Personalities in News

Source-This post is based on the article “Late former Bihar CM Karpoori Thakur to be awarded Bharat Ratna” published in “Times of India” on 23rd January 2024.

Why in the News?

Recently Government of India has announced that Late former Bihar chief minister Karpoori Thakur will be posthumously awarded the Bharat Ratna.

Who was Karpoori Thakur?

What is Bharat Ratna?

1) Bharat Ratna is the highest civilian award of India.

2) The award, initially focused on arts, literature, science, and public services. It was broadened to encompass ‘any field of human endeavor‘ in December 2011.

3) The provision of Bharat Ratna was introduced in 1954.

4) The first recipients of the award were scientists Chandrasekhara Venkata Raman, C. Rajagopalachari and Sarvapalli Radhakrishnan.

5) The award has also been given to non-Indians – Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan and Nelson Mandela.

6) The number of Bharat Ratna Awards is restricted to a maximum of three in a particular year.

UPSC Syllabus- History and Art & Culture/ Personalities in news

Source– This post is based on the article “Macron for Republic Day 2024: How India chooses its Republic Day chief guest” published in “The Indian Express” on 22nd December 2023.

Why in the News?

France’s President Emmanuel Macron will be India’s chief guest for its 2024 Republic Day celebrations.

How is the Republic Day Chief Guest chosen?

1) The process starts nearly six months in advance of the event.

2) The Ministry of External Affairs considers various factors before issuing the invitation.

3) The key factor is the relationship between India and the guest country, as the Republic Day Chief Guest invitation symbolizing the ultimate friendship gesture.

4) Decision-making is strongly influenced by India’s political, commercial, military, and economic interests, as the Ministry of External Affairs aims to enhance ties in these areas during the occasion.

5) Another factor that has historically played a role in the choice of the Chief Guest is the association with the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM), initiated in the late 1950s and early 1960s.
For example, President Sukarno of Indonesia, a founding NAM member, was the inaugural Chief Guest in 1950.

6) After careful consideration, the MEA seeks approval from the PM and the President on a list of potential candidates.

7) Upon confirming the availability of potential chief guests, official communication takes place between India and the invitee’s country.

8) The planning of the visit involves the Government of India, state governments which the foreign dignitary might visit, and the government of the concerned country.

What is the Significance of being India’s Republic Day Chief Guest?

1) Being invited as the chief guest at Republic Day celebrations is the highest honour a country accords in terms of protocol.

2) The chief guest is front and centre in many ceremonial activities.

3) They are given the ceremonial guard of honour at Rashtrapati Bhavan followed by a reception hosted by the President of India.

4) The symbolism serves as a powerful tool to forge and renew ties between India and the nation of its invitee, having greater political and diplomatic significance as well.

UPSC Syllabus- Polity and Nation

Source: The post is based on the article “Indira Gandhi Peace Prize: Activist Ali Abu Awwad and pianist Daniel Barenboim wins” published in “The Hindu” on 16th December 2023

Why in the News?

The Indira Gandhi Peace Prize for Peace, Disarmament and Development 2023 has been jointly awarded to Daniel Barenboim and Ali Abu Awwad.

What is the Indira Gandhi Peace Prize?

Who has been awarded the Indira Gandhi Peace Prize 2023?

1) Daniel Barenboim and Ali Abu Awwad have been jointly awarded Indira Gandhi Peace Prize 2023 for their efforts in bringing together the people of Israel and the Arab World for a non-violent resolution of the Israel-Palestine conflict.

2) Daniel Barenboim is an Argentine-born distinguished classical pianist, known for his relentless endeavor in using music to foster harmony in West Asia.

3) Ali Awwad co-founded a local Palestinian-Israeli initiative called Roots promoting understanding, non-violence and transformation. 

UPSC Syllabus: Awards in News

Source– This post is based on the article “Meet the Langlands Program, the world’s biggest maths project | Explained” published in “The Hindu” on November 21, 2023.

Why in the News?

Langlands Program provides a beautifully intricate set of connections between various areas of mathematics, pointing the way toward novel solutions for old problems in mathematics.

What is the Langlands Program?

Note-
1. Number theory: It is the arithmetic study of numbers and the relationships between them. For example, the pythagoras theorem.

2. Harmonic analysis: It is interested in the study of periodic phenomena. Unlike number theorists, who deal with discrete arithmetic’s (like integers), harmonic analysts deal with mathematical objects more continuous in nature (like waves).

3. Galois group: In 1832, mathematician Évariste Galois concluded that it is impossible to have a general formula to find the precise roots of polynomial equations and instead suggested focusing on symmetries between roots as an alternate route. Galois group is a collection of such symmetries of the roots of a polynomial equation.

4. Automorphic functions: Functions that turn back into themselves when the variables are changed by some process are called automorphic functions. The sine function is a simple example.

UPSC Syllabus- Science & Technology

Source– This post “Constantine Joseph Beschi(Veeramamunivar)” is based on the article “Constantine Joseph Beschi, a missionary, Tamil scholar, and Chanda Sahib’s Dewan” published in “The Hindu” on 14th November 2023.

Why in the News?

Recently Emerald Publishers released the English translation of the first biography of Veeramamunivar(known as Constantine Joseph Beschi) in Tamil written by A. Muttusami Pillei.

Who is Constantine Joseph Beschi?

1. Constantine Joseph Beschi, the Italian Jesuit missionary and Tamil scholar
2. He had also maintained a close friendship with Chanda Sahib, the Nawab of the Carnatic.
3. He had even acted as his Dewan.

What are the views of Muttusami Pillei on Constantine Joseph Beschi?

1. He was a Religious devotee and an Italian Jesuit missionary.

2. Office of Dewan– By appointing him to the office, the Nawab of the Carnatic also gifted the Italian Jesuit four villages in Tiruchi district, which yielded a revenue of ₹12,000 a year.

3. He held the office of Dewan in Tiruchi till 1740.

4. He abstained from the “use of flesh and fish”.

5. He also studied Sanskrit, Telugu, and Tamil assiduously and became a master of these languages, especially Tamil.

UPSC Syllabus-History (Literature)

Source: This post “FIDE Grand Swiss Open 2023” is based on the article ” India takes the top spot in the FIDE Grand Swiss Open-PM congratulates Vidit Gujrathi and Vaishali for their outstanding victories” published in “PIB” on 6th November 2023.

Why in the News?

The Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi has praised Vidit Gujrathi and Vaishali for their outstanding victories in FIDE Grand Swiss Open 2023.

What is FIDE Grand Swiss Open?

UPSC Syllabus- Miscellaneous (Sports)

Source: The post is based on the article “Author Nandini Das wins 2023 British Academy Book Prize” published in “The Hindu” on 2nd November 2023

Why in the News?

Indian-born author Nandini Das has been named the winner of the 2023 British Academy Book Prize for Global Cultural Understanding.

What is the British Academy Book Prize?

UPSC Syllabus: Awards and Prizes

Source: The post is based on the article “Claudia Goldin wins 2023 Economics Nobel Prize for research on workplace gender gap” published in “The Hindu” on 10th October 2023

What is the News?

The Nobel Prize for economics has been awarded to Harvard University professor Claudia Goldin for her research that has advanced the understanding of the gender gap in the labour market.

Who is Claudia Goldin?

Claudia Goldin was born in 1946.She currently holds the position of Henry Lee Professor of Economics at Harvard University.

Work on Gender gap in labour market: Claudia Goldin’s extensive research on gender disparities in the labor market spanning over 200 years reveals several key insights:

– U-Shaped Female Labor Force Participation: Female participation in the labor market doesn’t show a consistent upward trend over time.Instead, it follows a U-shaped curve.Initially, it declined as society shifted from agrarian to industrial in the early 19th century.It later increased with the growth of the service sector in the early 20th century.This pattern is influenced by changes in economic structure and evolving societal norms about women’s roles.

– Education and the Contraceptive Pill: Women’s education levels have steadily risen throughout the 20th century and often surpass those of men in high-income countries.Access to contraception, notably the contraceptive pill, played a vital role in enabling women to plan their careers more effectively.

– Persistent Earnings Gap: Despite modernization, economic growth and increased female employment, the earnings gap between men and women remained largely unchanged for a long time.

– This is because young women’s expectations for their careers are often shaped by the experiences of previous generations such as their mothers who delayed their return to work until their children were older.

– Impact of Motherhood: Goldin’s research indicates that the bulk of the gender earnings gap now exists between men and women in the same occupation and it primarily emerges after the birth of the first child.This suggests that parenthood significantly influences the gender pay gap in contemporary times.

Source: The post is based on the article “PM releases commemorative coin and stamp on 500th birth anniversary of Veerangana Rani Durgavati” published in “PIB” on 9th October 2023

What is the News?

The Prime Minister performed bhoomi poojan of ‘Veerangana Rani Durgavati Smarak aur Udyaan‘ during the 500th birth anniversary of Rani Durgavati.

Who is Rani Durgavati?

Rani Durgavati (1524 – 1564) was the ruling Queen of Gondwana from 1550 until 1564.She was born in Mahoba’s Chandela dynasty. 

She is chiefly remembered for defending her kingdom against the Mughal Empire.

She was married to Dalpat Shah, the son of the Gond King Sangram Shah of the kingdom of Garha-Katanga.This kingdom is noted as one of the most powerful kingdoms of the Gond tribe.

However, Dalpat Shah died in 1550 and due to the young age of their son, Durgavati took the reins of the Gondwana kingdom. 

War with Mughals: In 1562, Akbar conquered Malwa and made it a Mughal dominion.Consequently, the state boundary of the Rani touched the Mughal Empire.

– Rani’s contemporary was a Mughal General, Khwaja Abdul Majid Asaf Khan.The prosperity of Rani Durgavati’s state lured him, and he invaded Rani’s state after taking permission from the Mughal emperor Akbar.

– When Rani heard about the attack, she decided to defend her kingdom with all her might. She maintained that it was better to die respectfully than to live a disgraceful life.

– However, soon the Mughals fortified the area and overwhelmed the Gonds. While fighting them in battle, she is believed to have stabbed herself with her dagger to not surrender to the Mughal forces.

Recognitions and Honors: In 1983, the Government of Madhya Pradesh renamed the University of Jabalpur as Rani Durgavati Vishwavidyalaya in her memory.

– The government of India issued a postal stamp commemorating her death on 24 June 1988.

– The train between Jabalpur Junction and Jammutawi is known as Durgavati Express after the name of the Queen.

– Indian Coast Guard in 2018 commissioned ICGS Rani Durgavati, the third Inshore Patrol Vessel (IPV) of its kind.

Source: The post is based on the article “Nobel Prize for Peace: Who is Narges Mohammadi, the Iranian woman awarded this year?” published in “Indian Express” on 7th October 2023

What is the News?

The Norwegian Nobel Committee has awarded Iranian activist Narges Mohammadi the 2023 Nobel Prize for Peace.

She has been awarded for her fight against the oppression of women in Iran and her fight to promote human rights and freedom for all.

Who is Narges Mohammadi?

Narges Mohammadi is an Iranian human rights activist and scientist. 

She is the vice president of the Defenders of Human Rights Center (DHRC), headed by fellow Nobel Peace Prize laureate Shirin Ebadi.

Arrest: In 2011, she was arrested for the first time and sentenced to many years of imprisonment for her efforts to assist incarcerated activists and their families.

– After securing a bail in 2013, she campaigned against the use of the death penalty.She was again arrested in 2015 and was sentenced to additional years

Writings: Over the years she has written many articles arguing for social reforms in Iran and published an essay collection, ‘The Reforms, the Strategy, and the Tactics’. 

– Her book ‘White Torture: Interviews with Iranian Women Prisoners’ also won an award for reportage at the International Film Festival and Human Rights’ Forum.

Recognition: She has received various awards over the years — from the Alexander Langer Award in 2009 to the UNESCO/Guillermo Cano World Press Freedom Prize and the Olof Palme Prize earlier in 2023.

 In 2022, she was featured in the BBC’s list of 100 inspiring and influential women from around the world.

Significance: She is the 19th woman to ever win the Nobel Peace Prize and the second Iranian woman to win the award – after human rights activist Shirin Ebadi in 2003. 

– It is also the fifth time in the 122-year history of the awards that the peace prize has been given to someone who is in prison or under house arrest.