Safeguarding Aadhaar Data

Recently, Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) first issued a warning to the public not to share a photocopy of their Aadhaar with any organisation, and then withdrew the warning over worries that it was open to “misinterpretation”.

What is the Unique Identification Authority of India?

The UIDAI is a statutory authority established on 12th July 2016 by the Government of India under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, following the provisions of the Aadhaar Act 2016. The UIDAI was initially set up by the Government of India in January 2009, as an attached office under the aegis of the Planning Commission.

The UIDAI is mandated to assign a 12-digit unique identification (UID) number (Aadhaar) to all the residents of India.

As of 31st October 2021, UIDAI had issued 131.68 crore Aadhaar numbers.

What was the Initial Warning from UIDAI?

The UIDAI warned the “general public not to share photocopy of one’s Aadhaar with any organisation, because it can be misused”.

  • Rather, it recommended using “a masked Aadhaar, which displays only the last four digits of the Aadhaar number,”.
  • It also asked the public to avoid using public computers to download their e-Aadhaar.
  • In that case, they were reminded to “permanently delete” any downloaded copies of the same.
  • Only those organisations that have obtained a User License from the UIDAI can use Aadhaar to establish the identity of a person.
  • Moreover, hotels and movie theatres are not allowed to collect or maintain copies of the Aadhaar cards, due to the Aadhaar Act.

What are the Concerns related to Aadhaar?

Misuse of Aadhaar Data:

  • Many private entities in the country insist on an Aadhaar card, and users often share the details.
  • There’s no clarity on how these entities keep these data private and secure.
  • More recently with Covid-19 testing, many would have noticed that most labs insist on Aadhaar card data, including a photocopy.
  • It should be noted that it is not mandatory to share this for getting a Covid-19 test done.

Excessive Imposition:

  • In 2018, the Supreme Court ruled that Aadhaar authentication can be made mandatory only for benefits paid from the Consolidated Fund of India and that alternative means of identity verification must always be provided when Aadhaar fails.
  • Children were exempt but aadhaar continues to be routinely demanded from children for basic rights such as anganwadi services or school enrolment.

Arbitrary exclusions:

  • Central and state governments have made routine use of the “ultimatum method” to enforce the linkage of welfare benefits with Aadhaar.
  • In this method, benefits are simply withdrawn or suspended if the recipients fail to comply with the linkage instructions in good time, such as failing to link their job card, ration card or bank account with Aadhaar.

Fraud-prone Aadhaar-enabled Payment System (AePS):

  • AePS is a facility that enables someone who has an Aadhaar-linked account to withdraw money from it anywhere in India through biometric authentication with a “business correspondent” – a kind of mini-ATM.
  • There have been rampant abuses of this facility by corrupt business correspondents.

10 Indian YouTube Channels to watch – [PART-2]

Most Popular Indian YouTube Channels to watch

1. Mr Indian Hacker

Dilraj Singh Rawat

Dilraj Singh Rawat, born in 1996, is from Ajmer, Rajasthan. He launched his channel ‘Mr Indian Hacker’ in 2012. “Mr. Indian Hacker” is known for his exciting science experiment videos. He calls his subscribers “titanium army” as he believes we all have titanium in our blood. He always focused on gaining practical knowledge rather than theoretical knowledge. His experiment videos are fun, engaging, and at times even dangerous. Currently he has 25.8 Million Subscribers.

2. Emiway Bantai

Bilal Shaikh is a Mumbai Based Rap Artist. His songs and raps are super popular with the youth of the country. His street style accent and perfect flow of words made him people’s favourite in no time. His collaboration with another famous rapper, Raftaar, for the song #Sadak was his breakthrough. He launched his channel in 2013. Currently, he has 17.6 Million subscribers.

3. The village cooking channel- VCC

Periyathambi is the face of The village cooking channel. This 83 year old, Tamil Nadu based cook, has gone viral over the net. He has been cooking for the villagers for the past five decades. The channel has 16.7 Million subscribers currently. It was launched in 2018.

4.Khan GS Research Centre

5. Mountain Trekker

Varun is a travel Vlogger. He posts travel hacks, tips and tricks for an amazing travel experience. He emphasizes on hacks for budget traveling so more and more people can explore the world. His videos are recorded in Hindi and document his thrilling experiences from different corners of the planet. Currently his channel has 1.55 Million subscribers.

The Korean War! Why?

The Korean War started on June 25,1950 and ended in July 27,1953.

At the end of WorldWar2 in 19545, Korea was freed from Japanese control. North Korea was occupied by the soviets while South Korea was occupied by American forces.

By 1948, the country was divided in half at the 38th parallel with the capitalist south by Syngman Rhee and the communist north by Kim-il-Sung.

The soviet troops withdrew from Korea in 1948 and the US troops withdrew in 1949.

However North and South Korea as enemies of one another would not accept the border between them as permanent. The North Koreans attacked south Korea on June 25th, 1950. Advancing across the 38th parallel. Around 75,000 troops of the North Korean peoples army defeated the Republic of Koreans army with success, capturing the capital city of Seoul, then occupying the whole of South Korea except for Busan.

this was the problem, as the president Truman and the United States wanted to contain the spread of communism by preventing the domino effect i.e., if Korea fell, so would other countries to the ideology

South Korea appealed for support, and the United States pushed a resolution through the United nations Security Council. the USSR didn’t used its VETO power and it was boycotting the council because the new communist China was not accepted. In China’s seat was the pro-U.S Chinese Nationalist Government of Taiwan. An appeal was made by the Security Council for North Korea to withdraw its troops, but was ignored. As a result, approval was granted for UN army made of international force of 16 nations to send help to South Korea , commanded by general MacArthur.

The UN troops composed mainly of Americans, landed in South korea in early july, but were soon pushed back on defense by the North Korean forces, forming a perimeter around Busan to defend the line until reinforcements arrived in August.

On, September 15, the US Marines X Corps launched an amphibious assault at Inchon. The North Korean troops were pushed back on the retreat over the 38th parallel, and soon Seoul was recaptured along with the whole of South Korea by the end of the month.

On, October 12th they captured Pyongyang, the North Korean Capital and the Yalu River, which was the border with the communist China. China retaliated by helping North koreans by sending the Chinese troops. The UN troops were pushed over by the new forces with heavy losses.

Again by January 1951, Chinese and North Korean troops had captured Seoul. In june 1952, more US troops were sent to Korea, eventually driving the North Korea to 38th parallel and stabilizing the front.

in July, peace talks began, but there was no compromising. Meanwhile fighting continued and the American Pilots fought in the air against Soviet pilots using Chinese jet fighters.

General Dwight D Eisenhower took over as a president in early 1953 and sought an end to the war. After 2years of negotiations, and armistice was signed on July 27th, 1953 at Panmunjom, on the 38th parallel

A demilitarized zone was setup which stands till date.

MOB VIOLENCE AND LYNCHING

Mob Violence or Lynching is one of the major challenges to State authority. Though it can be done by group of people in rage, typically it involves vigilante group, i.e. self-appointed doer of justice, who keep watch over people and punish them in their own way (Vigilantism). In both forms, it goes against the rule of law and notion of a civilized society due to the destructive expression of emotions in it for immediate gratification.

About Mob Violence/lynching 

Mob Violence or Mob Lynching is defined as targeted homicidal aggression, including killing, against a person/s by a group of people or mob to Punish for a crime actually committed or mere suspicion based on allegations or misinformation.

Fundamentally, it is seen in two ways as- 

  • Defence of society, i.e. protest against anarchy, due to failure of law enforcement agencies in curbing the issues of cow theft, kidnapping, crimes etc. or 
  • Offence against society, i.e. return of anarchy, as it goes against the fundamental principle of law, i.e. what the law provides must be taken by lawful means. Self-appointed people holds no right to undertake law enforcement 

Ethically, it goes against the moral principles like fairness and reasonableness. If it is not controlled, it may give rise to social hatred with increased tendency of mass criminal outburst, ultimately leading to a state of anarchy.

Reasons behind Lynching

  • Religious Beliefs or Principles: Being a multi-religious society, the religious beliefs or principles play an important role with imposition of one’s beliefs on others.
  • Socio-cultural Influences: This includes the historical socio-cultural norms or moral principles which govern a person’s behaviour or attitude towards an action. E.g. From 2000-2012, nearly 2,097 lynching due to witchcraft were reported from 12 states of India. 
  • Feelings of Fear or Hate: Often, the rumours of being kidnappers or actual action of person/s give rise to lynching. E.g. the killing of Sadhus in Palghar on rumour.
  • Lack of trust in the efficacy of laws: Either due to dissatisfaction from implementation of laws or judicial delays, mob justice is seen by non-state actors as a discharge of public duty.

Solution to Lynching 

In Tehseen Poonawalla vs UOI (2018), Supreme Court issued preventive, remedial and punitive guidelines to deal with mob violence and lynching . Calling it a “horrendous act of mobocracy”, the Supreme Court also asked Parliament to establish lynching as a separate offence with punishment. Presently, it is mainly dealt under various sections of IPC with a handful of states taking legal initiatives.

  • Societal Approach: Regulation of social behavior is the first step to stop mob violence and protect rights conferred to the citizens.
  • Governmental Approach: Apart from bringing laws and guiding society on social behaviour, the government should apply emotional intelligence to handle conflicts with equal condemnation of social and political violence to avoid revenge tendencies. 
  • People-centric Approach: As the people make society and government, people must seek true freedom through a life based on reason (objectivity or rational will), self-control and virtues of empathy, compassion, and humanity.

Caste based Census

Bihar government has announced that it will undertake a socio-economic survey of all castes and communities (SECC). The Socio-Economic and Caste Census (SECC) was conducted in 2011 for the first time since 1931. SECC is meant to canvass every Indian family, both in rural and urban India, and ask about their:

  • Economic status, so as to allow Central and State authorities to come up with a range of indicators of deprivation, permutations, and combinations of which could be used by each authority to define a poor or deprived person.
  • It is also meant to ask every person their specific caste name to allow the government to re-evaluate which caste groups were economically worse off and which were better off.
  • SECC has the potential to allow for a mapping of inequalities at a broader level.

The Census provides a portrait of the Indian population, while the SECC is a tool to identify beneficiaries of state support. Since the Census falls under the Census Act of 1948, all data are considered confidential, whereas according to the SECC website, “all the personal information given in the SECC is open for use by Government departments to grant and/or restrict benefits to households.”

Pros

  • Helpful in Managing Social Equity Programmes: India’s social equality programmes cannot be a success without the data and a caste census would help fix that.
  • Due to the lack of data, there is no proper estimate for the population of OBCs, groups within the OBCs and more.
  • Census enumeration would yield a wealth of demographic information (sex ratio, mortality rate, life expectancy), educational data (male and female literacy, ratio of school-going population, number of graduates) and policy relevant information about economic conditions (house-type, assets, occupation) of the OBCs’.
  • A caste-based census could go a long way in bringing a measure of objectivity to the debate on reservations.

Cons:

  • Caste has an emotive element and thus there exist the political and social repercussions of a caste census. There have been concerns that counting caste may help solidify or harden identities.
  • Caste Is Context-specific: Caste has never been a proxy for class or deprivation in India, it constitutes a distinct kind of embedded discrimination that often transcends class. For example:
  • People with Dalit last names are less likely to be called for job interviews even when their qualifications are better than that of an upper-caste candidate.
  • They are also less likely to be accepted as tenants by landlords. Thus, difficult to measure.
  • Marriage to a well- educated, well-off Dalit man still sparks violent reprisals among the families of upper-caste women every day across the country.

10 Popular Indian YouTube Channels to watch- [PART -1]

YouTube is an American online video sharing and social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by Google, and is the second most visited website, after Google Search.

YouTube is a free to use service and a can be a great space for teens to discover things they like. For many young people, YouTube is used to watch music videos, comedy shows, how to guides, recipes, hacks and more. Teens also use the video-sharing service to follow their favourite vloggers (video blogger), subscribe to other YouTubers and celebrities they are interested in.

When YouTube was created in 2005, it was intended for people to post and share original video content. But since then it’s also become both an archive for storing favourite clips, songs and jokes, as well as a marketing site for companies to promote their products.

Most Popular YouTube Channels to Watch

BB KI VINES

1. BB ki Vines

A Maharashtrian born in Vadodara, Gujarat, Bhuvan Bam launched ‘BB ki Vines’ (https://www.youtube.com/c/bbkivines) in 2015. Currently the channel has 25.4 Million subscribers. BB Ki Vines is a channel that chronicles the everyday happenings in the lives of BB and his family members.

TECHNICAL GURUJI

2. Technical Guruji

Ajmer born Gaurav Chaudhary, launched ‘Technical Guruji’ (https://www.youtube.com/c/Technicalguruji) in 2015. Currently the channel has 22.1 Million Subscribers. This is a channel that is for producing YouTube videos concerning technology in Hindi.

Actor Varun

3. Actor Varun

Varun Pruthi launched this channel with aims at making social experiments, inspirational and motivational videos. His channel has 4.21 Million Subscribers currently. (https://www.youtube.com/c/ActorVarun)

Sandeep Maheshwari

4. Sandeep Maheshwari

An Indian entrepreneur, photographer, and motivational speaker, Sandeep Maheshwari is a renowned name among youngsters. He is also the founder and CEO of Imagesbazaar.com, the largest collection of Indian stock images that have made him one of the fastest-growing entrepreneurs in India. Currently, his channel has 22.8 million subscribers. (https://www.youtube.com/c/SandeepSeminars)

Facttechz

5. Facttechz

Rajesh Kumar is a 20-year-old YouTuber who hails from West Bengal and has created over 500+ videos till now. His YouTube channel showcases topics related to mystery theories, culture, astronomy, tech, scientific facts, etc. This channel has 14.1 Million subscribers. (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCGdPm5Aq081vVD7ih9jZf6Q)

The rest will be uploaded in the next blog…

India expected to commission 10 thermal coal power plants in 2022-23, add 7,010 MW

India is expected to commission 10 thermal power units of an aggregate 7,010 MW capacity in fiscal year 2022-23 (April-March), the largest such addition since 2017-18, according to a status report by the federal power ministry released June 3.

Market participants believe the capacity addition may bode well for coal consumption in the coming years.Of the 7,010 MW capacity, 3,580 MW will be under the union government and 3,430 MW will be under various states.

Most of the upcoming generation units already have fuel supply agreements with various subsidiaries of state-run Coal India Ltd., according to Central Electricity Authority, or CEA.As much as 3,300 MW of upcoming capacity is expected to source coal from captive coal blocks allocated to these units, while the 1,600 MW Telangana plant will procure coal from state-run Singareni Collieries Company Ltd.

Essar Power to sell transmission asset to Adani for Rs 1,913 crore

Essar Power Transmission Company Limited (EPTCL), an arm of Essar Power, has 465-km transmission lines across three Indian states. The asset transacted is an operational 400 kV (kilovolt) inter-state transmission line linking Mahan in Singrauli, Madhya Pradesh to Sipat pooling substation in Bilaspur, Chattisgarh.

Essar Power Limited, has entered into a definitive agreement with Adani Transmission Limited (ATL) to sell one of its two transmission lines for Rs 1,913 crore, the companies said Friday.

Essar Power Transmission Company Limited (EPTCL), an arm of Essar Power, has 465-km transmission lines across three Indian states.

Punjab CM visits Moosewala's house to express condolences to family

Moosewala was shot dead by some unidentified assailants on May 29.

Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann on Friday visited the house of Sidhu Moosewala, days after the Punjabi singer was shot dead.

Mr. Mann reached Moosa village to express his condolences to the bereaved family. Heavy police security has been deployed outside the residence of Moosewala.

Punjab CM visits Moosewala’s house to express condolences to family

Moosewala was shot dead by some unidentified assailants on May 29.

Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann on Friday visited the house of Sidhu Moosewala, days after the Punjabi singer was shot dead.

Mr. Mann reached Moosa village to express his condolences to the bereaved family. Heavy police security has been deployed outside the residence of Moosewala.

How to become a philanthropist

 Being a philanthropist, or someone who offers their time, money, or reputation to philanthropic causes, maybe a highly fulfilling experience.

Philanthropy is not solely the domain of the wealthy. The literal definition is ‘humanity’s love.’ It is simply the desire to make a difference in the lives of others, and it is something that anyone of us can do.

You could believe that improving the world through humanitarian actions necessitates writing multimillion-dollar checks. But the reality is that anyone may become a philanthropist, according to philanthropist Amit Soni from Indore.

There are many ways to make a lasting impact on the planet, a community, or a single person, regardless of your income level. Through this article, Amit Soni from Indore, organizing philanthropic events and activities, wants to share five ways to become a philanthropist and make a difference. After reading this, we hope you’ll be motivated to consider generosity from a new perspective.

Philanthropy is practiced by many organizations, particularly those in the non-profit sector. Working as a philanthropist can take many forms, including more than just providing money. Understanding the various options available to philanthropists will help you navigate your charity giving more efficiently. 

1. Share Your Expertise

Your skills and expertise are equally as significant as money when it comes to charity. If you’re an excellent cook, you can always volunteer to assist in the kitchen of a soup kitchen. Alternatively, if you’re talented in the arts, you may put on an exhibition and donate the revenues to charity.

Sharing your expertise not only helps others in their professional endeavors, but it also helps you. There are a lot of young professionals asking for help. Take a rookie under your wing if you find someone who has potential but needs help. Share the lessons you’ve learned the hard way throughout the years.

2. Become a volunteer

Volunteering is an excellent way to apply your expertise and talents to a cause that you care about. There is a volunteer opportunity for everyone, from community gardening to coaching a youth basketball team to helping abroad. Look for volunteer opportunities. You can look for volunteer opportunities online or keep an eye out for posters and signs in your neighborhood asking for assistance. 

Also, you can become active in a specific group for longer than a one-time event. Check if any organizations provide year-round volunteer programs where participants are trained and allocated work. Look for areas where volunteers are needed. There may be a location where volunteers are in short supply. Find out where an organization you care about needs extra help and offer your services. 

3. Giving money

We’re all accustomed to making a one-time or recurring charitable donation, but if you’re planning to give a bigger sum, you might consider using a philanthropic structure to ensure your money is dispersed efficiently.

Here are some of the structures you might use on your own:

-Testamentary or Will Trust: A trust established after a benefactor’s death to fund a specific charitable cause.

-A private charity trust has been established by a donor and is required to finance specific philanthropic causes.

-A gift fund is a foundation that collects donations for the sole purpose of funding a specific organization.

Instead of giving directly to an organization, you may fund an education grant or create a professional reward to help individuals.

4. Random Act of Kindness

Giving your best self to others without expecting anything in return is what a Random Act of Kindness is all about. It’s simply doing something nice for someone else without being asked or expecting anything in return. The best aspect of performing a random act of kindness is that it usually requires little time or money yet may make someone’s day. Here are some suggestions:

  • Place spare change in a parking meter for someone.

  • Send a Facebook message to someone complimenting them.

  • Pick up trash on the ground and put it in the garbage

  • Instead of drinking your morning coffee, purchase a cup for someone else.

  • Write a thank-you note to someone who inspires you.

  • Text a friend to share your gratitude for something they did for you

  • Be on time (don’t waste others’ time).

Here are some suggestions for people who decided to start their philanthropic journey and don’t know where to start. Becoming a philanthropist is not always about money. You have the option of donating your knowledge, time and service, voice and influence, and, of course, money. Making a plan for how you want to give is all it takes to become a philanthropist, says Amit Soni from Indore. 


The Indian Islands

What is an Island?

An island is any area of land which is smaller than the smallest continent and is entirely surrounded by water.

The major islands groups of India are Andaman and Nicobar Archipelago (A chain of islands similar in origin) in Bay of Bengal and Lakshadweep islands in Arabian Sea.

How are The Andaman and Nicobar Islands formed?

Islands were formed due to collision between Indian Plate and Burma Minor Plate [part of Eurasian Plate][Similar to formation of Himalayas].

These Islands are southward extension of Arakan Yoma range [Myanmar][Arakan Yoma in itself is an extension of Purvanchal Hills].

It consists of two groups of islands at the southeastern edge of the Bay of Bengal. The peaks of a submerged mountain range. The Andaman Islands and their neighbors to the south, the Nicobar Islands form an arc stretching southward for some 620 miles (1,000 km) between Myanmar(Burma) and the island of Sumatra, Indonesia. The arc constitutes the boundary between the Bay of Bengal to the west and the Andaman Sea to the east. Port Blair, (on South Andaman Island) is the territorial capital.

  • The Andaman and Nicobar islands extend from 6° 45′ N to 13° 45′ N and from 92° 10′ E to 94° 15′ E for a distance of about 590 km.
  • The Andaman islands are divided into three main islands i.e. North, Middle and South.
  • Duncan passage separates Little Andaman from South Andaman.
  • The Great Andaman group of islands in the north is separated by the Ten Degree Channel from the Nicobar group in the south.
  • Port Blair, the capital of Andaman Nicobar Islands lies in the South Andaman.
  • Among the Nicobar islands, the Great Nicobar is the largest. It is the southernmost island and is very close to Sumatra island of Indonesia. The Car Nicobar is the northernmost.
  • Most of these islands are made of tertiary sandstone, limestone and shale resting on basic and ultrabasic volcanoes [Similar to Himalayas].
  • THE BARREN AND NARCONDAM ISLANDS, north of Port Blair, are volcanic islands [these are the only active volcanoes in India][There are no active volcanoes in main land India].
  • Some of the islands are fringed with coral reefs. Many of them are covered with thick forests. Most of the islands are mountainous.
  • Saddle peak (737 m) in North Andaman is the highest peak.

Climatic conditions

Andaman and Nicobar Islands climate is a warm tropical climate, with the presence of irregular rainfall during the south-west monsoon. Sea breezes are also common in the tropical climate of Andaman and Nicobar.

The climate in Andaman and Nicobar Islands is characterized with a minimum of 23° C temperature; the maximum temperature in the Andaman and Nicobar climate is 31° C. Thus, it can be said that the climate of Andaman and Nicobar Islands is moderate: the temperature is neither too hot nor too cold in the Island.

Another typical feature of Andaman and Nicobar climate is humidity. Andaman and Nicobar Islands is located in the Bay of Bengal; therefore, it goes without mention that the humidity in Andaman and Nicobar is relatively higher. The relative humidity in Andaman and Nicobar Islands is 70 to 90%

Moreover, there is no extreme in the climate at Andaman and Nicobar Islands, except the rains and storms. Andaman and Nicobar Islands experience monsoon season in two phases: May to mid September and November to mid December. From November to December, Andaman and Nicobar group of islands witnesses north-easterly gale; and from May to October, the climate experiences south-westerly gale: it is only between January to April that Andaman and Nicobar Islands experiences calm weather.

JAMES WEBB SPACE TELESCOPE (JWST)

The European Ariane 5 rocket launched NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), the biggest and most powerful space telescope yet constructed, from French Guiana, on the northeast coast of South America.

It is the successor of the Hubble Telescope and most powerful infrared telescope of National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA).

It is designed to explore a period known as the Epoch of Reionization, which came after the dark ages that followed the big bang. The telescope will study the atmospheres of a wide diversity of exoplanets. It will also search for atmospheres like Earth’s, and for the signatures of key substances such as methane, water, oxygen, carbon dioxide, and complex organic molecules, in hopes of finding the building blocks of life.

Goals 

  • Search for the first galaxies that formed after the Big Bang. 
  • Determine how galaxies evolved from their earlier formation until now.
  • Observe the formation of stars from the first stages to the formation of planetary systems.
  • Measure the physical and chemical properties of planetary systems and investigate the potential for life in such systems

ORBIT 

  • JWST will be finally placed in second Lagrange Point (L2).
  • Webb’s orbit follows a special path around L2 that allows it to stay on Earth’s night side (directly ‘behind’ the Earth as viewed from the Sun) and track along with Earth while moving around the Sun. 
  • As an infrared observatory, Webb must be protected from all bright, hot sources to see the faint heat signals of distant objects in the universe. Because Webb will always stay on Earth’s night side as it moves around the Sun, its orbit ensures that one side of its sunshield will continuously face the Sun, Earth and Moon to block their view from the telescope’s optics.

Features that make it special

  • While looking away from the Sun, JWST features one huge mirror with a diameter of 21 feet (the height of a standard two-story structure) that will collect infrared light flowing in from the deep space. 
  • It will be protected by a five-layer, tennis court-sized, kite-shaped sunscreen that will block the sun’s heat and maintain the exceptionally cold temperatures that the sensors are meant to work at.
  • Temperatures on the sun-facing side may reach 110°C, while the temperature on the opposite side is kept at –200° to –230°C. 
  • To detect the exceedingly weak heat signals from faraway galaxies, extremely low temperatures are required. 
  • The mirror, as well as the sunscreen, are much too huge to fit inside any rocket. They were designed to be collapsible and would be unfolded in space. 

India’s Start up Ecosystem

Recently, the number of unicorns in India reached the 100-mark. One unicorn means a startup of at least Rs 7,500 crore turnover. The total valuation of these unicorns is USD 330 billion, that is over Rs 25 lakh crore. The average annual growth rate of Indian unicorns is more than that of the U.S., the U.K. and many other countries.

  • A unicorn is any privately owned firm with a market capitalization of more than USD 1 billion.
  • It denotes new entities dedicated to offering creative solutions and new business models, among other things.
  • There are several categories like fintech, Edtechs, B2B (Business-to-Business) companies, etc.

India has become the 3rd largest start-up ecosystem in the world after the US and China. 44 Indian start-ups have achieved unicorn status in 2021 taking the overall tally of unicorns to 83, most of which are in the services sector. India has seen such rapid growth in unicorns due to several strategic as well as conditional reasons.

Government of India is understanding the value of working with disruptive innovators across the value chain and using their innovations to improve public service delivery. The pandemic accelerated the adoption of digital services by consumers helping start-ups and new-age ventures build tech-focused businesses for customers. Many Indians moved to online services exploring a host of services ranging from food delivery and Edu-tech to e-grocery. he growth of Digital Payments is another aspect that aided the unicorn the most.

Challenges:

Increasing Investments Do Not Ensure Success of a Startup: Amid the Covid-19 crisis, when the central banks have released a global glut of liquidity, money is no more a difficult task to raise.

The billions of dollars being invested in startups represent the large bets on distant outcomes, and not value generation by way of revenues. Plus, one cannot assume the high rate of survival of these startups with such investments, as it can be assured by profits.

India, still a Marginal Player in the Space Sector: While India’s startups in the fintech and e-commerce sector are doing exceptionally well, the space startup sector remains an outlier.

This is despite the fact that India is a leading space-faring country with end-to-end capabilities to make satellites, develop augmented launch vehicles and deploy interplanetary missions.

The reason for the lack of independent private participation in space includes the absence of a framework to provide transparency and clarity in laws.

Indian Investors Unwilling to Take Risks: The big investors in India’s startup sector are from overseas, Japan’s SoftBank, China’s Alibaba, and Sequoia from the US.

That’s because India does not have a serious venture capital industry with an appetite for risk. The country’s established conglomerates have mostly stuck to traditional businesses.

The legendary Michael Jackson – some unknown facts

The 8th child of fair poor family, Michael Jackson was beloved singer as well as songwriter. He was the part of his family band ‘The Jackson 5’. Here are some unknown facts about this astonishing singer:-

  1. At a very young age, his father forced him and his brothers to sing.

2. Sometimes his father used to beat when he sang the song in a wrong way.

3. He met Princess Diana, Princess of Whales at Wembley Stadium in 1988. They had a very close friendship.

4. In 1988, Jackson did his first Western advertisement commercial in the the then USSR.

5. He was gifted 5000 pound elephant.

6. He was awarded with 23 Guinness World Records, 40 Billboard Awards, 13 Grammys, and 26 American Music Awards.

7. Jackson’s skin changed because of Skin disease called ‘Vitiligo’.

8. Michael Jackson was the first black artist to air on MTV with his music video for Billie Jean.

9. He invented gravity defying shoes.

10. He loved Mexican, and Japanese Sushi.

11. His favourite character was ‘Pinocchio’.

12. He once tried to buy ‘Marvel Comics’.

13. Jackson once had a pet chimpanzee called Bubbles.

14. On the day he passed away (June 25th, 2009) Wikipedia, Twitter and AOL all simultaneously crashed at 3:15PM.

15. An island in the Caribbean once created Michael Jackson stamps.

16. His father, Joseph Jackson, was a boxer, steelworker, and a guitarist but to provide for his family, he worked as a crane operator.

17. In 1983, with around 47 million viewers, Motown was a huge success where Jackson performed “Billie Jean” and showed his famous dance move called “The Moonwalk.”

18. Jackson’s animals have disappeared. Just after his death his animals were sent to other jails, or other owners.

19. For the filming of the song “Beat It”, Michael Jackson casted 80 members of two Los Angeles rival street gangs “Crips” and “Bloods” to foster peace between them and add authenticity.

20. MJ was a big fan of “The Three Stooges,” an American vaudeville and comedy act.