9 February 2024

• Agriculture: A parliamentary committee reported that India's cotton yield is 447 kg per hectare against China's 1,993 kg. The gap points to irrigation deficits and seed technology gaps.
• Polity: Justice Ajay Manikrao Khanwilkar was selected as Lokpal chairperson.
• Science: IIT Kanpur's Jigarthanda hypersonic testing facility and the TOI-715b exoplanet continued as top S&T items.
• Ecology: Dachigam National Park in J&K was in the news as home to the endangered Hangul (Kashmir stag).

GS area: Economy (Agriculture), Geography

A Standing Committee report on the development and promotion of the cotton sector flagged a serious productivity gap:

• India's yield: 447 kg of cotton lint per hectare.
• China's yield: 1,993 kg per hectare. India accounts for about 25 per cent of global cotton production by area but lags severely on productivity per unit land.
• Rain-fed dependency: 67 per cent of India's cotton is grown in rain-fed areas without irrigation. Erratic rainfall directly hits yields.
• 11 cotton-producing states: The major ones are Maharashtra, Gujarat, Telangana, Rajasthan, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Punjab, Haryana, Odisha, and Tamil Nadu.
• Recommended schemes: PM-MITRA Parks (Mega Integrated Textile Region and Apparel, announced in Budget 2021-22); Kasturi Cotton India branding for premium Indian cotton; SAMARTH scheme for textile workers; NFSM Cotton Development Programme.
• e-NAM for cotton: Electronic spot and forward markets for cotton exist but are not well integrated with major mandis.

Static linkage: Economy (agriculture, textile policy, PLI), Geography (cotton-growing regions).

GS area: Polity (Governance, Anti-Corruption)

The high-powered committee constituted under the Lokpal and Lokayuktas Act 2013 selected former Supreme Court Justice Ajay Manikrao Khanwilkar as the Lokpal chairperson.

• Lokpal: India's apex anti-corruption institution established under the Lokpal and Lokayuktas Act 2013. It investigates corruption allegations against public servants, including the Prime Minister (with certain safeguards), ministers, MPs, and Group A officers.
• Act enforced: The Act was passed in December 2013 and notified in January 2014. The first Lokpal was appointed only in 2019.
• Selection committee: Comprises the Prime Minister (chairperson), the Lok Sabha Speaker, the Leader of the largest opposition party in the Lok Sabha, the Chief Justice of India or a Supreme Court judge nominated by the CJI, and an eminent jurist.
• Composition: The Lokpal has a chairperson and up to eight members, of whom at least four must be judicial members.

Static linkage: Polity (Lokpal, anti-corruption institutions, governance accountability).

GS area: Social Justice, Governance

The Safe City Project was launched in Kerala in partnership with UN Women. The project installs physical and digital safety infrastructure in urban areas with a focus on women's safety.

• Infrastructure: CCTV cameras, surveillance drones, emergency call boxes, and Pink Police Outposts (small police stations staffed primarily by women officers).
• Emergency number: Unified emergency number 112 for all services.
• Gender data hub: Kerala and UN Women are also building a data hub that maps violence hotspots and identifies at-risk areas for targeted intervention.
• UN Women: The United Nations entity dedicated to gender equality and the empowerment of women. Founded in 2010, headquartered in New York.

Static linkage: Social Justice (women's safety, urban governance, UN agencies).

GS area: Art and Culture (Languages)

The government of Tripura allowed both Roman and Bengali scripts for Kokborok-language examinations.

• Kokborok: A Tibeto-Burman language and the mother tongue of the Borok (or Tripuri) people. It is the second official language of Tripura after Bengali.
• Script controversy: Kokborok has historically been written in both the Roman script (preferred by tribal groups) and the Bengali script (used by the state government). The choice of script has been politically contentious.
• Tibeto-Burman family: Kokborok belongs to the same broad linguistic family as Manipuri, Bodo, and other Northeast Indian languages.

Static linkage: Culture (language policy, Northeast India, tribal communities, official languages).

GS area: History and Culture (Archaeology)

A 20-foot stone lamp post (deepastambham) dating to June 1635 CE was discovered near Ulundurpet in Tamil Nadu. A separate discovery: a multi-lingual deepastambham was found in Nalgonda, Telangana.

• Deepastambham: A monumental lamp post found in South Indian temple complexes. They are lit during festivals and function as permanent lighting fixtures within the temple premises.
• Inscription: The Nalgonda find bears inscriptions in Telugu and Tamil, indicating trade connections between the Telugu and Tamil regions in the 17th century.
• Badami Chalukya connection: Artefacts from the Badami Chalukya period (6th to 8th centuries CE) were found nearby, pointing to long-term habitation and religious activity at the site.
• Badami Chalukyas: A dynasty that ruled the Deccan from Badami (in modern Karnataka) from approximately 543 CE. Founded by Pulakesi I. Their rock-cut temple complex at Badami is a major heritage site.

Static linkage: History (medieval South India, epigraphy, Chalukyas), Culture (temple architecture).

GS area: Economy (Fintech, Banking Regulation)

Three fintech startups, Decentro, Juspay, and Zoho Payments, received authorisation from the Reserve Bank of India to operate as payment aggregators.

• Payment aggregator: An entity that sits between a merchant and a bank. When a customer pays online, the payment aggregator collects the money and then remits it to the merchant after netting out the transaction fee. Examples include Razorpay, PayU, and now Juspay.
• RBI authorisation: The RBI requires all payment aggregators to obtain explicit authorisation under the Payment and Settlement Systems Act 2007. This oversight prevents unauthorised entities from handling large volumes of customer money.
• Distinguished from payment gateway: A payment gateway is the technology interface (the checkout page). A payment aggregator also holds the money in escrow between collection and settlement.

Static linkage: Economy (fintech, payment regulation, RBI, PSS Act 2007).

GS area: Geography, Environment

Dachigam National Park is located 22 kilometres from Srinagar in Jammu and Kashmir. It covers 141 square kilometres at altitudes ranging from 5,500 to 14,000 feet.

• Flagship species: The Hangul or Kashmir stag (Cervus hanglu hanglu), a subspecies of the elk. The Hangul is classified as Critically Endangered on the IUCN Red List. Its population has declined to approximately 260 individuals.
• Other species: Himalayan Black Bear, Leopard, Musk Deer, Snow Leopard at higher elevations.
• Protection history: The area has been protected since 1910 (as a royal game reserve). National Park status was conferred in 1981.
• Threat: Human-wildlife conflict, pastoral intrusion, and poaching.

Static linkage: Environment (protected areas, Critically Endangered species, J&K ecology), Geography (Himalayan ecosystems).