UPSC Daily Current Affairs | Prelim Bits 04-10-2024

National Mission on Edible Oils - Oil seeds

Cabinet Approves National Mission on Edible Oils – Oilseeds (NMEO-Oilseeds) for 2024-25 to 2030-31.

• Aim - It is an initiative aimed at boosting domestic oilseed production and achieving self-reliance in edible oils.
• Duration - The Mission will be implemented over a 7-year period, from 2024-25 to 2030-31.
• Ministry – Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare.
• Key crops - It will focus on enhancing the production of key primary oilseed crops such as Rapeseed-Mustard, Groundnut, Soybean, Sunflower, and Sesamum.
• It also focus on increasing collection and extraction efficiency from secondary sources like Cottonseed, Rice Bran, and Tree Borne Oils.
• Targets - The mission aims to increase primary oilseed production from 39 million tonnes (2022-23) to 69.7 million tonnes by 2030-31.
• Together with NMEO-OP (Oil Palm), the Mission targets to increase domestic edible oil production to 25.45 million tonnes by 2030-31 meeting around 72% of our projected domestic requirement.

Around 9 MT of palm oil is imported every year to the tune of Rs. 40,000 crore which is around 56 % of the total imports of edible oil.

• This will be achieved by promoting adoption of high-yielding high oil content seed varieties, extending cultivation into rice fallow areas, and promoting intercropping.
• Features - The Mission will harness ongoing development of high-quality seeds by using cutting-edge global technologies such as genome editing.
• The Mission also seeks to expand oilseed cultivation by an additional 40 lakh hectares by targeting rice and potato fallow lands, promoting intercropping, and promoting crop diversification.
• SATHI Portal - To ensure the timely availability of quality seeds, it will introduce an Online 5-year rolling seed plan through the ‘Seed Authentication, Traceability & Holistic Inventory (SATHI)’ Portal.

References

1. PIB | National Mission on Edible Oils - Oil seeds
2. Times of India | National Mission on Edible Oils - Oil seeds

Solar Eclipse

The recent annual solar eclipse created a rare ring of fire phenomenon visible in parts of South America because the Moon is farther from the Earth than usual.

A "ring of fire" occurs when the Moon lines up between the Sun and the Earth to create a solar eclipse but does not block out the Sun's light entirely.

• A solar eclipse occurs when the moon is positioned between Earth and the sun and casts a shadow over Earth.
• A solar eclipse is witnessed only during the new moon when the Moon and Sun are aligned on the same side of Earth.
• A new moon occurs about 29.5 days because that is how long it takes the Moon to orbit Earth.
• This, however, does not mean that a solar eclipse happens every month. It takes place only between two to five times annually.
• It is because the Moon does not orbit Earth in the same plane as the Earth orbits the Sun.
• In fact, the Moon is tilted by about five degrees with respect to Earth.
• As a result, most of the time when the Moon is in between the Sun and Earth, its shadow is either too high or too low to fall on the Earth.
• Types of solar eclipse
• There are 4 different types of solar eclipses depending on how the sun, moon and Earth are aligned at the time of the event
  • Total solar eclipse - The sun is fully obscured by the moon. 
  • Partial solar eclipse - The moon doesn't fully block the sun so only a portion of the sun is obscured. Here the moon appears to take a "bite" out of the sun.

Partial solar eclipse is the most common type of solar eclipse.

• • Annular solar eclipse - The moon is centered in front of the sun but doesn't cover the entirety of the surface (as seen in a total solar eclipse). A "ring of fire" shines around the moon. 
  • Hybrid solar eclipse - The rarest solar eclipse is a combination of a total and annular eclipse (sometimes known as an A-T eclipse) and is produced when the moon's shadow moves across Earth.
  • These begin as one type of eclipse and transition to another.      

References

1. Hindustan Times | 'Ring of Fire' solar eclipse
2. The Hindu | Solar eclipse created rare 'ring of fire'

Swallowtail butterflies

A new study found that the overexploitation of 25 species of host plants threatens the swallowtail butterflies in the forest habitats of a part of Assam often referred to as the “citrus belt of the world”.

• Family – Papilionidae.
• Swallowtail butterflies are named for the distinctive "tail-like" projections on their hindwings, even though many species within this group lack these tails.
• Distribution - It includes over 550 species found worldwide, except in the Arctic. India is home to 77 of the 573 recorded species.
• Characteristics - They are known for their large size and colorful appearance, specifically the characteristic tail-like extensions on their hindwings.
• Diet - Swallowtail butterflies primarily feed on nectar from a variety of flowering plants.
• These butterflies often mimic the patterns of distasteful species to avoid predation.
• They serve as valuable indicator species, reflecting the health of their ecosystems.
• There are many species but the most famous ones are Blue-striped mime (Papilio slateri), Bhutan glory (Bhutanitis lidderdalii), and Kaiser-i-Hind (Teinopalpus imperialis).
• Swallowtail is the state butterfly of Arunachal Pradesh.
• Conservation - The International Union for Conservation of Nature designated the northeastern part of the country, where 69 species have been recorded, ‘swallowtail-rich zone’ under the Swallowtail Conservation Action Plan.
• Threat - Habitat destruction due to illegal farming, agriculture, deforestation, and pesticide use.

Reference

The Hindu | Swallowtail butterflies

Classical Language Status

The Union Cabinet recently approved classical language status to Marathi, Bengali, Assamese, Pali, and Prakrit.

• Classical languages are ancient languages with independent traditions and a rich literary history that continue to influence various literary styles and philosophical texts.
• The government first introduced the concept of classical languages in October 2004 by conferring this status to Tamil.
• Earlier, 5 other languages also enjoyed classical status: Sanskrit (2005), Kannada (2008), Telugu (2008), Malayalam (2013), and Odia (2014).

• Criteria - The criteria for a classical language include an ancient history and literary tradition spanning 1500-2000 years, with a significant significant body of ancient texts that are still valued today.
• The current framework, as revised in 2024 by the Linguistic Experts Committee (LEC) under Sahitya Akademi, emphasises 4 key factors.
• Key Factors
  • High antiquity of the language’s early texts/recorded history over a period of 1500-2000 years.
  • A body of ancient literature/texts, which is considered a heritage by generations of speakers.
  • The language must have a distinct and original literary tradition, not derived from another speech community.
  • Knowledge texts, especially prose texts, in addition to poetry, epigraphical and inscriptional evidence.
• The classical languages and literature could be distinct from their current form or could be discontinuous with later forms of their offshoots.
• Benefits of status - Conferring classical language status to languages will promote these languages, their cultural preservation, academic research, and the overall recognition of linguistic heritage.
• The move will enhance awareness of the language and strengthen the linguistic identity of speakers, fostering pride in their language’s contribution to national and global culture.
• It will ensure that ancient literary texts, manuscripts, and works are conserved.
• Digitization of ancient manuscripts will make them accessible for future generations of scholars.
• Promoting these languages - Once a language is notified as a classical language, the Education Ministry provides certain benefits to promote it.
• These include 3 Central Universities established in 2020 through an Act of Parliament to promote Sanskrit.
• The Central Institute of Classical Tamil was set up to facilitate the translation of ancient Tamil texts, promote research, and offer courses for university students and language scholars of Tamil.
• The Centres for Excellence for studies in classical Kannada, Telugu, Malayalam, and Odia were also established under the Central Institute of Indian Languages in Mysuru.

References

1. The Hindu | Classical Language Status
2. Times of India | Cabinet gave its approval to classical language status

C/2023 A3 (Tsuchinshan–Atlas)

C/2023 A3 (Tsuchinshan–Atlas) reached its closest approach to the Sun (perihelion) becoming increasingly visible to observers on Earth recently.

• Comet C/2023 A3 (Tsuchinshan–Atlas) is thought to orbit the sun about every 80,000 years on a highly elongated path.
• The comet is currently between the orbits of Jupiter and Saturn.
• It is approximately 129.6 million kilometres away from Earth and is currently located in the Sextans constellation.
• Discovered by - Purple Mountain Observatory; ATLAS South Africa.
• Discovered - 9 January 2023.
• It is a non-periodic comet. Unlike more familiar comets, such as Halley’s Comet, this one is unpredictable in its appearance.

Asteroid Terrestrial-impact Last Alert System (ATLAS)

• ATLAS is a NASA-funded early warning system.
• Developed by - The University of Hawaii.
• It consists of 4 telescopes located in Hawaii and Chile.
• It is designed to detect smaller near-Earth objects days to weeks before they potentially impact Earth.
• ATLAS can survey the entire dark sky every 24 hours, making it a crucial tool for monitoring and tracking potential asteroid threats.

References

1. The Guardian | Comet C/2023 A3 (Tsuchinshan–Atlas)
2. The Indian Express | Comet C/2023 A3 lights up