Today's GK

•  Rosberg wins turbulent British GP 
• India’s first dedicated navigation satellite IRNSS-1A will be launched onboard PSLV-C22 around midnight on Monday from the spaceport of Sriharikota 
• Global warming will make Indian monsoon worse and unpredictable: Report 
• UNESCO increased Pressure on Australia to conserve Great Barrier Reef 
• P. Sathasivam appointed be the Next Chief Justice of India 
• India to host 2016 World T20 and 2023 World Cup

Major sites

Harappa

• The Great Granary measuring 1 69 ft x 3 5 feet is the largest and the most remarkable structure found at Harappa.
• So far 891 seals have been recovered from Harappa, and that is 40% of the total number of seals belonging to Indus Valley Civilization that have been found.
• A red sandstone naked male torso has been found, which shows traces of Jainism
• Between the granary and the citadel, have also been found a series of circular platforms, probably for the pounding of grain
• At a lower level below the granary, platforms and the citadel were crowded one-room dwellings, which suggest slave habitats.

Mohenjodaro

• In Sindhi language, the word Mohenjodaro means mound of the dead’.
• It is the largest of all Indus cities
• The Great Bath is the most important public place, measuring 39 feet (length) X 23 feet (breadth) X 8 feet (depth).
• Located at the center of the citadel, it is remarkable for beautiful brickwork Its floor is made of burnt bricks set in gypsum and mortar. It must have served as a ritual-bathing site
• Remains have been found of an oblong multi-pillared assembly hall and a big rectangular building, which must have served administrative purposes.
• Most of Mohenjodaro houses are built of kiln-fired brick
• The major streets are 33 feet wide and run north-south, intersecting subordinate ones, running east-west at right angles.
• The evidence of Indian ships (figured on a seal) and a piece of woven cloth has been discovered from here.
• There is a large granary consisting of podium of square blocks of burnt-bricks with a wooden superstructure
• Parallel rows of two-roomed cottages found The workmen or poor sections Of the society perhaps used these cottages.
• Abronzedancinggirl,steatitestatueof a priest and a seal bearing Pashupati have been found here
• It is important to remember that Mohenjodaro shows nine levels of occupation towering over 300 feet above the present flood plain
• Excavation reveals that the city was flooded More than seven times

Kalibangan

• Has pre-Harappan as well as Harappan cultural phases.
• Less developed compared to Mohenjodaro
• There is evidence of mud-brick fortification
• Pre-Harappan phase here shows that the fields were ploughed unlike the Harappan period.
• Archaeologists have discovered two platforms (within the citadel) with fire altars suggesting the practice of cult sacrifice
• The existence of wheel conveyance is proved by a cartwheel having a single hub

Chanhudaro

• Only Indus city without a citadel.
• Existence of Pre-Harappan as well as Harappan cultural phase
• A small pot was discovered here, which was probably an ink pot.
• Excavations reveal that people of Chanhudaro were expert craftsmen. Archaeologists have discovered here metalworkers’, shell-ornament makers’ and bead-makers’ shops
• The city was twice destroyed by inundations.Here more extensive but indirect evidence of super-imposition of a barbarian lifestyle is seen Banwali
• Like Kalibangan, Amri, Kot Diji and Harappa, Banwali also saw two cultural phases - pre-Harappan and Harappan.
• Human and animal figures, clay bangles and statue of mother Goddess found here.
• Here we find large quantity of barely, sesamum and mustard.

Surkotada

• Excavations leveal a citadel and a lower town, both of which were fortified
  It is the only Indus site where the remains of a horse have actually been round.

Kot Diji

• Pre-Harappan and Harappan phases found.
• According to excavations, the city was probably destroyed due to fire
• Wheel made painted pottery, traces of a defensive wall and well-aligned streets, knowledge of metallurgy, artistic toys etc.

• Five figurines of Mother Goddess discovered

Ropar

• The excavations have yielded five-fold sequence of cultures — Harappan, PGW, NBP, Kushana-Gupta and Medieval.
• The evidence of burying a dog below the human burial is very interesting
• One example of rectangular mudbrick ‘chamber was noticed.

Dholavira

• It is the latest and one of the two largest Harappan settlements in India, the other being Rakhigarhi in Haryana
• The other Harappan towns were divided into two parts — Citadel and the Lower Town, but Dholavira was divided into three principal divisions, two of which were strongly protected by rectangular fortifications.
• There are two inner enclosures — the first one hemmed in the citadel (which probably housed the highest authority)and the second one protected the middle town (meant for the close relatives of the rulers and other officials). The existence of this middle town, apart from the lower town, is the real exclusive feature of this city.

Lothal

• Only Indus site with an artificial brick dockyard. It must have served as the main seaport of the Indus people It was surrounded by a massive brick wall, probably as flood protection.
• Lothal has evidence for the earliest cultivation of rice (1800 BC) The only other Indus site where rice husk has been found is Rangpur near Ahmedabad.
• Fire altars, indicating the probable existence of a fire cult, have been found
• A doubtful terracotta figurine of horse is found here

Magnetism and Electricity

A. Magnetism

The word magnet is derived from the name of an island in Greece called Magnesia where magnetic ore deposits were found, as early as 600 BC. Magnetite, an iron ore, is a natural magnet. It is called lodstone.

When a bar magnet is freely suspended, it points in the north-south direction. The tip which points to the geographic north is called the North Pole and the tip which points to the geographic south is called the south pole of the magnet. There is a repulsive force when north poles (or south poles) of two magnets are brought close together. Conversely, there is an attractive force between the north pole of one magnet and the south pole of the other.

The properties of a magnet are

·         it attracts small piece of iron towards it.

·         it always comes to rest in north-south direction when suspended freely

·         like poles repel, unlike poles attracts each other

·         Magnetic poles always exist in pairs.

·         the strength of a magnet is maximum at poles located near the pole ends

The phenomenon due to which an un-magnetized magnetic substance behaves like a magnet, due to the presence of some other magnet, is called magnetic induction. Magnetic induction takes place first then magnetic attraction.

Magnetic induction depends upon the nature of magnetic substance. Magnetic induction is inversely proportional to the distance between inducing magnet and the magnetic substance. More powerful the inducing magnet, the more strong will be the magnetism in magnetic substance.

The space around the magnet where its influence can be detected is called the magnetic field.

A curve in a magnetic field, along with a free north magnetic pole will move, is called magnetic line of force. The direction of magnetic lines of force is the direction in which free north pole will move in a magnetic field.

They are closed continuous curves.

They travel from north to south pole outside the magnet and from south to north pole inside the magnet.

They mutually repel each other

They never intersect with each other

The earth behaves as a magnet with the magnetic field pointing approximately from the geographic south to the north. At a particular place on earth, the magnetic north is not usually in the direction of the geographic north. The angle between the two directions called declination.

B. Electricity

·         The phenomenon due to which a suitable combination of bodies on rubbing, get electrified is called electricity. If a charge on a body is not allowed to flow, it is called the static electricity.

·         Matters are made of atoms. An atom is basically composed of three different components — electrons, protons, and neutrons. An electron can be removed easily from an atom. When two objects are rubbed together, some electrons from one object move to another object. For example, when a plastic bar is rubbed with fur, electrons will move from the fur to the plastic stick. Therefore, plastic bar will be negatively charged and the fur will be positively charged.

·         When you bring a negatively charged object close to another object, electrons in the second object will be repelled from the first object. Therefore, that end will have a negative charge. This process is called charging by induction.

·         When a negatively charged object touches a neutral body, electrons will spread on both objects and make both objects negatively charged. This process is called charging by conduction. The other case, positively charged object touching the neutral body, is just the same in principle.

·         Substances can be classified into three types — insulators, conductors, and semiconductors

·         Conductors are materials which electrical charges and heat energy can be transmitted very easily. Almost all metals such as gold, silver, copper, iron, and lead are good conductors.
i. Insulators are materials which allow very little electrical charges and heat energy to flow. Plastics, glass, dry air and wood are examples of insulators.
ii. Semiconductors are materials which allow the electrical charges to flow better than insulators, but less than conductors. Examples are silicon and germanium.

·         There are two different types of electric charges namely the positive and negative charges. Like charges repel and unlike charges attract each other.

Electric current always flows from the point of high potential. The potential difference between two conductors is equal to the work done in conducting a unit positive charge from one conductor to the other conductor through a metallic wire.

The flow of charge is called the current and it is the rate at which electric charges pass through a conductor. The charged particle can be either positive or negative. In order for a charge to flow, it needs a push (a force) and it is supplied by voltage, or potential difference. The charge flows from high potential energy to low potential energy.

A closed loop of current is called an electric circuit. The current [I] measures the amount of charge that passes a given point every second. The unit for current is Ampere [A]. 1 A means that 1 C of charge passes every second.

When current flows through a conductor it offers some obstruction to the flow of current The obstruction offered to flow of current by the conducting wire is called its resistance in passage of electricity.

The unit of resistance is ohm. The resistance varies in different materials. For example, gold, silver, and copper have low resistance, which means that current can flow easily through these materials. Glass, plastics, and wood have very high resistance, which means that current cannot pass through these materials easily.

Electromagnetism: The branch of physics which deals with the relationship between electricity and magnetism is called electromagnetism.

Whenever current is passed through a straight conductor it behaves like a magnet. The magnitude of magnetic effect increases with the increase in the strength of current.

Faraday’s law of induction is one of the important concepts of electricity. It looks at the way changing magnetic fields can cause current to flow in wires. Basically, it is a formula/concept that describes how potential difference (voltage difference) is created and how much is created. It’s a huge concept to understand that the changing of a magnetic field can create voltage.

He discovered that the changes in the magnetic field and the size of the field were related to the amount of current created. Scientists also use the term magnetic flux. Magnetic flux is a value that is the strength of the magnetic field multiplied by the surface area of the device.

Coulomb’s Law is one of the basic ideas of electricity in physics. The law looks at the forces created between two charged objects. As distance increases, the forces and electric fields decrease. This simple idea was converted into a relatively simple formula. The force between the objects can be positive or negative depending on whether the objects are attracted to each other or repelled.

Coulomb’s Law: When you have two charged particles, an electric force is created. If you have larger charges, the forces will be larger. If you use those two ideas, and add the fact that charges can attract and repel each other you will understand Coulomb’s Law. It’s a formula that measures the electrical forces between two objects. F=kq1q2/r2 where “F” is the resulting force between the two charges. The distance between the two charges is “r”. The “r” actually stands for “radius of separation” but you just need to know it is a distance. The “q2" and “q2" are values for the amount of charge in each of the particles. Scientists use Coulombs as units to measure charge. The constant of the equation is “k.”

There are two main types of current in our world. One is direct current (DC) which is a constant stream of charges in one direction. The other is alternating current (AC) that is a stream of charges that reverses direction. The current in DC circuits is moving in a constant direction. The amount of current can change, but it will always flow from one point to another. In alternating current, the charges move in one direction for a very short time, and then they reverse direction. This happens over and over again.

Citizenship in India

There are two classes of people in any country- citizens and aliens. Citizens enjoy all rights and entitlements while aliens (owing political allegiance to another country or government) are denied some of them. For example, citizens can vote and contest to hold representative offices like a member of parliament while aliens cannot. Aliens are of two types: citizens of friendly countries are friendly aliens while those of enemy countries are enemy aliens- the latter being denied some of the rights that the former may enjoy.
Aliens may find asylum in a country to which they have fled for political reasons. Asylum is the legal protection granted to people in any country who are afraid to return to their home country expelling an alien is called deportation. Domicile means to stay in a country with the intention of making it his or her permanent home. Proof of such an intention is employment or property etc. Resident is one who resided in the country for certain number of days- 182 days in the previous fiscal year as the Indian law defines... If not, he or she is considered a non-resident. A non-resident Indian is a citizen of India but has not resided in India for the required number of days. A Person of Indian Origin (PIO) on the other hand is one who acquired citizenship of another country. He is no more a citizen of India unlike an NRI.
The Constitution of India originally provided for a single citizenship for the entire country. Since 2003, however, dual citizenship is allowed by Indian laws, though with some restrictions. That is, a person is a citizen of the India as well as citizen of the country. Such dual citizens are called overseas Citizens of India. The provisions relating to citizenship are contained in Articles 5 to 11 in Part II of the Constitution of India.
The Citizenship Act, 1955 deals with matters relating to the acquisition, determination and termination of Indian citizenship. It provides for the acquisition of Indian citizenship by birth, by descent, by registration and by naturalisation. The Citizenship Rules, 1956 prescribe the procedure, forms of applications, fee etc.

Modes of Acquiring Indian Citizenship

Citizenship of India can be acquired by the following ways
• By Birth
• by descent
• by registration
• by naturalization
• by acquisition of territory

By birth

Those born in India on or after 26th January 1950 but before 1st July 1967 are citizens of India by birth irrespective of the nationality of their parents. Those born in India on or after July 1987, are considered citizens of India only if either of their parents is a citizen of India at the time of their birth.

By Descent

Those born outside India on or after 26th January 1950 but before 10th December 1992 are citizens of India by descent, if their father was a citizen of India at the time of their birth. Those born outside India after1Oth December 1992, are considered citizens of India if either of their parents is a citizen of India at the time of their birth.

By Registration

Citizenship of India by registration can be acquired by —

·         persons of Indian origin who are ordinarily resident in India for five years

·         persons who are or have been married to a citizen of India and are ordinarily resident in India for five year

·         minor children whose both parents are Indian citizens;

By Naturalisation

Citizenship of India by naturalisation can be acquired by a foreigner who is ordinarily resident in India for ten years (continuously for the twelve months preceding the date of application and for nine years in the aggregate in the twelve years preceding the twelve months). The condition can be waived in the opinion of the Central Government; the applicant is a person who has rendered distinguished services to the cause of science, philosophy, art, literature, world peace or human progress generally.

Citizenship by Incorporation of Territory

If any territory becomes a part of India, its people will be citizens of India.

Loss of Citizenship

It is based on the following grounds
•Voluntary
• Involuntary

Voluntary

Renunciation
if any citizen of India of full age and capacity, who is also a citizen or national of another country, renounces his Indian citizenship, he loses his citizenship of India. If any such declaration is made during any war in which India may be engaged, Central government shall not allow the same till it thinks appropriate. Where a person ceases to be a citizen of India every minor child of that person shall thereupon cease to be a citizen of India, provided that any such child may, within one year after attaining full age, make a declaration that he wishes to resume Indian citizenship and shall thereupon again become a citizen of India.
For the purpose of this section, any woman who is, or has, been, married shall be deemed to be of full age.

Acquisition of Citizenship of another Country

Any citizen of India voluntarily acquires the citizenship of another country, he cease to be a citizen of India. However, this does not apply to a citizen of India, during any war in which India may be engaged, voluntarily acquires the citizenship of another country, until the Central Government otherwise directs. If any question arises as to whether, when or how any person has acquired the citizenship of another country, it shall be determined by Central Government.

Involuntary

Deprivation
the Central government under the Indian citizenship Act, 1955 deprives any citizen of Indian Citizenship on following grounds-

·         the registration or certificate of naturalization was obtained by means of fraud, false representation or concealment of any material fact; or

·         that citizen has shown himself by act or speech to be disloyal towards the Constitution of India; or

·         that citizen has, during the war in which India may be engaged, unlawfully traded or communicated with an enemy assisted any enemy in that war; or 

·         that citizen has, within five years after registration or naturalization, been sentenced in any country to imprisonment for a term of not less than two years; or

·         That citizen has been ordinarily resident out of India for a continuous period of seven years, and during that period, has neither been at any time a student of any educational institution in a country outside India or in the service of a Government of India or of an International organization of which India is member etc.

·         The Central Government shall deprive a person of citizenship for public good.

The other measures which can be used as alternative to GDP

HDI

The UN Human Development Index (HDI) is a standard means of measuring wellbeing. The index was developed in 1990 by the Pakistani economist Mahbub ul Haq, and has been used since 1993 by the United Nations Development Programme in its annual report.

The HDI measures the average achievements in a country in three basic dimensions of human development:

·         A long and healthy life, as measured by life expectancy at birth.

·         Knowledge, as measured by the adult literacy rate (with two-thirds weight) and the combined primary, secondary, and tertiary gross enrolment ratio (with one-third weight).

·    A decent standard of living, as measured by gross, domestic product (GDP) per capita at purchasing power parity (PPP) in US Dollars.

Each year, UN member states are listed and ranked according to these measures.

India is ranked at 134 among 182 countries on the Human Development Index of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) that was released in late 2010. The HDI goes beyond a nation’s gross domestic product (GDP) to measure the general well-being of people under a host of parameters, such as poverty levels, literacy and gender-related issues.

HPI

An alternative measure, focusing on the amount of poverty in a country, is the Human Poverty Index. The Human Poverty Index is an indication of the standard of living in a country, developed by the United Nations.

Indicators used are:

·         Lifespan

·         functional literacy skills

·         Long-term unemployment

·         Relative poverty (‘poverty with reference to the average per capita income).

GPI

The Genuine Progress Indicator (GPI) is a concept in green economics and welfare economics that has been suggested as a replacement metric for gross domestic product (GDP) as a metric of economic growth. Unlike GDP it is claimed by its advocates to more reliably distinguish uneconomic growth - almost all advocates of a GDP would accept that some economic growth is very harmful.

A GPI is an attempt to measure whether or not a country’s growth, increased production of goods, and expanding services have actually resulted in the improvement of the welfare (or well-being) of the people in the country.

Green GDP

Green Gross Domestic Product (Green GDP) is an index of economic growth with the environmental consequences of that growth factored in. From the final value of goods and services produced, the cost of ecological degradation is deducted to arrive at Green GDP.

In 2004, Wen Jiabao, the Chinese premier, announced that the green GDP index would replace the Chinese GDP index. But the effort was dropped in 2007 as it was seen that the conventional growth rates were decelerating.

GNH

Gross National Happiness (GNH) is an attempt to define quality of life in more holistic and psychological terms than Gross National Product.

The term was coined by Bhutans former King Jigme Singye Wangchuck in 1972 to indicate his commitment to building an economy that would serve Bhutan’s unique culture based on Buddhist spiritual values. While conventional development models stress economic growth as the ultimate objective, the concept of GNH is based on the premise that true development takes place when material and spiritual development occur side by side to complement and reinforce each other. The four dimensions of GNH are the promotion of equitable and sustainable socio-economic development, preservation and promotion of cultural values, conservation of the natural environment, and establishment of good governance.

Natural Resources Accounting

Natural resources are essential for production and consumption, maintenance of life-support systems, as well as having intrinsic value in existence for intergenerational and other reasons. It can be argued that natural capital should be treated in a similar manner to manmade capital in accounting terms, so that the ability to generate income in the future is sustained by using the stock of natural capital judiciously. By failing to account reductions in the stock of natural resources, standard measures of national income do not represent economic growth genuinely. Soil, water and biodiversity are the three basic natural resources.

National Biodiversity Action Plan published by Government of India, Ministry of Environment and Forests in 2008 highlights as an action point the valuation of goods and services provided by biodiversity. More specifically, the Action Plan states: to assign appropriate market value to the goods and services provided by various ecosystems and strive to incorporate these costs into national accounting.

In the Nagoya (Japan) meet in 2010 on biodiversity protection, India declared that it will adopt natural resource accounting from 2012.

In the October 2010 UN biodiversity summit, it was said that the link between economic policy, natural capital and human wellbeing should be understood. There should be global partnership is to mainstream natural resources accounting into economic planning. India, Colombia and Mexico accepted it. This will plug deficiencies in traditional accounting systems. As mentioned above, India’s national biodiversity action plan has already incorporated some of these concepts.

Today's GK

1. Union Cabinet gave its approval for the GSAT-15 Satellite

2. Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (I&B) cancelled licenses of 15 channels

3. Union Govt approved Near Doubling of Natural Gas Price Effective from 1 April 2014

4. Japan got its First MOX Nuclear Shipment since Fukushima

5. Minimum Support Price for Paddy fixed at 1310 Rupees per Quintal

6. Union Government floated Bill to prevent Floods, Settle Inter-State Water Disputes

7. Ministry of External Affairs and Nalanda University signed Headquarters Agreement 
8. SC postpones West Bengal panchayat polls  
9. Petrol price hiked by Rs. 1.82 per litre
10. AFSPA needed in J&K: Khurshid 
11. Three sacked journalists send legal notice to Forbes magazine 
12. PM sets target of Rs. 1.15 lakh cr. investment in PPP projects