InstaLinks : help you think beyond the issue but relevant to the issue from UPSC prelims and Mains exam point of view. These linkages provided in this ‘hint’ format help you frame possible questions in your mind that might arise(or an examiner might imagine) from each current event. InstaLinks also connect every issue to their static or theoretical background. This helps you study a topic holistically and add new dimensions to every current event to help you think analytically
2. Lack of quality engineering education
Content for Mains Enrichment (Essay/Ethics)
1. She teaches in school once blown by her father-in-law
2. Ripe for a green economy
2. Modi recalls Shinzo Abe’s vision at the state funeral in Tokyo
3. S. says relationships with India, and Pakistan distinct
6. QUAD will increase India’s Trade
7. Fund of Funds for Start-Ups India Investment
11. Very Short Range Air Defence System (VSHORADS) Missile
Context: The apex court has repeatedly called attention to the failures in protecting the Taj Mahal known for its architectural marvels – intricate lattice structures and designs from various forms of pollution.
The Taj Trapezium Zone case and increasing pollution
In a Report on Insect Activities at Taj Mahal and Other Monuments of Agra’, Mehta stated that green and black patches had developed on the marble facade due to the presence of a specific type of insects, mainly on the northern side of the Taj Mahal.
Additional Information: About Jaali Works (from BBC)
The term jaali, meaning net, is used in Central and South Asia. Cut from marble or red sandstone in ornamental patterns, jaali was a distinct architectural feature in India between the 16th and 18th Centuries (including the Taj Mahal).
The Hawa Mahal, or “Wind Palace”, built in 1799 by Rajput rulers in Jaipur, has 953 windows with lattice screens designed to let in a gentle breeze.
Now, in their search for sustainable cooling solutions, architects are reviving this ancient design to construct comfortable, low-carbon buildings.
Jaali’s cooling feature relies on the Venturi effect in a similar way to an air conditioning unit. “When air passes through holes, it picks up velocity and penetrates afar. Due to the small apertures, the air gets compressed and when released it gets cooler,”.
Q. Discuss the architectural and cultural significance of the Taj Mahal. 10M
Syllabus: Bilateral, regional and global groupings involving India and affecting India’s interests
Benefit of this project for India:
Steps needed for its success:
India and Nepal Border Dispute
Q. The long-sustained image of India as a leader of the oppressed and marginalized Nations has disappeared on account of its newfound role in the emerging global order” Elaborate. (UPSC 2019)
Which of the statements given above is/are not correct?
Refer to the image above
Syllabus: Issues related to the development of the social sector involving education etc
Directions: Important for mains, you can use it as an issue in higher education in India
Impact of misleading advertising by colleges:
India Rankings 2022 of higher educational institutes
Rankings that make no sense
Q. National Education Policy 2020 is in line with the Sustainable Development Goals-4 (2030). It intended to restructure and re-orient the education system in India. Critically examine the statement(UPSC 2020)
Which of the following is/are parameters used by NIRF for ranking of higher educational institutions?
Select the correct answer using the codes given below:
Source: The New Indian Express
Ranju Devi is now a respected name in Chormara village of Jamui district in Bihar. She has started teaching children in the same school.
Ten years back her extremist father-in-law blew up the village school building.
Ranju had requested CRPF authorities and the district administration to allow her to teach in the school when her father-in-law, former Maoist Baleshwar Koda, surrendered before the authorities in June. Koda and other extremists owing allegiance to CPI (Maoist) had triggered an explosion at the school, located in the remote forest of Barhat locality.
This example can be shown as – Giving back to society, courageousness (Teaching in a Naxal-affected area), Public Service etc.
Forests are home, to women of Kodalpali, Sinduria and neighbouring villages in Odisha’s Nayagarh; they can build the economy of the future.
Over the years, with the help of Vasundhara —a non-profit working on tribal rights — they have formed a federation of village protection committees at the block and district levels. Here the executives — mostly women — meet every month to sort out inter-village conflicts and other issues.
Their forest usage rules apply to all — fuelwood is to be collected only on Sundays; green trees are not be felled; no grazing during the monsoon; and collection of minor forest produce, like bamboo, kendu (or tendu leaves used in beedi manufacture), is to be done only by the village households, not by outsiders.
This grand experiment has now entered a new phase. In November 2021, after years of struggle, 24 villages have been granted community forest rights. This is a provision of the Forest Rights Act, 2006, under which villages can get the right to patches of government forests that were traditionally used, for the exclusive use of resources and protection.
Previously, Muduligadia, a nondescript village in Nayagarh district, had earned the prominence of the first eco-village of the state.
Context: A Mediterranean medicinal plant considered a cure-all that mysteriously vanished 2,000 years ago may still be around, a recent study claimed.
The resin of the silphion was extensively used as a spice, perfume, aphrodisiac, contraceptive and medicine. It occupied an important place in the export economy of ancient Cyrene, an old Greek and later Roman colony near north-eastern Libya.
Silphion was used to treat various health problems, including goitre, sciatica (nerve pain), toothache, intestinal disorders, hormonal disorders, epilepsy, tetanus, polyps (abnormal growth of tissues) and malignant tumours, according to studies.
Its stalks were eaten as a vegetable, while the roots were consumed raw. The plant was also used to preserve lentils, historical records showed.
Overharvesting may have driven the plant into extinction.
Other contributions to Japan’s foreign policy:
To read more about Shinzo Abe: click here
Source: The Hindu, The Hindu
Pakistan’s engagement through the US:
Context: Ministry of Rural Development has developed this app to help Gram Rojgar Sahayak to measures the groundwater level of selected wells twice a year in selected villages.
The data will be used in making plans for groundwater augmentation under Gram Panchayat Development Plan (GPDP) and Mahatma Gandhi NREGA.
Context: Government recently launched Indian Sign Language (ISL), mobile app ‘Sign Learn’, to make Indian Sign Language easily available to the public at large.
It is based on the Indian Sign language dictionary (of Indian Sign Language Research and Training Centre).
Context: India’s membership of the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue would give it an opportunity to benefit from greater trade and investment flows as economic ties are expected to deepen among members seeking to reduce their dependence on China.
Benefits of India in Quad:
Quadrilateral Security Dialogue (Quad) is the informal strategic dialogue between India, USA, Japan and Australia with a shared objective to ensure and support a “free, open and prosperous” Indo-Pacific region.
Direction: Know the basics: What is AIF?
Context: Ministry of Commerce and Industry has committed over 7000cr for Alternate Investment Funds (AIF). AIF will use the money to invest in the Start-Ups.
This facility is available only to SEBI-registered AIFs.
Alternative Investment Funds are those funds created or established in India as a privately pooled investment vehicle in order to collect funds from specific investors as per a previously defined investment policy.
Fund of the Fund for Start-Ups comes under the Start-Up India scheme (2016) to mobilize domestic capital for the Indian start-up ecosystem. It will help start-ups avail funds at the early and seed stage and reduce their dependence on foreign capital.
Context: The Virtual Conference ‘SymphoNE’ is being organized by the Ministry of Development of the North Eastern Region on the occasion of World Tourism Day (27th Sept), with the aim to create a roadmap to showcase the unexplored beauty of North East India & boost the tourism Sector in North Eastern Region.
India’s North East is termed as a ‘Traveller’s Unexplored Paradise’, with a rare combination of Scenic Beauty, Unique Cultures and abundant Natural resources.
As per government figures (India Tourism Statistics 2022), 2.74 million foreign tourists visited India in 2020 and in 2021, the number was 1.52 million.
In 2021, the top 15 countries from which foreign tourists arrived in India included the U.S., the U.K., Bangladesh, Canada, Nepal, Afghanistan and Australia.
The number of foreign tourist arrivals during 2019 was 10.93 million
Context: 60 years after they were last seen, tigers are being reintroduced to Madhya Pradesh’s Madhav National Park.
Context: The flower has bloomed in Chandradrona Mountains in Chikkamagaluru (Karnataka) for 12 years.
Bathukamma flower festival is celebrated in Telangana and Andhra Pradesh as per Satavahana Calendar during the Navaratri festival.
VSHORADS is a Man Portable Air Defence System (MANPAD) designed and developed indigenously by DRDO’s Research Centre Imarat (RCI), Hyderabad in collaboration with other DRDO laboratories and Indian Industry Partners.
VSHORADS missile incorporates many novel technologies including a miniaturized Reaction Control System (RCS) and integrated avionics, which have been successfully proven during the tests.
Join our Official Telegram Channel HERE
Please subscribe to Our podcast channel HERE
Subscribe to our YouTube Channel HERE
Follow our Twitter Account HERE
Follow our Instagram ID HERE
InsightsIAS has redefined, revolutionised and simplified the way aspirants prepare for UPSC Civil Services Exam. Today it’s India’s top website and an institution when it comes to imparting quality content, guidance and teaching for IAS Exam.
InsightsIAS Headquarters, Nanda Ashirwad Complex, 3rd Floor, Above Village Hyper Market, Chandralyout Main Road, Attiguppe , Bengaluru - 560040
Now reach all our Branches with ease!!!! Call us @ 08069405205
Want to work at Insights IAS? Write in to us at