DAILY CURRENT AFFAIRS ANALYSIS 14 APRIL 2022 – CA

UPSC Civil Services Daily Current Affairs 14th April 2022

S. No.	Topic Name	Prelims/Mains
1.	ABOUT STATE ENERGY AND CLIMATE INDEX	Prelims & Mains
2.	DETAILS OF JYOTIBA PHULE	Prelims & Mains
3.	ABOUT THE 2+2 DIALOGUE	Prelims & Mains
4.	MEGALITHIC STONE JARS IN SYSTEM	Prelims Specific Topic
5.	DETAILS OF THE CALM SYSTEM	Prelims Specific Topic

 

1 – ABOUT STATE ENERGY AND CLIMATE INDEX:

 GS III

 Topic: Environmental Conservation

 Context:

• The State Energy and Climate Index was just announced by the NITI Aayog (SECI).
• It’s the first of its type, and it’s designed to follow state and local climate and energy policies.
• The State Energy and Climate Index is a metric that assesses how well a state’s energy infrastructure:
• Based on their size and geographical differences, the States and UTs have been classified into larger and smaller States and UTs.
• The index is based on data from the years 2019 and 2020.
• States and UTs are divided into three categories: front runners, achievers, and aspirants.

• The objectives of the index are as follows:

• Efforts to enhance energy availability, consumption, efficiency, and environmental protection were used to rank the states.
• At the state level, supporting in the advancement of the energy transformation agenda that is affordable, accessible, efficient, and clean.
• Encourage states to compete constructively on many issues of energy and climate change.

• Each state is given a score based on six factors:

• The DISCOM’s Performance
• Access to energy, affordability, and dependability
• Initiatives to promote the use of renewable energy sources.
• In terms of energy efficiency.
• Environmental sustainability.
• Initiatives that are brand new to the market.
• The parameters are further split down into 27 indicators.

• Performance of several states:

• Gujarat, Kerala, and Punjab were the best three performers in the category of larger states, while Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, and Chhattisgarh were the bottom three.
• Goa came out on top in the minor States category, followed by Tripura and Manipur.
• The best-performing UTs in the country are Chandigarh, Delhi, and Daman & Diu/Dadra & Nagar Haveli.
• Punjab came out on top in discom performance, whereas Kerala came out on top in terms of accessibility, price, and reliability.
• In the clean energy initiative, Haryana was the top performer among larger states, and in the energy efficiency category, Tamil Nadu was the best performer.

 

2 – DETAILS OF JYOTIBA PHULE:

 GS I

 Topic: Modern Indian History

 Context:

• The birthday of social reformer Jyotirao Phule was celebrated on April 11th.
• He was a multifaceted character who dedicated his life to achieving social equality, women’s empowerment, and educational growth.
• Countless individuals look forward to Phule as a social justice advocate and a source of inspiration.
• Phule was born into a Mali caste family who grew fruits and vegetables for a living.

• Particularly notable contributions to society include:

• He and his wife, Savitribai Phule, worked to better the lives of underprivileged women and children.
• He founded his first girls’ school in Bhide Wada, Pune, in 1848.
• In 1873, he and his allies created the Satyashodhak Samaj (Society of Truth Seekers) to fight for lower-caste people’s basic rights.
• They also pushed for the prohibition of infanticide and the encouragement of widow remarriage.
• To erase the stigma of social untouchability, he opened his home to members of the lower caste and allowed them to use his well.
• ‘BalyataPratibandakGruha,’ a childcare centre for expectant widows and rape victims, was founded by the two.
• A person who has achieved grandeur is referred to as a “Mahatma.”
• In 1888, he was given the title of ‘Mahatma’ (‘great soul’) by another social worker, VithalraoKrishnajiVandekar.

• Among his most well-known compositions are:

• SatyashodhakSamajokt
• Mangalashtakasah
• Sarva Puja-vidhi

3 – ABOUT THE 2+2 DIALOGUE:

 GS II

 Topic : International Relations

 Context:

• India and the United States are convening their fourth ‘2+2’ dialogue in Washington, DC.
• India’s External Affairs and Defence Ministers, S Jaishankar and Rajnath Singh, are meeting with their American counterparts, Secretary of State Anthony Blinken and Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin.

• 2+2 talks entail the following:

• The 2+2 dialogue is a platform for negotiations between India’s foreign and defence ministries, as well as their partners, on strategic and security issues.

• Significance:

• A 2+2 ministerial dialogue allows the partners to better understand and appreciate each other’s strategic concerns and sensitivities while taking political factors into account on both sides in order to build a stronger, more integrated strategic relationship in a rapidly changing global environment.

• The 2+2 strategic partners of India are:

• India is holding two-plus-two talks with four key strategic partners: the US, Australia, Japan, and Russia. Apart from Russia, India’s allies in the Quad include the other three countries.
• The United States is India’s oldest and most important 2+2 conversation partner.

• The ‘2+2’ discussions had the following outcomes:

• Over the years, India’s strategic bilateral cooperation with its partners, particularly the 2+2 format discussions, has delivered significant and far-reaching results.
• Following the first 2+2 dialogue in 2018, India and the United States signed three “foundational pacts” for deep military cooperation, starting with the Logistics Exchange Memorandum of Agreement (LEMOA) in 2016, the Communications Compatibility and Security Agreement (COMCASA) in 2018, and the Basic Exchange and Cooperation Agreement (BECA) in 2020.

 

4 – MEGALITHIC STONE JARS IN SYSTEM:

 Prelims Specific Topic

 The discovery of several megalithic stone jars in Assam’s Dima Hasao district has revealed possible second-millennium BC links between India’s northeast and Southeast Asia.

• The Assam jars were originally seen by British civil officers James Philip Mills and John Henry Hutton in 1929.
• The experts believe the jars are similar to stone jars unearthed in Laos and Indonesia, despite the fact that they have yet to be formally dated.
• The jars found at all three places are comparable in terms of typology and morphology.

 

5 – DETAILS OF THE CALM SYSTEM:

 Prelims Specific Topic

 CALM: Cannister Has Launched Anti-Armour Loiter Ammunition (CALM).

• The Army has issued a Request for Information regarding the CALM System. It intends to purchase 150 of these devices.
• The CALM System is a drone or a canister pre-loaded with loiter munitions that, once launched, can linger aloft for a period of time over the action area before being guided down to destroy the target with the explosive payload it carries.
• They usually have a camera and simply a few reusable components.
• It can be used against enemy tanks and other targets in the plains and deserts of Western India, as well as high altitude locations along Ladakh’s northern borders.