UPSC Daily Current Affairs| Prelim Bits 25-01-2025

GSLV-F15 NVS-02 Mission

Why in News?

GSLV-F15 NVS-02 mission is the 100^th launch from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota, scheduled for January 29.

• GSLV-F15 NVS-02 – Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV)- F15/ Navigation with Indian Constellation-2 Satellite (NVS-2).
• GSLV-F15 – 17^th flight of India’s Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV).
  • 11^th flight with – Indigenous Cryo stage.
  • 8^th operational flight with – Indigenous Cryogenic stage.
• Payload – Its fairing is a metallic version with a diameter of 3.4 meters.
• It will place NVS-02 satellite into a Geosynchronous Transfer Orbit (GTO).

• NVS-02 satellite – It is the 2^nd satellite in the NVS series.
• Navigation with Indian Constellation (NavIC) – NVS-02 satellite is part of NavIC.
• It is India’s independent regional navigation satellite system designed to provide accurate Position, Velocity and Timing (PVT) service to users in India.
• It extends to region of about 1500 km beyond Indian land mass.
• U.R. Satellite Centre (URSC) – NVS-02 was designed, developed and integrated at the U.R. Satellite Centre (URSC) with the support of other satellite-based work centres.
• Navigation Payloads – It operates in L1, L5, and S bands and employs Tri-band antenna.
• Rubidium Atomic Frequency Standard (RAFS) – Is the main component of the navigation payload.
• RAFS is an atomic clock which acts as a stable frequency reference for the navigation payload.
• Ranging Payloads – It consists of C-band (CxC) transponder used for 2-way Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) ranging to facilitate precise orbit determination.

• Lift off mass – 2,250 kg.
• Power handling capability – Approximately 3 kW.
• Usage – A combination of indigenous and procured atomic clocks for precise time estimation.

References

1. The Hindu| 100^th Launch from Satish Dhawan Space Centre
2. ISRO| GSLV-F15 NVS-02 Mission

Tamilnadu Iron Age

Why in News?

A groundbreaking study reveals that Tamil Nadu's Iron Age began as early as 3,345 BCE, predating the Hittite Empire's iron usage by a millennium.

• Sivagalai -It is an Iron Age habitation-cum-burial site in the Thamirabarani river valley in Thoothukudi district.

• Sivagalai excavation - A total of 24 trenches were excavated at these sites, which exposed around 160 urns, a majority of them being redware
• Findings - Skeletal remains, paddy grains, over 85 iron objects including knives, arrowheads, chisels, axes, rings, and swords, were found at the site.

• Radiometric dating - The samples from Sivagalai were analyzed by three prestigious research institutions
  • Beta Analytics in the United States
  • Physical Research Laboratory in Ahmedabad
  • Birbal Sahni Institute of Palaeosciences in Lucknow.
• Advanced dating techniques - The samples from Sivagalai, however, were subjected to advanced dating techniques
  • Accelerometer mass spectrometry radiocarbon (AMS14C) dating for charcoal
  • Optically stimulated luminescence (OLS) dating for ceramics.
• The Report – Findings of the dating study were presented as ‘Antiquity of Iron: Recent Radiometric Dates from Tamil Nadu’, authored by K Rajan and R Sivanantham.
• Findings - Radiometric dating of burial urn samples from Sivagalai indicate a thriving Iron Age civilization in southern India in 4th millennium BCE, contemporaneous with copper civilization of  Indus Valley.
• While the regions to the north of the Vindhyas were still in the Copper Age, southern India may have entered the Iron Age due to a lack of commercially exploitable copper ores.
• Adichanallur charcoal - Adichanallur in Thoothukudi district, of Tamilnadu produced a charcoal sample associated with iron objects that was dated to 2517 BCE.
• First smelted iron - For the first time in the world, smelted iron has been dated back to the middle of the third millennium BCE.
• Hittite Empire (in modern-day Turkey)- This was believed to be the first civilization to use iron, with evidence dating back to around 1,380 BCE.
• Other Iron regions of India - Brahmagiri in Karnataka and Gachibowli near Hyderabad, were dated to around 2140 BCE and 2200 BCE, respectively.

References

1. The Economic Times | Did the Iron Age actually begin in Tamil Nadu?
2. The Indian Express | Tamilnadu Iron Age
3. The Hindu | Sivagalai sheds light on iron’s antiquity in Tamil landscape

Fiscal Health Index (FHI), 2025

Why in news?

The Fiscal Health Index (FHI) was recently released by Niti aayog that provides a comprehensive assessment of the fiscal health of 18 major States.

• Aim – To throw light on the fiscal status at the sub-national level and guide policy reforms for sustainable and resilient economic growth.
• Fiscal Health Index 2025 – Is first of kind in India, a comprehensive assessment with insights into state-specific challenges and areas for improvement.
• Five key sub-indices – The index is based on 5 key sub-indices that include Quality of Expenditure, Revenue Mobilisation, Fiscal Prudence, Debt Index, and Debt Sustainability.
• Launched by – Niti Aayog.
• 18 major States – The index assess the fiscal health of the only 18 major states.
• Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) – The report uses the data from CAG.
• Odisha – With a cumulative score of 67.8, Odisha tops the ranking in fiscal health among 18 major States, followed by Chhattisgarh and Goa with scores of 55.2 and 53.6, respectively.
• Odisha tops the Debt Index (99.0) and Debt Sustainability (64.0) rankings with better than average scores under Quality of Expenditure and Revenue Mobilization.
• Strong fiscal health – The achiever States display strong fiscal health, excelling in revenue mobilization, expenditure management, and debt sustainability.
• West Bengal and Punjab – States like West Bengal and Punjab witnessed growing debt burdens, increasing debt-to-GDP ratios and raising serious concern about debt sustainability.

• Significance – FHI helps to promote more integrated approach to fiscal health and sustainable growth, with shared responsibility of both levels of government in achieving national prosperity.
• FHI offers a roadmap for achieving fiscal consolidation, improving transparency, and fostering effective resource management.
• FHI is not merely a ranking but a tool designed to assess and thereby improve the fiscal health of States.
• It provides a framework to evaluate the financial well-being of state economies through key fiscal indicators.

References

1. PIB| Launch of the Fiscal Health Index 2025
2. Business Standard| Fiscally Healthiest States

India’s Forests Fires

Why in News?

Recently, the data showed that in the past 5 fire seasons, over 11 lakh fires incidents reported in India.

• Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change – Mentioned that 4 states have reported over 1 lakh forest fire incidents each in the last five forest fire seasons.
• 4 States – Odisha, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Maharashtra.
• They accounted for 4,73,834 forest fires, which constitutes approximately 43% of the total forest fire incidents in India.

India has reported a staggering 11,09,588 forest fires. Each year from November to June, forests across the country ignites, threatening ecosystems, wildlife and livelihoods.

• India State of Forest Report (ISFR) 2021 – Over 36% of the country’s forest cover is estimated to be vulnerable to frequent forest fires.
  • 2.81% - Extremely fire-prone.
  • 7.85% - Very highly fire-prone category.

• ISFR 2023 – Around 275 million rural people in India depend on forests for their livelihood security.
• Communities residing near forested areas rely heavily on forests for Non-Timber Forest Products (NTFPs).
• Major Factors – Collection of tendu leaves and mahua flowers contributing to forest fires.
• Shifting cultivation practices adopted by local farmers, where an estimated 4.35 million hectares (mha) of forest area is affected by fires.
• Reasons for fires – Unsustainable exploitation of forest resources and coupled with increasing human activities threat to the balance of forest ecosystems.
• Impacts – It leads to loss of:
  • Human lives
  • Depletion of biodiversity
  • Habitat destruction
  • Reduced agricultural productivity
  • Landscape degradation
  • Disruptions to local livelihoods

Reference

The Hindu Business Line| India’s Forests Ablaze