PM calls for road map to develop Mangarh Dham as a global tribal destination (GS Paper 3, Infrastructure)
Why in news?
- Recently, Prime Minister called for preparing a road map to develop Mangarh Dham in Rajasthan’s Banswara district as a tribal destination with a prominent identity at the global level.
- He was addressing a public meeting at Mangardh Dham to mark the anniversary of the incident and commemorate tribal leader and social reformer Govind Guru.
AboutMangarh Dham:
- Mangarh Dham, situated near the Rajasthan-Gujarat boundary, is known for the massacre of tribes people by the British Indian Army in 1913.
- Nearly 1,500 Bhil tribals and forest dwellers were killed in a hill in Mangarh on November 17, 1913, when the British Indian Army opened fire on the protesters who were demanding abolition of bonded labour system and relaxation in heavy agricultural taxes imposed by the rulers of princely states.
- The tribes in the southern Rajasthan region were led by Govind Guru.
Shared heritage:
- Since Mangarh Dham was a shared heritage of the people of Rajasthan, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra, the governments of the four States could work together and prepare a road map to bring the memorial site on the world map.
Historical background:
- The Bhils, a tribal community living across Maharashtra, Gujarat, Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh faced great troubles at the hands of the rulers of the princely states and the British. By the end of the 20th century, the Bhils living in Rajasthan and Gujarat became bonded labour.
- The great famine of 1899-1900 across the Deccan and Bombay Presidency, which killed over six lakh people, only made the situation worst for the Bhils.
Guru Govindgiri:
- From this tragedy emerged social activist Guru Govindgiri, also known as Govind Guru. He served as a bonded labourer in the princely state of Santrampur.
- He realised that the socio-economic setup and prevalence of alcohol addiction was to blame for the plight of the Bhils.
Bhagat Movement:
- In an attempt to improve their condition, Guru Govind began the Bhagat Movement in 1908 in which he propagated practices such as vegetarianism and abstinence from alcohol. He also asked his supporters to reject bonded labour and fight for their rights.
- As the Bhils became more aware of their rights, the rulers of the princely states of Dungarpur, Banswara and Santrampur began getting wary. The growing awareness among the Bhils and their demands for better wages upset the local rulers and the British.
- Govind Guru’s movement had, as its religious centrepiece, the concept of a fire god, which required his followers to raise sacred hearths in front of which Bhils pray while performing the purifying havan called dhuni.
- In 1903, Govind Guru set up his main dhuni on Mangarh Hill, situated in the middle of dense forests on the border of Banswara and Santrampur.
Charter of 33 demands:
- Mobilised and trained by him, the Bhils placed a charter of 33 demands before the British by 1910 primarily relating to forced labour, high tax imposed on Bhils and harassment of the guru’s followers by the British and rulers of princely states.
- The Bhils rejected the British’s attempt to placate them and refused to leave Mangarh Hill, vowing to declare freedom from British rule.
- According to the book ‘A History of Rajasthan’, the British then asked the Bhils to leave Mangarh Hill before 15 November 1913.
- But that didn’t happen and the princely kingdoms of nearby Dungarpur, Banswara and Sunth pressured the colonial government who then sent in the Mewar Bhil Corps to attack the Mangarh Hill.
The Mangarh massacre:
- The British political representative of the region RE Hamilton deployed the combined forces of British, Santrampur, Dungarpur, Banswara and a detachment of Mewar force moved towards Mangarh.
- Machine guns and canons used in the attack were loaded on donkeys and mules and brought to Mangadh Hill and neighbouring peaks under the command of British officers Major S Bailey and Captain E Stoiley.
- On 17 November 1913, the British Indian Army fired indiscriminately on Bhil protesters and it is said that over 1,500 people, including women and children died in the tragedy.
- The killings created such a scare that Bhils stopped going to Mangarh for several decades after Independence.
- Following the killings, Govind Guru was captured, tried and sentenced to life imprisonment. Owing to his popularity and good conduct in jail, he was released from Hyderabad Jail in 1919 but banned from entering many of the princely states where he had a following.
- He settled down in Kamboi near Limbdi in Gujarat and died in 1931.
Forgotten tragedy:
- The legend of Govind Guru and Mangarh massacre is etched in the memory of the Bhils. For their descendants and historians, this tragedy is more gruesome than the Jallianwala Bagh massacre of 1919.
- However, today most people are unaware of this incident and it finds no mention in school history books.
- However, since 1952, an annual fair has been instituted in Mangarh in memory of Govind Guru and his disciples. As a tribute to Govind Guru’s legacy and his teachings, the Govind Guru University was established in Godhra, Gujarat in 2015.
China docks final module with Tiangong Space Station closer to completion
(GS Paper 3, Science and Tech)
Why in news?
- Recently, China launched the final component, the Mengtian module of its permanent space station.
Details:
- After successfully integrating several modules, China docked the final module with its under-construction space station.
- The uncrewed Mengtian module was launched atop China's most powerful rocket, the Long March 5B from the Wenchang Space Launch Centre in the southern island province of Hainan.
- Once integrated, it will mark the completion of the construction of the space station, giving China a long-term permanent presence beyond Earth's orbit.
About Tiangong:
- The Tiangong will be the second permanently inhabited outpost in low-earth orbit after the NASA-led International Space Station. Tiangong means ‘Palace in the Sky’.
- The space station will only take on its final T-shape with Tianhe as the core flanked by the two lab modules when Mengtian is repositioned, while in orbit, to one of Tianhe's radial ports on its side.
- The Tianhe, Wentian, and Mengtian lab modules will form a basic T-shape structure of the Chinese space station.
Tianhe &Wentian modules:
- In April 2021, China began construction of its space station with the launch of the Tianhe module, the main living quarters for astronauts.
- In July 2022 it launched Wentian, or "Quest for the Heavens", a laboratory module where scientific experiments will be performed.
- The Wentian is designed for science and biology experiments, and the 23-ton lab module is heavier than any other single-module spacecraft currently in space, according to the state-owned Global Times.
- Three astronauts are currently living in the core module on a six-month mission and oversaw the Wentian’s arrival and docking.
Mengtian:
- Mengtian (literal meaning: Dreaming of the Heaven) will host workstations for Chinese astronauts and those from “friendly” countries.
- Experiments in the Mengtian wing will be mostly on the fields of microgravity scientific studies as well as frontier scientific projects covering fluid physics, combustion and materials science and space technologies.
Background:
- The United States banned its National Aeronautics and Space Administration from sharing data with China and thereby excluding the Chinese scientists from the International Space Station.
- In 2021, China began the process of building its own space station and once finished, will be the third country in the world to do so.
Way Forward:
- The completion of the Chinese space station, designed for a lifespan of at least 10 years, will be a milestone in China's ambitions in low-rarth orbit, with NASA's aging ISS potentially ceasing operation by the end of the decade.
New material may hold promise for more efficient lithium-ion batteries
(GS Paper 3, Science and Tech)
Why in news?
- Recently, Indian researchers have discovered a new anode material, which could be helpful in ensuring the life and fast charging of lithium-ion batteries (LIBs).
- The study was carried out by researchers from the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Gandhinagar in collaboration with the Japan Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (JAIST).
Lithium-ion batteries (LIBs):
- LIBs have the anode material as the negative electrode, which is attached to the cathode material in the Li-ion battery cell. The anode materials in a lithium-ion cell act as the host, enabling lithium-ion intercalation/de-intercalation during the battery’s charge or discharge cycle.
- LIBs with Graphite anode, extremely energy dense, can power an electric vehicle for hundreds of kilometres on a single charge. However, it has its challenges on the safety front as they are prone to fire hazards.
- Anode material is the negative electrode in lithium-ion batteries and is paired with cathode material in a lithium-ion battery cell. The anode materials in lithium-ion cells act as the host where they reversibly allow lithium-ion intercalation / de-intercalation during charge or discharge cycles.
New 2D anode material:
- The new two-dimensional (2D) anode material is developed using Nano sheets derived from titanium diboride (TiB2), which resemble a stack of sandwiches, where metal molecules exist between layers of boron. This innovation has potential for translation from lab to real-life application
- Lithium Titanate anodes are safer and more preferred alternatives, and they also facilitate fast charging. But,they have a lower energy density, so they would need more frequent recharging.
- Li-ion batteries enabled by nanosheets based anode material have an edge as they offer ultra-fast charging time (full charge within minutes), long life cycle (10,000 cycles at high charge currents), and nanosheets used to prepare the anode have a high density of pores.
- While the planar nature and chemistry of nanosheets provide a high surface area for catching hold of Li-ions, the pores enable better diffusion of ions.
Key Findings:
- They found that when Titanium Diboride (TiB2)-based Hierarchical Nanosheets (THNS) were used to prepare the anode, it exhibited a discharge capacity of 174 mA h/g (a unit that measures the energy capacity of a battery) that can be obtained at a current rate of 1 A/g within 10 minutes.
- The intertwined carpet-like structure facilitates an efficient migration of charges in and out of nanosheets easily, which resolves a Lithium-Ion diffusion-related challenge.
- They also found that this anode had an ultra-fast charging capacity with a considerable discharge capacity at high-capacity retention (up to 80 per cent even after 10,000 cycles of operation), which means that batteries made with this material would give almost the same high performance even after more than 10,000 cycles of charging.
- Moreover, there was no degradation or corrosion of THNS due to redox reactions, the porosity is also retained very well, and it demonstrates structural stability with less volumetric expansion (less than 40 per cent) over thousands of charge-discharge cycles.
Way Forward:
- This discovery could help charge battery-based devices and electric vehicles (EVs) at ultra-fast speeds.
Endangered Species Act protection for Emperor penguins
(GS Paper 3, Environment)
Why in news?
- Recently, the US Fish and Wildlife Service finalised a rule listing the emperor penguin as “threatened” under the Endangered Species Act, effective 25 November, 2022.
- The greatest threat emperor penguins face is climate change. It will disrupt the sea ice cover they rely on unless governments adopt policies that reduce the greenhouse gases driving global warming.
How climate change is a threat for Emperor penguins?
- Emperor penguins thrive on Antarctica’s coastlines in icy conditions any human would find extreme. If there’s too much sea ice, trips to bring food from the ocean become long and arduous, and their chicks may starve. With too little sea ice, the chicks are at risk of drowning.
- Climate change is now putting that delicate balance and potentially the entire species at risk.
- A recent study showed that if current global warming trends and government policies continue, Antarctica’s sea ice will decline at a rate that would dramatically reduce emperor penguin numbers to the point that almost all colonies would become quasi-extinct by 2100, with little chance of recovering.
US Endangered Species Act:
- The US Endangered Species Act has been used before to protect other species that are primarily at risk from climate change, including the polar bear, ringed seal and several species of coral, which are all listed as threatened.
- Emperor penguins don’t live on US territory, so some of the Endangered Species Act’s measures meant to protect species’ habitats and prevent hunting them don’t directly apply. Being listed under the Endangered Species Act could still bring benefits, though.
- It could provide a way to reduce harm from US fishing fleets that might operate in the region. And, with expected actions from the Biden administration, the listing could eventually pressure US agencies to take actions to limit greenhouse gas emissions.
Emperor penguins around Pointe Géologie:
- Researchers have studied the emperor penguins around Pointe Géologie, in Terre Adélie, since the 1960s. Those decades of data are now helping scientists gauge the effects of anthropogenic climate change on the penguins, their sea ice habitat and their food sources.
- The penguins breed on fast ice, which is sea ice attached to land. But they hunt for food within the pack ice, sea ice floes that move with the wind or ocean currents and may merge. Sea ice is also important for resting, during their annual moult and to escape from predators.
- The penguin population at Pointe Géologie declined by half in the late 1970s when sea ice declined and more male emperor penguins died, and the population never fully recovered from massive breeding failures — something that has been occurring more frequently.
Every colony will be in decline by 2100:
- Emperor penguins are adapted to their current environment, but the species has not evolved to survive the rapid effects of climate change that threaten to reshape its world.
- Decades of studies by an international team of researchers have been instrumental in establishing the need for protection.
- The penguin behaviors that might help them adapt to changing environmental conditions couldn’t reverse the anticipated global decline.
- Major environmental shifts, such as the late formation and early loss of the sea ice on which colonies are located, are already raising the risk.
- A dramatic example is the recent collapse of Halley Bay, the second-largest emperor penguin colony in Antarctica. More than 10,000 chicks died in 2016 when sea ice broke up early. The colony has not yet recovered.
- By including those extreme events, they projected that 98 per cent of colonies will be extinct by 2100 if greenhouse gas emissions continue their present course, and the global population will decline by 99 per cent compared with its historical size.
How Paris climate agreementcould save the penguins?
- The results of the new study showed that if the world meets the Paris climate agreement targets, keeping warming to under 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 F) compared with preindustrial temperatures, that could protect sufficient habitat to halt the emperor penguins’ decline.
- In a recent report, the United Nations Environment Program said current policies have the world headed for 2.8 C (5 F) of warming by the end of the Century, and if countries meet their current pledges to cut emissions, that will still mean warming of at least 2.4 C (4.3 F).
Facts:
- Emperor penguins are the largest penguins in the world.
- They can dive deeper than any other bird, including other penguins.
- Emperor penguins do not build nests. Instead, their feet and “brood patches” act as nests. Brood patches are flaps of featherless skin some birds have on the underside of their bellies.
- Like other penguins, emperors leap into the air while swimming, which is called porpoising. This action coats them in micro air bubbles that help reduce friction underwater.
- Emperor penguins are the only penguin species that breeds during the Southern Hemisphere (austral) winter.
- The emperor penguin genus name, “Aptenodytes,” means “without-wings-diver.”
