UPSC Prelims News 3 November 2022

UPSC Prelims News of 3 November 2022

Smiling Sun

Context: Recently, NASA released an image taken by its Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) where the Sun seems to have two dark eyes, a bright round nose and a wide-open smile.

Dark areas that seemingly form a ‘face’ on the Sun are coronal holes.

About Coronal Holes

These are regions on the sun’s surface from where fast solar wind gushes out into space.
They contain little solar material; hence, they have lower temperatures and appear much darker than their surroundings.
Here, the magnetic field is open to interplanetary space, sending solar material out in a high-speed stream of solar wind.
Significance: Coronal holes are important for understanding the space environment around the earth through which technology and astronauts travel.
Frequency: They appear throughout the sun’s approximately 11-year solar cycle.
- Coronal holes can last between a few weeks to months.
- They can last much longer during solar minimum – a period of time when activity on the Sun is substantially diminished.
- They sometimes interact with earth’s magnetic field, creating what’s called a geomagnetic storm.

About Geomagnetic Storms

It relates to earth’s magnetosphere – the space around a planet that is influenced by its magnetic field.
When a high-speed solar stream arrives at the earth, in certain circumstances it can allow energetic solar wind particles to hit the atmosphere over the poles.
Such geomagnetic storms cause a major disturbance of the magnetosphere as there is a very efficient exchange of energy from the solar wind into the space environment surrounding earth.
In cases of a strong solar wind reaching the earth, the resulting geomagnetic storm can cause changes in the ionosphere, part of the earth’s upper atmosphere.
Radio and GPS signals travel through this layer of the atmosphere, and so communications can get disrupted.

About Solar Dynamics Observatory: NASA’s eyes on the Sun

Launched in 2010, NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory is a spacecraft that studies how solar activity happens and how that impacts the entire solar system.
SDO takes observations of the Sun’s interior, surface and atmosphere.

UPSC Prelims News of 2 November 2022

ST Status to Pahari Community

Context: National Commission for Scheduled Tribes (NCST) proposed to include Pahari community in ST list of Jammu and Kashmir

About the News

Commission has also recommended for the inclusion of the “Paddari tribe”, “Koli” and “Gadda Brahman” communities to be included in the ST list of J&K.
Proposal is based on the commission set up for socially and educationally backward classes in the Union Territory, headed by Justice (Retd.) G.D. Sharma.
- After this, Ministry of Tribal Affairs will be required to bring a Bill in Parliament to amend the The Constitution (Jammu and Kashmir) Scheduled Tribes Order, 1989.
- Addition will be finalised once the President of India notifies the revised schedule as empowered by Article 342 of the Constitution of India.
Currently, Jammu and Kashmir has 12 communities that have been notified as STs.
Support to Pahari Community: Delimitation commission has reserved six of the nine Assembly segments in the Pir Panjal Valley for STs.
Pir Panjal valley is also home to Gujjars and Bakarwals, who are already categorised as STs

About National Commission for Scheduled Tribes

It is a constitutional body that was established by the Constitution (89th Amendment) Act, 2003.
The Commission is an authority working for the economic development of Scheduled Tribes in India.
The NCST is dealt with Article 338.

Ballistic Missile Defence (BMD)

Context: A new interceptor missile for Phase-II of indigenous two-tier ballistic missile defence (BMD) system has been successfully tested by DRDO.

Only few countries such as US, Russia, Israel and China have fully operational BMD system that can track, warn and intercept incoming enemy targets.

Ballistic Missile Defence (BMD) Interceptor Missile

Phase-I: Missile of Phase-I of the BMD system can intercept enemy missiles with a range of 2,000 km, by flying with a speed of 4.5 Mach supersonic speed.
Phase-II: Missile of Phase-II of BMD system is expected to counter enemy missiles with a range of 5,000 km.
Operation: The missile under Phase-II, called AD-1, is designed for both low exo-atmospheric and endo-atmospheric interception of long-range ballistic missiles as well as aircraft.
Features: The missile has a two-stage solid motor propeller and equipped with indigenously developed advanced control system, navigation and guidance algorithm to precisely guide the vehicle to the target.
Interception: AD-1 can intercept Medium-range Ballistic Missile (MRBM) targets as it will have a range between 1000 to 3000 kms.
Significance: The users of BMD system will have great operational flexibility in terms of use.
- The system can target different type of targets, both missiles and aircrafts.