Prelim Bits 24-06-2023 | UPSC Daily Current Affairs

Liaquat-Nehru Pact

It has been 73 years since the treaty of Liaquat-Nehru pact signed between India and Pakistan.

• It was signed in 1950 by the prime ministers, Jawaharlal Nehru and Liaquat Ali Khan.
• It was a bilateral treaty between India and Pakistan regarding the rights of minorities and refugees.
• Aim - To provide a framework for the treatment of minorities in both countries following Partition, which was accompanied by massive communal rioting.
• The Nehru-Liaquat Pact is also known as the Delhi Pact, 1950.
• An estimated 1 million people Hindus from East Pakistan and Muslims from West Bengal crossed the borders during 1950 after the partition.
• Features  - It is to ensure that
  • Refugees were allowed to return unmolested to dispose of their property,
  • Abducted women and looted property were to be returned,
  • Forced conversions were unrecognized, and
  • Minority rights were confirmed.

• Minority commissions were established to implement these terms, and confidence was in fact restored for a time.
• The Governments of India and Pakistan solemnly agree that each shall ensure, to the minorities throughout its territory, complete equality of citizenship.
• Members of the minority shall have the equal opportunity with the members of the majority community.
• They have the rights to participate in the public life, to hold political and other office and to serve in civil and armed forces of their country.
• Both governments agreed to declare these rights to be fundamental and undertake to enforce them respectively.

Reference

The Indian Express | liaquat-nehru-pact

Gandhi Peace Prize

Gandhi Peace Prize 2021 has been conferred upon Gorakhpur-based Gita Press

• Instituted Year – 1995, on the 125^th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi.
• Eligibility - It is awarded for social, economic and political transformation through non-violence, to any deserving persons or institutions, annually by the Government of India.
• It is open to all persons regardless of nationality, race, language, caste, creed or gender and any association, institution or organisation.
• Work achieved within the 10 years preceding the nomination is considered for the award.
• Rewards - The award carries a cash prize of ₹1 crore, a citation, a plaque and an exquisite traditional handicraft/handloom item.
• Awarding Committee - The awardee is selected by a 5-member jury comprising of the Prime Minster, Chief Justice of India, Leader of Opposition and 2 eminent personalities.
• The decision of the jury is final and cannot be challenged or appealed.
• Gandhi Peace Joint Award – If 2 persons or an organization deserved equally for this prize.
• Past Awardees - Ramakrishna Mission (1998), Grameen Bank (2000), Nelson Mandela (2000), ISRO (2014), Sheikh Mujibur Rahman (2020).        

Gita Press

• Founded in 1923 by Hanuman Prasad Poddar and Jay Dalal Goyandka.
• It is a unit of Gobind Bhawan Karyalaya, Kolkata, registered under the West Bengal Societies Act, 1960.
• It is one of the world’s largest publishers and is most famous for publishing the Hindu text Srimad Bhagwat Gita.
• As of date, the institution has published 41.7 crore books in 14 languages, including 16.21 crore copies of the Gita.

Reference

The Hindu | gita-press-gandhi-peace-prize-explained

PM- KISAN

Recently face authentication feature is enabled in PM-Kisan mobile app expansion.

• It is a Central Sector scheme with 100% funding from Government of India.
• Launch Year - 2018.
• Ministry – Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers welfare.
• Features - Under this scheme an income support of 6,000/- per year in 3 equal installments will be provided to all land holding farmer families (subject to exclusion criteria).
• Under the PM Kisan scheme, the farmer can also get a loan facility in the form of short-term loans by using Kisan Credit Card (KCC).
• Definition of family for the scheme is husband, wife and minor children.
• Identification of Beneficiaries - State Government and UT administration will identify the farmer families which are eligible for support as per scheme guidelines.
• The fund will be directly transferred to the bank accounts of the beneficiaries.
• It has roped in India Post Payment Bank (IPPB) to open Aadhaar linked bank accounts for beneficiaries at their doorstep and asked Common Services Centres to organize village-level e-KYC camps with the help of States/UTs.

PM-KISAN Mobile App

• It is developed and designed by the National Informatics Centre in collaboration with the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology.
• The farmers can view the status of their application, update or carry out corrections of their Aadhaar cards and also check the history of credits to their bank accounts.
• Face authentication feature will enable beneficiary farmers to complete their e-KYC process by just scanning their face on mobile phones instead of using one-time password or fingerprints.
• It is the first government scheme to have this feature.

Reference

The Indian Express | face-authentification-now-in-pm-kisan-mobile-app

Minerals Security Partnership

India joins US-led Mineral Security Partnership (MSP) recently.

• Launch – 2022.
• It is a US-led collaboration of countries that includes Australia, Canada, Finland, France, Germany, Japan, the Republic of Korea, Sweden, UK, the European Commission, Italy, and now India.
• It is also known as the critical minerals alliance.
• Aim - To ensure that critical minerals are produced, processed and recycled in a way that helps countries secure a stable supply of critical minerals for their economies.
• The focus is primarily on the supply chains of critical minerals such as cobalt, nickel, lithium and the 17 "rare earth" minerals.
• Objectives  
  • Strengthened information sharing between partner countries
  • Increased investment in secure critical minerals supply chains
  • Develop recycling technologies

Critical minerals

• Critical minerals - A critical mineral is a metallic or non-metallic element that is essential for the functioning of our modern technologies, economies or national security and there is a risk that its supply chains could be disrupted.
• Many critical minerals, including rare earth minerals and metals such as lithium, gallium, tellurium, and indium, are central to high-tech sectors.
• The major critical minerals - Graphite, lithium and cobalt are used for making semiconductors, high-end electronics manufacturing, fighter jets, drones, and radio sets.
• Rare earth minerals – Rare earth minerals are a set of 17 metallic elements, which includes scandium, yttrium, and the 15 lanthanides.
• Examples - Lanthanum, cerium, neodymium, praseodymium and samarium, dysprosium, terbium, europium.
• It is used a wide range of applications such as cellular telephones, flat-screen monitors and televisions, and electric vehicles.
• Top producers – According to the International Energy Agency, the major producers of critical minerals are China, Congo, Chile, Indonesia, South Africa, and Australia.
• China has global dominance in terms of processing.

India and Australia decided to strengthen their partnership in the field of projects and supply chains for critical minerals under the Australia-India Critical Minerals Investment Partnership.

References

The Indian Express | India-joins-us-led-critical-mineral-club-boost-likely-for-ev-electronics

Business Standard | India-news/minerals-security-partnership-what-is-it

Carbon-dioxide Auroras

NASA’s satellite spots infrared carbon dioxide aurora from outer space

Aurora

• An aurora is a natural light display that shimmers in the sky.
• When solar storm interacts with the magnetic field lines at the north and south poles into Earth's atmosphere, it results in beautiful displays of light called auroras.
• Auroras are only visible at night, and usually only appear in lower polar regions.
• Oxygen gives off green and red light and Nitrogen glows blue and purple.
• Auroras are visible near the Arctic and Antarctic Circles, which are about 66.5 degrees north and south of the Equator.
• In the north, the display is called aurora borealis, or northern lights.
• In the south, it is called aurora australis, or southern lights.

Carbon-dioxide Auroras

• A NASA satellite has spotted an aurora that is invisible in optical frequencies.
• While carbon dioxide is known for its effects on the troposphere as a greenhouse gas, it also exists in trace amounts in Earth's atmosphere at the edge of space.
• High above Earth, near 90 km, Co2 becomes vibrationally excited during an aurora, emitting more infrared radiation than typically observed in the atmosphere.

Reference

The Indian Express | satellite-carbon-dioxide-aurora