GI Tags in News

Over 60 products from across India earn GI tags.

• This is the first time such a large number of Geographical Indication (GI) Tags have been given at a go.
• GI Tags from Assam – Asharikandi Terracotta Craft; Pani Meteka craft; Sarthebari metal craft; Jaapi; Mising handloom Products; Bihu dhol; Jotha; Gongar Dunjia; Gongona; Thorka; Gamsa; Keradapini; Sifung; Jwmgra; Serja; Dokhona; Khardwi; Eri Silk; Kham.
• GI Tags from Uttar Pradesh – Banaras Thandai; Banaras Lal Bharwamirch; Banaras Tabla; Banaras Lal Peda; Banaras Shehnai.
• GI Tags from Tripura – Pachra-Rignai; Matabari Peda.
• GI Tags from Meghalaya – Meghalaya Garo Textile; Meghalaya Chubitchi; Meghalaya Lyrnai Pottery.

Ozone on Jupiter's Moon, Callisto

In a groundbreaking research collaboration featuring Indian scientists, new evidence has been unearthed pointing to the existence of ozone on Callisto, one of Jupiter’s moons.

• Callisto is Jupiter’s second largest moon after Ganymede and the third largest moon in our solar system, after Ganymede and Titan.
• It’s about the same size as Mercury.
• Callisto was discovered Jan. 7, 1610, by Italian scientist Galileo Galilei along with Jupiter’s three other largest moons: Ganymede, Europa and Io.
• Callisto is named for a woman turned into a bear by Zeus in Greek mythology.
• Zeus is identical to the Roman god Jupiter.
• Callisto’s rocky, icy surface is the oldest and most heavily cratered in our solar system.
• Callisto is on the list of possible places where life could exist in our solar system beyond Earth.

Kodaikanal Solar Observatory (KoSO)

125 years of Kodaikanal Solar Observatory (KoSO).

• Madras Observatory – In 1792, the British East India Company established the Madras Observatory, a first of its kind in this part of the world.                  
• Madras Observatory is famous for the discovery of 58 asteroids and 21 variable stars.

• In Madras Observatory, astronomical observations of the Sun, the Moon, bright stars and planets recorded during 1812-1825 were preserved in two large data volumes.
• The first dedicated solar observations were recorded later in 1878 from the Trigonometrical Survey Office in Dehradun.
• The spectroscopic observations taken during the August 18, 1868, total solar eclipse from Guntur in Andhra Pradesh led to the discovery of helium, the Universe’s second-most abundant element after hydrogen.

• For the first time, celestial and solar photography were attempted from the Madras Observatory during the total annual solar eclipse on December 12, 1871. 
• Great Drought – Scanty rainfall over south India during the winter monsoon of 1875 triggered one of the worst droughts the country had experienced till then.
• India, along with China, Egypt, Morocco, Ethiopia, southern Africa, Brazil, Columbia and Venezuela, suffered concurrent multi-year droughts during 1876-1878.
• This drought was later named the Great Drought, and an associated global famine that killed nearly 50 million.
• The drought was thought to be due to multiple reasons such as
  1. Solar activity;
  2. Cool Pacific Ocean conditions
  3. El Nino (1877-1878)
  4. Strong Indian Ocean Dipole
  5. Warm North Atlantic Ocean conditions
• Smith Commission – The Famine Commission of the British Raj, led by Charles Michie Smith, recommended that the Government of India take regular solar observations.
• In August 1893, the Government of India sanctioned a Solar Physics Observatory under the meteorological budget.
• As a result Kodaikanal was chosen as the ideal location for setting the observatory to take regular solar observations.
• In 1895, Lord Wenlock, the then Governor of Madras, laid its foundation stone. 
• The Madras Observatory was merged with the KoSO following the reorganization of all Indian observatories on April 1, 1899.
• Bhavnagar Telescope – The Bhavnagar Telescope, named after Maharaja of Bhavnagar, operated during KoSO’s initial years.
• This 16-inch Newtonian (later Cassegrain) mobile telescope remained India’s largest from 1888-1968.
• It was imported from Dublin, Ireland, and was first established at the Maharaja Takhtasinghji Observatory in Poona (now Pune) around 1888.
• However, the Poona observatory closed down and the telescope was sent to KoSO in 1912.
• Observations made by KoSO –

1. Examination of the Sun’s disc from spots and faculae.
2. Tracing bright lines from the Sun’s chromospheres and prominences.
3. Visual and photographic observations of bright lines widened in the spectra of sunspots.
4. Measuring solar radiations on clear sky days.
5. Direct photography of the Sun in monochromatic lights of calcium and hydrogen.

• The radial motion of sunspots, better known as the Evershed Effect, was discovered from the sunspot observations made at KoSO by John Evershed, KoSO director from 1911-1922.

• Until the end of World War II in 1945, KoSO remained an observatory dedicated to solar physics.
• Thereafter, it expanded its ambit to study cosmic rays, radio astronomy, ionospheric physics, stellar physics and more areas. 
• Contemporaries – The contemporaries, Maharaja Takhtasinghji Observatory, Lucknow Observatory, and Calcutta Observatory, did not stand the test of time.
• KoSO is the only observatory offering high-resolution digitised images for such a long period (with coverage of more than 75%).

Havana Syndrome

According to a joint media intelligence, members of a Russian military intelligence unit could have targeted the brains of US officials by using directed energy weapons.

• Havana syndrome refers to a set of mental health symptoms that are said to be experienced by United States intelligence and embassy officials in various countries.
• Generally, the word ‘syndrome’ simply means a set of symptoms.
• It does not mean a unique medical condition, but rather a set of symptoms that are usually experienced together whose origins may be difficult to confirm.

• Havana syndrome was first reported by U.S. embassy officials in the Cuban capital of Havana in 2016.
• The officials began experiencing extreme headaches and hearing piercing sounds at night.
• The exact cause of Havana Syndrome remains unknown, however, it is assumed to be linked to possible sonic weaponry from Russia.
• The condition is characterized by unexplained symptoms that include migraines, fatigue, vertigo, anxiety, dizziness, memory lapses and cognitive impairment. 
• India – In India, first such case was reported in the year 2021, when a US intelligence officer travelling to New Delhi with CIA director William Burns reported symptoms of Havana Syndrome.
• Sources in the Indian security establishment said that they were not aware of any weapon with such capacities being in the possession of an Indian agency.

Securities Appellate Tribunal (SAT)

Lack of full Bench takes a toll on SAT's functioning and efficiency.

• Securities Appellate Tribunal is a statutory body established under the provisions of Section 15K of the Securities and Exchange Board of India Act, 1992.
• SAT also aims to exercise jurisdiction, powers and authority conferred on the Tribunal by Act or any other law for the time being in force.
• SAT was setup to hear and dispose of appeals against orders passed by the:
  1. Securities and Exchange Board of India or by an adjudicating officer under the Act.
  2. Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA) under the PFRDA Act, 2013.
  3. Insurance Regulatory Development Authority of India (IRDAI) under the Insurance Act, 1938.
  4. General Insurance Business (Nationalization) Act, 1972.
  5. Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority Act, 1999 and the Rules and Regulations framed thereunder.

• It works under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Finance & has only one bench which sits at Mumbai.
• It has the same powers as vested in a civil court & if any person feels aggrieved by SAT’s decision or order can appeal to the Supreme Court.