Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose’s birth anniversary, has been observed as “Parakram Diwas,” or the Day of Valour. This year marks Netaji’s 128th birth anniversary.

Background: –

• The government decided to celebrate Parakram Diwas to inspire the people of the country, especially the youth, to act with fortitude in the face of adversity as Netaji did and to infuse them with a spirit of patriotic fervour.

Key takeaways 

• Born to an upper-class Bengali family in 1897 in Cuttack.
• Attended Presidency College and Scottish Church College in Kolkata.
• Cleared the Indian Civil Services (ICS) examination in 1920 but resigned in 1921.
• In 1938, he was elected Congress president in the Haripura session, where he tried to push for swaraj as a “National Demand” and opposed the idea of an Indian federation under British rule. He stood for re-election in 1939 and defeated Dr Pattabhi Sitaramayya, the Gandhi-backed candidate.
• Bose tried to set up another working committee, but after being unable to do so, was forced to resign and was replaced by Rajendra Prasad. Within a week, he proposed the creation of the “Forward Bloc” within the Congress Party, in order to bring the radical-left elements of the party together.
• He was arrested in 1940 before he could launch a campaign to remove the monument dedicated to the victims of the Black Hole of Calcutta, an incident when a number of European soldiers died while imprisoned in 1756.

Gandhi and Bose

• Gandhi was willing to wait a long time for Independence, Bose wanted immediate action, if not immediate results. Gandhi was anti-materialistic and hostile to modern technology, Bose saw technology and mass production as essential.
• Gandhi wanted a decentralized society and disliked the modern state; Bose wanted a strong central government and saw the modern state as the only solution to India’s problems. And finally, Bose did not share Gandhi’s dedication to non-violence.
• Bose was well aware of the significance of Gandhi. He was the first to call him the “father of the nation” during an address from the Azad Hind Radio from Singapore in July 1944.

The INA and Bose

• The INA was formed on February 17, 1942, two days after the British surrendered to Japanese forces in Singapore. It mostly comprised Indian prisoners of war (PoWs) captured by the Japanese during their Southeast Asia campaign.
• Bose arrived in Singapore in July 1943 and took charge of INA on July 4.
• He gave the call of “Delhi Chalo” to INA to march on Delhi and liberate India. The INA crossed the Indo-Burma border and marched towards Imphal and Kohima in March 1944. The Chalo Delhi campaign ended at Imphal.
• By 1945, the British had launched their own campaign to retake Burma, and the INA once again found itself in retreat. After the atomic bombs were dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in August 1945, the war came to an end.
• Bose wanted to stay with his troops for the surrender but was persuaded to leave by his subordinates. He died in a plane crash three days later.

Source: Indian Express

Syllabus:

• Mains – GS 2

Context: Starting his second term with a flurry of executive orders, US President Donald Trump has sought to revoke birthright citizenship – automatic citizenship of children born in the US to non-citizen parents.

Background: –

• The Indian-American community, which is one of the fastest-growing immigrant populations in the US, will be profoundly impacted by this change as and when it comes through.

Key takeaways

• Under birthright citizenship, anyone born on American soil is automatically granted US citizenship, regardless of the citizenship or immigration status of the parents. This provision was enacted in 1868. 
• Trump’s new order would deny US citizenship, including passports, to those children born in the US starting 30 days from now, if at least one parent isn’t an American citizen.
• Children born to Indian nationals who are on temporary work visas (like the H-1B visa) or waiting for the Green Card would no longer automatically acquire US citizenship.
• Children born to Indian students on non-immigrant visas would face challenges in securing US citizenship, at a time when Indian students make up one of the largest groups of international students in the US.
• Such a move would discourage many Indian professionals & students from seeking opportunities in the US, opting for more immigration-friendly countries like Canada or Australia instead. It could also affect the US economy, as the Indian community significantly contributes to the tech industry, healthcare and education.
• US-born children could no longer petition to bring their parents to the US after turning 21 if they do not get birthright citizenship. The policy will also curb “birth tourism” from countries like India and Mexico, a practice of women travelling to the US specifically to give birth, so their children can claim citizenship.

Source: Indian Express

Syllabus:

• Prelims & Mains – CURRENT EVENT

Context: The Neutral Expert (NE) appointed under terms of the Indus Water Treaty (IWT), 1960, decided that he was “competent” to decide on differences between India and Pakistan on the design of hydroelectric projects built on the Indus Treaty-rivers.

Background:

• The dispute resolution mechanism laid out under the terms of the IWT says that disputes must first attempt to be resolved by the Permanent Indus Commission  (PIC). If they do not succeed, the matter would be weighed by the World Bank-appointed Neutral Expert. If this fails too, the matter would be decided by a Court of Arbitration.

Key takeaways 

• The Indus Water Treaty (IWT) is a landmark water-sharing agreement between India and Pakistan, brokered by the World Bank. 
• Negotiations, mediated by the World Bank, began in the 1950s and culminated in the signing of the Indus Water Treaty in Karachi on September 19, 1960 by Indian Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru and Pakistani President Ayub Khan.
• It governs the use and distribution of the waters of the Indus River and its tributaries.
• Rivers Covered:
  • Western Rivers (allocated to Pakistan): Indus, Jhelum, Chenab.
  • Eastern Rivers (allocated to India): Ravi, Beas, Sutlej.
• Water Allocation:
  • India has exclusive rights over the waters of the Eastern Rivers 
  • Pakistan has rights over the waters of the Western Rivers, but India is allowed limited use.
  • In effect, the treaty gave India about 30% of the water carried out by the “Indus Rivers System” while Pakistan got 70% of the waters.
• Institutional Mechanism:
  • A Permanent Indus Commission was established with representatives from both countries to implement and manage the treaty.
  • The commission meets regularly to resolve disputes and exchange data.
• There is controversy over the construction of two hydel power projects by India in Jammu & Kashmir — one on Kishanganga, a tributary of Jhelum, in Bandipora district, and the other (Ratle Hydroelectric Project) on Chenab in Kishtwar district.
• Both are “run-of-the-river” projects, meaning they generate electricity (330 MW and 850 MW respectively) using the natural flow of the river, and without obstructing its course. However, Pakistan has repeatedly alleged that both these projects violate the IWT.
• India decided there would be no more meetings of the Permanent Indus Commission (PIC) until the IWT was renegotiated. The last meeting happened in Delhi in May 2022. 

Source: The Hindu

Syllabus:

• Prelims & Mains – CURRENT EVENT

Context: The National Health Mission (NHM) has significantly contributed to improving public health, including lowering of the maternal mortality ratio, incidence of tuberculosis (TB), and sickle cell anaemia. It has also contributed to expanding human resources while fostering an integrated response to health emergencies, the Union government said in its assessment report (2021-24) presented to the Cabinet.

Background: –

• The National Health Mission (NHM) was launched by the government of India in 2013 subsuming the National Rural Health Mission and National Urban Health Mission.

Key takeaways

Components of NHM:

• Health System Strengthening: Focuses on improving healthcare infrastructure and services in both rural and urban areas.
• Reproductive-Maternal-Neonatal-Child and Adolescent Health (RMNCH+A): Addresses the health needs of women and children, aiming to reduce mortality rates.
• Communicable and Non-Communicable Diseases: Works on controlling and preventing both communicable diseases (like malaria and tuberculosis) and non-communicable diseases (like diabetes and hypertension).

Major Initiatives:

• Accredited Social Health Activists (ASHA): Over 9.15 lakh ASHAs are deployed across the country to provide community-level care, especially for marginalized sections.
• Rogi Kalyan Samiti/Hospital Management Society: Committees involving community members manage hospital affairs and ensure better facilities for patients.
• Mainstreaming of AYUSH: Integrates traditional medicine practices (Ayurveda, Yoga, Unani, Siddha, and Homeopathy) into the healthcare system
• Janani Suraksha Yojana (JSY) aims to reduce maternal mortality among pregnant women by encouraging them to deliver in government health facilities.
• National Ambulance Services (NAS): People can dial 108 or 102 telephone number for calling an ambulance. Dial 108 is predominantly an emergency response system, primarily designed to attend to patients of critical care, trauma and accident victims etc. Dial 102 services essentially consist of basic patient transport aimed at the needs of pregnant women and children though other categories are are not excluded.

Source: The Hindu

Syllabus:

• Prelims – SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

Context: An international team using NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope and Chandra X-ray Observatory has discovered LID-568, a low-mass supermassive black hole from 1.5 billion years after the Big Bang, offering insights into the formation and growth of supermassive black holes.

Background: –

• Supermassive black holes, found at the centers of most galaxies, have masses ranging from millions to billions of times that of the Sun. Sagittarius A*, the Milky Way’s central black hole, is about 4.3 million solar masses. However, the mechanisms behind their immense growth remain uncertain.

Key takeaways

• LID 568 was feeding on a surrounding cloud of matter at 40 times the Eddington limit (theoretical maximum rate).
• The Eddington Limit, named after British astrophysicist Sir Arthur Eddington, is a theoretical concept that defines the balance between two opposing forces acting on matter near a luminous object, such as a black hole or star.
• Forces at Play:
  • Gravitational Force: Pulls matter inward toward the object (e.g., a black hole).
  • Radiation Pressure: Outward pressure created by the intense energy and radiation emitted by the accreting material.
• Equilibrium Point:
  • The Eddington Limit is reached when the radiation pressure exactly balances the gravitational pull.
  • At this point, the accreting matter no longer falls inward because the outward pressure prevents further accumulation.
• Significance in Black Hole Accretion:
  • Feeding and Luminosity:
    • Black holes accrete matter, which forms a hot accretion disk around them.
    • The heating of the disk emits radiation, especially X-rays, that contributes to the outward radiation pressure.
    • The Eddington Limit governs the maximum rate of accretion and brightness of the black hole.
• Super-Eddington Accretion:
  • Occurs when accretion rates exceed the Eddington Limit.
  • In such cases, black holes feed much faster, emitting higher radiation levels than the limit would suggest.

Source: The Hindu

Q1.) Consider the following statements about the Indus Water Treaty (IWT):

1. The Indus Water Treaty was signed in 1960 and brokered by the World Bank.
2. India has exclusive rights over the waters of the Western Rivers under the treaty.
3. The treaty includes a dispute resolution mechanism involving the Permanent Indus Commission, a Neutral Expert, and a Court of Arbitration.

Which of the above statements is/are correct?

(a) 1 and 2 only

(b) 2 and 3 only

(c) 1 and 3 only

(d) 1, 2, and 3

Q2.) Which of the following components is/are part of the National Health Mission (NHM)?

1. Reproductive-Maternal-Neonatal-Child and Adolescent Health (RMNCH+A)
2. Accredited Social Health Activists (ASHA)
3. National Ambulance Services (NAS)

Select the correct answer using the codes given below:

(a) 1 and 2 only

(b) 2 and 3 only

(c) 1 and 3 only

(d) 1, 2, and 3

Q3.) Which of the following correctly describes the Eddington Limit?

(a) It is the maximum mass a star can attain before collapsing into a black hole.

(b) It is the theoretical maximum rate at which a black hole can accrete matter without being disrupted by radiation pressure.

(c) It is the limit beyond which a black hole cannot emit any radiation.

(d) It is the distance from a black hole within which no light can escape its gravitational pull.

Comment the answers to the above questions in the comment section below!!

ANSWERS FOR ’  Today’s – Daily Practice MCQs’ will be updated along with tomorrow’s Daily Current Affairs

Q.1) – b

Q.2) – b

Q.3) – d