20th March 2017 The Hindu and PIB Daily News Analysis

20th March 2017

1)Chemical used in IED(Improvised Explosive Device (IED)) at rail track identiied:- 

A forensic report with the National Investigation Agency (NIA) has said that “arsenic sulphide” was the primary material used in an Improvised Explosive Device (IED), which was found by the rail track at Ghorasan in Bihar on October 1 last year. The chemical is mostly used in firecrackers and was used to make a pressure cooker bomb, which was detected and defused in Ghorasan, along the Nepal border.

2)World Sparrow Day :

20th March is the World Sparrow Day The house sparrow was declared the ‘State Bird of Delhi’ in 2012.

World Sparrow Day is an Initiative of NFSI(Nature Forever Society of India).

3 Reasons of Sparrow's Loweing Population:

i)“Earlier women used to clean grain outside their houses and sparrows would
have plenty of food from there. But Now such activities have reduced and so the food for Sparrow also.

ii)Also, the severe use of insecticides in farming is killing sparrows’.

iii)Due to the “matchbox styled” architecture that makes it difficult for the birds to locate pockets to build nests.

3)Dalits refuse to take part in Sidi ritual:- 

A section of Dalit families that has been taking part in the risky ritual of Sidi during the annual fair at Hariharapur in Holenarsipur taluk(Hassan, Karnataka) has refused to do so this year.

The ritual involves men being tied to a wooden pole with the help of a hook inserted into their body and women walking with their mouths locked with iron hooks.

4)Move to get world heritage status for Buddhist sites:--

ASI seeks to include Sankaram, Salihundam, Lepakshi, Nagarjunakonda museum in proposal to Unesco.

ASI(Archeological Survey of India) was Formed in 1861 and Alexander Cunningham was the First DIrector General.

ABOUT THE SITES : Interesting featureS:

• Sankaram, also known as Bojjannakonda, was excavated under the aegis of Alexander Rim in 1906. 

• A gold coin belonging to the Samudragupta period, copper coins of the Chalukya king, Kubja Vishnu Vardhan, coins of Andhra Satavahanas and pottery were discovered at the site.

• An interesting aspect of the Bojjannakonda finds is that they feature all the three phases of Buddhism: Hinayana, Mahayana and Vajrayana. 

Architectural Scenario:-  A stairway leads to a large double-storeyed cave on a hill. The rectangular cave has a doorway and is flanked by ‘dwarapalakas' on either side. There is a rock-cut stupa, standing on a square platform, at the centre of the cave. A series of rock-cut caves and monolithic structures standing on rock platforms are seen on the northern side of the hill.

The upper cave has a rectangular doorway, flanked by figures of the Buddha on either side. The imposing figures of the Buddha in a seated meditative posture and the stupa are the main attractions for tourists at Bojjannakonda.

4)China to take part in Brahmaputra festival:

The five-day Brahmaputra river festival titled Namami Brahmaputra organised by the  government of Assam, will witness significant participation from China.

According to the event organisers,This event is  described as the “biggest river festival of India.

5)Naga blockade in Manipur lifted at last:

The four-month economic blockade in Manipur, imposed by the United Naga Council (UNC), was lifted following the talks it had with the Union and the State governments.

Why Was there a Blockade:- The UNC had imposed the blockade in protest against the creation of seven new districts by the then Congress-led government “as it was in contravention to Greater Nagalim” envisaged by the group.

6)Reviving Assam’s ancient ink:-

Name of the Ink:- MAHI

Most Important Characteristic of this ink:- It has a Protective Effect on the Manuscripts because of its Anti-fungal Properties.

What has Happened Now: Researchers are planning to recreate the lost techniques of manuscript writing. They say their efforts could boost heritage tourism.

What is the Technique:-The technique involves extracting ‘mahi’ using cow urine from a cocktail of fruit pulp and tree bark such as haritaki, amla, bibhitakhi or bhomora, mango and jamun — often infused with the blood of eels or catfish. Rust from iron tools or nails was added for an intense black hue.

“It is only prepared (in natural settings) in the winter season.

When and Where was it used:- ‘Mahi’ was used in early and medieval Assam for writing on ‘sancipat’ (folios made of the bark of the sanci tree) manuscripts.


Another interesting feature is that the pH of mahi remains neutral because of cow urine and the absence of acidic ingredients like vinegar. Iron gall ink has an acidic character that leads to destruction of the manuscripts.

8)Scientists discover ive new sub-atomic particles:-

Scientists using the world’s largest and most powerful particle accelerator have discovered a new system of five particles all in a single analysis.

Which Experiment Was this?:- The LHCb experiment which is one of seven particle physics detector experiments collecting data at the Large Hadron Collider accelerator at CERN (European Organisation forNuclear Research).

The new particles were found to be in excited states — a particle state that has a higher energy than the absolute minimum configuration (or ground state) — of a particle called Omega-c-zero.


About OMEGA-C-ZERO:-Omega-c-zero is a baryon, a particle with three quarks, containing two “strange” and one “charm” quark. Omega-c-zero decays via the strong force into another baryon, called Xi-c-plus.

QUESTIONS:-

1) What is Raman Effect?
2)What is Chandrashekar's Limit?
3)India Recently became the Associate Member of Which Physics Nuclear Organisation?
4)Which Countries are Member States of MERCOSUR?