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Parkash Purab of Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji

Details

• The occasion marks the completion of the holy book of the Sikhs, Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji, under the supervision of the fifth Guru Arjan Dev Ji in 1604 at Gurdwara Ramsar Sahib.

The word Sikh is derived from the Sanskrit word Shishya, meaning disciple or learner. The Sikh religion originated with the advent of Guru Nanak, the founder of the Sikh Religion. It was developed through the successive Gurus who appeared in the form of the same divine light and reached its climax with the creation of Khalsa by the tenth Guru, Guru Gobind Singh.

History of Sikhism

• Sikhism was born at a time when there was a growing conflict amongst the two dominating religious traditions of Hinduism and Islam in India. 
• Guru Nanak, the founder of the Sikh faith, is generally depicted as a reconciler of the two conflicting traditions.
• Guru Nanak got his enlightenment in Sultanpur in 1496. 
• After enlightenment, he travelled extensively to spread the message of love and brotherhood.
• The number of Guru Nanak’s followers increased through the sixteenth century under his successors. 
• They belonged to a number of castes, but traders, agriculturists, artisans and craftsmen predominated. They were also expected to contribute to the general funds of the community of followers. 
• By the beginning of the seventeenth century, the town of Ramdaspur (Amritsar) had developed around the central Gurdwara called Harmandar Sahib (Golden Temple). It was virtually self-governing, and modern historians refer to the early seventeenth-century Sikh community as ‘a state within the state’.

About Guru Nanak

• Guru Nanak, the founder of the Sikh faith, was born in Talwandi (near Lahore in Pakistan), now known as Nankana Sahib in Pakistan and belonged to Bedi gotra in 1469.
• Guru Nanak received his early education in Sanskrit and Persian.
• He was one of the greatest saints of the Bhakti movement.
• Guru Nanak (1469–1539) was the first Guru. 
• He travelled widely before establishing a centre at Kartarpur (Dera Baba Nanak on the river Ravi). 
• Regular worship that consisted of the singing of his own hymns was established there for his followers. 
• Irrespective of their former creed, caste or gender, his followers ate together in the common kitchen (langar). 
• The sacred space thus created by Guru Nanak, known as dharmsal. It is now known as Gurdwara. 
• The three important percepts of Guru Nanak are:
  • Contemplation of One God (nam- japna); 
  • Earning one’s livelihood (kirat karna) and 
  • Sharing one’s earnings with others (vand chhakna). 
• To practise his teachings of equality, Guru Nanak started the twin institutions of Sangat and Pangat, emphasizing that all sit in a congregation and while partaking food from the community kitchen should sit in one line without distinction of high and low or rich and poor. 
• Guru Nanak preached through kirtans, bhajans and ragas. 
• Before his death in 1539, Guru Nanak appointed one of his followers as his successor.
• His name was Lehna, but he came to be known as Guru Angad, signifying that he was a part of Guru Nanak himself.

To know

• Nankana Sahib is the popular name for the birthplace of Guru Nanak. It was renamed Nankana after the Guru.
• It was renamed Nankana after the Guru.

Teachings of Sikh Religion

• God – Sikhism believes in the monotheistic concept of One God, who is Transcendent and Immanent; Impersonal and Personal; Nirguna and Sarguna.
• Soul – There is an identical relation between God and soul, which is mentioned as ‘the Lord abides in the soul and the soul in the Lord.’ The aim of man’s life is to rediscover the real nature of the self which is in no way different from God, but indulgence in mundane aspirations reinforce his ego and strengthens this false notion of separateness.
• Divine Will – In the Sikh religion, the concept of Divine Will (hukam) as an imperative has a specific metaphysical significance. Divine Will is all-pervasive and immanent and manifests itself in different ways which are incomprehensible to the human mind. Not only the creation but also the sustenance of the universe is in accordance with the Divine Will. 
• Divine Grace – It is often referred to in the scripture as kirpa, karam, Prasad, mehar, daya or bakhsis. One cannot understand God through cleverness, but He can be realized through Grace. 
• Salvation – The immortality of the soul is also conceived in the sense of realization of the eternity of values in the temporal world.  Karma and rebirth are closely related to the moral life of man.

The Ten Sikh Gurus

11th Sikh Guru

• Nine gurus followed Guru Nanak and there is no living human successor, but the Guru Granth Sahib, the Sikh holy book, is considered the 11th Sikh Guru and eternal. 
• Apart from the hymns of the Sikh Gurus, the Guru Granth Sahib also contains the composition of the Muslim and Hindu saints, some of them belonging to the so-called lower caste of the Hindu society. 
• Therefore, the Sikh Holy Book can be considered as a unique example of the ecumenical spirit of the Sikh faith. 

Sikh Institutions

Takhts

• The worship places of Sikhs are known as the Takhts which literally means ‘the seat of the divine power’. 
• There are only five Takhts. 
• It is said that ‘Takhts’ are places where various social and political settlements were done by the Gurus.
  

Gurdwaras

• Gurudwara stands for ‘the doorway to the master’. 
• In India, there are several Gurudwaras but only five Takhts. 
• Lakhs of people, particularly the Sikhs, visit the Gurudwaras to commemorate the Gurus. Therefore, Gurudwaras hold significance from a pilgrimage point of view. 
• Two popular Gurudwaras in India are:
  • Golden Temple in Amritsar, Punjab 
    • It is called the Golden Temple owing to the gilded dome that adorns the crown of the Gurudwara.
    • It is the most sacred for the Sikhs. 
    • The town was founded by Guru Ram Dass, the fourth Sikhs Guru in 1577 on the land gifted by Akbar. 
    • The fifth Guru Arjun Dev completed the temple. 
    • When Maharaja Ranjit Singh covered the upper half of the temple, first with copper and then with pure gold leaf, it came to be known as the Swarna Mandir.
• Bangla Sahib in Delhi 
  • It is one of the most impressive and fascinating edifices in India and is intricately linked with the history of Sikhism. 
• The other Sikh shrines in India include: 
  • Gurudwara Paonta Sahib, Himachal Pradesh
  • Gurudwara Rakab Ganj Sahib, New Delhi
  • Gurudwara Sis Ganj Sahib, Delhi
  • Hemkund Sahib, Uttarakhand

13th BRICS Summit

Details

• The theme for the Summit is ‘BRICS@15: Intra-BRICS cooperation for continuity, consolidation and consensus’.
• India had outlined four priority areas for its Chairship. These are:
  • Reform of the Multilateral System
  • Counter terrorism
  • Using Digital and Technological Tools for achieving SDGs
  • Enhancing People to People exchanges
• The Indian Chairship of BRICS this year coincides with the fifteenth anniversary of BRICS, as reflected in the theme for the Summit.

Task Force and Expert Committee for Coal Based Hydrogen Production

Details

• The Ministry of Coal has constituted 2 Committees, one to oversee the program and another of experts to give guidance to the Ministry.
• This is aimed at contributing to the agenda of a hydrogen-based economy in a clean manner.
• The Task Force constituted is chaired by the Additional Secretary, Coal and has the following terms of reference:
  • Identification of role to be played by each stakeholder Ministry.
  • Coordination with Stakeholder Ministries.
  • Monitoring of activities towards achieving coal based Hydrogen production and usage.
  • Setting up sub committees to achieve the objective.
  • To coordinate with Coal Gasification Mission and NITI Aayog.
• The Expert Committee has the following terms of reference:
  • Identifying experts in India and co-opting as members.
  • Desk based review of progress in hydrogen technology and also review ongoing research projects in Hydrogen technology.
  • Coordinate with various national/international technology institutions in hydrogen.
  • Prepare a road map for coal based Hydrogen production and usage including economic viability, environmental sustainability and policy enablers required.
  • Identifying activities for implementation of coal based hydrogen production and usage.
  • Assisting Task force in implementation of Coal based Hydrogen production and usage.

Background

• Coal is one of the important sources of hydrogen making apart from natural gas and renewable energy through electrolysis.
• Hydrogen obtained from coal is called Brown Hydrogen.
• Coal has not been encouraged in hydrogen production because of the fear that while extracting hydrogen via coal (from the moisture embedded in coal) there may be carbon emission.
• Almost 100% of hydrogen produced in India is through natural gas.
• Cost of hydrogen produced from coal can be cheaper and less sensitive to imports when compared with hydrogen production through electrolysis and natural gas respectively.
• Production of hydrogen from coal will have challenges in terms of high emissions and CCUS will play an important role. However, when the carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide formed during coal to hydrogen process are trapped and stored in an environmentally sustainable manner (CCS and CCUS), then, Indian coal reserves could become a great source of hydrogen.

Smog Tower

Context: Minister dedicates first functional Smog Tower of India, situated at Anand Vihar in New Delhi.

Details

• A smog tower is a structure designed as large/medium scale air purifiers to reduce air pollution, usually by forcing the air through filters.
• The smog tower at Anand Vihar with a height of over 20m, is of the downdraft type, i.e. polluted air comes in from the top of the tower and clean air comes out of the bottom.
• It is intended for localised reduction in air pollution (Particulate Matter). The filtration system used in the tower has been designed by University of Minnesota with an expected efficiency of 90%.

Note:- “PRANA” – Portal for Regulation of Air-pollution in Non-Attainment cities under the National Clean Air Programme (NCAP) was also launched.