• January 16, 2023

Harvest Festival of India

• GS1 Art and Culture

In News

• India is renowned as the “land of festivals,” and on January 14th, several regions of the nation observe harvest celebrations called by various names.

More about the Harvest Festivals of India

• Lohri:
  • Significance:
  • The well-known North Indian holiday Lohri ushers in longer days and the passing of the winter solstice.
  • In North India, Lohri commemorates the rabi crop’s harvest.
  • Time of celebration:
  • It is observed every year on January 13th, the day before Makar Sankranti, during the month of Paush.
  • Regions:
• In the states of Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, and the union region of Jammu & Kashmir, it is observed by both Hindus and Sikhs.
• Makar Sankranti:
  • About:
  • The first Hindu holiday, Makar Sankranti, is observed throughout India with tremendous fanfare and passion and usually falls in January.
  • Significance:
    • Hindus all around India commemorate this important harvest festival, although different states have their own unique names, customs, and celebrations.
    • Due to the sun’s northward trek, Makar Sankranti heralds the end of winter and the start of longer days. Because of this, this time period is also known as Uttarayan and is seen as being particularly lucky.
    • Different Names:
    • In Maharashtra, Goa, Andhra Pradesh, West Bengal, Karnataka, and Telangana, it is also known as Poush Sankranti.
    • In the centre of India, it is known as Sukarat.
    • Kite Flying:
      • Kite flying is another traditional and well-known festival activity, and in Gujarat’s Ahmedabad, the day has been honoured as International Kite Festival. 
• Magh Bihu:
  • Significance:
  • Magh Bihu, a notable Assamese celebration, signifies the conclusion of the harvesting season in the month of Magh (between January and February).
  • It is observed to signal a tiny change in the earth’s rotational axis that ushers in the end of the chilly winters and the start of spring. This event is also known as Maghor Bihu.
  • Characteristics:
    • This is one of the three Bihu that the community celebrates, and the title “Bhogali Bihu” comes from the word “bhog,” which denotes delight and eating.
    • The final day of the lunar month of Pousha is known as Uruka, and it falls on the eve of the Bhogali Bihu.
    • The celebration is also  marked by bonfires, made of green bamboo, firewood, hay, and dried banana leaves. 
    • Traditional games:
      • People also play traditional Assamese games like tekeli bhonga (pot-breaking) and buffalo fighting. They also pray to ancestral gods for their blessings.
    • Delicacies:
• Additionally, people produce mouthwatering rice cakes known by a variety of names, including Sunga Pitha, Til Pith, and coconut laddoos.
• Pongal:
  • About:
  • Pongal, one of India’s most well-known holidays, is widely celebrated by the Tamil community all over the world.
  • With Makar Sankranti, it is one of the largest harvest festivals.
  • Significance:
    • It is observed during the Tamil solar calendar’s Tai month.
    • The four-day festival honouring the Sun God ushers in Uttarayan, the sun’s northward voyage.
    • The event, which spans four days, starts with Bhogi Pongal and continues with Surya Pongal, then Maattu Pongal, and Kanum Pongal. 
    • • The second day is the most significant day, yet each day has a special meaning.
    • The Sweet dish-Pongal:
    • This celebration is named after the Indian sweet food Pongal, which is made with rice that has been boiled in milk and sweetened with jaggery.
    • The Chola era is where the Pongal dish first appeared; numerous documents and inscriptions attest to this fact.
    • It is also known that some Hindu temple inscriptions from the Chola through Vijayanagara Empire eras contain thorough recipes.
    • Celebrations:
      • Celebrations also involve decorating cows, ritual bathing, making rice powder-based kolam artworks, offering prayers, and meeting friends and relatives. 

Significance of the Harvest Festival

• • The main purpose of these celebrations is to signal the start of the harvest season in the nation. This festival is perhaps the only one that is observed on the same day across all of India. in different manners and names.
• Sun’s northward journey: 
  • It is associated with the sun’s northward journey.
• A Harvest festival is a celebration of the food grown on the land: 
•  Harvest festivals occur at various times and in diverse locations due to regional variations in climate and crops.
• Harvest festivals in Asia: One of the most well-known harvest holidays in the world is the Chinese Mid-Autumn Festival.

Source: PIB

Acute M alnutrition

• GS 2 Government Policies & Interventions Issues Arising out of their Design & Implementation Mechanisms, Laws, Institutions & Bodies for Protection & Betterment of these Sections Health

In Context

• The World Health Organization (WHO) has said in a press brief that acute malnutrition puts the lives of 30 million children at risk.

More about the news

• Global state of Malnutrition:
• o According to WHO, acute malnutrition, also known as wasting, affects more than 30 million children in the 15 countries that are most severely affected.
• Of these children, 8 million are severely wasted, the most deadly type of undernutrition.
• Causes:
• o More and more children are suffering from severe malnutrition as a result of war, climate change shocks, COVID-19’s persisting effects, and growing living costs.
• Critical nutrition, health, and other life-saving services are also growing harder to access.
• Impacts:
• The world food crisis is also a health catastrophe, and it is a vicious cycle in which sickness causes hunger.

• According to the WHO, acute malnutrition poses a serious risk to children’s lives, long-term health, and development, with consequences felt by affected individuals, communities, and nations.

UN’s response: Global Action Plan on Child Wasting

• Action Plan:
  • In response to the WHO’s report, five UN agencies subsuming WHO are calling for accelerated progress on the Global Action Plan on Child Wasting. 
• Agencies:
  • These agencies are 
    • Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), 
    • UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR), 
    • United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), 
    • World Food Programme (WFP) and 
    • World Health Organization (WHO).  
• Aim:
• In the worst-affected nations, the action plan attempts to prevent, detect, and treat acute malnutrition in children:
• Afghanistan, Burkina Faso, Chad, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia, Haiti, Kenya, Madagascar, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan, and Yemen are among the countries that are included in this list.
• Need of support, action & investment:

o The organisations have demanded prompt and immediate action to stop this crisis from turning into a tragedy for the world’s most defenceless children.

o Before it’s too late, all agencies requested more investment in support of a coordinated UN response that will address the enormous needs of this escalating disaster.

Malnutrition

• About:
  • It refers to deficiencies, excesses or imbalances in a person’s intake of energy and/or nutrients. 
  • It is a chronic problem and a longstanding challenge for the public administration of India.
• The term malnutrition addresses 3 broad groups of conditions:
  • Undernutrition:
  • It comprises stunting (low height for age), underweight, and wasting (low weight for height) (low weight-for-age)
  • Together, the stunted and wasted children are seen as being underweight, pointing to an insufficient diet and subpar postpartum care.
  • Micronutrient-related malnutrition: 
    • It includes micronutrient deficiencies (a lack of important vitamins and minerals) or micronutrient excess; and
    • Overweight: 
      • It includes obesity and diet-related noncommunicable diseases (such as heart disease, stroke, diabetes and some cancers).

Government initiatives to address Malnutrition

• Poshan Abhiyan:
  • o The mission is a multi-ministerial convergence effort with the goal of making India malnutrition-free by 2022.
  • The Ministry of Women and Child Development (MWCD) is putting these policies into action. POSHAN Abhiyaan.
• Prime Minister’s Overarching Scheme for Holistic Nutrition (POSHAN) 2.0 scheme: 
• · It currently incorporates the Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) programme, which aims to assist young girls, pregnant women, nursing moms, and children under the age of three.
• Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS):
• Mid-Day Meal Scheme:
  • The Mid-day Meal Scheme is a school meal programme in India designed to better the nutritional standing of school-age children
  • It covers all school students studying in Classes 1 to 8 of government schools, government-aided schools, special training centres, including madrasas supported under Samagra Shiksha Abhiyan.
• National Food Security Mission:
•  As a Centrally Sponsored Scheme, it was introduced in 2007–2008 by the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare.
•  It emphasises improving productivity and expanding the output of the selected crops in a sustainable way.
• National Nutrition Mission:
  • It is the government’s flagship programme to improve nutritional outcomes for children, pregnant women and lactating mothers.
  • Aim: 
  • To decrease anaemia in children, teenage girls, pregnant women, and breastfeeding mothers by 3% per year (totaling 9% till 2022) and stunting and wasting by 2% per year (totaling 6% until 2022).
  • The nodal ministry for execution is the Ministry of Women and Child Development.

• o It is one of the biggest and most distinctive early childhood care and development programmes in the world.
• o Pregnant women and breastfeeding mothers, as well as youngsters between the ages of 0 and 6, will benefit from the programme.
• The implementing body is the Ministry of Women and Child Development.

Way ahead

• There is speculation that in 2023, things will probably get even worse.

• In order to save the lives and health of children in the most severely affected nations, immediate assistance is required. This includes ensuring that women and children, in particular, have crucial access to nutritious foods and nutrition services.

• The impact of available resources on malnutrition can be increased by increasing the efficiency and effectiveness of current nutrition interventions.

• To guarantee diets are healthy and sustainable for people and the environment, policy actions are urgently needed to restructure food systems, increase intake of health-promoting foods, and decrease animal-based foods.

Source: DTE

Governor- CM Tussle in Tamil Nadu

• GS 2

In Context

In light of a widening disagreement with the state government, the governor leaves the legislature of Tamil Nadu.

About

• Governor R. N. Ravi omitted some portions from the text prepared by the State administration when he gave the annual address to the state assembly.

• The action caused the Governor to leave the House and caused previously saw scenes in the Assembly when the CM moved a motion to simply record the transcript given to MPs.

Governor

• About: In India, the President of India appoints the Governor, who is in charge of the state’s executive branch.
• Constitution: There shall be a Governor for each state, according to Article 153 of the Indian Constitution, which establishes the post of governor.
• TenureGovernors typically serve five-year terms and are eligible for reappointment.
• Executive head: Governor acts as the representative of the President in the state and is responsible for ensuring that the state government functions within the framework of the Constitution.
• Removal: On the advice of the Council of Ministers in the Center, the President may remove the Governor.
• Key responsibilities in the state assembly
• Summoning and proroguing the state legislature: The Governor has the authority to call a special session of the state legislature and to prorogue it when needed.
• Address the assembly: The Governor addresses the state legislative assembly at the beginning of the first session after each general election and the first session of each year.
• Recommendation for dissolving assembly: When the administration is defeated in a vote of confidence, for example, the Governor may request to the President of India that the state legislative assembly be dissolved.
• Assent to bills: The Governor has the power to give assent to bills passed by the state legislature, or to withhold assent or reserve the bill for the President’s consideration.
• Appointment of members of the Legislative Council: In states where the Legislative Council exists, the Governor has the power to appoint certain members of the council in accordance with the provisions of the constitution.
• Assent to money bills: The Governor has the power to give assent to money bills passed by the state legislature, or to recommend amendments to such bills.

Other important roles

• Appointing the Chief Minister of a state: The Governor appoints the leader of the party or coalition that has a majority in the state legislative assembly as the Chief Minister.
• Emergency powers: The Governor has the power to declare a state of emergency in the state, in case of a breakdown of law and order or a threat to the security of the state, on the advice of the Chief Minister or on his own.
• Administering oaths to the Chief Minister and other Ministers: Governor administers oaths of office and secrecy to the Chief Minister and other Ministers.
• Returning or withholding assent to bills passed by the Legislative Assembly: If the Governor thinks a bill is against the public interest or unconstitutional, he has the authority to veto it or send it back for reconsideration.
• Appointment of Judges: The Governor appoints judges to the High Court and other subordinate courts in the state in consultation with the Chief Justice of the High Court and the State Government.
• Appointment of officials: The State Public Service Commission’s chairman and members, as well as other state authorities, are appointed by the Governor.
• Representing the state: The Governor represents the state at the Centre and participates in the meetings of the National Development Council and other forums.
• Chancellor of Universities: The Governor oversees the general management of public universities as their Chancellor.
• Custodian of the Constitution: As the state’s guardian of the Constitution, the governor is in charge of making sure that the state’s government operates within its bounds. 

Way Ahead

• Although the governor has legislative, emergency, and budgetary authority, they should only be used in extraordinary circumstances as they have the potential to undermine India’s federalist ideals.

• In order to ensure the efficient operation of the state apparatus and the welfare of the general populace, it is necessary to maintain checks and balances between the state government and the governor’s office.

 Source: IE

Global Risks Report 2023: WEF

• GS 3

• Growth & Development

In News

• The World Economic Forum recently released the Global Risks Report 2023. (WEF).

Key Points

• Most severe risks facing the world in the next decade:
  • Cost of living:
    • It  ranks as the top most serious global risk in the short term (over the next two years).
• Reason: 
  • Current global pandemic 
  • War in Europe 
• Most impacted:
  • The impact of natural disasters or extreme weather events disproportionately affects low- and middle-income countries. 
  • Such events figure among the top five risks in 25 countries, especially developing coastal countries across Latin America, Africa and South-East Asia including India.
• India:
• Between January 1 and November 30, 2022, 291 of the 334 days in India saw harsh weather.
• This indicates that over these 11 months, more than 87% of the country’s regions had an extreme weather event of some kind.
• The climate catastrophe and human-caused greenhouse gas emissions are related to these catastrophic events.
• Since pre-industrial times, some weather and climate extremes have become more frequent and/or more intense as a result of human-caused greenhouse gas emissions.
  • Dangerous interconnections: 
    • Over the next 10 years or by 2033, the interconnections between biodiversity loss, pollution, natural resource consumption, climate change and socioeconomic drivers will make for a dangerous mix.
• Major global risks 
  • In the next 2 years: Cost of living; Natural disasters and extreme weather events; Geoeconomic confrontation
  • In the next 10 years: Failure to reduce climate change; loss of biodiversity; and collapse of ecosystems

• • o Not addressing climate change
  • Failure to adapt to climate change
  •  Natural catastrophes and severe weather conditions:
  • It ranks as the second-most serious risk for which the world needs to be ready in the upcoming two years.
  •  Ecosystem collapse and loss of biodiversity

Image Courtesy: WEF 

What is ‘Global risk’?

• • It is described as the potential for the emergence of a situation that, if it materialises, would have a large negative impact on the world’s population, gross domestic product, or natural resources.
• • The Global Hazards Report series tracks how risk specialists and global leaders in industry, government, and civil society perceive global risks.
• It examines risks across five categories:
  • Economic
  • Environmental
  • Geopolitical
  • Societal
  • Technological. 

Concerns

• Despite 30 years of international campaigning and diplomacy on climate change, the globe is still unable to make the necessary progress.

• Since 2011, failure to address climate change through climate action has remained one of the top risks in the report.

• Nitrous oxide, methane, and carbon dioxide concentrations in the atmosphere have all risen to record levels.

• It is highly improbable that the world’s aspirations to keep warming to 1.5°C will be realised given current emission trends.

One of the most serious concerns in the near term is also failure to mitigate climate change. Additionally, it is a major global risk for which the world is least prepared.

• Current efforts to stop or prepare for climate change have failed.

• The rate of decline in biodiversity within and between ecosystems is already greater than at any other time in recorded human history. However, “Biodiversity loss and ecosystem collapse” has not been thought to be a short-term issue, in contrast to other climate-related threats.

The speed and scope of mitigation efforts over the next two years will likely decrease due to the increasing demands on public and private sector resources caused by these socioeconomic short-term crises linked to geopolitical tensions.

Way Ahead

• Follow the Bottom-up Approach: 
  • Resilience would be more effective if it is built on a bottom-up approach, by understanding the needs of the community at the local level, rather than providing directions from the leadership.
• Democratisation of data: 
  • There is a need for the dissemination of data to the general public in a more robust and simple manner as information is necessary to create an impact at the local level.
  • It also provides a nudge to the local communities and creates a competitive environment for better climate action.
• Expanding the horizon of Indian actions: 
• Protecting vulnerable communities: 
  • It is important to protect the vulnerable communities from extreme events and rationalising the use of fertilisers and subsidies, to create a low carbon economy.
• Access to Finance: 
  • It is important for the world to realise the importance of incentivising the developing countries towards the usage of renewable energy. 
• Holistic view: 
  • A less carbon-intensive economy will also benefit the country in the long term as India is a vulnerable country in the context of climate change. 
• Strict implementation of the Agreements:
• In terms of international action on biodiversity, the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF), which was established at the 15th Conference of Parties (COP15) to the UN Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), represents a considerable advance.

• oCurrently, efforts are focused on reducing energy emissions and improving energy efficiency.
• The same must be applied to industries like agriculture, which can be directly linked to climate change

• These and all similar agreements must be faithfully carried out and followed.

Source: DTE

IMD Doppler Weather Radar Network

• GS 3 Science & Technology Developments, Applications & Effects on Everyday Life

In News

• The Keynote Address was given in New Delhi on the 148th anniversary of the founding of the India Meteorological Department (IMD).

Minute of Address

• Key Point: 
• By 2025, the entire nation will be covered by the Doppler Weather Radar Network, allowing for more precise forecasting of extreme weather conditions.
• IMD recently took initiative to expand the Radar Network from just 15 in 2013 to 37 in 2023 and will add 25 more over the next two to three years.
• States: 
  • Four Doppler Weather Radar Systems in Jammu and Kashmir, Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh. 
• Climate Services:
  • They are very important for short and long term planning and strategy development
  • IMD has already initiated these services in five major thrust areas of:
  • Agribusiness,
  • health,
  • energy,
  • water, a
  • nd disaster risk reduction
  • It has lined up plans to expand them through customization of products. 

Doppler Weather Radar Network

• It is a customised radar that generates velocity information about distant objects by using the Doppler effect.

• It utilises a parabolic dish antenna with a foam sandwich spherical radome to increase precision in long-range weather forecasting and surveillance.

• It is equipped to detect storm centres, pinpoint tornado or gust front directions, monitor wind shear, velocity, and rainfall intensity.

• In the case of a natural disaster brought on by extreme weather, it gives advanced information, boosting the lead-time that is so crucial for preserving lives and property.

• Doppler radar classification and applications: Doppler radar can be categorised into L, S, C, X, and K categories based on wavelength.

Image Courtesy: Engg 

• L Band Radars: operate at a frequency of 1-2 GHz and a wavelength of 15–30 cm.
• Mostly used for clear air turbulence studies.
• S-band radars: They operate on a wavelength of 8-15 cm and a frequency of 2-4 GHz. Because of the wavelength and frequency, S-band radars are not easily attenuated. This makes them useful for near and far range weather observation. 
  • The drawback to this band of radar is that it requires a large antenna dish and a large motor to power it.
  • C band radars: They operate between 4 and 8 cm in wavelength and 4 and 8 GHz in frequency. The size of the dish does not need to be extremely great because of the wavelength and frequency.
  • This lowers the cost of C band radars for TV broadcasters. Since the signal is more easily attenuated, short-range weather observation is where this type of radar excels.
    • X-band radars: They operate on a wavelength of 2.5-4 cm and a frequency of 8-12 GHz. Because of the smaller wavelength, the X band radar is more sensitive and can detect smaller particles.
      • It is used to detect thunderstorms and lightning.
• K band radars: They function at a frequency of 12-18 GHz and a wavelength of.75-1.2 cm or 1.7-2.5 cm, respectively. Due to a high water vapour absorption line, this band is split in half. Despite being more sensitive, this band is comparable to the X band. 

Significance

• The accuracy of weather forecasts has increased by 20–40% for various severe weather occurrences predicted.
• Farmers and fishers benefit from the warning and advisory services as their economies grow.
• The investment in the monsoon mission programme, for instance, returned 50 rupees for every rupee invested.
  • Agromet Advisories at District and Block Levels are used efficiently by crores of farmers during various stages of farming, and the service is being expanded. This has been especially beneficial for farmers living below the poverty line.
  • It assists the general public, disaster management, and stakeholders in launching prompt reaction actions to further mitigate calamities.
  • The ability to predict the monsoons, which are essential to maintaining our food security, has improved the economy and decreased the number of fatalities brought on by monsoonal floods and droughts in south Asia.
  • Thanks to these advancements’ accurate forecasting and prompt warnings, deaths from numerous extreme occurrences, including as cyclones, heavy rain, thunderstorms, heat waves, and cold waves, have been reduced recently.

Way Ahead

• A National Framework should be created on priority to provide climate products and information for Sectoral applications.
• The disaster managers, general public and stakeholders under the umbrella of National Disaster Management Plans, guidelines, SOPs introduced by the present Government need to be vehemently followed so as to continue the rewards being reaped.

Source: PIB

Miniature Stupa Of Nalanda

• GS1

In News

• The Archeological Survey of India (ASI) has found two tiny votive stupas that date back to 1200.

More about the news

• Location:
• o In the grounds of the “Nalanda Mahavihara,” a site designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in the Nalanda district of the state, little stupas have been found next to the Sarai Tila mound.
• About:
  •  A stupa is a hemispherical building that represents the tomb of Buddha. It gained popularity after the arrival of Buddhism and reached its zenith during Ashoka’s rule. In Tibet, stupas became chortens, and in East Asia, pagodas.
  • The stupas, according to archaeologists, must be at least 1200 years old.
• Miniature stupa building:
  • Beginning in the 7th century CE in India, small miniature terracotta stupas became popular as votive offerings.  
  • Votive is the form of the stupa, with its distinctive domelike drum, originating in eight cylindrical structures in which the Buddha’s relics were placed after his death.

About Nalanda Mahavihara site complex

• History:
• o Nalanda was a renowned Mahavihara, a sizable Buddhist monastery located in the historic Indian kingdom of Magadha (current-day Bihar).
• It is regarded by historians as the first residential university in history and one of the greatest educational institutions in the ancient world.
•  It engaged in the systematic dissemination of knowledge for a continuous 800 years.
• Establishment:
  • Nalanda was established during the Gupta Empire era and was supported by numerous Indian and Javanese patrons – both Buddhists and non-Buddhists.
• Archaeological remains:
• o The Nalanda Mahavihara site contains the ruins of a monastery and academic building that existed between the third and thirteenth centuries CE.
• Stupas, shrines, viharas (residential and educational buildings), and significant works of art made of stucco, stone, and metal are all included.
• Significance:
  • The historical development of the site testifies to the development of Buddhism into a religion and the flourishing of monastic and educational traditions.

Source: TOI

Pashu Sakhi Project

• GS 3

In News

• Under the Pashu Sakhi project, the doctor didis (animal buddy) is building social capital in rural Jharkhand.

About Pashu Sakhi project

• Pashu Sakhi is a Community Animal Care Service Provider (CASP), enabling last mile coverage in rural areas where clinical services for livestock are either delayed or prohibitively expensive for the rural poor to purchase.

• The National Rural Livelihood Mission inspired the project, which aimed to develop a network of community resource people.

o It’s funded by the World Bank.

The UN Food and Agriculture Organization and the International Food Policy Research Institute had chosen the pashu Sakhi model under JOHAR as one of the top eight global best practise models for farmer service delivery.

• Features: Sakhi project that trains village women in basic livestock care, has changed the way that women are seen as well as how domestic animals are reared
  • They advise farmers about health check-ups for their livestock, vaccinations, de-worming, hygiene, breeding, feeding, and the management of animal waste.

Source:TH

Rajasthan: First State to implement blindness control policy

• GS 2 Government Policies & Interventions

In News

• Rajasthan has become the first State to put into effect a blindness control strategy with the goal of guaranteeing the “right to sight.”

About the Policy

• The Chief Minister directed the Department of Medical and Health to release the policy document for the prevention of blindness.
•  It aims to improve the lives of the more than 3 lakh visually impaired residents of the state.
•  The goal of the blindness control policy is to reduce the prevalence rate of blindness in the nation, which was 1.1 percent in 2020, to 0.3 percent.
• Features: Under the policy, the Rajasthan government will mandatorily run Keratoplasty Centres and Eye Banks at all the government medical colleges.
  • Efforts to eliminate visual impairment would be made in the districts in collaboration with voluntary organisations, trusts, hospitals and other charitable institutions working in this field.
  • In this regard, the state government will carry out a campaign for eye donation on an extensive level along with the private institutions.
  • Special training will be imparted to eye experts, eye surgeons, post-graduate students, counsellors working for eye donation and eye assistants etc.

Source:TH#

Thiruvalluvar Day

• GS1

In News

• On the occasion of Thiruvalluvar, Shri Amit Shah, Minister of Union Home and Cooperation, has sent his warmest congratulations to the populace.

About 

• The inaugural Thiruvalluvar Day celebration took place on May 17 and 18 of 1935.
• Currently, it is celebrated as part of Pongal celebrations on either January 15 or January 16 in Tamil Nadu.

Who is Thiruvalluvar?

• He is a philosopher and poet.

• Tamils hold him in high respect as a cultural figure.
  • Information regarding his family history, place of birth, and religion is scant.
  • Mylapore, a settlement that is now a Chennai neighbourhood, is where it is thought he formerly resided
  • According to some versions, he lived between the eighth and ninth centuries.
  • Maraimalai Adigal, a Tamil orator, writer, and the founder of the Pure Tamil movement, estimated Valluvar’s birth year to be 31 BC, whereas Kamil Zvelebil, a Czech expert on Indian literature and linguistics, estimated Thiruvalluvar’s life span to be approximately 500 AD.
  • .

Works

• Thiruvalluvar’s primary work Thirukkural contains 1330 couplets (kurals) that are divided into 133 sections of 10 couplets each. 
  • The text is divided into three parts with teachings on dharma, artha, and kama (virtue, wealth and love).

Social significance 

• A temple honouring Thiruvalluvar was erected within the Mylapore Ekambareswarar temple complex in the early 16th century.

• One of the largest auditoriums in Asia is housed in Chennai’s Valluvar Kotam, a temple monument constructed in 1976.

In Ulsoor, close to Bengaluru, a second statue of the renowned Tamil poet was unveiled in 2009.

• Outside the School of Oriental and African Studies in Russell Square, London, a statue of Valluvar was also constructed.

Source:PIB

JUICE ( Jupiter Icy moons  Explorer)

Mission

• GS 3 Space

In News

• The European Space Agency (ESA) will launch a spacecraft outside of the asteroid belt for the first time on the JUICE mission.

JUICE (JUpiter ICy moons Explorer)

• About:
• o The ESA Cosmic Vision 2015–2025 program’s JUICE mission is the organization’s first large-class mission.
• The spacecraft will be launched on an Ariane 5 in April 2023, beginning an eight-year voyage that will include flybys of Venus and Earth for gravity assistance before it enters the Jupiter system in 2031.
• Goals: 
• o It will spend at least three years performing in-depth observations of the three largest moons of Jupiter, Ganymede, Callisto, and Europa.
•  It will comprehend if the cold moons’ waters could have ever supported life.
• Components & Different Experiments:
• Camera system JANUS

• Moons and Jupiter Imaging Spectrometer (MAJIS)

• UV imaging Spectrograph (UVS)

• Submillimeter Wave Instrument (SWI)

• GAnymede Laser Altimeter, or GALA

• Radar for Icy Moons Exploration (RIME)

• J-MAG – A JUICE magnetometer instrument

• Planetary Radio Interferometer and Doppler Experiment (PRIDE)