Prelim Bits 10-08-2023 | UPSC Daily Current Affairs

Cott-Ally App

Cott-Ally mobile app has been developed for farmers to increase awareness about MSP rates, nearest procurement centers, payment tracking, best farm practices etc.

Cotton Corporation of India (CCI)

• It is a Public Sector Undertaking under the administrative control of Ministry of Textiles, Government of India.
• CCI operates in all the cotton growing States.
• The major role of the CCI is to undertake Minimum Support Price (MSP) operations on behalf of the Government of India and outreach with the cotton farmers.
• CCI has developed a mobile app Cott-Ally exclusively for the cotton farmers.

Cott-Ally Mobile App

• It is a free mobile-based application owned by The Cotton Corporation of India Ltd.
• It provides a platform to farmers cultivating cotton.
• It provides information regarding their payment status, purchase centers available across all cotton growing states in the country, variety of cotton, latest news, and notifications.
• This application is developed to maintain the transparency about the business between the CCI (Cotton Corporation of India Ltd) team and the farmers.
• If the farmers have any queries, they can reach out CCI team immediately by using the Live Chat feature.
• For raising any complaint, they can easily access the Complaint feature of the application.

References

1. PIB – Cott-Ally App
2. Cotton Association of India – Cott-Ally App

Luna-25 mission

Russia set to launch Luna-25, its 1^st lunar landing mission in 47 years, and it might land on the Moon's lunar South Pole ahead of Chandrayaan-3.

• The mission is set to be launched from the Vosthochny cosmodrome in the Russian Far East on August 11, 2023.
• The mission is scheduled to land on the Moon on August 23, the same day as Chandrayaan-3’s planned landing.
• The mission is aiming for a prized destination that may hold significant quantities of ice that could be used to extract oxygen and fuel in the future.

If either of the mission succeeds before the other, it will be the first one to land on the lunar south pole in human history.

• Soft Landing – Luna-25 will practice soft-landing, analyse soil samples and conduct long-term scientific research on the Moon’s surface.

• It has a mass of 1.8 tons and carries 31 kilograms of scientific equipment, including some that it will use to take rock samples from up to a depth of 15 centimetres to test for the presence of water.

The Russian mission will take a lot less time to reach the Moon than Chandrayaan-3 because the latter is taking a longer route that takes advantage of the gravities of the Earth and the Moon to use a lot less fuel.

References

1. The Indian Express – Luna-25 mission could land on lunar south pole before Chandrayaan-3
2. Times of India – Russia to launch moon lander after 5 decades

Article 3 of the Constitution

The resolution moved by Kerala CM was passed unanimously to change the name of a state to Keralam, requires the approval from the Union Ministry of Home Affairs.

Origin of the names

• The earliest epigraphic record that mentions Kerala is emperor Asoka’s Rock Edict II of 257 BC.
• The inscription refers to the local ruler as Keralaputra, and also son of Chera referring to the Chera dynasty.
• About Keralam, scholars believe it could have originated from Cheram.
• When it was decided to reorganise states on a linguistic basis, the State Reorganisation Commission of the Union Government recommended creation of the state of Kerala.
• The state of Kerala came into being on November 1, 1956.
• In Malayalam, the state was referred to as Keralam, while in English it was Kerala.

Article 3 of the Constitution

• Under Article 3, the Parliament may take the following actions:
  1. It can form a completely new State by separating the territory from any State by uniting two or more states or parts of states or by uniting any territory to a part of any state.
  2. It can increase or decrease the area of any State.
  3. It can change/alter the name of any State.
  4. It can also make changes to the boundaries of a State.

References

1. The Indian Express – Kerala Assembly passes resolution to rename state as Keralam
2. India Today – 'Keralam' from Kerala

Belem Declaration

Amazon countries fail to agree on protection goals.

The Amazon Summit

• The summit was hosted by Brazil which aimed at saving the rainforest of the region.

Amazon forests act as a crucial buffer against climate change that experts warn is being pushed to the brink of collapse.

• The leaders from the eight amazon countries failed to agree on the goal to protect the rainforest at the ongoing Amazon Summit organised by the Amazon Cooperation Treaty Organization (ACTO).
• Amazon countries – Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Guyana, Peru, Suriname and Venezuela.
• ACTO – ACTO is an international organisation aimed at the promotion of sustainable development of the Amazon Basin.
• Colombia – It had proposed that 80% of the Amazon should be protected from deforestation and degradation by 2025 but did not find support from all the members.
• GBF – The failure of consensus on protected areas could have implications on the overall goals and targets set under the Convention on Biological Diversity's Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF).
• Under this, member countries had agreed to protect at least 30% of land and sea by 2030.

Belem Declaration

• It was released during the Amazon Summit and recognizes Indigenous knowledge as a condition for biodiversity conservation.
• The declaration calls for ensuring full and effective participation of Indigenous Peoples in decision-making and public policy formulation processes.
• The declaration promotes sustainable use of biodiversity resources in the Amazon.

References

1. Down To Earth – Amazon countries fail to agree on protection goals
2. Economic Times – Amazon nations launch alliance to fight deforestation at summit

Vela Constellation

There is a question mark-shaped object in space, reveals NASA’s James Webb Telescope.

The object

• The precise nature of the object remains a mystery, it is poised to contribute to understanding of the cosmos.
• The enigmatic entity lies within the Herbig Haro 46-47 stellar cluster within the Vela constellation.
• These stars are in a constant process of formation, arising from the aggregation of gas and dust particles that compose their mass.

Vela Constellation

• The constellation is located in the southern sky about 50degree south in declination.
  • Declination is the angular distance of a point north or south of the celestial equator.
• Its brightest star is Gamma Velorum, with a magnitude of 1.6.
• The largest known emission nebula, the Gum Nebula, is found here and in the neighbouring constellation Puppis.
• The Vela pulsar is the brightest celestial source of gamma rays.
• This constellation was originally part of the much larger Argo Navis.

References

1. Times of India – A question mark-shaped object in space
2. Britannica – Vela Constellation