22 February 2024

• Environment: A study linked triple-dip La Nina to unusual wind reversals that pushed air pollution from Delhi toward Mumbai in winter 2022, giving Mumbai 66 poor-air-quality days.
• History: Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj's 394th birth anniversary. He was born in 1630 at Shivneri Fort and is known as "Rayatecha Raja" (King of the People).
• Polity: Supreme Court used Article 142 to nullify Chandigarh's mayoral election results due to returning officer misconduct.
• Geography: A bull shark was sighted 40 km upstream in the Vaitarna River in Maharashtra.

GS area: Environment (Climate, Air Pollution)

A research study published in early 2024 traced unusually poor air quality in Mumbai during winter 2022 to a triple-dip La Nina event.

• Triple-dip La Nina: Three consecutive years of La Nina conditions (2020, 2021, 2022). La Nina is the cool phase of the ENSO (El Nino-Southern Oscillation) cycle, characterised by below-normal sea surface temperatures in the central and eastern Pacific.
• Wind reversal mechanism: The 2022 La Nina conditions caused unusual wind patterns over South Asia that reversed the normal northerly winds. Instead of pollution from agricultural burning in Punjab and Haryana being carried northward and away from Mumbai, it was pushed southward.
• Mumbai's air quality data: Mumbai experienced 66 of 92 days (November 2022 to January 2023) with "poor" or "very poor" AQI (Air Quality Index).
• Delhi's air quality: Delhi recorded 79 poor or very poor AQI days in the same period. Delhi's year-round pollution problem is distinct from Mumbai's unusual 2022 episode.
• ENSO and India: ENSO affects India's monsoon. La Nina generally brings above-normal rainfall to India; El Nino is associated with drought. The air quality link via wind patterns is an emerging research area.

Static linkage: Environment (climate, El Nino-Southern Oscillation, La Nina, air pollution, AQI).

GS area: History (Medieval and Early Modern India)

The 394th birth anniversary of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj was observed on 19 February 2024 (the Julian calendar date corresponds to 19 February in the modern Gregorian calendar, though traditional celebrations use the Hindu calendar).

• Born: 19 February 1630 at Shivneri Fort in the Sahyadri ranges of present-day Maharashtra.
• Maratha Empire: Shivaji founded the Maratha kingdom and is regarded as the founder of the Maratha Empire. He was crowned Chhatrapati (Lord of the Umbrella, a royal title) in 1674 at Raigad Fort.
• Administrative innovations:
  • Established a cabinet system: the Ashta Pradhan (Council of Eight Ministers).
  • Built a strong navy: often called the Father of the Indian Navy.
  • Created a system of hill forts as strategic administrative centres.
• "Rayatecha Raja": The title means "King of the People," reflecting his focus on agrarian welfare and limiting oppressive taxation.
• Guerrilla warfare: Mastered guerrilla tactics (Ganimi Kava) to defeat the larger armies of the Mughals and Bijapur Sultanate.

Static linkage: History (medieval India, Maratha Empire, Deccan polity, administrative history).

GS area: Polity (Judiciary, Elections)

The Supreme Court used Article 142 (plenary power to do complete justice) to nullify the results of the Chandigarh municipal mayoral election after evidence emerged that the returning officer had defaced opposition ballot papers.

• What happened: Video footage showed the returning officer marking votes cast for opposition candidates, causing them to be declared invalid. The ruling party candidate was declared elected.
• Article 142 in action: The Supreme Court declared the election void and the returning officer's acts nullified. It ordered re-counting of the defaced votes and declared the actual winner.
• Article 324: Vests superintendence, direction, and control of elections to Parliament in the Election Commission of India. Municipal elections are controlled by State Election Commissions, not the ECI.
• State Election Commission: For urban and rural local body elections, the State Election Commission has authority under Articles 243K and 243ZA.

Static linkage: Polity (Article 142, elections, State Election Commission, Articles 243K and 243ZA, municipal governance).

GS area: History (Ancient India, Archaeology)

Archaeologists identified Morodharo, a 4,500-year-old Harappan-era fortified settlement near Dholavira in Gujarat.

• Morodharo: The site shows evidence of fortification walls and pottery styles consistent with the Mature Harappan period (approximately 2600-1900 BCE). Similarities with Dholavira's pottery suggest that the region was once connected by navigable water bodies (the Rann of Kutch), now mostly dry.
• Dholavira: A UNESCO World Heritage Site (inscribed 2021) in Kutch, Gujarat. One of the largest and most well-preserved Harappan cities. Known for its sophisticated water management system and multi-tiered city planning.
• Harappan civilisation: Also called the Indus Valley Civilisation. Major sites include Harappa and Mohenjo-daro in Pakistan, and Dholavira, Lothal, Kalibangan, and Rakhigarhi in India.

Static linkage: History (Ancient India, Harappan/Indus Valley civilisation, archaeological sites, Gujarat).

GS area: Environment (Biodiversity, Marine Life, Climate Change)

A bull shark was sighted approximately 40 kilometres upstream in the Vaitarna River in Maharashtra's Thane and Nasik districts. Bull sharks (Carcharhinus leucas) are one of the few shark species that can survive in freshwater.

• Vaitarna River: A west-flowing river between Mumbai and the Tapi River in Maharashtra. Originates in the Trimbakeshwar Hills near Nasik. Catchment area: 2,019 square kilometres.
• Bull shark ecology: Tolerates freshwater due to a unique ability to regulate salt in its body. Known to travel hundreds of kilometres upstream in rivers worldwide.
• Climate link: Researchers suggested that warming sea temperatures and reduced salinity gradients near river mouths may be driving bull sharks further upstream, a potential climate-driven habitat shift.
• Relevance for prelims: Rivers of Maharashtra and coastal ecology are standard geography questions. The climate-behaviour link is the current affairs angle.

Static linkage: Environment (marine biodiversity, river systems, climate-driven habitat changes), Geography (rivers of Maharashtra).

• Rani Chennamma: The 200th anniversary of the 1824 Kittur revolt led by Rani Chennamma of Kittur (in present-day Karnataka) was being commemorated. She led one of the earliest armed resistances against the British East India Company after the Company invoked the Doctrine of Lapse on Kittur. She was captured and died in prison in 1829.
• IBSA Fund contribution: India contributed one million US dollars to the IBSA (India-Brazil-South Africa) Fund for Poverty and Hunger Alleviation. The fund supports development projects in the Global South. Established 2004, operational 2006.