Derecho
GS Paper 1: Important Geophysical Phenomena such as earthquakes, Tsunami, Volcanic activity, cyclone etc.
Important For:
Prelims exam level: Derecho
Mains exam level: Not Much
Why in News
Several states in the US were hit by a storm system called a derecho. As the storm rolled in, winds gusting at around 140 km per hour, snapped power lines and knocked down trees. As the storm hit, it turned the skies green.
What is a derecho?
• A derecho, according to the US’s National Weather Service is “a widespread, long-lived, straight-line windstorm” that is associated with a “band of rapidly moving showers or thunderstorms”.
• The name comes from the Spanish word ‘la derecha’ which means ‘straight’.
• Straight-line storms are those in which thunderstorm winds have no rotation unlike a tornado.
• These storms travel hundreds of miles and cover a vast area.
• Being a warm-weather phenomenon, a derecho generally occurs during summertime beginning May, with most hitting in June and July.
o However, they are a rare occurrence as compared to other storm systems like tornadoes or hurricanes.
When a storm is qualified as Derecho
• For a storm to be classified as a derecho it must have wind gusts of at least 93 km per hour; wind damage swath (a broad strip or area of something) extending more than 400 km.
• According to University of Oklahama’s School of Meteorology, the time gap between successive wind damage events should not be
more than three hours.
Why did the sky turn green during the Derecho that hit US recently?
• Severe thunderstorms result in a ‘green sky’ due to light interacting with the huge amount of water they hold.
• As per a report, it is believed that the big raindrops and hail scatter away all but the blue wavelengths due to which primarily blue light penetrates below the storm cloud. This blue then combines with the red-yellow of the afternoon or the evening sun to produce green.
Different types of Derechos
They fall into three categories – progressive, serial and hybrid:
1. Progressive Derecho: A progressive derecho is associated with a short line of thunderstorms that may travel for hundreds of miles along a relatively narrow path. It is a summer phenomenon.
2. Serial Derecho: A serial derecho, on the other hand, has an extensive squall (a sudden violent gust of wind) line – wide and long – sweeping across a large area. It usually occurs during spring or fall.
3. Hybrid ones have the features of both progressive and serial derechos.
Where do they usually occur?
• They mostly occur across central and eastern parts of the United States.
o The May 8, 2009 “Super Derecho” was one of the “most intense and unusual derechos ever observed” in the US.
• Derechos have also been documented elsewhere across the world. In 2010, Russia witnessed its first documented derecho.
• They have also swept through Germany and Finland, and more recently in Bulgaria and Poland.
Thoniappar temple
GS Paper 1: Art and Culture
Important For:
Prelims exam level: Thoniappar temple
Mains exam level: Not Much
About Thoniappar Temple
• Sattainathar temple, Sirkazhi (also called Brahmapureeswarar temple and Thoniappar temple) is a Hindu temple dedicated to Shiva located in Sirkali, Tamil Nadu, and India.
• The temple is incarnated by the hymns of Thevaram and is classified as Paadal Petra Sthalam.
• It is an ancient temple complex with three different Shiva shrines in three stories.
o The Bhramapureeswarar shrine is housed in the lower level.
o The second level houses Periyanakar with Periyanayaki on a Thoni, hence the name Thoniappar.
o Sattainathar/Vatukanathar is also housed here.
o There are 22 water bodies associated with this shrine.
• Three different forms of Shiva are worshipped here,
1. The Shivalingam (Bhrammapureeswarar),
2. A colossal image of Uma Maheswarar (Toniappar) at the medium level,
3. Bhairavar (Sattanathar) at the upper level.
• The temple is associated with the legend of child Sambandar who is believed to have been fed by Parvathi on the banks of the temple tank.
• The child later went on to compose Tevaram, a Saiva canonic literature on Shiva and became one of the most revered Saiva poets in South India
Architecture
• The central shrine with three levels
• The temple has a vast Prakarams (courtyards) with high walls of enclosure.
• There are two sets of seven-tiered gopurams on the outer walls of the enclosure.
• The porch on the entrance from the second to the first prakara date back to 10th to 11th century.
• The original shrine during the period of the Nayanmars included the shrine of Bhrammapureeswarar, on the southern bund of the temple tank; the Tonniappar shrine on a mound west of the central shrine, and the Sattanathar shrine in the second floor reached from the southern praharam(outer courtyard) of the Toniappar shrine by a flight of steps.
• The enlargement of the original temple happened during the period of Kulothunga Chola I, Vikrama Chola, Kulothunga Chola II and Kulothunga Chola III.
• The image of Parvathi in the form of Sthira Sundari is located in the basement in a separate shrine.
Kharchi Puja
GS Paper 1: Art and Culture
Important for:
Prelims exam level: Different festivals in india
Mains exam level: Not much
Why in news
The Prime Minister has greeted the people at the start of Kharchi Puja.
About Kharchi Puja
• India is like a colourful mosaic of many festivals that highlight the culture, traditions, and heritage of each state.
• The diversity of this nation is such that every day unravels a new story that is hidden in the nooks and crannies of the land.
• A part of this rich legacy Kharchi Festival celebrated in Tripura.
• While this is an annual festival fare, the celebrations were put to a halt due to the pandemic for the past two years.
• Usually, Kharchi Puja falls during the month of June-July and goes on for a week.
• In the Kharchi Festival, 14 deities are worshipped.
• Tracing its etymology, ‘khar’ means sin and ‘çhi’ means cleaning. Therefore, together the name translates to-cleaning of sins.
• Every year, people flock to the Chaturdash Devata Mandir that is about 8 km from Agartala for celebrations.
Sub-categorising OBCs
GS Paper 2: Indian Constitution—Historical Underpinnings, Evolution, Features, Amendments, Significant Provisions and Basic Structure.
Important For:
Prelims exam level:
Justice Rohini Commission, Mandal Commission, Reservation
Mains exam level: Sub-categorization of OBCSs
Why in News
The Centre has extended the tenure of The Commission to Examine Sub-categorisation of Other Backward Classes (OBCs) headed by Justice G Rohini.
About Other Backward Classes
• Other Backward Class is a collective term used by the Government of India to classify castes which are educationally or socially disadvantaged.
• It is one of several official classifications of the population of India, along with General Class, Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (SCs and STs).
• In the Indian Constitution, OBCs are described as socially and educationally backward classes (SEBC), and the Government of India is enjoined to ensure their social and educational development — for example, the OBCs are entitled to 27% reservations in public sector employment and higher education.
• The list of OBCs maintained by the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment is dynamic, with castes and communities being added or removed depending on social, educational and economic factors.
What is sub-categorisation of OBCs?
• The idea is to create sub-categories within the larger group of OBCs for the purpose of reservation.
• OBCs are granted 27% reservation in jobs and education under the central government.
• This has been a legal debate for other reservation categories too: last year, a Constitution Bench of the Supreme Court reopened the debate on sub-categorisation of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes for reservations.
• For OBCs, the debate arises out of the perception that only a few affluent communities among the over 2,600 included in the Central List of OBCs have secured a major part of the 27% reservation.
• The argument for creating sub-categories within OBCs is that it would ensure “equitable distribution” of representation among all OBC communities.
What have its findings been so far?
• In 2018, the Commission analysed the data of 1.3 lakh central jobs given under OBC quota over the preceding five years and OBC admissions to central higher education institutions over the preceding three years.
• The findings were:
o 97% of all jobs and educational seats have gone to just 25% of all sub-castes classified as OBCs; 24.95% of these jobs and seats have gone to just 10 OBC communities;
o 983 OBC communities (37% of the total) have zero representation in jobs and educational institutions;
o 994 OBC sub-castes have a total representation of only 2.68% in recruitment and admissions.
Species In News
Two species of fish discovered along T.N. coast
Prelims exam level: General issues on Environmental ecology, Bio-diversity and Climate.
Mains exam level: Not Much
Why in News
The Indian Council for Agricultural Research – National Bureau of Fish Genetic Resources (NBFGR) has identified two new species of marine fish in Tamil Nadu.
The discovery
• One of them, a sardine variety from Pattinapakkam fish landing centre in the city, was named ‘Dussumieria modakandai’.
o It is consumed by the local population.
• A species of eel, belonging to congrid eels group, was discovered from the specimen collected at Colachel fish landing centre in Kanniyakumari district.
o It has been named ‘Ariosoma albimaculata’ (white spotted stout conger).
o Albimaculata is derived from the Latin words: albus, meaning white and maculatus, meaning spotted, denoting the white spot on
the dorsal-fin origin.
o The eel is 240-487 mm-long and has a grey, shiny body with dark marks or spots on the posterior-dorsal margin of the eyes.
o It was non-poisonous, living in unusual habitats such as continental slope and underwater seamount crevices.
o The species is possibly distributed along the south-west coast of India, so far only in the coastal waters of Kanniyakumari.
o It is the eighth species of congrid eels to be documented in Indian waters, all of which were by-catch in trawl landings.