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General Studies- I

Topic- Indian culture will cover the salient aspects of Art Forms, Literature and Architecture from ancient to modern times.

Mahaveer Jayanti 2021

Mahavir Jayanti is one of the most significant festivals among the Jain community and is celebrated with splendour in India and across the world.

• The festival commemorates the birth of Lord Mahavira.
• As per Jain mythology, Lord Mahavira is the 24th Tirthankara of Jainism.
• In 2021, Mahavir Jayanti will be celebrated on the 25th of April.

Who is Tirthankara?

Lord Mahavir was the twenty-fourth and the last Tirthankara of the Jain religion.

• According to Jain philosophy, all Tirthankaras were born as human beings but they have attained a state of perfection or enlightenment through meditation and self-realization.
• They are the Gods of Jains.

Tirthankaras are also known as Arihants or Jinas.

1. Tirthankara – One who establishes the four fold order (Monk, Nun, Layman, and Laywoman) of religion.
2. Arihant – One who destroys his inner enemies like anger, greed, passion, ego, etc.
3. Jina – One who conquers his inner enemies like anger, greed, passion, ego, etc. The followers of Jina are known as Jains.

About Lord Mahavir:

Mahavir was born in 599 B.C. as a prince in Bihar, India.

• At the age of 30, he left his family and royal household, gave up his worldly possessions, including clothing and become a monk.
• He spent the next twelve years in deep silence and meditation to conquer his desires and feelings. He went without food for long periods.
• He carefully avoided harming or annoying other living beings including animals, birds, and plants.
• His spiritual pursuit lasted for twelve years. At the end he realized perfect perception, knowledge, power, and bliss.
• This realization is known as keval-jnana.

Fourfold order of Jain Followers:

Lord Mahavir organized his followers, into a fourfold order, namely

1. Monk (Sadhu),
2. Nun (Sadhvi),
3. Layman (Shravak), and
4. Laywoman (Shravika).

Later on they are known as Jains.

Teaching:

The ultimate objective of his teaching is how one can attain the total freedom from the cycle of birth, life, pain, misery, and death, and achieve the permanent blissful state of one’s self.

• This is also known as liberation, nirvana, absolute freedom, or Moksha.
• He preached that right faith (samyak-darshana), right knowledge (samyak-jnana), and right conduct (samyak-charitra) together will help attain the liberation of one’s self.

At the heart of right conduct for Jains lie the five great vows:

1. Nonviolence (Ahimsa) – not to cause harm to any living beings
2. Truthfulness (Satya) – to speak the harmless truth only
3. Non-stealing (Asteya) – not to take anything not properly given
4. Chastity (Brahmacharya) – not to indulge in sensual pleasure
5. Non-possession/Non-attachment (Aparigraha) – complete detachment from people, places, and material things.

 

General Studies- III

Topic– Conservation, environmental pollution and degradation, environmental impact assessment.

‘Status of Leopards’ report

Context:

Recently released ‘Status of Leopards’ report shows 60 percent rise in Leopard population across the Country.

Highlights

• India now has 12,852 leopards as compared to the previous estimate of 7910 conducted 2014.
• More than 60% increase in population has been recorded.
• The States of Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka and Maharashtra recorded the highest leopard estimates at 3,421, 1,783 and 1,690 respectively.

Facts about Leopard:

1. Scientific Name- Panthera pardus.
2. Nine subspecies of the leopard have been recognized, and they are distributed across Africa and Asia.
3. Listed in Schedule I of the Indian Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972.
4. Included in Appendix I of CITES.
5. Listed as vulnerable on the IUCN Red List.

Leopard’s habitation in India

India’s world record tiger survey also estimated the population of leopards and the tiger range was found home to 12,852 (12,172-13,535) leopards.

• They occur in prey rich protected areas as well as multi-use forests.
• The leopard was estimated across forested habitats in tiger range areas of the country.
• The other leopard occupied areas such as non-forested habitats (coffee and tea plantations and other land uses from where leopards are known to occur), higher elevations in the Himalayas, arid landscapes and majority of North East landscape were not sampled.
• Therefore, the population estimation should be considered as minimum number of leopards in each of the landscapes.

Significance 

The monitoring of the tiger in India has clearly shown its umbrella role in the ecosystem, which has shed light on other charismatic species like the Leopard.

 

General Studies- II

Topic- Conservation, environmental pollution and degradation, environmental impact assessment.

Piped Natural gas (PNG)

Context

Air Quality Commission directs for 100 percent switching over of industries in Delhi to PNG.

• Air Quality Commission in NCR and Adjoining Areas reviewed the progress of switching over of Industries operating in Delhi to Piped Natural Gas.
• About 1644 of Industrial Units spread across 50 industrial areas in Delhi had been identified to switch over to Piped Natural Gas (PNG).

What is Natural Gas, PNG, CNG & LNG?

• Natural gas as its name indicates is a Gaseous fuel, consisting of 87-92% of Methane with a small percentage of other higher hydrocarbons.
• PNG, CNG & LNG are different forms of Natural gas under varied temperature & pressure.

Piped Natural Gas (PNG)

• Piped Natural gas (PNG) is used for Domestic, Commercial and Industrial Consumption.
• PNG has several distinctions to its credit-of being a pollution free fuel, economical and safer fuel being few of them.
• It is generally under atmospheric temperatures but the pressure limited to less than 24 Kg/cm2 in City Gas grids due to risk involved in movement of high pressure gas inside crowded cities/towns.

Compressed Natural Gas (CNG)

• CNG means natural gas used as fuel for vehicles, typically compressed to the pressure ranging from 200 to 250 kg/cm2 in the gaseous state.
• It is used pre-dominantly for automotive purpose as the energy requirement for running a car (for 150-200 km).

LNG (Liquefied Natural Gas)

• It is liquid form of Natural gas, generally intended for transportation of large volumes through ships, where cross country pipelines are not feasible.
• There will be high degree of economy in transportation logistics due to large scale of operations involved.

What is the difference between PNG and LPG? 

• LPG is Liquefied Petroleum Gas and PNG is Piped Natural Gas.
• LPG is supplied in liquid form just as the name suggests in cylinders whereas PNG is supplied through a pipeline.
• LPG is used as a fuel in heating appliances and vehicles, whereas PNG is used for cooking (gas stoves) and heating water (gas geysers).

Safety: Natural Gas is a safe fuel. In case of leakage, NG being lighter than air, disperses in the air.

Eco friendly fuel

• PNG is one of the cleanest burning fuels, and helps improve the quality of air.
• When natural gas burns completely, it gives out carbon dioxide and water vapour.
• These are the very components that we give out while breathing.

 

 

Chrome facts for Prelims

EXERCISE VARUNA – 2021

It is a Navy bilateral exercise between Indian and French Navy.

The 19th edition of the bilateral exercise ‘VARUNA-2021’ is scheduled to be conducted in the Arabian Sea from 25th to 27th April 2021

• The bilateral naval exercise initiated in 1983 form a vital part of the Indo-French strategic partnership.
• This exercise exemplifies the strong relations between the two nations, in line with the Joint Strategic Vision of India-French Cooperation in the Indian Ocean Region.
• The exercise aims at developing interoperability between the two navies and fostering mutual cooperation by learning from each other’s best practices to conduct joint operations.