Prelim Bits 08-11-2022 | UPSC Daily Current Affairs

Utah Salt Flats

The glistening white salt of the world famous Bonneville Salt Flats is shrinking near the Utah-Nevada line.

• The Bonneville Salt Flat is found west of the Great Salt Lake, in Western Utah.
• Both the Bonneville Salt Flats and the Great Salt Lake are remnants of the prehistoric lake - Lake Bonneville.

• The Salt Flat stretching over 30,000 acres, is located near the Utah-Nevada border.
• The salt surface contains potassium, magnesium lithium and sodium chloride (common table salt).
• Environment - The vegetation is sparse owing to the salty soil.
• Ponds and marshy areas can be found in spots near the edges of the flats and they provide critical habitat for plants and animals.

Threats

• The salt flat is growing thinner and the overall footprint has shrunk to about half of its peak size in 1994.
• Racing - The slat flat is perfectly flat and has a thick crust of salty soil.
• The crust keeps tires cool at high speeds and provides an ideal surface for racing.
• Bonneville Speedway is a part of the salt lake used as motor race ground.
• Potash Mining - Potash, a potassium-based salt is extracted from the salt lakebed.
• The briny water in the aquifer below the flats is depleting faster due to potash mining.
• Drought - The landscape relies on the seasonal flood to maintain its size and footprint.
• Fails in seasonal flooding leads to recede or leaves behind an unstable layer of salt.

References

1. The Hindu - Search for solutions drives race to save Utah salt flats
2. Bonneville Salt Flats - Utah

National Bio Energy Programme

The Ministry of New and Renewable Energy has notified to continue the National Bioenergy Programme for the period from FY 2021-22 to 2025-26.

• The National Bio Energy Programme will aid the use of huge surplus biomass, cattle dung, and industrial and urban bio-waste available in the country for energy recovery.
• The Programme has been recommended for implementation in 2 Phases - Phase-I (budget outlay of Rs. 858 crore) and Phase-II.
• The National Bioenergy Programme will comprises of 3 sub-schemes:
  1. Waste to Energy Programme
  2. Biomass Programme
  3. Biogas Programme
• Waste to Energy Programme - A programme on Energy production from Urban, Industrial and Agricultural Wastes /Residues.
• To support setting up of large Biogas, BioCNG and Power plants (excluding MSW to Power projects).
• Biomass Programme - A scheme to Support Manufacturing of Briquettes & Pellets and Promotion of Biomass (non-bagasse) based cogeneration in Industries.
• The pellets and briquettes produced can be used in power generation and non-bagasse based power generation projects.
• Biogas Programme - To support setting up of family and medium size Biogas in rural areas.
• The National Bio Energy Programme will also give an extra push in the form of a 20% higher standard Central Financial Aassistance pattern for the north-eastern region.

References

1. PIB - MNRE notifies National Bio Energy Programme
2. Live Mint - The Ministry of New and Renewable Energy
3. EconomicTimes - Renewable energy ministry to continue Bio Energy Programme till 2025-26

Guru Nanak Jayanti

Guru Nanak Jayanti or Gurpurab this year is observed as the 553rd birth anniversary of Guru Nanak Dev Ji.

• Guru Nanak Jayanti also known as Guru Nanak's Prakash Utsav and Guru Nanak Dev Ji Jayanti.
• The birth anniversary of Guru Nanak is celebrated on the Full Moon day of the Indian lunar month, Kartik.

Guru Nanak (1469-1539)

• Guru Nanak is the first Guru of Sikhs.
• Guru Nanak was born in a Hindu merchant family in Nankana Sahib Village near the river Ravi in Punjab (present day Pakistan).
• He travelled widely before establishing a centre at Kartarpur (Dera Baba Nanak on the river Ravi).
• Ideology - He rejected sacrifices, ritual baths, image worship, austerities and the scriptures of both Hindus and Muslims.
• For Baba Guru Nanak, the Absolute or ‘Rab’ had no gender or form. He emphasized the importance of the worship of one God.  
• He proposed a simple way to connect to the Divine by remembering and repeating the Divine Name, expressing his ideas through hymns (shabad in Punjabi).
• Gurdwara - Baba Guru Nanak organised his followers into a community and set up rules for congregational worship (sangat) involving collective recitation.
• Irrespective of their former creed, caste or gender, his followers ate together in the common kitchen (langar).
• The sacred space thus created by Guru Nanak was known as Gurdwara.
• Successor - He appointed one of his disciples, Angad (2^nd Guru), to succeed him as the guru.

Guru Granth Sahib

• The 5^th preceptor, Guru Arjan, compiled Guru Nanak’s hymns along with those of his four successors in the Adi Granth Sahib.
• Adi Granth Sahib also has hymns written by other religious poets like Baba Farid, Ravidas and Kabir.

The Mughal emperor Jahangir ordered the execution of Guru Arjan in 1606.

• The 10^th preceptor, Guru Gobind Singh, included the compositions of the 9^th guru, Guru Tegh Bahadur, and this scripture was called the Guru Granth Sahib.
• Guru Granth Sahib is the holy scripture of the Sikhs written in Gurmukhi script.

Khalsa Panth

• Under Guru Gobind Singh, the Sikh community got consolidated as a socio-religious and military force.
• He laid the foundation of the Khalsa Panth (army of the pure).
• The Khalsa Panth is defined by its five symbols: kes (Uncut long hair), kangha (comb), kachha (a pair of shorts), karha (steel bangle), and kirpan (sword).

References

1. Live Mint - Guru Nanak Jayanti today: history, significance
2. PIB - PM greets people on Parkash Purab of Sri Guru Nanak Dev Ji

Make-2 project

Indian Army has approved project sanction orders for five Make -2 projects providing impetus to Atma Nirbhaarta.

• The Indian Army has 43 ongoing projects under the Make II procedure of Capital Acquisition.
• 17 out of 43 projects have been initiated through suo-moto proposals received from the industry.
• The 5 products ordered by Indian Army under Make-2 project are

1. High-Frequency Man Packed Software Designed Radio,
2. Drone Kill System,
3. Infantry Training Weapon Simulator,
4. 155mm Terminally Guided Munitions and
5. Medium Range Precision Kill System.

MAKE Projects

• Defence Acquisition Procedure 2020 encourages indigenous designing and manufacturing of defence items.
• The Make category of capital acquisition in Defence Procurement Procedure is a vital pillar for the Make in India initiative.
• It enables indigenisation of high end technology systems in the defence industry.
• The ‘Make’ Procedure aims to achieve the objective of self-reliance by involving greater participation of Indian industries including the private sector through the following mechanisms.

References

1. Live Mint - Indian Army approves five Make-2 projects
2. India Today - Indian Army approves five Make II projects
3. Times Now - Indian Army approves Project Sanction Orders of five Make II projects
4. Make In India - Defence Manufacturing

Lycopene

Researchers have developed a Nano-biosensor for detecting lycopene.

The Nano-biosensor uses a portable smartphone-based upconverting reusable fluorescent paper strip to detect lycopene in tomatoes.

Upconversion is a process where light can be emitted with photon energies higher than the light generating the excitation.

• Lycopene is a phytochemical with high commercial value.
• It is a type of carotenoid found in high amounts in tomatoes and also present in pink grapefruit, watermelons and papaya.
• It is responsible for the red to pink colours seen in tomatoes, pink grapefruit, and other foods.
• It is also synthesised by plants and microorganisms but cannot be synthesised by the human body and can only be obtained via diet.
• It is a potent antioxidant that helps prevent cancer and heart diseases.
• High intake of lycopene-rich foods shows a reduced risk of several cancers, notably prostate cancer.

Carotenoids

• They are natural pigments present mainly in fruits and vegetables.
• They are responsible for colours from yellow to red that also have a role as non-nutrients.
• α-carotene, β-carotene, lycopene are few examples of carotenoids.

References

1. Down To Earth - Researchers develop reusable, paper-based lycopene sensors
2. ScienceDirect – Lycopene