Category Social Sciences

How can you preserve your culture heritage?

Read up

The World Wide Web has a plethora of information for you to consume. Log onto UNESCO’s website and you will find authentic information about not just physical heritage but also cultural heritage of different countries. You can also visit the local library and find books relating to India’s cultural heritage. Reading up about our country’s vast cultural heritage is the first step towards doing your bit to preserve it.

Talk to your parents

Cultural heritage has evolved over the years and has been passed down through multiple generations. Talk to your parents and elders at home about cultural heritage in general or any specific topic such as an art form that piques your interest. You will get to hear many fascinating stories that they have witnessed and experienced over the years. It also makes for a great bonding time.

Organize discussions

The best way to preserve our cultural heritage is by getting your peers involved. Organise discussions in class or via video calls and talk to your peers about all the interesting information you have gathered about cultural heritage. Encourage them to share stories and the knowledge they possess on the same. Once school reopens, you can request your teachers to organize cultural events that showcase the country’s rich heritage and encourage your classmates to participate in them.

Volunteer

There are various organizations and groups that are doing their best to preserve our cultural heritage. You can volunteer with any of these groups and help spread the word and organize events with them. Sometimes they may even visit remote places to experience the heritage fthat has not yet caught the eye of the mainstream media. Volunteering with them would be an enriching experience.

Get creative

In this era of technology, you can capture people’s attention faster than usual. Take photographs and video of cultural heritage and blog or vlog about it. You don’t have to do it alone. Gather your friends along and get them to take part as well. You can make interesting videos and blogs and share them on social media.

At the local level, you can design pamphlets and brochures and spread the word among your neighbours and the local community.

 

Picture Credit : Google

Which are the things you can do to preserve local heritage?

Follow the rules

Visiting a heritage monument might seem exciting. But many monuments have rules laid out by the organisation in charge of its conservation. These rules could include having to maintain silence at a sacred place, or not touching articles on display. Remember, these rules are made keeping preservation in min So do your best to follow the rules listed and ensure your family and peers follow them as well.

Do not litter

One of the major problems seen many monuments is littering. As the tourist inflow increases, it gets difficult for officials to monitor each and everyone. Many tourists carry food or drinks along and throw away empty packets and bottles around the site. This creates a negative impression about the monument in the eyes of the public. As a responsible citizen, do not litter and discourage your family and friends from doing so. Many monuments have trash cans placed around them. Throw rubbish only into the trash can. And if the dustbin is found to be full or if there isn’t one, take the waste back with you and discard it at the nearest dustbin.

Say no to vandalism

Another common problem witnessed at most monuments is vandalism. Vandalism is the action of deliberately damaging public or private property. When you at the walls of some heritage monuments you can find scribbles left by people. In some places, you might even see artefacts broken. Vandalism is a threat to heritage monuments. Refrain from it and talk to others about it as well. Next time you spot someone indulging in the act, inform your parents or the authorities and let them take action.

Volunteer

Many organisations encourage youngsters to volunteer and do their bit for physical heritage. You can volunteer individually or encourage your school to take students to different monuments as an activity and help in their preservation Volunteering can mean serving as a guide, helping people navigate the heritage site, or even helping researchers take notes during their routine checks of the site.

Take photographs and spread the word

One of the best ways to draw attention towards preservation of a heritage site is by spreading the worst. Take photographs of heritage monuments and post them on social media. You could also create brochures and pamphlets and share them with people and make them aware about the rich history of monuments Use technology and social media to your advantage and reach and encourage as many people as you can to volunteer and visit heritage monuments.

 

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What is impeachment?

Recently, thousands of Donald Trump’s supporters stormed the US. Capitol, and interrupted the Congress where lawmakers were about to certify President-elect Joe Biden’s win in the November 3 election. Subsequently, Trump was charged with inciting violence against the government of the United States”. There were calls from Democrats to impeach President Trump, a Republican, in his final week in power. What is impeachment? Who can be impeached from office? How is it done? Here’s a primer.

What it means

Impeachment is a proceeding that is initiated by a legislative body against a top government official for serious misconduct. The charges are put forth, and the official is tried, while still in office. Different countries have their own impeachment processes.

Origin

The first recognised case of impeachment was in 1376 during the reign of Edward III in England. The process was sparingly used till the 17th Century, when it was revived to eliminate unpopular subjects of the Crown. However, after the unsuccessful impeachment trials of Warren Hastings (1788-95) and Lord Melville (1806), it fell out of use in Britain.

The U.S. process

In the U.S., the power to impeach a President rests with Congress (that includes the House of Representatives and the Senate). According to the US, Constitution, a President shall be removed from office impeachment for, and conviction of treason, bribery, or other high crimes and misdemeanours”. This also applies to the Vice President and all civil officers of the US.

The Indian president

In India, impeachment is raised in either House of Parliament. A President can face Impeachment for ‘violation of the Constitution’. There has to be a majority of no less than two-thirds of the total membership of both houses of Parliament.

Article 61 lays down that when a President is to be either impeached the charge shall be preferred by House of Parliament The other House will investigate or cause the charge to be investigated. The President has the right to appear or to be represented at such investigations

Similarly, Parliament can introduce a motion seeking the removal of judges, including the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court and High Courts. However, though the process that ensures checks against misconduct is quite similar the word impeachment does not figure in the Constitution in the context of judges (Article 124-4).

Why is impeachment necessary?

Without impeachment there will be no system of checks and balances to ensure that the person who is legally considered to be the most important functionary in the political system does not abuse his office.

Past notable impeachments

The first U. S. President to face impeachment was Andrew Johnson (1868). Other notable impeachments include those against Presidents Richard Nixon (1973), Bill Clinton (1998) and Donald Trump (2019). If the process is taken up, Trump with be the first president to face impeachment twice.

In India, no President has faced impeachment so far.

 

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Why is China’s new dam a cause for concern?

What is the course of the river Brahmaputra?

The Brahmaputra (called Yarlung Tsangpo in China) is one of the longest rivers in the world. Starting in the Himalayas in Tibet it enters India in Arunachal Pradesh, then passes through Assam, Bangladesh, and empties into the Bay of Bengal. The Brahmaputra, a perennial river, is the lifeline for communities living along its banks. They use it for irrigation, fisheries and inland water transport, In its lower course, the river is both an advantage and a disadvantage. On the one hand, it deposits huge quantities of fertile alluvial soil suitable for agriculture, but on the other, due to geographical and climatic conditions, it causes periodical disastrous floods in Assam and Bangladesh.

Where is China planning to build the dam?

The dam is to be built on the river in Medog county, where it drops by 2,000 metres, making it an ideal place to harness hydropower. This region is located in the Tibet Autonomous Region, governed by China.

Why is China building it?

The proposal to build a dam on Yarlung Tsangpo featured in China’s 14th Five Year Plan announced in 2020. According to the Chinese officials, the hydroelectric project in the Medog county is part of the country’s renewable energy generation initiatives and that it will help China achieve carbon neutrality by 2060 and also pave way for development in the Tibet Autonomous Region.

In 2010, China began construction of small dams along the mainstream of the Yarlung Tsangpo, two of them have already been completed and at least three are under construction, according to reports. The proposed one is the largest of them all.

How big is this project?

The new dam could help generate up to 60 gigawatts of power three times that of central China’s Three Gorges Dam, which has the largest installed hydropower capacity in the world now. The new dam could provide 300 billion kWh of dean, renewable and zero carbon electricity annually. The power generated would help Beijing meet its clean energy goals and strengthen water security, according to Yan Zhiyong, chairman of the Power Construction Corporation of China.

What will be its impact on India?

Agriculture

Such a huge dam could hold back massive amount of silt carried by the river (silty soil is more fertile than other types of soil and it is good for growing crops.) This could affect farming in the areas downstream.

Water resources

The construction of dams upstream will have a significant effect on areas downstream. China has claimed that it is building a run of the river hydropower project, which do not involve storage or diversion of the waters of the Brahmaputra (Run of the river hydroelectric systems are hydroelectric systems that harvest the energy from flowing water to generate electricity). However, experts say it could still reduce water flow downstream, especially during the dry season.

India is also worried about the release of water during the monsoons, when northeastern states such as Assam experience floods. If China released water from the dam, it could be disastrous for an already inundated Assam.

Water as a weapon?

Being an upstream area, China has a dear advantage in building dams and other infrastructure to store or divert the flow of the river system

There is the potential to significantly change the flow rate during times of standoff between the countries. India has agreements with China that require the latter to share hydrological data of the river during monsoon season between May and October. The data is mainly of the water level of the river to alert downstream areas in the event of floods. However, during the 2017 Doklam border standoff between India and China, China stopped communication of water flow levels from its dams. Though data sharing resumed in 2018, India has reasons to believe that China may withhold data.

Seismological impact

The Himalayan region is vulnerable to earthquakes and other seismic activities. The sheer size of the infrastructure projects undertaken there poses a significant threat to the populations living downstream

Ecological impact

Several species of flora and fauna are endemic to this part of the world and some of them are critically endangered. The ecosystem in the Himalayan region is already on the decline. The glaciers have been retreating due to climate change. Deforestation soil erosion and landslides are some of the other issues here. The combined dam plans of China and India (See net question) could have disastrous consequences in this ecologically sensitive zone.

What is India’s response?

India has urged China to ensure that the interests of downstream states are not harmed by any activity in upstream areas. Meanwhile, India is considering building a 10 gigawatts (GW) hydropower project in the Dibang valley in Arunachal Pradesh, to mitigate the adverse impact of the Chinese dam.

 

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What are the interesting facts of Grand Canyon in the U.S.?

How old is it?

No one really knows how old the Grand Canyon is. While it was earlier thought to be six million years old, around the time the Colorado river cut through the landscape, many believe the Canyon could date back as far as 70 million years. This thought came to the fore after a study released in the early 2010s suggested some of the rocks in the Canyon may have been eroded and exposed at the surface millions of years ago. However, the debate, on how old the Grand Canyon actually is, goes on.

Not the deepest canyon

Though it is one of the most popular gorges, and a natural wonder of the world, the Grand Canyon is not the deepest or the longest gorge. The average depth of the Canyon is 1.6 km and it stretches nearly 446 km. However, the Guinness Book of World Records states that the Yarlung Tsangpo Grand Canyon in the Himalayas is the world’s longest and deepest canyon with its maximum depth reaching about 5,382 m and the canyon stretching nearly 496.3 km.

Experience different weather conditions

With an elevation spanning 2000 feet to 8000 feet, one can experience a variety of weather conditions at the Grand Canyon. With every 1000-feet loss in elevation at the Canyon, the temperature increases by 5.5 degrees Fahrenheit.

Hidden Caves

It is estimated that there are nearly 1,000 caves spread across the Grand Canyon. However, only 335 of them have been recorded and explored so far. Of the 335, only one cave, the Cave of the Domes on Horseshoe Mesa, is open to the public.

Beware the rock squirrel

The Grand Canyon is home to a large array of wildlife from the bighorn sheep and the Gila monster, to the California condor and Ridgway’s rail. But the most dangerous animal at the Canyon is the rock squirrel! Every year dozens of visitors to the Canyon are bitten by these animals when they try to feed them. Hence, one can find signs around the park asking people not to feed animals.

 

Picture Credit : Google

What is the UNSC?

India began its two-year term as a non-permanent member of the United Nations Security Council on January 1, 2021. What is the UNSC? If India is a non permanent member, who are its permanent members? Why has India been stepping up efforts for the reform of the Council? Let’s see.

One of the organs of the UN

The UNSC is one of the six main organs of the United Nations. Its objective is to maintain international peace and security. The UNSC has 15 members, of which, five, China, France, Russia, U.K. and the U.S., are permanent members with veto power (power to withhold assent or reject any resolution). The rest are non-permanent members who are elected to serve a two-year term on the Council. The non-permanent members at present are Estonia, India, Ireland, Kenya, Mexico, Niger, Norway, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Tunisia, and Vietnam. As these members do not have veto rights, they are considered powerless. In other words, they cannot assert their view on any issue of international concern.

Empowered to make decisions

Unlike other organs of the UN which can only make recommendations, the Security Council has the power to make decisions, called resolutions, and impose them on member countries. Each member of the Council has one vote. The UNSC may meet whenever there is a threat to peace and security. It first met in January 1946, three months after the United Nations came into existence. Responsible for diplomatically resolving crises and conflicts around the world, the Council can also resort to imposing economic sanctions, travel bans, financial restrictions or authorise the use of force. It seeks to resolve disputes through mediation, special envoys or by sending a UN Mission. It supervises the work of the UN peacekeeping operations.

Criticism against the Council

Although it has been successful in addressing several global issues, it has been criticised for its lack of credibility. It has long been felt that the Security Council in its present form lacks legitimacy, is outdated (reflecting the power centres of 1945) and does not correspond with the changed global realities. It is often said that the Council requires comprehensive reforms to address contemporary challenges, better representation and a strong multilateralism that gives voice to all stakeholders. The exclusive right of the five permanent members of the Council to veto any proposed decision has long been a subject of controversy. Perceived as an undemocratic arrangement, this has been cited as the main reason for UN’s inaction on crimes against humanity.

Quick facts

  • India is serving its term as a non-permanent member of the powerful 15-nation UN body for the eighth time. It won 184 of the 192 votes cast in the elections in June 2020 for the five non-permanent seats of the UNSC. A member country requires a two-thirds majority of votes in the General Assembly to become a non permanent member. Besides India, Norway, Kenya, Ireland and Mexico were elected non permanent members in June.
  • Counter-terrorism is stated to be India’s priority during its membership. Besides, getting permanent membership is high on the country’s agenda. India will chair the three crucial committees – Taliban and Libya sanctions committees and the Counter Terrorism Committee – of the UNSC during its tenure as a non-permanent member.
  • India will be UNSC President in August 2021 and will preside over the Council again for a month in 2022. The presidency of the Council is held for a month by each of the members in turn, as per the alphabetical order of the names of the member countries.

 

Picture Credit : Google