THE ASSAM TRIBUNE ANALYSIS DATE - 28 JANUARY 2021 For Preliminary and Mains examination As per new Pattern of APSC (Also useful for UPSC and other State level government examinations) Ans of MCQs of 26-01-2021 1. The National Voters’ Day is celebrated on 25 January 2. "Right to vote" can be placed in Legal right. 3. d Explanation: Padma awards are given in three categories namely; Padma Vibhushan, Padma Bhushan and Padma Shree. Padma Shree is the third-highest Padma award in India. Worth to mention that Bharat Ratna is the highest civilian award in India. 4. a Explanation: There is a maximum of 3 persons who can be awarded the Bharat Ratna Award in any particular year. In the year 2019, three persons namely; Pranab Mukherjee, Nanaji Deshmukh and Bhupen Hazarika received this prestigious civilian award. 5. b Explanation: Padma Awards are announced every year. The winners of the Padma awards are selected on the basis of recommendations made by the Padma Awards Committee. These awards were instituted in 1954. MCQs of 28-01-2021 Q1. Shagun’ is a flagship scheme of which Indian state/UT? a) Gujarat b) Maharashtra c) Punjab d) Madhya Pradesh Q2. The World Health Organization (WHO) has collaborated with which company to distribute Covid vaccines under Covax alliance? a) Pfizer b) Roche c) Merck d) Johnson & Johnson Q3. Mohammed Ishtaye, who was seen in the news recently, is the Prime Minister of which country? a) Palestine b) Israel c) Peru d) Argentina Q4. The first Ahom Monarch to assume the Hindu title Swarganarayan’ was a) Siva Singha b) Pratap Singha c) Jaydhwaj Singha d) Suhungmung Q5. Ahom-Mughal conflict ended with which battle? a) Battle of Saraighat b) Battle of Itakhuli c) Battle of Bharali b) None of these Q6. Discuss tension in between Saudi Arabia and Iran recent times and analyse its impact. CONTENTS 1.UN panel: Yemen’s war being fuelled by economic profiteering (GS 2- International Relations) EDITORIALS 1. Science gains with citizen’s participation ( GS 3 – Science ) 2. Sports education ( GS 5 – Role of various Institution ) 3. Prime Minister’s visit to Jerenga Pathar ( GS 5 – Polity and governance ) NEWS ARTICLES UN panel: Yemen’s war being fuelled by economic profiteering Economic profiteering is fueling the catastrophe in Yemen, where a six-year war has involved attacks on civilians, forced disappearances and other violations of human rights and international law, UN experts said in a new report. The experts estimate Houthi rebels diverted at least USD 1.8 billion in 2019 that was supposed to go to the government to pay salaries and provide basic services to citizens. And they said the government implemented a scheme to illegally divert to traders USD 423 million of Saudi money meant to buy rice and other commodities for the Yemeni people. The report obtained on Tuesday by The Associated Press describes a deteriorating situation in Yemen, where the panel said the Houthis and the government “appear to be indifferent” to the devastating impact of the economy’s downfall on its people while continuing to divert the country’s economic and financial resources. Six years of war between a US-backed Arab coalition supporting the internationally-recognised government and the Iranian-backed Houthi rebels have been catastrophic for Yemen, killing more than 112,000 people, creating the world’s worst humanitarian crisis, bringing the country to the brink of famine and wrecking infrastructure. It began with the 2014 Houthi takeover of the north, where the majority of Yemenis live, which prompted a destructive air campaign by the Saudi-led coalition, aimed at restoring the government. The panel said there is “an increasing body of evidence suggesting that individuals and entities” in Iran supply “significant volumes of weapons and components to the Houthis.” The panel said the government lost strategic territory to both the Houthis and the Southern Transitional Council, a separatist group backed by the United Arab Emirates. In December, the coalition announced a power-sharing Cabinet including southern separatists, part of a deal to end a power struggle between the former allies. “The lack of a coherent strategy among anti-Houthi forces, demonstrated by infighting within them, and disagreements between their regional backers, has served to strengthen the Houthis,” the experts said. The report said the Houthis perform government functions including collecting taxes and other state revenue, “a large portion of which is used to fund their war effort” – not to help the Yemeni people. “The government of Yemen is, in some cases, engaging in money-laundering and corruption practices that adversely affect access to adequate food supplies for Yemenis, in violation of the right to food,” the panel said. In the USD 423-million scheme that illegally transferred public money to traders, 48 per cent was received by a single-holding corporation, the Hayel Saeed Anam Group, the experts said. EDITORIALS Science gains with citizen’s participation On a fine Christmas morning in North America in 1900, a group of 27 dedicated birders came together to do something unprecedented. They were out to create a new Christmas tradition defying the customary Christmas ‘side hunt’, which involved hunting of feathered or furred quarry. Inspired by Franklin M Chapman, an ornithologist from the then nascent Audubon Society, they proposed that instead of hunting, people should count the birds during the holidays and named this pursuit as the ‘Christmas bird census’. On the very first day, 25 bird counts held across parts of North America by a group of 27 birders tallied around 90 species of birds. This unique quest, which had sprung from concerns over declining bird populations, continues today as a popular activity each year with tens of thousands of volunteers taking part throughout America. The data collected by them has been utilized by Audubon researchers, conservation biologists, wildlife agencies and other interested individuals to study the long-term health and status of bird populations across North America, and even to understand how climate change could affect the ranges of 588 North American birds. What started as a new holiday tradition now brings people closer to nature while providing a platform for scientific research using crowd-sourced data. The Christmas bird count is one of the first initiatives among what is now popularly known as ‘Citizen Science’: any project or activity engaging the general public, including non-scientists, in scientific research. Such citizen scientists can now actually contribute to science with their intellectual efforts, data gathering and knowledge, or by providing tools and resources. These projects can engulf a wide range of activities including scientific, inspirational, educational, social, economic, historic, environmental and even political. The Christmas bird count, the Globe at Night database measuring impact of light pollution, and SeasonWatch from India are some of the many examples of citizen science projects. The functioning of these activities comprise interactions between citizen scientists, which may be globally far-reaching or may even be limited to local scales. These extensive degrees of interactions have led to such discoveries that might have not been achievable by a single scientist. Hence, millions of people are contributing a myriad of research, thus serving as the eyes and ears to the scientific community. Even though it might sound a little complicated at first, citizen science can be as simple as clicking pictures of mountains or even a small little butterfly. In fact most citizen science projects are now available to people with just a few clicks on their phones, all one needs is an internet connection and, of course, the willingness to adopt a scientific temper. Websites and phone apps like eBird, SeasonWatch, Zooniverse have made it possible for people to contribute personal observations about their surroundings, including bird counts, or data on the species diversity of a particular region on a daily basis, from wherever they are. Citizen science projects have witnessed many success stories globally. For example, in 2017, a group of citizen scientists using data from NASA’s Kepler space telescope, led to the discovery of a system of at least five exoplanets. Even in India, the concept of citizen science is now rapidly gaining recognition. Popular examples include projects such as SeasonWatch, which monitors phenology of plants, or biodiversity portals that document diversity of living organisms in our country. The Assam Biodiversity portal, which is used to gather and share biodiversity information of Assam, is an example of the latter. Recently, Vijay Anand Ismavel, a surgeon of Karimganj district, made a record by contributing 6,179 observations of different species of flora and fauna in this platform. So why and how did citizen science gain such widespread popularity? Earlier, science conjured images of white lab coats, sterilized facilities, and sci-fi films, or at best, heavy textbooks with Latinized words, elaborate diagrams, and an earful of scientific jargon. However, today science is not just a profession, it can also be a hobby and with the emergence of various citizen science projects, science is now visible and accessible to all. Moreover, we live in an era where science is changing constantly, whereas the number of people involved in science is relatively small. The participation of citizen scientists comes as a boon because they can gather larger amounts of data and over wider areas than any single professional scientist or group of academicians. Further, as this field involves both amateurs and professionals, it has helped bridging this gap between science and society. Gaining legitimacy for the copious amount of crowd-sourced data can, however, be challenging as there is a need to reduce errors and biases. Scientists all over the world have hence come up with various measures to trust the citizen science data.