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Current Affairs – April 15, 2025
{GS1 – A&C – Languages} Awadhi
- Context (IE): Awadhi, once a prestigious literary language of North India, is now marginalised.
Linguistic Classification
- Classified in Linguistic Survey of India (LSI): LSI categorised Awadhi as a form of Eastern Hindi.
- Rooted in Indo-Aryan Tradition: Awadhi belongs to the Eastern Hindi branch of the Indo-Aryan group, spoken across Northern India.
- Awadhi’s Literary Emergence: Established as a literary language in the 14th century, it played a central role in medieval vernacular literature.
- Linguistic Boundaries: West of Awadhi lie Kanauji & Bundeli; eastward is Bhojpuri; north is Nepali.
Dialectical Variants
- Predominantly spoken in districts of central and eastern UP with sub-regional variants like Western (Sitapur, Lucknow), Central (Bahraich, Barabanki), and Eastern Awadhi (Gonda, Ayodhya).
- Known as Purbi, Kosali (from the ancient Kosala Kingdom), and Baiswari (in Lucknow, Unnao, Rae Bareli).
Awadhi as Dialect or Language?
- Labeling Awadhi as a ‘dialect’ reflects political, not linguistic, decisions.
- Classical Language Comparison: Scholars equate Awadhi to classical languages due to its depth, antiquity & richness. Awadhi is culturally & literarily robust enough to be considered a classical language, not a mere dialect.
Awadhi’s Legacy
- Ramcharitmanas by Tulsidas: A seminal 17th century religious text, pivotal to Hindu devotional literature. Misinterpretations due to limited Awadhi vocabulary alter meanings (eg- Laya & Sambhavit).
- Padmavat and Akhrawat by Malik Muhammad Jayasi (16th century romantic epic) is pure Awadhi.
- Cultural Patronage: Lucknow & Delhi courts shaped Hindustani music using vernacular Awadhi.
- In Thumri & Courtly Songs: Example from 1870 Lucknow Thumri laments post-annexation grief in lyrical Awadhi. Classical theoretical music treatises used Awadhi alongside Sanskrit & Persian.
- Ayodhya as a Linguistic Confluence: Pilgrims influenced the Awadhi lexicon (e.g. Tamil-origin word ‘Kaur’ meaning a bite).
{GS1 – MIH – Events} Jallianwala Bagh Massacre *
- Context (IE): The PM recalled Sir C. S. Nair on the 106th anniversary of the Jallianwala Bagh massacre.
Background
- Rowlatt Act: The Rowlatt Act was passed on March 10, 1919, at the heart of the unrest. The “Black Act” allowed the British colonial government to imprison anyone suspected of seditious activity without trial.
- Gandhi’s Satyagraha: In response, Mahatma Gandhi launched a satyagraha, urging Indians to oppose the act nonviolently. On April 7, 1919, Gandhi published an article titled Satyagrahi, outlining peaceful methods to challenge British rule.
- The British, fearing the rise of a mass movement, banned Gandhi from entering Punjab and ordered his arrest if he disobeyed.
- The arrest of Nationalist Leaders: Meanwhile, in Amritsar, two respected nationalist leaders, Dr Saifuddin Kitchlew and Dr Satyapal, symbols of Hindu-Muslim unity, were arrested for organising peaceful protests against the Rowlatt Act.
- Firing: On April 10, a large crowd marched to the Deputy Commissioner’s residence to demand the release of the two leaders. British troops fired on the unarmed protestors without warning, further igniting public outrage.
Day of the Massacre: April 13, 1919
- Public Gatherings at Jallianwala Bagh: Despite orders by Brigadier-General Reginald Dyer banning public gatherings, thousands of men, women, and children assembled peacefully at Jallianwala Bagh, a walled garden in Amritsar, to protest the arrests and condemn the previous firing.
- Open Fire on the Crowd: Without warning, General Dyer ordered his troops to block the only exit and open fire on the crowd. For about 10 minutes, 1,650 rounds were fired toward the gathering.
- According to British reports, 291 people were killed, but Indian estimates, including those from a committee led by Madan Mohan Malviya, placed the death toll at over 500.
- In protest, Rabindranath Tagore, the Nobel laureate poet, renounced his knighthood, calling the massacre a “great moral outrage.”
Hunter Commission
- The British government established the Disorders Inquiry Committee (Hunter Commission) on October 14, 1919, to investigate the incident.
- In 1920, the commission censured Dyer, but he faced no criminal charges. The Commander-in-Chief directed him to resign, and he was barred from future employment in India.
- Despite the mild official action, many in Britain hailed Dyer as a hero, revealing the deep divide in perceptions of colonial rule.
O’Dwyer’s Assassination
- Decades later, on March 13, 1940, Udham Singh, an Indian revolutionary, assassinated Michael O’Dwyer (Lieutenant Governor of Punjab who had endorsed Dyer’s actions) at Caxton Hall in London.
- However, Mahatma Gandhi strongly condemned the assassination, calling it an “act of insanity“, emphasising that India sought to change the system, not seek revenge.
{GS1 – MIH – Personalities} Sir Chettur Sankaran Nair
- Context (IE): The PM recalled Sir C. S. Nair on the 106th anniversary of the Jallianwala Bagh massacre.
About Sir Chettur Sankaran Nair
- Born in 1857 in Mankara village in Malabar’s Palakkad district, Sir C. S. Nair was a bold Indian lawyer, judge, and nationalist. He graduated from Presidency College in Madras and got a law degree.
- Edwin Montague, the Secretary of State for India, once described Nair as an “impossible person” who “shouts at the top of his voice and refuses to listen to anything when one argues and is uncompromising”.
Credit: Wikipedia
Key Contribution
Social Reforms
- By 1908, he had been appointed a permanent Madras High Court judge.
- His best-known judgments indicated his commitment to social reforms in Budasna v Fatima (1914); he ruled that those who converted to Hinduism could not be treated as outcasts.
- In a few other cases, he upheld inter-caste and inter-religious marriages.
National Movement
- INC President: Nair believed in India’s right to self-government. In 1897, he became the youngest president of the Indian National Congress (INC).
- Role in Montagu-Chelmsford Reforms (1919): He played an essential role in expanding provisions in the Montagu-Chelmsford reforms, which introduced dyarchy in the provinces and increased the participation of Indians in the administration.
- Resignation from Executive Council: C. S. Nair served as Education Minister and the sole Indian representative in the Viceroy’s Executive Council. He resigned after the Jallianwala Bagh massacre.
- O’Dwyer v. Nair: He accused Michael O’Dwyer of the Jallianwala Bagh massacre and was sued by O’Dwyer for libel. O’Dwyer won the case with only political economist Harold Laski as the dissenting juryman in an 11 to 1 decision.
Books
- In 1922, Nair published ‘Gandhi and Anarchy’, a book where he wrote his critique of Gandhi’s non-violence, civil disobedience, and non-cooperation methods.
{GS2 – IR – IOR} INS Sunayna and Exercise AIKEYME
- Context (PIB): INS Sunayna, designated as the Indian Ocean Ship (IOS) SAGAR, arrived at the Port of Dar-es-Salaam, Tanzania, to participate in the harbour phase of Exercise AIKEYME.
- INS Chennai (Destroyer) and INS Kesari (Landing Ship Tank) will also participate alongside INS Sunayna.
Exercise AIKEYME (Africa-India Key Maritime Engagement)
- AIKEYME (meaning ‘Unity’ in Sanskrit) is a large-scale multilateral maritime exercise.
- Participants: India, Tanzania (co-hosts), and 8 African nations — Comoros, Djibouti, Kenya, Madagascar, Mauritius, Mozambique, Seychelles, and South Africa.
- Aligns with India’s MAHASAGAR vision: Mutual and Holistic Advancement for Security and Growth Across Regions (MAHASAGAR).
{GS2 – Social Sector – Health – Diseases} LAMP test for TB
- Context (TH): Indian researchers have developed a cost-effective, real-time LAMP (rt-LAMP) test for the early diagnosis of Tuberculosis (TB). Much like GeneXpert and Truenat, the rt-LAMP assay is a molecular test with high sensitivity and specificity.
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- Unlike RT-PCRs that require three different temperature settings to complete a test, it works at a single temperature. It has been developed as an open-platform system that allows existing RT-PCR machines to be repurposed for TB diagnosis.
Read More> Tuberculosis.
{GS2 – Social Sector – Health – Diseases} Signet Ring Cell Carcinoma (SRCC)
- Context (IE): Scientists have developed new ways to better understand and treat signet ring cell carcinoma (SRCC), a rare form of colorectal cancer (CRC).
- One of the biggest challenges in treating SRCC has been the cancer’s tendency to spread to the peritoneum, the lining of the abdominal cavity, which is a key reason for its poor prognosis.
- The new methods have given hope for overcoming this issue. They have created patient-derived organoids (PDOs) and patient-derived xenografts (PDXs).
- As these models mimic the molecular behaviour of real human SRCC tumours, they offer scientists an opportunity to examine cancer closely and test potential treatments in a controlled environment
What is Signet Ring Cell Carcinoma (SRCC)?
- SRCC, which gets its name from the signet ring-like appearance (a finger ring with a flat top) of its cancer cells under a microscope, is one of the deadliest subtypes of colon cancer.
- CRCs are the 3rd most common cancer and the 2nd leading cause of cancer deaths in the world. However, SRCC constitutes about 1% of all CRC cases.
- In countries like India, SRCC appears to affect a disproportionately 10 times larger number of patients. Central and northern India had the highest proportion of SRCC cases in India.
{GS3 – DM – Tsunami} Kerala’s Vulnerability to Tsunamis
- Context (IE): Kerala’s natural topography and numerous inland water bodies (like backwaters and rivers) increase its vulnerability to tsunamis.
Kerala’s Geographical Risk Factors
- 560 km coastline and 46.13 sq. km of estuaries and backwaters.
- 41 rivers fall in Lakshadweep and three others in the Arabian Sea. Leaving large water inland.
- Large areas are under water, making evacuation and disaster response challenging.
Tsunami Vulnerability of India
- According to experts at the Indian National Centre for Ocean Information Services (INCOIS), all coastal states and Union Territories of India are vulnerable to tsunamis.
- Two main subduction zones that can cause tsunamis affecting India:
- Andaman-Nicobar-Sumatra Island Arc
- Makran Subduction Zone
Ongoing Initiatives for Preparedness Against Tsunamis
- Indian Tsunami Early Warning System (ITEWS): A 24/7 operational centre to monitor tsunamis.
- Tsunami Ready Initiative: A community-based program to enhance tsunami preparedness. 26 villages from Odisha became the first ‘tsunami-ready’ villages in the entire Indian Ocean region.
- National Disaster Management Act of 2005: Established the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) to coordinate disaster preparedness and response.
- Indian Ocean Tsunami Warning and Mitigation System: A system established after the 2004 tsunami to provide critical tsunami warning and mitigation services to 27 Indian Ocean Basin countries.
- Building Codes and Standards: Implementing building codes and standards to ensure that structures in tsunami-prone areas can withstand the forces of a tsunami.
{GS3 – Envi – PAN} Pakke Tiger Reserve *
- Context (ETV): 9 individual tigers, including a cub, were recently recorded in the Pakke Tiger Reserve.
- Established as Pakhui Sanctuary in 1966, declared Game Sanctuary in 1977, and renamed Pakhui Wildlife Sanctuary in 2001 under Project Tiger. It became India’s 26th Tiger Reserve in April 2002 under the National Tiger Conservation Authority.
- Located in the East Kameng district of Arunachal Pradesh, it lies within the Eastern Himalayan foothills in a transition zone between Assam plains & hilly forests.
- The Kameng (Bhareli) River bounds it in the west & north & by the Pakke River in the east and the Brahmaputra towards the south.
- To the south, the sanctuary adjoins Assam’s Nameri National Park, and to the west, it is bounded by Eaglenest Wildlife Sanctuary and Sessa Orchid Sanctuary.
- Climatic Conditions: Subtropical climate with cold winters; elevation varies from 100 to 2,000 meters, facilitating a wide range of forest ecosystems.
- Evergreen forests on hill slopes; deciduous forests along rivers, supporting ferns, mosses, epiphytes & around eight bamboo species; Himalayan broadleaf forests.
- Major Fauna: Bengal tiger, Indian leopard, clouded leopard, wild dogs, Himalayan black bears, elephant, barking deer, gaur, sambar, golden cat, binturong, pangolin, red jungle fowl, capped langur, Assamese macaque, smooth clawed otter, porcupines and squirrels.
- Avian and Small Fauna Diversity: Home to hornbills and small carnivores like civets, martens, marbled cats, and the rare small-toothed ferret Badger.
- Major Reptilian Fauna: Assam roofed turtle.
- Non-human Primates: Capped langur, Assamese macaque, Rhesus & stamp tailed macaques.
- Floral Richness: Hosts mango, jamun, sal, arjuna, bamboo, kadam and neem trees.
- Role of Local Communities: The Nyishi tribe, particularly Ghora Aabhe (village chiefs group) and Women SHGs, support forest officials through customary law enforcement and intelligence sharing.
- To mitigate elephant-related conflicts, 25 motion-sensor-based Animal Intrusion Detection & Repellent (ANIDER) systems are being deployed in conflict-prone regions with real-time alert mechanisms.
- It is known for its Hornbill Nest Adoption Programme.
Also refer to Methodology for Tiger Census; Initiatives for Tiger Protection; Golder Tiger, Black Tiger.
{GS3 – IE – Securities} Insider Trading *
- Context (IE): Allegations of insider trading were raised against the US president.
- Insider trading involves trading stocks based on non-public information obtained through a position of trust or fiduciary duty.
Who are “Insider”?
- Insiders are the persons directly connected with the company because of their position and those having reasonable connection with “Unpublished price sensitive information” (UPSI) of the company.
- For e.g. Merchant bankers, Debenture trustees, Stockbrokers, Accountancy firms, Law firms and financial Consultants, subsidiaries of a company and relatives of connected persons, etc
Insider Trading in trading
Insider Trading (Amendment) Regulations, 2025 by SEBI
- Expanded UPSI definition to a broader range of information that could potentially impact stock price.
- Flexibilities for external UPSI: The regulations introduced some flexibilities regarding handling UPSI originating from sources outside the listed company.
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Committees on Insider Trading in India
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Sachar Committee (1979)
- Warned such misuse could cause financial losses to retail investors.
- Recommended amendments to the Companies Act to prohibit insider trading.
- Patel Committee (1986)
- Recommended amending the Securities Contracts (Regulation) Act, 1956.
- Proposed empowering stock exchanges to monitor and control insiders.
- Abid Hussain Committee (1989)
- Recommended civil and criminal penalties for insider trading.
- Urged the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) to formulate specific regulations and codes to prevent unfair practices in the securities market.
- Sodhi Committee (2013)
- Suggested improvements in the legislative framework for prohibiting insider trading.
- Recommended principle-based regulations with specific rules grounded in those principles.
- Viswanathan Committee (2017)
- Focused on reducing malpractices and banning benami transactions in the securities market.
- Proposed two separate codes:
- For listed companies to set minimum standards for handling inside information.
- For market intermediaries and related persons to regulate handling of price-sensitive information.
{GS3 – S&T – Defence} Mk-II (A) DEW System
- Context (HT): 1st successful trial of the Mk-II (A) Laser Directed Energy Weapon (DEW) system.
- It is a 30-KW laser-based weapon system takes down helicopters, swarm drones, and radars.
- It is developed by DRDO’s Centre for High Energy Systems and Sciences (CHESS), Hyderabad.
Credit: India Today
How does it work?
- The laser system engages fixed-wing drones from a long range and can thwart multiple drone attacks at a time, destroying surveillance sensors and antennae.
- Once a target is identified by the Laser-DEW system’s radar or its inbuilt Electro Optic (EO) system, it uses an intense beam of powerful light (Laser Beam) to cut through the target, causing structural failures or even more lethal damage.
Significance
- It can lower the risk of collateral damage and reduce reliance on expensive ammunition during conflict.
- In a world where more unmanned aerial systems (UAS) and drones are being used in warfare, DEW is a long-term and low-cost alternative to defeating the target.
- Apart from India, only the US, China and Russia can disable weapons using the technology.
{GS3 – S&T – Space} All-Female Sub-Orbital Mission
- Context (IE): Blue Origin launched a suborbital mission spotlighting space tourism.
- Historic Milestone: First all-women space crew since Valentina Tereshkova’s mission in 1963.
- Flight Details: Sub-orbital journey aboard Blue Origin’s New Shepard crossed the Karman line (>100 km altitude), lasted 11 minutes and provided a few minutes of weightlessness.
- Autonomous Flight: No pilot onboard; passengers were technically tourists, not astronauts.
Sub-Orbital Space Tourism
- It is a form of recreational space travel where civilians experience microgravity and view Earth from the edge of space.
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Sub-Orbital vs Orbital
- Sub-Orbital: Brief trips beyond the Karman line without orbiting the Earth.
- Orbital: Longer missions with stays ranging from a few days to over a week in low Earth orbit.
- Major Players: Blue Origin, SpaceX & Virgin Galactic pioneered private sub-orbital flights in 2021.
Concerns
- Luxury-Driven Access: Current space tourism models cater only to the ultra-rich, raising exclusivity concerns for the broader demographics.
- Minimal Scientific Contribution: Sub-orbital flights offer little innovation or value to deep space research or exploration.
- Environmental Threats: Emissions like nitrogen oxides and black carbon from launches harm the ozone and intensify warming.
- Symbolism vs. Substance: Corporate feminist narratives often serve branding more than actual representation or change.
{GS3 – S&T – Tech} BatEchoMon
- Context (TH): BatEchoMon was launched for bat call detection and species identification.
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What is BatEchoMon?
- India’s first autonomous real-time Bat Echolocation Monitoring System. Works on solar energy.
- Developers: Long-Term Urban Ecological Observatory, School of Environment & Sustainability (IIHS) and Wildlife Conservation Trust (WildTech Project), Nature Conservation Foundation.
- Species Identification Limit: Currently identifies only 6-7 common Indian species with a limited but high-quality dataset on Indian bat echolocation calls.
How BatEchoMon Works?
- Automatic Activation: Initiates at sunset to align with bat flight activity.
- Audio Monitoring: Continuously listens for bat calls through configured Audiomoth detectors configured as ultrasonic microphones.
- Data Processing: Uses Raspberry Pi microprocessor with pre-trained identification models to isolate bat calls from other environmental/anthropogenic sounds.
- Species Identification: Use convolutional neural network-based algorithms trained on reference models.
- Generates spectrograms, audio clips of detected calls, and statistical data on species-wise nightly activity.
{Prelims – In News} Fruit Fly Larvae Can Sense Electric Fields
- Context (TH): Researchers have found that fruit fly larvae can sense electric fields and navigate toward the negative electric potential using a small set of sensory neurons in their head.
- Electroreception: A relatively rare ability, several species across the animal kingdom are known to detect and respond to electric fields – a sense called electroreception.
- It helps animals navigate, hunt, communicate, and survive in low-visibility environments.
- Other Species that Can Sense Electric Fields are sharks, platypuses, echidnas, sturgeon, catfish, Bumblebees, Electric eels, Electric rays, elephantnose fish, stingrays, etc.
{Prelims – In News} Mast Bumping *
- Context (N18): The Helicopter crash in the Hudson River has been identified as a case of mast bumping.
- Mast bumping occurs when the helicopter’s main rotor hub (the central part where the blades attach) comes into contact with and damages the main rotor mast.
- It is a dangerous aerodynamic phenomenon in helicopters with teetering rotor systems, commonly found in two-bladed rotor designs like those in some Bell helicopters.
- It usually happens when the rotor blade tilts too far down, striking the helicopter and even cutting its tail.
Hudson River
- It is a 315-mile river that flows from north to south primarily through eastern New York, United States.
- Source: Lake Tear of the Clouds, a small lake in the Adirondack Mountains.
- It forms a natural border between New York and New Jersey near its mouth.
- The Hudson River drains into the Upper New York Bay, then flows into the Atlantic Ocean.
