PRE-MONSOON SEASON IN INDIA
- Large parts of Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Gujarat and North East India have received no rain at all in March 2022.
- The hill regions of India including Jammu and Kashmir, Ladakh, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Sikkim and Arunachal Pradesh have recorded ‘Deficient’ or ‘Large Deficient’ rains.
- Districts such as Poonch, Leh, Tehri Garhwal, West Sikkim, South Sikkim, East Kameng and East Siang recorded ‘deficient’ rainfall in the hills.
- Baramulla, Nainital, North Sikkim, East Sikkim), Tawang, Papum Pare and Upper Siang recorded ‘normal’ rainfall in the hills.
- The low amount of rainfall this pre-monsoon is similar to 2019. The low pre-monsoon (March to May) rainfall that year was the lowest in the last five years and second lowest in last 65 years.
Pre Monsoon Season in India
- As the sun shifts northward towards the Tropic of Cancer after the Vernal Equinox, the whole India experiences an increase in temperature and marks the commencement of Pre-monsoon season.
- Pre-monsoon is from March to May.
- The term Mango showers is used to describe the occurrence of pre-monsoon rainfall. Sometimes, these rains are referred to generically as ‘April rains’ or ‘Summer showers’.
- They are notable across much of South and Southeast Asia, including India, and Cambodia.
- In southern Asia, these rains greatly influence human activities because of the control the rains have on crops that are culturally significant like mangoes and coffee.
- These rains normally occur from March to April, although their arrival is often difficult to predict. Their intensity can range from light showers to heavy and persistent thunderstorms.
- In India, the mango showers occur as the result of thunderstorm development over the Bay of Bengal.
- They are also known as 'Kaal Baisakhi' in Bengal, as Bordoisila in Assam and as Cherry Blossom showers or Coffee Showers in Karnataka.
- Towards the close of the summer season, pre-monsoon showers are common, especially in Kerala, Karnataka and parts of Tamil Nadu in India. They help in the early ripening of mangoes and are hence often referred to as "Mango showers."
Conditions fuelling the pre monsoon showers
- From March the temperatures in the north India rise as the vertical rays of the Sun reach the Tropic of Cancer.
- April is considered the hottest month for the western and southern regions of the country. For most of North India, May is the hottest month. Temperatures of northwest India sometimes reaches 50 °C and higher.
- Another striking feature of summer is the Loo (hot wind).
- Strong, hot, and dry wind known as the loo blows in from the west during the daytime, with very high temperatures, in some cases up to around 45 °C.
- Isolated pockets of north and west Rajasthan sometimes reaches 50 °C also.
- The atmospheric pressure is low all over the country due to high temperatures. Since the sun goes gradually towards the north (summer solstice), the Inter Tropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ) begins to move towards the north.
- The general direction of winds is from the north-west and west in north-western India.
Andhis and little rainfall
- In the months of May and June, the high temperature in north-western India builds a steep pressure gradient leading to strong winds.
- These strong dust storms result from the convective phenomenon and their intensity increases in the afternoon.
- These are locally known as Andhis, which are short-lived thunderstorms, which move like a solid wall of sand and dust.
- These weather activities bring little rainfall and give much-needed relief from the heat.
- Dust storms in the evening are very common during May in Punjab, Haryana, Eastern Rajasthan, and Uttar Pradesh.
Kal Baisakhi or "Nor'westers"
- Immense pre-monsoon squall-line thunderstorms, known locally as Kal Baisakhi or "Nor'westers", commonly associated with hailstorm and very strong winds, occurs in east India.
- During this time Odisha, West Bengal, Assam, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Bangladesh and North-Eastern states of India are affected by violent thunderstorms. They cause considerable damage to life and property.
- Effects- Kalbaishakhi brings destruction by uprooting trees due to gale-winds and waterlogging roads due to heavy rainfall. It often damages crop by hailstorms. However it is extremely helpful for kharif crops like jute, paddy, etc.
Tea Showers, Mango Showers and Cherry Blossoms
- In the south, thunderstorms occur in Kerala and adjoining parts of Karnataka and Tamil Nadu, particularly in the evenings and nights. These pre-monsoonal showers are called by various names.
- Tea showers in Assam (they are good for tea, jute, and rice). Mango showers in Kerala and coastal areas of Karnataka as they help in the early ripening of mangoes. Cherry Blossoms/Coffee showers in Kerala and nearby areas (good for coffee plantations).
BS Venkata Rao
BS VenkataRao’s orginal name was Batthula Aashayya. Venkata Rao had the opportunity of exposure to modern education because his father worked as a domestic help/ housekeeper for a British Officer. Subsequently, after school education, Venkata Rao achieved command over English, Urdu, Persian and Marathi languages along with Telugu which was his mother tongue.
He worked as a sculptor in Pune for a short time before joining as an Officer in Public Works Department of the Nizam government. Having personally seen and suffered several hardships rooted in untouchability and caste discrimination, he strived to end evils of caste system. He played an active role in the activities of Dalit movement spearheaded by Bhagya Reddy Varma.
He started Adi Dravida Sangham in 1922 and worked relentlessly to build new consciousness and unity among Dalit youth for eradication of the age-old evil practices like Devadasi, Jogini and Basivi in Telangana.
Besides, he also started Adi Hindu Mahasabha in 1927 with the aim to spread Dalit reform activities. He built libraries and temples for Dalits in Ghas Mandi (Adayya Nagar) in Secunderabad under the aegis of Adi Hindu Mahasabha. Similarly, he also built houses for Dalits in Ghas Mandi and changed its name to Aadayya Nagar.
With the influence of Ambedkar’s writings and activities inspiring Dalit
movement in India, Venkata Rao also established Ambedkar Youth League
to build caste eradication movement in Hyderabad State. It instilled new
inspiration among Dalit youth and helped build movement against caste
system.
Arige Ramaswamy
Arige Ramaswamy (1875-1973) advocated Vaishnavism, achala philosophy and Brahma Samaj thought that were popular in pre-British colonial India.
Born in Ramankola of Rangareddy district, Ramaswamy was educated in Secunderabad and joined public service. He took active part in social reform movements while working as a Ticket Collector in Nizam Railways.
He established Sunita Bala Samajam in Secunderabad and did notable work for eradication of alcoholism, animal sacrifice, Jogini system and child marriages. Later, he established Adi Hindu Jaatiyonnati Sabha in 1922 to carry out several social reform activities.
Madari Aadayya, along with Arige Ramaswamy, formed Sanghaabhivruddhi Samajam and strived to build Dalit unity through social reform activities. Adayya worked to build interest in education among Dalit youth by eradicating social evils through several spiritual and cultural activities.
Adayya Smaraka Pathasala (Aadayya Memorial School) started by him was of great help to Dalit students of Secunderabad. He provided notable support in the areas of social aspects and for marriages and other life events as part of social reform for new consciousness through Sanghaabhivruddhi Samajam that he established.
Arige Ramaswamy took special interest in the upliftment of Madiga sub-caste among the Dalits. He also established Arundathiya Mahasabha along with Girikala Mallesh Rao and Venkata Rao in 1931 for welfare of Madiga community. Arundathiya Mahasabha, Matangi Sabha and Jambavarna Seva Samithi worked for the development of Madiga community.
Magundi Mallayya and Subedar Sayanna demanded human rights for the
Madiga community along with the rights for Malas. Babayya and other
leaders toured several districts of Telangana to organise movement
against vetti and untouchability.
Peesari Veeranna raised several issues of Dalits with Gandhi during his
visit to Hyderabad in 1937. Veeranna disagreed with Gandhi’s use of the
word ‘Harijan’ for Dalits.
CLOUD SEEDING
Cloud seeding, deliberate introduction into clouds of various substances that act as condensation nuclei or ice nuclei in an attempt to induce precipitation.
What exactly is cloud seeding?
The technology sprays particles of salts like silver iodide and chloride on clouds using a special aircraft, rockets or from dispersion devices located on the ground. These salt particles act as a core (cloud condensation nuclei or ice-nucleating particles) which draw water vapour within the cloud towards them and the moisture latches on, condensing into water droplets leading to the formation of raindrops.
History
The first experiments with cloud seeding were conducted in 1946 by American chemist and meteorologist Vincent J. Schaefer, and since then seeding has been performed from aircraft, rockets, cannons, and ground generators.
In news
In 2021 UAE tests the use of electric charge drones in cloud-seeding operations to make rain. The drones will fly at low altitudes and deliver an electric charge to air molecules. The charge modifies the growth of tiny water droplets into larger drops that fall as rain. As clouds naturally carry positive and negative charges, altering the size of the charges could cause the water droplets to grow and merge, thus producing rain.
cloud seeding in India?
In 1952 late climatologist S. K. Banerji, the first Indian director-general of Indian Meteorological Department experimented with cloud seeding with salt and silver iodide through hydrogen-filled balloons released from the ground.
Tata firms also took stabs at cloud seeding in the Western Ghats region in 1951 using ground-based silver iodide generators. The Rain and Cloud Physics Research (RCPR) unit of Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology (IITM) in Pune carried out randomized warm cloud modification experiments through salt seeding during 1957-1966 in north India. Over the next three decades, India experimented in this direction in Maharashtra, Karnataka and Uttar Pradesh.
Research on cloud seeding in India received a boost since 2018 with the Union Ministry of Earth Sciences investing in data collection and experiments.
Research by the IITM in Pune, especially over the last two years (2018 and 2019) will result in a white paper with the scientific facts on the ground for cloud seeding, should states wish to take it up as a measure to increase rainwater.
While the Union Ministry of Earth Sciences has no plans to have a national programme on cloud seeding, it has already spent Rs 45 crore on research in 2018. In 2019, the work will continue, costing a total Rs 100 crore.
The IITM has initiated a national level campaign designed to make progress in aerosol and cloud microphysics observations over the Indian region, which can be used to propose guidelines for cloud seeding. The project called the Cloud-Aerosol Interaction and Precipitation Enhancement Experiment (CAIPEEX), will be focussing on aerosol-cloud-precipitation interactions in the pre-monsoon and monsoon environment.
Indian National Space Promotion and Authorisation Centre(IN-SPACe)
The Government of India has announced the creation of a new ‘Indian National Space Promotion and Authorisation Centre’ (IN-SPACe).
What is IN-SPACe for?
• IN-SPACe will be an autonomous nodal agency under the Department of Space.
• It is expected to be functional within 6 months (from June 2020).
• IN-SPACe is supposed to be a facilitator and a regulator.
• It will act as an interface between ISRO and private parties.
• It will provide the necessary support for the private space industry to conduct its activities.
• IN-SPACe will assess the needs and demands of private players including educational and research institutions.
• It will explore ways to accommodate these requirements in consultation with ISRO.
• It will also assess how best to utilise India’s space resources and increase space-based activities.
• Existing ISRO infrastructure, scientific and technical resources and even data are planned to be made accessible to interested parties.
• [The infrastructure includes both ground- and space-based.]
• The decision comes as a part of an important set of reforms to open up the space sector.
• The objective is to make space-based applications and services more widely accessible to everyone.
How is India's private sector participation in space industry?
• Currently, there does exist private industry involvement in India’s space sector.
• In fact, a large part of manufacturing and fabrication of rockets and satellites now happens in the private sector.
• There is an increasing participation of research institutions as well.
• However, Indian industry had a barely 3% share in a rapidly growing global space economy.
• Currently, the value of the global space industry is estimated to be $360 billion.
• Only 2% of this market goes for rocket and satellite launch services, which require fairly large infrastructure and heavy investment.
• A huge 95% are related to satellite-based services, and ground-based systems.
• Indian industry, however, is unable to compete.
What opportunity will IN-SPACe offer?
• Currently, all launches from India happen on ISRO rockets, the different versions of PSLV and GSLV.
• Several Indian companies were waiting to make use of the opportunities as IN-SPACe provides.
• A few companies were also in the process of developing their own launch vehicles.
• ISRO is now wiling to extend its support to them.
• ISRO would provide all its facilities to private players whose projects had been approved by IN-SPACe.
• Private companies, if they wanted, could even build their own launchpad within the Sriharikota launch station.
• ISRO would provide the necessary land for that.
What does ISRO gain by this?
Commercial - There is a need for greater dissemination of space technologies, and better utilisation of space resources.
• Moreover, there is an increased requirement of space-based services.
• ISRO seems unable to satisfy this need on its own and thus private participation would fill the gap.
• Notably, the private players will not take away the revenues that ISRO gets through commercial launches.
• The space-based economy is expected to “explode” in the next few years, even in India.
• So, there would be more than enough for all.
• Also, ISRO can earn some money by making its facilities and data available to private players.
Strategic - Right now, too much of ISRO’s resources is consumed by routine activities.
• This delays its more strategic objectives.
• There is no reason why ISRO alone should be launching weather or communication satellites.
• The world over, an increasing number of private players are taking over this activity for commercial benefits.
• ISRO, like NASA, is essentially a scientific organisation whose main objective is exploration of space and carrying out scientific missions.
• So, with private participation, ISRO can concentrate more on science, R&D, interplanetary exploration and strategic launches.
What are Gas hydrates?
They are formed when a gas such as methane gets trapped in well-defined cages of water molecules forming crystalline solids. It is a solid ice-like form of water that contains gas molecules in its molecular cavities.
Natural gas hydrates occur on continental margins and shelves worldwide from Polar Regions to the tropics.
Gas hydrate reservoirs are generally associated with biologically rich cold seep ecosystems at the seafloor. Cold seeps are locations where hydrocarbon-rich fluid seeps up from below the seafloor, often as methane or hydrogen sulfide.
It is estimated that total amount of carbon in the form of methane hydrates, far exceeds the carbon content in all the fossil fuel reserves put together and hence these are supposed to be the future potential energy resource.
Combustion of methane, is more CO2 efficient than that of any other hydrocarbon. Hence, using methane from gas hydrate compared to other hydrocarbons is relatively climate friendly.
According to the latest estimates of the US Geological Survey, India has the second largest gas hydrate reserves after America. The Krishna-Godavari (KG), Cauvery and Kerala basins alone have 100-130 trillion cubic feet of estimated reserves.
The carbon dioxide hydrate produced in the lab by the IIT team raises the possibility of sequestering or storing carbon dioxide as hydrates under the sea bed.
Issues with Gas Hydrates Extraction
Gas hydrates are also important for seafloor stability studies, because “melting” gas hydrate may cause seafloor “landslides”. Methane released from gas hydrate may therefore play a significant role climate change.
Indian Initiative:
- The National Gas Hydrate Programme (NGHP) is of national importance considering India’s phenomenal growing energy demand. The programme was initiated in 1997. It first conducted studies in 2006.
- India has entered into an agreement with Canada to develop technology in this regard.
- IIT Madras, in collaboration with GAIL, is working to recover methane from methane hydrate from the Krishna-Godavari Basin and sequester CO2 simultaneously.
What are the salient features of the Bhakti movement in the medieval period, comment on its role in the growth of regional languages in India.
The development of Bhakti movement took place in Tamil Nadu between the 7th and 12th Centuries and it gradually spread to North India. The Bhakti movement stressed on the mythical union of individual and God. The idea of preaching Bhakti through hymns and stories was traditionally done by Alvars and Nayannars of the Tamil devotional cult and in North India by two streams i.e. Nirguna bhakti and Saguna bhakti.
Salient features of the Bhakti movement include:
• Philosophy: Bhakti movement believed in the concept of oneness of God and brotherhood of all human beings. Bhakti Saints looked upon religion as a loving bond between the worshipped and worshippers.
• Methods of propagation: Bhakti saints adopted various mediums like poetry, song dance and kirtans to connect to God. They emphasized on single-minded, intense devotion to God and believed in one Supreme Being.
• Role of a guru: Bhakti saints advocated the need of guru who would guide the devotee in connecting with the God.
• Diverse background of Bhakti saints: They belonged to diverse social backgrounds including Brahmanas, lower castes, artisans, weavers etc. Most of the Bhakti Saints were from lower castes.
• Participation of women: Some of the prominent ones include Andal, Mirabai, Lalla Ded etc. They composed several devotional verses.
• Stress on equality: There was no distinction based on caste, creed or religion. Also, orthodoxy of the society was attacked by Bhakti movements. There was opposition to social issues like sati, female infanticide etc. Also, Bhakti saints attacked institutionalised religions and religious rituals.
• Bridging the gulf between Hindu and Islamic traditions: Bhakti saints like Kabir and Guru Nanak drew their ideas from Hindu and Islamic traditions and made a strong plea for Hindu-Muslim unity.
Bhakti movement and regional languages:
• The Bhakti movement promoted the growth of vernacular languages and literature in different parts of the country.
• The Bhakti saints preached in their respective vernacular languages and connected with the masses. They also compiled literature in their native languages e.g. Kabir in Hindi, Guru Nanak in Gurmukhi, Narasimha Mehta in Gujarati etc.
• The Alvars composed a collection of hymns ‘DivyaPrabandham’ in Tamil, which has been deemed as the ‘Fifth Veda’.
• Many Sanskrit works were translated into regional languages by the Bhakti saints. Further, scriptures previously available only in Sanskrit became accessible to the common people. For e.g. Tulsidas made the epic Ramayana more accessible by writing in Awadhi.
• Bhakti saints Chaitanya and Shankaradeva encouraged their followers to use Bengali and Assamese respectively rather than Sanskrit.
• Regional languages like Marathi, Maithili, Kannada, Awadhi etc. were enriched through the efforts of the Bhakti saints.
Bhakti movement represented a break from the earlier devotional literature, which was mostly written in Sanskrit and Bhakti literature in regional languages played a crucial role in the popularisation of the Bhakti movement and espoused spirituality among the common people.
Discuss about the Land Revenue System developed during the period of Akbar. What are the merits and demerits of the system?
Akbar adopted Sher Shah’s system. But was soon found that the fixing of a central (ray) schedule of prices annually often led to considerable delays, and resulted in great hardships to the peasantry.
• Prices fixed were at the Imperial Court, were higher than in the country-side, the peasants had to part with a larger share of their produce. Akbar, therefore, reverted to a system of annual assessment.
• Officials called ‘Karoris’ were appointed for the collection and also checked the facts and figures supplied to the ‘quanungos’.
• On the basis of information provided regarding the actual produce, local prices, productivity etc. in 1580, Akbar instituted a new system called the ‘dahsla’.
Dahsla system: the average produce of different crops as well as average prices prevailing over the different crops as well as average prices prevailing over the last ten (dah) years were calculated. One third of the average produce was the state share. The state demand was, however, stated in cash. This was done by converting the state share into money on the basis of a schedule of average prices over the past ten years.
zabti system : A further improvement was made in form of zabti system. Under this system Parganas having same type of productivity and similar prices were grouped into separate assessment circles. Thus, the peasant was required to pay on the basis of local produce as well as local prices. The ‘zapti’ system is associated with Raja Todar Mal, and is sometimes called Todar Mal’s bandobast.
Advantages of zabti system: As soon as the area sown by the peasant had been measured by means of the bamboos linked with iron rings, the peasant as well as the state knew what the dues were. The peasant was given remission in the land revenue, if crops failed on account of drought, floods etc. Akbar introduced this system in the area from Lahore to Allahabad, and in Malwa and Gujarat.
‘Batai’ or ghalla bakhshi: In this system, the produce was divided between the peasants and the state in fixed proportion. The crop was divided after it had been thrashed, or when it had been cut and tied in stacks, or while it was standing in the field. This system was considered a very fair one, but it needed an army of honest officials to be present at the time of the ripening or the reaping of the crops.
A third system which was widely used in Akbar’s time was ‘nasaq’. Some modern historians think that it was merely a system of computing the peasant’s dues, not a different system of assessment. Others think that it meant rough appraisement both on the basis of the inspection of the crops and past experience, and thereby fixing the amount to be paid by the village as a whole. It is called ‘kankut’.
• In fixing the land revenue, continuity of cultivation was taken into account.
• ‘Pohaj’: Land under cultivation almost every year.
• Parati (fallow) or land occasionally left fallow to recuperate its productive strength.
• Chachar or land left fallow for three or four years.
• Banjar or land remaining uncultivated for five years and more.
• Akbar asked the amil to act like a father to the peasants. He advanced taccavi loans to the peasants for seed, implements, animals etc.
•To expand his empire and maintain his hold over it, it was necessary for him to organize the nobility as well his army. Akbar realized both these objectives by means the mansabdri system.
Mansab & Jagir System
• Mansab is an Arabic word meaning ‘office’, ‘rank’, or ‘dignity’. Mansab was the measure of status of a Mughal official which determined rank, salary and office. By all account it was instituted by Akbar in 1577 A.D.
• The system was the steel frame of Mughal administration in which the nobility, bureaucracy and the army were all rolled into one. It was based on the Mongols system of decimal organization of army.
• Under Mansab system, every officer was assigned a rank (Mansab); the lowest being 10 and the highest being 10,000. The ranks were divided into two – Zat and Sawar.
• Zat was the personal rank and fixed the person’s status, and also the salary due to him. Sawar indicated the number of cavalrymen (Sawars) a person was required to maintain.
• At Akbar’s time no one could have a higher quota of Sawars than his Zat rank. But Jahangir introduced a system whereby a Mansabdar holding this rank had to maintain, and was paid for, double the quota of troops indicated by his Sawar rank. This was called the “Du-aspa Sihaspa System”. • A Mansabdar was expected to maintain a quota of 1/3rd, 1/4th or even 1/5th of this Sawar rank according to the location of his Jagir and place of his service.
• Another experiment which is called ‘Month Scale’ was introduced by Shah Jahan. The salaries of Mansabdars were put on month-scale – 10 months, 8 months and 6 months or even less, and their obligations of maintenance of Sawars were brought down accordingly. It is aimed at cutting down the state’s expenditure.
• The Mansabdars could not be paid cash salaries out of the central treasury. Each Mansabdar was assigned an area that was officially estimated to yield revenue equivalent to his salary. The land so assigned was ‘Jagir’.
• For purpose of assignment estimates (Jamadani) were preponed for administrative divisions down to the village. The estimates were called ‘Jamadani’ as they were worked out in dues and not rupees.
• A Jagirdar had no permanent rights in the assignment. He merely had the right to collect land revenue on behalf of the state. Moreover, he was liable to transfers. It was also imperative was Mansabs were revised from time to time calling for change in Jagirs.
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