Andhra Pradesh celebrates its formation day.
Andhra
Pradesh Chief Minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy paid floral tributes at the statue
of freedom fighter, Potti Sriramulu and Telugu Thalli on the occasion of its
formation day.
This
is the second year since Andhra's bifurcation that the state is celebrating the
Formation Day on November 1.
On
November 1, 1956, Andhra Pradesh was formed with the merger of erstwhile Andhra
State and Hyderabad State.
After
becoming the first chief minister of a truncated Andhra Prdesh in 2014,
Chandrababu Naidu had decided to celebrate its Formation Day on June 2. The
Jagan government, however, reverted to November 1 date to celebrate the
Foundation Day.
Against
the recommendations of Dhar Commission and JVP Committee popular movements for
state’s reorganization on linguistic basis began all over the country. One such
movement was Vishal-Andhra Movement – a movement for separate Andhra; it was
led by Potti Sriramulu.
The
Vishal-Andhra movement demanded that Telugu speaking areas of Madras province
should be separated and made into a separate Andhra province. But the Central
govt. vacillated.
Its
leader Potti Sriramulu went on an indefinite fast in oct 1952 and died after 56
days.
This
unleashed unrest and violence in Telugu speaking regions.
The
govt. finally gave in and agreed to the demand for a separate Andhra state
which came into existence in 1953. Simultaneously, Tamil Nadu was created as a
Tamil speaking state.
After
this demand from other states started coming.And for this purpose states
reorganization commission was appointed in 1953 by Nehru.
IIT Bombay launched a self-help website called Bandhu .
Indian
Minister of State for Education launched a self-help website – Bandhu – for
students of IIT Bombay.
Bandhu
has been designed in conjunction with the counsellors at IIT Bombay along with
external experts.
It
addresses challenges ranging from adjustment to college life, academic stress,
and mental health. Bandhu has curated reads, motivational alumni journeys,
expert podcasts and tools for self-exploration.
Project
Bandhu was initiated by alumni of the Class of 1992, as a part of their silver
jubilee reunion in 2017. They pledged to support IIT Bombay and help students
enhance their emotional well-being. The self-help website is one of the first
steps in this direction.
Prime
Minister Imran Khan says his government will grant provisional status to a
portion of the disputed territory of Kashmir, drawing condemnation from India
and sparking a fresh war of words between the two countries.
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The strategically important Gilgit-Baltistan region bordering Afghanistan and
China is home to an estimated population of two million people.
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Pakistan and India have fought two of their three wars since gaining
independence in 1947 over the mountainous territory of Kashmir, which both
claim in full but administer separate portions of.
•
On Sunday, Khan addressed a political rally in the city of Gilgit, capital of
the Gilgit-Baltistan region that forms part of Pakistan-administered Kashmir,
ahead of planned elections there later this month.
Indian Reaction on the move :
India
slammed Pakistan for its attempt to accord provincial status to the “so-called
Gilgit-Baltistan”, saying it is intended to camouflage the “illegal” occupation
of the region by Islamabad.
India's
foreign miministr has said India “firmly rejects” the attempt by Pakistan to
bring material changes to a territory which is under Islamabad’s “illegal and
forcible occupation” and asked the neighbouring country to immediately vacate
such areas.
In
a ruling earlier this year, the Pakistan Supreme Court allowed Islamabad to
amend a 2018 administrative order to conduct general elections in the region.
The
Gilgit-Baltistan Order of 2018 provided for administrative changes, including
authorising the Prime Minister of Pakistan to legislate on an array of
subjects.
In
a first of its kind order, RERA last week put a cap on the commission being
charged by the brokers while facilitating a land deal. Now, no real estate
agent in Haryana can charge more than 0.5 per cent commission each from the
buyer and the seller per deal.
The order reads:
For
real estate registered projects, RERA has decided to issue restrain orders to
all promoters and brokers not to charge commission more than one per centum on
agreed consideration value to be paid by the seller and purchaser of the
property, that is 0.5 per cent by each of them, on finalization of the deal as
per their agreement entered in the register of the dealer under the valid
receipt.
The
one per centum commission is also defined under the Haryana Regulation of
Property Dealers and Consultants Rules and under the Haryana Regulation of
Property Dealers and Consultants Act.
The
order will be applicable only to those who are registered under the Haryana
Regulation of Property Dealers and Consultants Act, 2008. Registration of the
property dealer to negotiate or mediate real estate deal of a registered
project is done by the RERA under Section 9 of the Real Estate (Regulation and
Development) Act, 2016 and the registration is then granted subject to the
condition that the agent shall not contravene the provisions of any other law
for the time being as applicable to him.
However,
if any buyer or seller complains to RERA about an unregistered property dealer
or agent or RERA finds out any unregistered person acting as an agent, the
violator shall be liable for penal action.
Background information:
Real
Estate (Regulation and Development) Act took effect in May 2016 to regulate and
promote the real estate sector.
It
aims to bring about transparency and efficiency in an opaque industry and has a
mandate to protect consumer interest, including establishing a speedy redressal
system.
A
group of scientists from the Wadia Institute of Himalayan Geology (WIHG),
Dehradun have found that the Indus-Tsangpo Suture Zone (ITSZ) of Himalaya is
tectonically active.
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The suture zone of Himalaya was conventionally thought to be locked. WIHG is an
autonomous institute under the Department of Science and Technology (DST),
Government of India.
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Tectonics is the scientific study of the deformation of the rocks that make up
the Earth’s crust and the forces that produce such deformation.
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It deals with the folding and faulting associated with mountain building, the
large-scale, gradual upward and downward movements of the crust and sudden
horizontal displacements along faults.
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Geological Features that Support the Finding are Sedimentary beds are tilted
and thrust broken, Rivers are associated with uplifted terraces and Bedrock
shows brittle deformation at much shallower depths.
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These deformed geological features were dated using the technique of Optically
Stimulated Luminescence (OSL) and data of seismicity and denudation rate was
also reviewed.
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Optically-Stimulated Luminescence: It is a late quaternary (geological time
period that encompasses the most recent 2.6 million years) dating technique
used to date the last time quartz sediment was exposed to light. As sediment is
transported by wind, water or ice, it is exposed to sunlight and zeroed of any
previous luminescence signal.
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Seismicity: It is the worldwide or local distribution of earthquakes in space,
time, and magnitude. More specifically, it refers to the measure of the
frequency of earthquakes in a region.
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It is a long term process in which the wearing and tearing of the surface of
the Earth take place. It includes all those processes that lower relief and
acts both chemically (chemical weathering) and physically (mechanical
weathering).
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The region of the ITSZ has been neo-tectonically active since the last
78000-58000 years. It is a suture zone in the Ladakh region and marks the limit
of the Indian plate where it collides with the Eurasian plate and is subducted
below the latter.
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The ITSZ was conventionally believed to be a locked zone till now.
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This will have major implications in terms of earthquake study, prediction,
understanding the seismic structure of the mountain chains well as its
evolution.
About Suture Zones:
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It is a linear belt of intense deformation, where distinct terranes, or tectonic
units with different plate tectonic, metamorphic, and paleogeographic histories
join together.
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These zones also provide the only record of deep oceanic crust and of ancient
seafloor processes for roughly the first 90% of Earth’s history.
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Their study provides a means to understand the end-product of plate tectonic
processes in time and space. In plate tectonics, sutures are seen as the
remains of subduction zones together with the terranes possibly representing
fragments of different tectonic plates.
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It is often represented on the surface by a mountain range comprising intensely
deformed rocks. The Iapetus Suture from Great Britain, which is now concealed
beneath younger rocks, and Indo-Tsangpo Suture well exposed in the Himalayas
are some of the best examples of suture zones.
16 Psyche.
A
recent study has found that asteroid 16 Psyche, which orbits between Mars and
Jupiter, could be made entirely of metal and is worth an estimated $10,000
quadrillion — more than the entire economy of Earth.
According
to the study published in The Planetary Science Journal, New images from NASA’s
Hubble Space Telescope offer a closer view of the mysterious asteroid 16
Psyche, whose surface may mostly comprise iron and nickel, similar to the
Earth’s core.
What is asteroid 16 Psyche?
It
is located around 370 million kilometres away from Earth, asteroid 16 Psyche is
one of the most massive objects in the asteroid belt in our solar system. The
somewhat potato-shaped asteroid has a diameter of around 140 miles, according
to NASA.
It
was first discovered on March 17, 1853, by the Italian astronomer Annibale de
Gasparis and was named after the ancient Greek goddess of the soul, Psyche.
Unlike
most asteroids that are made up of rocks or ice, scientists believe that Psyche
is a dense and largely metallic object thought to be the core of an earlier
planet that failed in formation.
NASA
scientists believe that the asteroid is made up of almost entirely of iron,
nickel and several other rare materials like gold, platinum, cobalt, iridium
and rhenium. Hypothetically, if it was to be transported to Earth, NASA Psyche
mission’s lead scientist Lindy Elkins-Tanton has calculated that the iron alone
would be worth more than $10,000 quadrillion.
What is known about NASA’s Psyche
mission?
Scientists
will only learn about the true composition of asteroid 16 Psyche if it is
studied up close. NASA plans to do just that two years from now, when it will
launch a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in
Florida to orbit the asteroid for around 21 months.
The
unmanned spacecraft will reach the asteroid in January, 2026. The first
objective of the mission is to capture a photograph of the metallic asteroid,
after which the spacecraft will study and map it from a distance.
Another
objective of the mission, led by Arizona State University, is to determine
whether the asteroid is, in fact, the core of an earlier planet or if it is
merely made up of unmelted material. Based on the data collected, scientists
will also ascertain the age and origins of the mammoth metallic asteroid.
Superconductor.
The
researchers have recently created a material that is superconducting at room
temperature, however, it only works at a pressure of 267 Gigapascals (GPa),
which is equivalent to about three-quarters of pressure at the centre of Earth
(360 GPa).
Highlights:
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A mixture of carbon, hydrogen and sulfur was put in a microscopic niche carved
between the tips of two diamonds (diamond anvil) and laser light was used on
them to trigger chemical reactions.
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As the experimental temperature was lowered, resistance to a current passed
through the material dropped to a vanishingly small value below the critical
temperature (Tc).
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The transition of the sample to become superconductive occurred the best at
transition temperature of around 15°C at 267 GPa.
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To verify that this phase was indeed a superconductor, the group ascertained
that the magnetic susceptibility of the superconductor was that of a diamagnet.
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A superconducting material kept in a magnetic field expels the magnetic flux
out its body when cooled below the critical temperature and exhibits perfect
diamagnetism.
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It is also called the Meissner effect which simply means that magnetic lines do
not pass through superconductors in a magnetic field.
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A superconductor is a material that can conduct electricity or transport
electrons from one atom to another with no resistance.
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No heat, sound or any other form of energy would be released from the material
when it has reached critical temperature (Tc), or the temperature at which the
material becomes superconductive.
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Prominent examples include aluminium, niobium, magnesium diboride, etc.
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From magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) machines, low-loss power lines,
ultra-powerful superconducting magnets to mobile-phone towers.
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Researchers are also experimenting with them in high-performance generators for
wind turbines.
•
Their usefulness is still limited by the need for bulky cryogenics (production
of and behaviour of materials at very low temperatures) as the common
superconductors work at atmospheric pressures, but only if they are kept very
cold.
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Even the most sophisticated ones like copper oxide-based ceramic materials work
only below −140°C.
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If researchers can stabilise the material at ambient pressure, applications of
superconductivity at room temperatures could be achieved and will be within
reach.
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Superconductors that work at room temperature could have a big technological
impact, for example in electronics that run faster without overheating.
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It is a very weak form of magnetism that is induced by a change in the orbital
motion of electrons due to an applied magnetic field.
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This magnetism is non-permanent and persists only in the presence of an
external field.
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The magnitude of the induced magnetic moment is very small, and its direction
is opposite to that of the applied field.
•
When a material makes the transition from the normal to the superconducting
state, it actively excludes magnetic fields from its interior and this is
called the Meissner effect.
•
This constraint to zero magnetic fields inside a superconductor is distinct
from the perfect diamagnetism which would arise from its Zero Electrical
Resistance.
