CSE EXAM ( UPSC prelims mains)

🔆Genomic Study to Uncover Population History of South Asia

✅In a ground-breaking move, the Indian government has launched an ambitious scientific study using both ancient and modern genomics to uncover the population history of South Asia.
✅This study aims to resolve long-standing debates and conflicting theories about the origins and migration patterns of ancient Indian communities.
✅The research is being carried out by the Anthropological Survey of India (AnSI), which functions under the Ministry of Culture, in collaboration with the Birbal Sahni Institute of Palaeosciences, Lucknow, under the Department of Science & Technology.
✅The project, titled “Reconstruction of the Population History of South Asia using Ancient and Modern Genomics,” focuses on DNA extracted from ancient skeletal remains to provide new insights into the region's past.

📍Key Features of the Study:

Scope & Focus:
✅The project involves studying 300 ancient skeletal remains, primarily cranial bones, tooth fragments, and other bone pieces.
✅These remains have been collected from archaeological sites in India and Pakistan, including well-known sites from the Indus Valley Civilization like Harappa and Mohenjo-Daro (now in Pakistan), as well as locations like Burzahom (J&K), Nagarjunakonda (Andhra Pradesh), Maski (Karnataka), Ropar (Punjab), and Lothal (Gujarat).
✅These remains were excavated between 1922 and 1958 and are currently in the custody of the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI).

📍Objective:
✅The study aims to reconstruct the origins of ancient Indian communities by extracting and analysing DNA from the remains.
✅It will also shed light on the living conditions, diets, disease prevalence, and migration patterns of ancient people, allowing for a clearer understanding of how populations moved and interacted over time.
✅This research is expected to help answer fundamental questions about the gene pool and environmental adaptation of ancient Indian civilizations.

✅The Aryan Migration Debate:
The project aims to address one of the most significant and controversial questions in Indian history: Did the Aryan migration happen?

✅Aryan Invasion Theory:
Proposed by Western scholars in the 19th century, this theory posits that a group of Aryans, fair-skinned people from Central Asia, migrated to India around 2000-1500 BC, playing a major role in shaping the civilization of the Indian subcontinent.

✅Indigenous Theory:
Many modern Indian archaeologists argue that the Aryans were indigenous to the region and that they lived along the Saraswati River.
✅When the river dried up, they migrated to other parts of India and settled in the Indus Valley

#gs1
#History

📍Demand for Dravida Nadu

✅Going back to the journey of Regionalism in India, it is noticeable that it emerged with Dravidian Movement, which started in Tamil Nadu in 1925. This movement, also known as ‘Self-Respect Movement’ initially focused on empowering Dalits, non-Brahmins, and poor people.
✅Later it stood against imposition of Hindi as sole official language on non-Hindi speaking areas. But it was the demand of carving out their own Dravidistan or Dravida Nadu, which made it a secessionist movement. As early as 1960s the DMK proposed that the states of Madras, Andhra Pradesh, Kerala and Mysore should secede from the Indian union and form an independent ‘Republic of Dravida Nadu’.

📍Telangana Movement
✅In the years after the formation of Andhra Pradesh, people of Telangana expressed dissatisfaction over howthe agreements and guarantees were implemented.
✅Discontent with the 1956 Gentleman’s agreement intensified in January 1969, when the guarantees that had been agreed upon, were supposed to lapse.
✅Government employees and opposition members of the state legislative assembly threatened ‘direct action’ in support of the students who spearheaded the movement.
✅This movement since then finally culminated with formation of separate state of Telangana on 2nd June, 2014.
✅It should be noted that roots of disparity in two regions was in colonial rule. Andhra was under direct rule of crown while Telangana was ruled by Nizam of Hyderabad, who was not so efficient ruler . So over time Andhra got more developed in comparison to Telangana.

#society

🔆Population Pyramids

✅The population pyramid (The age-sex pyramid)
The age-sex structure of a population refers to the number of females and males in different age groups. A population pyramid is used to show the age-sex structure of the population. The shape of the population pyramid reflects the characteristics of the population.
The left side shows the percentage of males while the right side shows the percentage of women in each age group. The following three diagrams show different types of Population Pyramids.

✅Expanding Population
The age-sex pyramid in such a case is a triangular-shaped pyramid with a wide base and is typical of less developed countries. These have larger populations in lower age groups due to high birth rates.

✅Constant Population
Here, the age-sex pyramid is bell-shaped and tapered towards the top. This shows birth and death rates are almost equal leading to a near-constant population.

✅Declining Population
This pyramid has a narrow base and a tapered top showing low birth and death rates. The population growth in developed countries is usually zero or negative.

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🔆Committees on Western Ghats:

📍Sanjay Kumar Committee:
✅Formed to review state objections on ESA demarcations and validate proposed exclusions.
✅Will conduct field visits to verify if demands for village exclusions from ESA listings are justified.
✅Seeks to finalize the ESA status for villages, restricting activities harmful to biodiversity.

📍Madhav Gadgil Committee (2011):
✅Established by UPA government to propose protection measures for the Western Ghats.
✅Recommended designating the entire Western Ghats as ecologically sensitive.
✅Proposed the creation of a dedicated ecological authority to regulate development.
✅Report suggested rigorous conservation, but its recommendations were not fully adopted.

📍Kasturirangan Committee (2012):
✅Formed as a follow-up to the Gadgil Committee to provide a more moderate approach.
✅Based ESA demarcations on 37% of the Western Ghats, focusing on forested areas.
✅Emphasized a balance between conservation and developmental needs, allowing limited activity in specific areas.

#prelims_facts
#mains

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