Civil Service Bytes

Here are some key points you need to know: The bill seeks to add 106 inland waterways to the existing six National Waterways on the recommendations of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Transport, Tourism and Culture and comments of several state governments The bill will also look after the renovation and maintenance of the existing waterways Out of the 106 new waterways, 18 have already been identified. These include five waterways each from Karnataka and Meghalaya, three each from Maharashtra and Kerala, one each from Tamil Nadu and Rajasthan The bill also aims to help the Inland Waterways Authority of India (IWAI) to develop the feasible stretches for Shipping and Navigation. Let us look at the six existing National Waterways in India: National Waterway 1 (NW1) The National Waterway No. 1 uses a 1,620-kilometre stretch of the Ganges River. It was declared a national waterway in the year 1986 and runs from Allahabad in Uttar Pradesh to Haldia in West Bengal....

Asia is the world's largest peak continent. Mount Everest in the Himalayas is the highest  in  the world. The Dead Sea in the West is the lowest point  in  the world. The coldest point in Asia is the frozen waste  of  Northern Siberia. Himalayas is the example of young mountain  range. The 'Takla Makan' is one of several deserts  in  the  Central Asia. Singapore is one of the world's densely populated  places. India is the world's largest democracy while  China  is  a  communist power. The booming 'Tiger Economy' has developed in countries such as Taiwan which borders  the  Pacific  Ocean. Norilsk is one of several era industrial complexes built in Russia. It is a processing centre of rich minerals reserves found  nearby. Mumbai is India's leading industrial city and  has  a  thriving  stock market. Half of the world's oil and gas reserves are  in Asia. J...

Sirocco is a type of hot wind blowing from Sahara  to Mediterranean. Swahili is the oldest surviving African language. The country Zaire has the maximum Hydro- electric  Power  potential  in Africa. The country Djibouti is facing the Strait of Bab-el-Mandeb. Dar-es-Salam is the easternmost terminus of Tanjara railways which begins from Katanga  mineral  belt. Ostrich is the flightless bird of Kalahari Desert. Ethiopia is the place of origin of coffee. Pretoria is the administrative capital of S. Africa. Nilots are the aborigines of upper    Nile. River Zaire is the only river that crosses the equator  twice. Nubian  desert  lies  in Egypt. The countries Ethiopia and Somalia form  the  Horn  of Africa. High Veld is the temperate grassland of South  Africa. Africa is the most tropical of all   continents. Most part of Kalahari Desert lies in Botswana. The Farmers of the Egypt ar...

Here are the major topics which have been in news recently and there is a possibility that UPSC might pose a question from any of the latest happenings. Policy to adopt world heritage sites UNESCO, with the help of 21 member World Heritage Committee and advisory bodies such as International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS) and International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), within the framework of its Operational Guidelines, decides about the cultural and natural sites to be included on the World Heritage list.  Such cultural and natural sites must display the necessary Outstanding Universal Value (OUV), fulfill one or more out of 10 prescribed criteria (as given below), maintain the condition of authenticity and integrity and should be in a good state of conservation.  There are 32 sites from India declared as World Heritage sites - 25 are cultural sites and 7 are natural sites. The Criteria for the assessment of Outstanding Universal Value (OUV) as per UNE...

TRADITIONAL THEATRE When there is intensity of emotions, there is a natural kind of rhythm in the expressions. It is this natural rhythm from which emerges the traditional theatre-form. In this art form, sorrow, joy, frustration, hatred and love have their role and place . In this social portrayal, there is also the individual’s role which is given due importance. Traditional theatre forms incorporate not only the common man’s interests but there is also a classical element in them. This classical facet, however, takes on regional, local and folk coloring. It is possible, that those associated with the classical world of Sanskrit drama, went to the neighbouring regions after its decline and intermingled with the local theatre forms. This kind of synthesis, give-and-take must have taken place on various levels such as written, verbal, classical, contemporary, national and local. In traditional theatre forms there are special styles of dance portraying the entry on to the stage ...

A puppet  Most remarkable and ingenious inventions of the man.  More than his live counterpart  More captivating and enduring in a puppet. Ancient Hindu philosophers have paid the greatest tribute to puppeteers. They have likened God Almighty to a puppeteer and the entire universe to a puppet stage.  Srimad Bhagavata , the great epic depicting the story of Lord Krishna in his childhood say that with three strings- Satta ,  Raja  and  Tama , the God manipulates each object in the universe as a marionette.  In Sanskrit terminology  Puttalika  and  Puttika  means ‘little sons’. The root of Puppet is derived from the latin word ‘Pupa’ meaning a doll. India is said to be the home of puppets, but it is yet to awaken to its unlimited possibilities. The earliest reference to the art of puppetry is found in Tamil classic ‘ Silappadikaaram ’ written around the 1st or 2nd century B.C.  , the masterly treatise on dramatur...