UPSC Daily Current Affairs- 25th June 2023 | Current Affairs & Hindu Analysis: Daily, Weekly & Monthly PDF Download

GS-I

Kedarnath Temple

Why in News?

The Uttarakhand government recently decided to set up a high-level committee to probe allegations of a ₹ 1.25 billion scam in gold plating the sanctum sanctorum of the Kedarnath temple.

About Kedarnath Temple:

• It is a Hindu temple dedicated to Shiva. 
• Location: It is located at an height of 3,584 meters on the Garhwal Himalayan range near the Mandakini river, in the Rudraprayag District of Uttarakhand.
• Kedarnath forms one of the four sites of the Chota Char Dham Pilgrimage circuit, and is one of the 12 Jyotirlingas of Lord Shiva in India.
• Who build it? It is said that the Pandavas constructed the Kedarnath Temple which was later reconstructed by Adi Shankaracharya in the 8th century A.D. 
• Architecture:
  • It has exquisite architecture and is built of extremely large but evenly shaped grey stone slabs.
  • The stone slabs are interlocked with each other with the use of iron clamps.
  • No mortar has been used in the construction of the temple.
  • There is a conical rock structure inside the Kedarnath temple that is worshipped as the Sadashiva form of Shiva.
  • A “Garba Griha” for worship and a Mandap for pilgrims is placed inside the temple.

What is Chota Char Dham Yatra?

• It refers to the journey up the mountains to four sacred temples in the North Indian state of Uttarakhand.
• The four temples that comprise Chota Char Dham are Yamunotri Dham, Gangotri Dham, Badrinath Dham and Kedarnath Dham.

What are Jyotirlingas?

•  A Jyotirlinga is a shrine where Lord Shiva is worshipped in the form of a Jyotirlingam.
• There are currently 12 main Jyotirlingas in India.
• The 12 Jyotirlinga temples in India take the name of the presiding deity. Each considered a different manifestation of Lord Shiva. 
• 12 Jyotirlingas in India are:
  • Somnath Jyotirlinga in Gir, Gujarat
  • Mallikarjuna Jyotirlinga in Srisailam, Andhra Pradesh
  • Mahakaleshwar Jyotirlinga in Ujjain, Madhya Pradesh
  • Omkareshwar Jyotirlinga in Khandwa, Madhya Pradesh
  • Baidyanath Jyotirlinga in Deoghar, Jharkhand
  • Bhimashankar Jyotirlinga in Maharashtra
  • Ramanathaswamy Jyotirlinga in Rameshwaram, Tamil Nadu
  • Nageshwar Jyotirlinga in Dwarka, Gujarat
  • Kashi Vishwanath Jyotirlinga in Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh
  • Trimbakeshwar Jyotirlinga in Nasik, Maharashtra
  • Kedarnath Jyotirlinga in Rudraprayag, Uttarakhand
  • Ghrishneshwar Jyotirlinga in Aurangabad, Maharashtra

Source: The Hindu

Why in News?

Indian Prime Minister recently arrived in Egypt's capital Cairo for the first state visit.

About Egypt:

• Location: Egypt is a transcontinental country situated in northeastern Africa and the Sinai Peninsula in Western Asia (Middle East).
• Capital: Cairo
• Boundaries:
  • The country borders the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Gulf of Suez and the Red Sea to the east.
  • It is bordered by Libya in the west, the Palestinian territory (Gaza Strip) and Israel in the northeast, and Sudan in the south.
  • It shares maritime borders with Cyprus, Turkey and Greece in the Mediterranean Sea, and with Jordan and Saudi Arabia in the Red Sea.
• Independence: Modern Egypt became independent in 1922.
• Population: With 12 million inhabitants (2021), Egypt is the most populous country in the Arab world.
• Language: Spoken language is Modern Standard Arabic; the colloquial language is the Egyptian-Arabic dialect (Masri).
• Religion: Islam is the dominant religion in Egypt with an estimated 85-90% of the population is Sunni Muslim.
• Major rivers: The famous River Nile is the only river that flows in Egypt throughout the year. Around 98% of the country's population resides in the Nile River Valley.
• Suez Canal:
  • It is a 30 km (120 miles)-long artificial sea-level waterway located in Egypt.
  • It connects the Mediterranean Sea with the Gulf of Suez, a northern branch of the Red Sea.
  • It provides the shortest maritime route between Europe and the lands lying around the Indian and western Pacific oceans.
  • It is one of the world’s most heavily used shipping lanes.

Source: Indian Express

GS-II

India-US WTO Dispute

Why in News?

India and the US have agreed to end six trade disputes at the World Trade Organisation. This comes amid Prime Minister Narendra Modi's State Visit to the US.

Background

• In 2018, the US imposed 25 per cent and 10 per cent import duties on certain steel and aluminium products respectively on grounds of national security. 
• In retaliation, India in June 2019 imposed customs duties on 28 American products, including chickpeas, lentils, almonds, walnuts, apples, boric acid, and diagnostic reagents.

What were the Disputes?

• The six disputes include three initiated by India and as many by the US.
• These include countervailing measures on certain hot-rolled carbon steel flat products from India, certain measures relating to solar cells and modules, export-related measures, steel and aluminium products, and additional duties on some products from the US.
• The US had filed a complaint in the WTO about India's support measures to its export sector under different schemes. In 2019, a WTO dispute panel ruled that India's export measures are inconsistent with global trade norms.

WTO Rules

• According to WTO rules, a member country can file a case in the Geneva-based multilateral body if they feel that a particular trade measure is against the norms of the world body. 
• Bilateral consultation is the first step to resolving a dispute. If both sides are not able to resolve the matter through consultation, either of them can approach the establishment of a dispute settlement panel.
• The panel's ruling or report can be challenged by WTO's appellate body.

Current status of WTO's appellate body

• The appellate body is not functioning because of differences among member countries to appoint its members. 
• The US has been blocking the appointment of the members.
• Several disputes are already pending with this body.

Expectations from the agreement

• India's removal of retaliatory customs duties on 28 American products such as almonds, walnuts, and apples will restore and expand market opportunities for US agricultural producers and manufacturers in India.

 Way Ahead

• The US is the largest trading partner of India. In 2022-23, the bilateral goods trade increased to USD 128.8 billion as against USD 119.5 billion in 2021-22.
• Hence, both countries should resolve the disputes on mutually agreed terms and later inform the Geneva-based WTO about the same.
• This agreement on ending trade disputes represents the culmination of intensified bilateral engagement over the last two years deepening economic and trade ties.

Source: BS

The Atlantic Declaration 

Why in News?

The United Kingdom Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and the United States (US) President Joe Biden recently signed “The Atlantic Declaration: A Framework for a Twenty-First Century US-UK Economic Partnership”.

More about the Declaration

• About:
  • The Atlantic Declaration is a symbolic representation of the political will in UK and US to work together on critical areas and make this alliance ready for the future.
• The new partnership:
  • Declared as the first of its kind, the declaration and its action plans are expected to promote a “new type of innovative partnership” to cover all areas of cooperation including technology, economy and trade. 
  • While deepening the trade and investment relations, the declaration is also expected to strengthen the UK-US cooperation in sectors like defence, health, space, and science.
• New Challenges:
  • The new declaration highlights that the nature of national security is changing with economics and it is becoming more intertwined. 
  • The US and the UK are facing new international challenges including from “authoritarian states” such as China and Russia; along with disruptive technologies, non-state actions and transnational issues like climate change.

Significance

• Strategic relations:
  • To deal with the emerging challenges, both countries have worked together to strengthen their resilience in trade and technology; and cooperated to expand the scope of their defence, security, and intelligence relations. 
    • This has been achieved by their continuing support to Ukraine, strengthening NATO, implementing AUKUS—it is a trilateral security pact between Australia, the United Kingdom, and the US—and advanced coordination under the US-UK Indo-Pacific Dialogue.
• Reducing dependencies:
  • This new economic declaration will work towards reducing strategic dependencies as well as to building resilient, secured, and diversified supply chains. 
• Technology: 
  • The focus will also be on critical and emerging technologies; exploring ways to deepen trade and investments; and strengthening the US-UK alliance in sectors such as science, health security, space, and defence. 
    • The Action Plan for a Twenty-First Century U.S.-UK Economic Partnership (ADAPT) aims to spearhead the economic relations to reflect today’s challenges, and identifies five pillars of cooperation

About The US-UK bilateral relations

• Special relations:
  • The bilateral relations between Washington and London are often called “special”, however, in the past few years the relations have been anything but. 
• Post Brexit scenario:
  • The relations had hit a roadblock first with the positive Brexit vote and then with the Northern Ireland Protocol.
• Renewal of the partnership:
  • With this new Atlantic Declaration, both countries are stepping up their cooperation to set new standards of economic and technological cooperation.
  • It represents the push by both countries to renew their partnership in a post-Brexit world. 

Source: TH 

GS-III

Why in News?

To revive the vulture population in the state of Madhya Pradesh, 20 white-rumped vultures were recently brought to Vulture Conservation Centre in Kerwa from Pinjore in Haryana.

About White-Rumped Vulture :

• It is a medium-sized Old World vulture.
• Scientific name: Gyps bengalensis
• It is also known as Indian White-backed Vulture or Oriental White-backed Vulture.
• Distribution: Pakistan, India, Bangladesh, Nepal, Bhutan, Myanmar (Burma), Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, and southern Vietnam.
• Habitat: Found mostly in plains and less frequently in hilly regions. It can also be seen in villages and cities near to cultivation.
• Population:
  • In the 1980s, the global population was estimated at several million individuals, and it was thought to be "the most abundant large bird of prey in the world".
  • As of 2021, the global population was estimated at less than 6,000 mature individuals.
• Features:
  • It is a typical, medium-sized vulture, with an unfeathered head and neck, very broad wings, and short tail feathers.
  • Adults are 75 to 85 cm tall, their wing span is 180 to 210 cm, and their weight ranges from 3.5 to 7.5 kg.
  • The sexes are approximately equal in size.
  • Adults are darker than juveniles, with blackish plumage, a white neck-ruff, and a white patch of feathers on the lower back and upper tail, from which their common name is derived.
  • There is a pale grey patch on the upper surface of the wings, visible when the wings are folded. The undersides of the wings are a dark slate to brownish color.
• Conservation Status:
  • IUCN: Critically Endangered
  • Wildlife Protection Act 1972: Schedule-1

Source: PIB

GE F414 Fighter Jet Engine

Why in News?

The American multinational corporation General Electric (GE) recently announced it had signed an agreement with India's state-owned Hindustan Aeronautics to jointly make GE F414 Fighter Jet Engines in India.

About GE F414 Fighter Jet Engine:

• It is a high-performance, two-spool, axial-flow turbofan engine that is used to power a variety of military aircraft, including the F/A-18E/F Super Hornet, the JAS 39 Gripen, and the Tejas Mark II. 
• It is a derivative of the GE F404 engine, which was developed in the 1970s. 
• It has been used by U.S. Navy aircraft for more than 30 years.
• The F414 powers or is on order to power jets in the U.S., Sweden, Australia, Kuwait, Brazil, South Korea, India and Indonesia.
• Features:
  • It combines the proven reliability, maintainability, and operability of its successful F404 predecessor with advanced technologies to provide up to 35 percent more thrust.
  • Its simple, modular design is reliable and easy to maintain.
  • It is the first fighter engine to use a Full Authority Digital Electronic Control (FADEC). FADEC provides precise control of the engine’s performance, which improves fuel efficiency and reduces emissions.
  • Is the first fighter engine to use an integrated electronic engine instrumentation (IEE) system. IEE provides real-time data on the engine’s performance, which helps pilots to make informed decisions about engine operation.
  • Its wide chord, high-pressure compressor (HPC) provides greater efficiency and lower emissions than previous generation engines.
  • The engine’s low-pressure turbine (LPT) is designed for high efficiency and durability.

Source: The Hindu