🔆 How Jahangir Fell for British Charm & Paved the Way for Colonization

📍 Jahangir & Thomas Roe:
✅ Jahangir was enchanted by the gifts and tales of England presented by Sir Thomas Roe, the British envoy.
✅ His fascination with British novelty overshadowed the deeper political & economic motives of the East India Company (EIC).

📍 Missed Warnings & Consequences:
✅ Jahangir’s indulgence in luxury blinded him to EIC’s strategic ambitions.
✅ British traders slowly gained economic foothold, which later expanded into political control.
✅ This early diplomatic complacency contributed to India’s eventual colonization.

⚖ Historical Lesson:
✅ A reminder of how diplomatic misjudgments can alter the course of history.
✅ Forethought & strategic caution are crucial in foreign relations & economic policies.

SELECTION POST PHASE XIII 2025 NOTIFICATION OUT

🔆 Key Takeaways: Climate Benefit and Pollution Concerns of EVs

✅ Climate Benefit of EVs:
• Electric vehicles (EVs) help eliminate greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and thus play a crucial role in combating climate change.

✅ Air Pollution Concern with EVs:
• A recent study shows that EVs may worsen air pollution due to increased tyre wear, caused by their greater weight.

✅ Study Details:
• Conducted by researchers from Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR), IIT Bombay, and an American university.
• Established the relationship between the weight and speed of a vehicle to the size of the plastic particles released from tyres as a result of wear and tear.

✅ Tyre Particle Pollution:
• Tyre wear releases microplastic and nanoplastic particles into the atmosphere.
• Two primary processes of degradation:
▪ Primary fragmentation: Releases larger particles due to sudden braking or potholes.
▪ Sequential fragmentation: Releases smaller, more airborne particles due to prolonged use and increased friction.

✅ Heavier Vehicles, Higher Emissions:
• EVs are 15–20% heavier than petrol/diesel cars due to their batteries (300–900 kg).
• EVs are also able to accelerate more rapidly. This can lead to additional stress on the tyres due to increased friction and heat generation.
• Heavier and faster vehicles produce more and smaller airborne particles, worsening air pollution.

✅ Global Implications:
• As EV adoption rises globally (20% of new car sales in 2024), this issue has worldwide relevance.
• Highlights need to revisit conventional assumptions about the environmental friendliness of EVs.

✅ Policy and Technological Responses:
• Existing air quality norms (PM2.5, PM10) may not cover finer tyre particles; standards need revision.
• Need for R&D in tyre design to suit heavier EVs.
• Possible technological solutions:
▪ Capturing tyre particles at the point of release.
▪ Enhancing road quality to reduce fragmentation.

🔆 India Population Facts

📍 Population Overview
✅ Total population of India ~ 1.42 billion, overtook China in 2023 to become the most populous country
✅ Composition of population:
• 0 to 14 years = 25%
• 15 to 64 years = 68%
• Above 65 = 7%

📍 Demographic Indicators
✅ Total Fertility Rate = 2 (used to be 5.7 in 1950s)
✅ Crude Death Rate = 7.4 (used to be 22 in 1950s)
✅ Average age in India = 28 (China = 38, USA = 38, Japan = 48)

📍 Youth Concentration & Migration
✅ States of Bihar, UP, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan projected to have > 50% of the country’s youth
✅ Total migrant population in India:
• 2001 = 300 million
• 2011 = 450 million
• 2021 = 600 million (estimated)

#GS1
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UKPSC prelims 29 June

🔆 Development of Vernacular Education

📍 1835, 1836, 1838:
✅ William Adam’s reports on vernacular education in Bengal and Bihar highlighted defects in the system.

📍 1843-53:
✅ James Jonathan’s experiments in North West Provinces (UP), focusing on opening government schools for vernacular education and normal schools for teacher training.

📍 1853:
✅ In a famous minute, Lord Dalhousie expressed strong support for vernacular education.

📍 1854:
✅ Wood’s Despatch outlined provisions for vernacular education:
1. Improvement of standards
2. Supervision by government agencies
3. Normal schools to train teachers

📍 1854-71:
✅ The government focused on secondary vernacular education, leading to an increase in vernacular schools by more than five-fold.

📍 1882:
✅ The Hunter Commission recommended state efforts to improve vernacular education and mass education to be taught through vernaculars.

📍 1904:
✅ Education policy focused on vernacular education, providing increased grants for it.

📍 1929:
✅ Hartog Committee gave a gloomy view of primary education.

📍 1937:
✅ Congress ministries encouraged the growth of vernacular schools.

📍 Development of Technical Education:
✅ Engineering Colleges:
- Roorkee College (1847)
- Calcutta College of Engineering (1856)
- Poona College of Engineering affiliated to Bombay University.
✅ Medical Training:
- Medical College in Calcutta (1835).
- Lord Curzon worked to broaden agriculture, medicine, engineering, and other professional education through institutions like Pusa Agricultural College.

🔆 Multidimensional Poverty in India

📍 Key Statistics
✅ 14.96% headcount ratio of Multidimensional Poverty in 2019-21 (down from 24.85% in 2015-16), enroute to achieving target 1.2 of halving Multidimensional Poverty much before 2030

✅ 13.5 crore people lifted out of multidimensional poverty between 2015-16 and 2019-21, and 41.5 crore people lifted out between 2005-06 and 2019-21

✅ The intensity of poverty (average deprivation among multidimensionally poor) improved from about 47% in 2015-16 to 44% in 2019-21

📍 Rural and Urban Trends
✅ Fastest decline in percentage of multidimensional poor in rural areas: from 32.59% in 2015-16 to 19.28% in 2019-21

✅ Reduction in incidence of poverty in urban areas: from 8.65% in 2015-16 to 5.27% in 2019-21

📍 Vulnerable Groups and Regional Data
✅ India has the largest number of children living in multidimensional poverty — 1 in every 5 children is poor

✅ States of UP, Bihar, MP, Odisha, and Rajasthan recorded steepest decline in number of MPI poor

✅ Globally, 85% of multidimensionally poor people live in Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia

✅ 63 million Indians pushed into poverty yearly due to healthcare costs — almost two people every second

✅ Poverty levels among social groups:
• STs = 50.6%
• SCs = 33.3%
• OBCs = 27.2%
(5 out of every 6 people living in multidimensional poverty in India belong to disadvantaged tribes and castes)

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🔆 AUGUST OFFER vs. CRIPPS MISSION

📍 Time Period
✅ August Offer: August 1940
✅ Cripps Mission: March 1942

📍 Viceroy at the Time
✅ August Offer: Lord Linlithgow
✅ Cripps Mission: Lord Linlithgow

📍 Context/Reasons for Proposal
✅ August Offer: Britain’s precarious situation in WWII and the need for Indian support.
✅ Cripps Mission: Japanese advances in Southeast Asia heightened the need for Indian cooperation in the war effort.

📍 Main Proposals
✅ August Offer: Dominion status as the long-term goal; expansion of Viceroy’s Executive Council; promise of a post-war constituent assembly.
✅ Cripps Mission: Dominion status with the right to secede from the Commonwealth; a constituent assembly after the war to decide the constitution; provision for any province to opt out of the Indian Union.

📍 Shortcomings Highlighted by Indians
✅ August Offer: Vague promises; no immediate transfer of power; retention of British control over defense; no clear path to full independence.
✅ Cripps Mission: Dominion status instead of full independence; allowed provinces to secede, potentially leading to partition; no immediate transfer of power; British control over defense continued.

📍 Reaction of Indian Political Parties
✅ August Offer: Rejected by the Congress; welcomed by some other groups for its promise of eventual self-rule.
✅ Cripps Mission: Rejected by Congress and Muslim League; Congress criticized the lack of immediate power transfer and the provision for dominion status; Muslim League was dissatisfied with the lack of a clear commitment to Pakistan.

📍 Outcome/Result
✅ August Offer: Rejected by Indian National Congress; led to increased demand for complete independence.
✅ Cripps Mission: Failure; led to the Congress launching the Quit India Movement in August 1942.

📍 Impact on Indian National Movement
✅ August Offer: Strengthened Indian resolve for complete independence; highlighted the limitations of British promises.
✅ Cripps Mission: Intensified Indian demand for complete independence; demonstrated the unyielding nature of British policy; precipitated the Quit India Movement.


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🔆Seva Se Seekhen Campaign:
What is It?
A youth engagement and hands-on learning campaign designed to involve young citizens in public service environments like Jan Aushadhi Kendras (JAKs).
✅Launched In: Introduced in 2025, as part of India’s National Youth Development Framework.
✅Nodal Ministries:
Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports
Department of Pharmaceuticals, Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilizers
Objectives:
✅Foster experiential learning by placing youth in service environments.
Enhance public health awareness and generic medicine outreach.
✅Develop soft and technical skills related to inventory, logistics, and community service.
✅Encourage nation-building values like discipline, empathy, and grassroots engagement.
Key Features:
✅Nationwide Deployment:
Five youth volunteers per district, embedded in five Jan Aushadhi Kendras each.
✅Total outreach expected across all Indian states and UTs.
✅Target Groups: Volunteers drawn from MY Bharat, NSS, pharmacy colleges, and other youth platforms.
✅Roles and Activities:
🔸Supporting day-to-day operations and customer service.
🔸Promoting generic medicine literacy.
🔸Learning inventory, stock, and logistics management.
🔸Engaging in community health awareness campaigns.
🔸Duration: 15-day structured internship with guided tasks and observations

🔆Legislature Insights/Facts

✅ 52% of newly elected MPs in 18th Lok Sabha are first timers

✅ The average age of 18th Lok Sabha is 56 years (lower than 59 of the previous Lok Sabha), 11% MPs are 40 years or younger

✅ 74 MPs (14%) elected to the 18th Lok Sabha are women (marginally lower than 2019), lower than countries like South Africa (46%), UK (35%), USA (29%)

✅ 78% of the MPs of the 18th Lok Sabha have completed at least undergraduate education

✅ 46% MPs have pending criminal cases, 31% have serious pending cases, 93% are worth over Rs 1 crore

✅ The 17th Lok Sabha (2019-24) had fewest sittings amongst all full-term Lok Sabhas till date

✅ About 31% time (17th LS) and 32% the (RS) was spent on discussions other than legislation and budgets

✅ During the 17th Lok Sabha, a total of 179 bills were passed, 58% of which were passed within two weeks on introduction, 35% of them were passed with less than an hour of discussion

✅ 729 Private member bills were introduced in the 17th LS, out of which only 2 were discussed

✅ Only 16% of bills were referred to Parliamentary Committees for detailed scrutiny during the 17th Lok Sabha

✅ 40 countries globally have laws similar to Anti Defection law wrt membership of political parties, but only 6 countries (India, Pakistan, B’desh, Guyana, Sierra Leone & Zimbabwe) have laws mandating legislators to vote according to party directions

✅ The overall success rate of defectors has declined from over 25% before 2004 to around 15% since 2009. In the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, 38 out of 264 defectors (14.4%) won. In the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, only 35 out of 205 defectors (17%) won their seats.

#IndianPolitics #LokSabha #WomenInPolitics #Legislation

🔆 Local Self Government – Key Facts

✅ The total revenue of all ULBs in India is only 1% of GDP, low compared to Brazil (7%) & South Africa (6%)

✅ PRI funds composition – Central Govt Grants (80%), State Govt Grants (15%), Own revenue (5%)

✅ Own revenues make up just ~ 5% PRI funds (Non-tax revenue 3.3% and Tax revenue 1.1%), low compared to Brazil (40%) etc.

✅ The share of property tax in India is only 0.14% of GDP as against 2% in OECD countries

✅ Property tax constitutes more than 16% of revenue receipts of municipal corporations, and more than 60% of their own tax revenue

✅ Municipal Corporation revenue receipts were just 0.6% of GDP in 2023-24, whereas those of Central Govt and State Govts was 9.2% and 14.6% of GDP respectively

✅ The revenue receipts of Municipal Corporations exhibit concentration, with the top 10 MCs accounting for over 58% of total municipal revenue receipts

✅ About 23% of total municipal revenue remains unspent, indicating a surplus in the municipal system that is not being effectively utilised.


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🔆Gandhian Influence On Freedom Struggle In Telugu Region
✅ When Gandhiji was ejected from a whites-only carriage at Pietermaritzburg station on June 7, 1893, it marked a turning point, leading him to become a prominent leader.
✅ He founded the Natal Indian Congress on August 22, 1894, and experimented with 'Satyagraha' in South Africa.
✅ The Bombay-Madras railway line (1871) and the Calcutta-Madras line (1899) facilitated the spread of nationalist ideas by leaders like Tilak, Gokhale, Sri Aurobindo, and Bipin Chandra Pal.
✅ The Nizam of Deccan ceded parts of Andhra Pradesh to the British, creating distinct cultural regions in British Andhra and Telangana.
✅ In 1902, Koda Venkatappayya launched 'Krishna Patrika,' and Kasinathuni Nageswara Rao started 'Andhra Patrika' in 1908.
✅ Andhra Jatiya Kalasala (National College) was founded in 1910. Gandhiji returned to India in January 1915 and visited the Telugu region multiple times, beginning with his influence marked by the 1920 Telugu translation of his book 'Hind Swaraj.'
✅ In 1921, Gandhiji inaugurated the Pinakini Ashram in Nellore, the second Gandhian ashram in India.
✅ Pingali Venkayya, working on a national flag design, consulted Gandhiji, who later recorded his observations in 'Young India' on April 13, 1921.

📍Chirala-Perala Movement :

✅ Duggirala Gopala Krishnaiah, who earned a postgraduate degree in Economics from the University of Edinburgh, played a key role in organizing the 1921 Indian National Congress session in Bezawada with his well-organized 'Ramadandu.'
✅ The Madras presidency government planned to merge the villages of Chirala and Perala in Guntur district into a municipality, increasing tax revenue from Rs 4,000 to Rs 40,000 annually.
✅ With Gandhiji's advice, Gopala Krishnaiah urged Chirala residents to relocate to a new settlement, 'Ramnagar,' and 13,582 out of 15,326 residents complied on April 25, 1921.
✅ He established an assembly and a court of arbitration there. However, the movement ended in February 1922 with Gopala Krishnaiah's arrest and imprisonment, leading to great despair.
📍Pullari Sathyagraha of Palnadu :
✅ During the 1920-21 famine, the British imposed the 'Pullari' tax on farmers for using forest produce and grazing cattle.
✅ This led to frequent clashes between peasants and the police as officials confiscated the farmers' cattle.
✅ In response to Gandhiji's call for the non-cooperation movement, Kanneganti Hanumanthu organized the Pullari Satyagraha, leading the people of Palnadu in a social boycott of revenue and forest officials.
✅ In July 1921, a significant hartal was led by Duggirala Gopala Krishnaiah after the district collector sentenced Unnava Lakshminarayana and Vedantha Lakshminarasimhachar to one year in prison.
✅ Hanumanthu was ultimately betrayed by a village Karanam (revenue official), and the police besieged his village and shot him.
📍Pedanandipadu No-Tax Movement :
✅ In response to the Indian National Congress's 1921 session in Ahmedabad, the Andhra Congress Committee initiated a no-tax movement in 18 villages of Pedanandipadu in Guntur district.
✅ After the Chauri Chaura incident, Mahatma Gandhi halted the national non-cooperation movement on 12 February 1922 but later established the Gautami Satyagraha Ashram near Rajahmundry in 1925 to train
satyagrahis
✅ This ashram later focused on women's upliftment after Kasturba Gandhi's death in 1944.
📍Other Important Figures
✅ Dr. Bhogaraju Pattabhi Seetharamayya documented the history of the Congress from 1885 to 1935.
✅ In 1938, the Nizam of Telangana banned Gandhiji's visits and several publications.
✅ Potti Sreeramulu's 58-day Gandhian Satyagraha in 1952 led to his death and the eventual reorganization of states on linguistic lines, forming Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, and Tamil Nadu on 1 November 1956.

#history #prelims_facts #prelims

🔆 Key Takeaways on Exposomics and Environmental Health

📍 Theme of World Environment Day 2025
✅ Focuses on eliminating plastic pollution, particularly micro-plastics, which pose serious public health risks.

📍 Need for Exposomics
✅ A comprehensive approach to disease etiology and prevention must be adopted.
✅ Exposomics focuses on understanding all environmental exposures throughout an individual’s life.

📍 India’s Environmental Burden
✅ India contributes 25% of the global environmental disease burden.
✅ Rapid economic growth exacerbates environmental exposures and health risks.

📍 Global Burden of Disease (GBD) Approach
✅ Environmental risks caused 18.9% of global deaths and 14.4% of all disability-adjusted life years.

📍 Challenges in Data & Research
✅ Current environmental burden estimates are underdeveloped, failing to address complex environmental interactions.

📍 Exposomics as an Emerging Method
✅ Exposomics studies environmental exposures and their link to health, enabling more comprehensive research.
✅ Requires interdisciplinary technologies like AI, wearables, and biomonitoring.

📍 Policy and Infrastructure Needs
✅ Building capacity for exposomics data generation and interoperable data repositories is essential for actionable results.
✅ Immediate focus on creating a robust data ecosystem to enable health research.

#EnvironmentalHealth #Exposomics #PlasticPollution #India

🔆 Sangam Age: Key Highlights

📍 Titles of Sangam Dynasties
✅ Chola – Senni, Valavan, Killi
✅ Pandya – Thennavar, Minavar, Panchavar
✅ Cheras – Vanavar, Villavar, Kuttavar

📍 Village Administration
✅ Manram – Village assemblies managing local affairs
✅ Urs – Town
✅ Perur – Large villages
✅ Sirur – Small villages

📍 Trade & Ports (Periplus of the Erythraean Sea)
✅ Noura – Kannur
✅ Tyndis – Ponnani
✅ Muziris – Kodungallur
✅ Nelcynda – Kottayam
✅ Colchi – Korkai
✅ Camara – Kaveripattanam
✅ Poduka/Arikamedu – Pondicherry

📍 Major Trade & Industry
✅ Madurai & Uraiyur – Important textile centers
✅ Korkai – Center for pearl trade

📍 Land Classification by Fertility
✅ Marudam – Most fertile land
✅ Menpulam – Fertile land
✅ Pinpulam – Dry land
✅ Vanpulam – Hard land
✅ Kalaṇilam/Uvanilam – Salty land

📍 Market System
✅ Angadi – The market
✅ Nalangadi – Morning bazaar
✅ Allangadi – Evening bazaar

📍 Society & Culture
✅ Occupational Castes – Panar, Eyinar, Pulaiyar
✅ Devarinda – Term for a group of five gods: Murugan, Shiva, Krishna, Balarama, and Indra
✅ Karikala – Known as the Master of 7 notes of music
✅ Utharamerur Inscription – Provides insights into local self-government under the Cholas

#AncientHistory #UPSC #SangamAge

🔆 Judiciary Data

📍 Total Pending Cases in Supreme Court
✅ 83,000 (34% cases less than 1 year old)

📍 Case Disposal Rate of Supreme Court
✅ 92.6%

📍 Total Pending Cases in High Courts
✅ ~ 60 lakh (75% cases more than 1 year old)

📍 High Courts Sanctioned Strength
✅ 1114, current = 968, vacancies ~ 150

📍 Total Pending Cases in District & Lower Judiciary
✅ ~ 4.5 crore (65% cases more than 1 year old)

📍 Judges to Population Ratio in India
✅ 21/million (120th Law Commission recommended 50/million)

📍 Vacancies in Judiciary as of November 2024
✅ More than 5,600 vacancies (2 in SC, 364 in HCs, 5245 in lower courts)

📍 PILs Filed Before the SC
✅ Consistently increased from 2014 (~30,000 PILs) to 2021 (~1,14,000 PILs)


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