Current Affairs – 24th July 2023

DAILY ENRICHMENT PROGRAMME

Today Topics List:

1. Samrat Mihir Bhoj

2. Archaeological Survey of India: Gyanvapi Mosque Complex

3. Time with Geology

4. ZERO FIR

5. Enforcement Directorate

6. Scientists in US inch closer to Developing ‘Self-Healing’ Metal

INDIAN HISTORY HERITAGE & CULTURE

Samrat Mihir Bhoj

• • A controversy surrounded Samrat Mihir Bhoj erupted in Rajasthan, with several office bearers resigning form their posts due to the Inclusion of the word ‘Gurjar’ inscribed on the plaque of the statue unveiled recently in Gurugram.

Mihir Bhoj: Pratiharas

• He was the grandson of Nagabhatta II. He had a long reign of over 46 years and proved to be the most successful and popular ruler of Pratiharas, A Devotee of Vishnu and adopted the tile of Adivaraha.
  • In the early period of his reign, he was defeated by Palas, rashtrakutas and the Kalchuris.
  • He subsequently made a comeback, with the aid of feudatories such as Chedis and Guhilas.
• His Capital is at Kannauj, which was also called
  • In one of his earliest inscriptions, the Barah Copper plate inscription, there is a mention of a military camp i.e., Skandhavaraat Mahodaya.
  • The Kalchuris, the Chandalas and the Arabs of Sindh acknowledged his supremacy.
  • His expansion was checked by Sankaravermen of Kashmir and Rashtrakuta Krishna II and Devapala.
• He is also identified with the King juzr of the travel accounts of the 9^th century Arab merchant ,
  • He describes his great military power and riches.
  • He appreciated the Samrat for keeping his empire safe from robbers.
• Another Arab traveller, Al- Masudi called Mihir bhoj as King Baura.
  • According to Arab Travellers, Pratihara rulers had best cavalry in India.

Archaeological Survey of India: Gyanvapi Mosque Complex

• • A team of Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) arrived at Varanasi to conduct a scientific survey to determine if the Gyanvapi mosque located next to the Kashi Viswanath temple is built up on a temple.
    • The mosque’s ‘wazukhana’, where a structure claimed by Hindu litigants to be a ‘shivling’ exists, will not be part of the survey, following an earlier supreme court order protecting that spot in the complex.

Archaeological Survey of India

• ASI is directly under the aegis of the Ministry of Culture, and it is the foremost institution for archaeological research conducted across India.
  • Its focus is on the preservation of the physical and tangible heritage that has accumulated in India’s ancient monuments and Archaeological sites.
  • The provisions of the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Sites and remains Act, 1958, guide the ASI.
  • Another major legislation the guides ASI is Antiquities and Art Treasurer Act, 1972, which direct ASI to prevent illegal export of Indian antiquities.
• ASI employs many trained archaeologists, architects, conservators, epigraphists and others and it has other institutions under its aegis, such as museums, excavation branches, epigraphy branches, building survey projects, a horticulture branch, and temple survey projects.
• One of the more specialised and one-of-a-kind divisions of the ASI is its Underwater Archaeology wing.
  • The ASI also offers several degrees and Diplomas for studying Archaeology and other specialised courses such asepigraphy and Museology, from the Institute of Archaeology, New Delhi.

B) GEOGRAPHY & DISASTER MANAGEMENT

Time with Geology

• • Our planet is more than 4 billion years old, which is a staggering amount of time for humans to contemplate.
    • To ease this task, experts have divided earth’s history into pieces of time called,
  • Aeons
  • Eras
  • Periods
    • These divisions in earth’s geological timescale demarcate key geological events and the appearance ( or disappearance) of notable life forms.
  • It all began with formation of earth’s crust and continued with the appearance of plants, birds and animals, their ceaseless evolution making a mark in someway on their time.
  • Broadly, there are four geological eras,
    • The Pre Cambrian Era began 6 billion years ago, with formation of our planet and the emergence of the first life forms.
    • The Palaezoic era lasted from 541 million to 252 million years ago, and was characterised by the evolution of complex life, including fish, plants, insects, and amphibians.
    • The Mesozoic Era came next, lasting from 252 million years until 66 million years ago. This was the age of dinosaurs, together with the first appearance of birds and flowering plants towards the denouement.
    • The Cenozoic era, which began 66 million years ago and continues to this day, distinguished by the rise of modern animals.
  • Today, Scientists around the world are locked in a debate about whether we are currently in a new geological time period dubbed the “Anthropocene” marked by the oft-devastating effects of human presence on earth.

POLITY, GOVERNANCE &LAWS AND SCHEMES

ZERO FIR

• • Recently Zero FIRs were filed in Manipur over two dreadful incidents that shook the conscience of the nation, it took more than a month to transfer the complaint to the relevant police station in Imphal East.

Zero FIR:

• When a police station receives a complaint regarding an offence that has been committed in the jurisdiction of another police station.
  • It registers an FIR and then transfers it to the relevant police station for further investigation.
  • This is called Zero FIR, no regular number is given.
  • After receiving the Zero FIR, the police station concerned registers a fresh FIR and starts the investigation.

When was the provision established:

• The provision of Zero FIR came up after the recommendation of the Justice Verma Committee, which was constituted to suggest amendments to the criminal law to provide faster trial and enhanced punishment for sexual assault against women.
  • This committee was set up after the December 2012 Delhi gang rape case.

Purpose of Zero FIR:

• The objective of a Zero FIR is to ensure the victim doesn’t have to run from pillar to post to get a police complaint registered.
  • This provison is meant to provide speedy redressal to the victim so that timely action can be taken after the filing of the FIR.

Enforcement Directorate:

• • Enforcement Directorate has been in news with respect to arrest and seeking custody of the Ministers and political figures.
  • What is Enforcement Directorate (ED)
  • The Directorate of Enforcement is a multi-disciplinary organization mandated with investigation of offence of money laundering and violations of foreign exchange laws.
    • It is therpremier Fnancial investigation agency of the Government of India.
    • It functions under the Department of Revenue of the Ministry of Finance.
  • On 1st May, 1956, an Enforcement Unit was formed in the Department of Economic affairs for handling the Exchange control laws violations under Foreign Exchange and regulation Act, 1947 – FERA.
    • Headquartered in New Delhi.
    • It was headed by a legal Services Officer as the Director of enforcement.
  • It was renamed as ‘Enforcement Directorate’ , in the year 1957 and in 1960 the admisitrative control was transferred to Department of Revenue.

Structure of ED:

• It’s Headquarters was in New delhi, headed by Director of Enforcement.
  • It has five regional offices at Mumbai, Chennai, Chandigarh, Kolkata and Delhi headed by special Directors.
  • It also has 10 Zonal offices headed by Deputy Directors and 11 Sub Zonal offices headed by Assistant Directors.

The statutory functions of the Directorate include enforcement of following Acts:

• The Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002 (PMLA): It is a criminal law enacted to prevent money laundering and to provide for confiscation of property derived from, or involved in, money-laundering and for matters connected therewith or incidental thereto.
  • ED has been given the responsibility to enforce the provisions of the PMLA by conducting investigation to trace the assets derived from proceeds of crime,
  • To provisionally attach the property and to ensure prosecution of the offenders and confiscation of the property by the Special court.
• The Foreign Exchange Management Act, 1999 (FEMA): It is a civil law enacted to consolidate and amend the laws relating to facilitate external trade and payments and to promote the orderly development and maintenance of foreign exchange market in India.
  • ED has been given the responsibility to conduct investigation into suspected contraventions of foreign exchange laws and regulations,
  • To adjudicate and impose penalties on those adjudged to have contravened the law.
• The Fugitive Economic Offenders Act, 2018 (FEOA):This law was enacted to deter economic offenders from evading the process of Indian law by remaining outside the jurisdiction of Indian courts.
  • It is a law whereby Directorate is mandated to attach the properties of the fugitive economic offenders who have escaped from the India warranting arrest and provide for the confiscation of their properties to the Central Government.
• The Foreign Exchange Regulation Act, 1973 (FERA): The main functions under the repealed FERA are to adjudicate the Show Cause Notices issued under the the said Act upto 31.5.2002 for the alleged contraventions of the Act which may result in imposition of penalties and to pursue prosecutions launched under FERA in the concerned courts.
• Sponsoring agency under COFEPOSA: Under the Conservation of Foreign Exchange and Prevention of Smuggling Activities Act, 1974 (COFEPOSA), this Directorate is empowered to sponsor cases of preventive detention with regard to contraventions of FEMA.

SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY & HEALTH

Scientists in US inch closer to Developing ‘Self-Healing’ Metal

• • Apparently, self-healing metal is not just science fiction as shown in the famous Hollywood movie Terminator – the Judgement Day (1991).
    • Scientists described how a piece of pure Platinum and Copper spontaneously healed cracks caused by metal fatigue during nanoscale experiments that has been designed to study how such cracks form and spread in metal placed under stress.
    • This ability cam be engineered into metals to create self-healing machines and structures in the relatively near future.
  • Metal Fatigue occurs when metal sustains microscopic cracks after being exposed to repeated stress or motion, damage that tends to worsen over time.
    • Metal fatigue can cause catastrophic failures in areas including aviation – jet engines, for instance – and infrastructure like bridges.
  • In the Experiment, researchers used a technique that pulled on the ends of the tiny metal pieces about 200 times per second.
    • About 40 minutes into the experiment, the metal fused back together.