Daily Current Affairs For UPSC 14 January 2023, Prelims Bits

Daily Current Affairs For UPSC 14 January 2023: We bring to you ”Daily Current Affairs for UPSC Exam” based on the principle of updating UPSC CSE aspirants with Most Important Daily UPSC Prelims Specific Current Affairs. These Daily Current Affairs are prepared by our team in Bit Form/Abridged Form to save the precious time of UPSC Aspirants. In Today’s Prelims Bits we are covering Daily Current Affairs Bits for the below mentioned topics: Geo­heritage Sites, Makar Sankranti, Bhogi, Lohri.

Daily Current Affairs for UPSC Exam 13 January | Prelims Bits

Geo­heritage Sites

In News

• The Rajasthan Government will shortly come up with an action plan for the protection of 10 geo-heritage sites in the State on the lines of conservation of archaeological monuments.
• The Mines Department is evolving strategies to deal with the threats to these places, while the State government has sought the Centre’s permission for the auction of garnet, limestone and potash blocks.

Prelims Bits For Geo­heritage Sites

What Is Geo-heritage site?

Geo-heritage sites are sites of rare and unique geological sites that have rare geomorphological significance and we have listed about 180 such sites in India

Who Can Declare Geo Heritage Site?

• Presently, Geological Survey of India (GSI) declares geo-heritage sites/ national geological monuments for protection and maintenance.
• Geoheritage sites must contain features of geological significance, such as geo-relics or natural rock sculptures.

Significance of Geoheritage sites

• Geoheritage sites serve the public interest. Such sites are critical to advancing knowledge about natural hazards, groundwater supply, soil processes, climate and environmental changes, evolution of life, mineral and energy supplies, and other aspects of the nature and history of Earth.
• Such sites have high potential for scientific studies, use as outdoor classrooms, enhancing public understanding of science, recreational use, and economic support to local communities.

What Is The Draft Bill For Geo-Heritage Sites?

• For the first time since Independence, the Union government has prepared a draft Bill on the preservation, protection and maintenance of geo-heritage sites.
• The Bill has been drafted by the Ministry of Mines and has been put on the public domain for the stakeholders to come up with suggestions and advice by January 14.
• The draft Bill provides for the declaration, preservation, protection and maintenance of geo-heritage sites and GSI has been proposed to be a nodal agency.

Makar Sankranti 

In News

The Nation is celebrating Makar Sankranti  Today and Tomorrow.

Prelims Bits On Makar Sankranti

• Makar refers to Zodiac, Capricon and Sankranti means Transition. Also called Makar in Sanskrit.
• The festival ‘Sankranti’ celebrates the Sun’s shift into Capricorn.
• On Makar Sankranti, the Sun enters the new zodiac-sign of Capricorn or Makara.
• Most Hindu festivals are based on the lunar calendar, making the dates of festivals change every year. But Makar Sankranti is a festival that falls on the same day every year as it follows the solar calendar.
• As Makar Sankranti is one of the oldest solstice festivals and falls on the equinox, day and night on this day are believed to be equally long.
• Post the festival, it is officially the beginning of spring.
• Indian summer and the days become longer, and nights shorter.
• The festival highlights the importance of pulling back from unethical and unhealthy behaviors while practicing for peaceful and positive ones instead.
• Many Names:
  • The festivities related to Makar Sankranti have many names depending on the region it is being celebrated in.
  • For example, by North Indian Hindus and Sikhs, it is called Maghi and is preceded by Lohri. It is called Makara Sankranti and also Poush sôngkrānti in Maharashtra, Goa, Andhra Pradesh, West Bengal, Karnataka and Telangana. It is called Sukarat in central India, Magh Bihu by Assamese, Khichdi in Eastern Uttar Pradesh, Uttarayanan in Gujarat and Rajasthan and Thai Pongal or Pongal in Tamil Nadu.

Bhogi

In News

Today is Bhogi Festival. According to the English calendar, it falls between January 13-16.

Prelims Bits For Bhogi Festival

• Bhogi is celebrated every year on the last day of Margazhi or first day of the four-day Pongal festival, which is one of the prominent harvest festivals in the country.
• Bhogi is an annual reminder to spring clean our inner self.
• It is primarily celebrated in Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, and Karnataka in honour of Lord Indra, the God of rains and clouds.
• Farmers worship Lord Indra on this day, also known as Indran, seeking his blessings for good rains, bountiful harvest, and prosperity.
• It is the day to get rid of negative energy and turn one’s mind towards salvation and make a fresh start.
• Our puranas and ancient texts such as Silappathigaram also highlight Bhogi, the important time when sun, the source of all energy, starts moving towards the northern hemisphere.

Lohri

In News

• Yesterday was Lohri which also known as Lohadi or Lal Loi.
• It is a festival that marks the harvest season in Punjab.
• Lohri falls on January 13 of each year.

Prelims Bits On Lohri

• Lohri is a very signif­icant religious and cultural festival,
• Lohri is a festival for Offering thanksgiving to the Sun God.
• Lohri her­alds the beginning of the end of the dark, bleak, dreary winters and the beginning of warm days. Anthropological­ly it is related to the agricultural calendar. It heralds the harvesting of the Rabi crops.
• A bonfire is lit and oblations are offered to the sacred fire.
• ‘Aadr aaye diladar jaye'(may honour come and poverty vanish) in the form of sesame, peanuts, popcorn, puffed rice and jaggery.
• Cosmologically the fire has a close cultural connection with the institutions of family and kinship, the rituals, cus­ toms, ceremonies of birth, marriage and death which in­ voke Agni.
• The festival of Lohri signifies abundance, boun­ty and the community spirit. The fire is considered to be animate, alive and pure.

Makar Sankranti, Lohri, and Pongal 2022: Date, History, and Significance

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