Daily Prelims Notes 16 August 2021

August 16, 2021
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Daily Prelims Notes

16 August 2021

Table Of Contents

1. Wild Balsams

Subject – Environment

Context – Kerala researchers identify three new species in the Western Ghats region and Idukki district.

Concept –

Researchers have identified three new species of wild balsam in Kerala, of which two have been named after Communist veteran and former Chief Minister V.S. Achuthanandan and the former Health Minister, K.K. Shailaja.
The species, belonging to the genus Impatiens (family Balsaminaceae), were spotted in the Western Ghats region of southern Kerala and the Idukki district during surveys.
Plants of this genus are popular as ‘Kashithumba’ in Malayalam.

2. Two-Nation Theory

Subject – History

Concept –

The ideology that religion is the determining factor in defining the nationality of Indian Muslims and Hindus was postulated by Muhammad Ali Jinnah, who termed it as the awakening of Muslims for the creation of Pakistan.
This theory held that there were two nations-one belonging to the Hindus and other to the Muslims-living in the territory of India.
Sir Syed Ahmad khan was the first exponent of the Two-Nation Theory in the modern era.
Events such as the Urdu-Hindi controversy (1867), the partition of Bengal (1905), and the Hindu revivalism set the Hindus and the Muslims further apart.

3. Doha Peace Talks

Subject – IR

Context – Taliban taking control over Afghanistan at a rapid pace

Concept –

Talks between the US and Taliban in Doha for a peace agreement, aimed at ending the 17-year-old conflict in Afghanistan.

Background to the Afghan war:

It began when the US launched air strikes one month following the 11 September 2001 attacks and after the Taliban had refused to hand over the man behind them, Osama bin Laden.
The US was joined by an international coalition and the Taliban were quickly removed from power. However, they turned into an insurgent force and continued deadly attacks, destabilising subsequent Afghan governments.
The international coalition ended its combat mission in 2014, staying only to train Afghan forces. But the US continued its own, scaled-back combat operation, including air strikes.
The Taliban has however continued to gain momentum and in 2018 it was found they were active across 70% of Afghanistan.
Nearly 3,500 members of the international coalition forces have died in Afghanistan since the 2001 invasion.
The figures for Afghan civilians, militants and government forces are more difficult to quantify. In a February 2019 report, the UN said that more than 32,000 civilians had died.
US has been exhausted by its long drawn-out involvement in Afghanistan.
The financial aspect has been impacting the US.
This was seen as a hopeless war.

Highlights of the peace talks:

Military troops withdrawal: It lays out a 14-month timetable for the withdrawal of “all military forces of the United States, its allies, and Coalition partners, including all non-diplomatic civilian personnel, private security contractors, trainers, advisors, and supporting services personnel.”
Release of prisoners: The agreement also calls for the release of 5,000 Taliban prisoners and 1,000 “prisoners of the other side” on the first day of intra-Afghan negotiations. The relevant sides have the goal of releasing all the remaining prisoners over the course of the subsequent three months.
Taliban side
- Taliban will take steps “to prevent any group or individual, including al-Qa’ida, from using the soil of Afghanistan to threaten the security of the United States and its allies.”
- Those steps include commitments that the Taliban will instruct its members “not to cooperate with groups or individuals threatening the security of the United States and its allies”.

4. Cyclones

Subject – Geography

Context – Nearly 6,800 people lost their lives in the country over the past three years due to hydrometeorological calamities such as flash floods, landslips and cyclones, and West Bengal has recorded the highest deaths among all States.

Concept –

A tropical cyclone is an intense circular storm that originates over warm tropical oceans and is characterized by low atmospheric pressure, high winds, and heavy rain.
A characteristic feature of tropical cyclones is the eye, a central region of clear skies, warm temperatures, and low atmospheric pressure.
Storms of this type are called hurricanes in the North Atlantic and eastern Pacific and typhoons in South-East Asia and China. They are called tropical cyclones in the southwest Pacific and Indian Ocean region and Willy-willies in north-western
Storms rotate counter-clockwise in the northern hemisphere and clockwise in the southern

The conditions favourable for the formation and intensification of tropical storms are:
- Large sea surface with temperature higher than 27° C.
- Presence of the Coriolis force.
- Small variations in the vertical wind speed.
- A pre-existing weak low-pressure area or low-level-cyclonic circulation.
- Upper divergence above the sea level system.

5. Rani Gaidinliu

Subject – History

Concept –

Gaidinliu (26 January 1915 – 17 February 1993) was a Naga spiritual and political leader who led a revolt against British rule in India.
At the age of 13, she joined the Heraka religious movement of her cousin HaipouJadonang. The movement later turned into a political movement seeking to drive out the British from Manipur and the surrounding Naga areas.
Within the Heraka faith, she came to be considered an incarnation of the Goddess Cherachamdinliu.
Gaidinliu was arrested in 1932 at the age of 16, and was sentenced to life imprisonment by the British rulers.
Jawaharlal Nehru met her at Shillong Jail in 1937, and promised to pursue her release. Nehru gave her the title of “Rani” (“Queen“), and she gained local popularity as Rani Gaidinliu.
She was released in 1947 after India’s independence, and continued to work for the upliftment of her people.
An advocate of the ancestral Naga religious practices, she staunchly resisted the conversion of Nagas to Christianity.
She was honoured as a freedom fighter and was awarded a Padma Bhushan by the Government of India.

6. Sainik School

Subject – Governance

Context – The announcement was made by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his address to the nation on the occasion of 75th Independence Day.

Concept –

Sainik Schools are the brainchild of VK Krishna Menon, who was the Union defence minister from April 1957 to October 1962. Menon conceived this idea in 1961.
These schools are run by the Sainik Schools Society under the Union ministry of defence (MoD).
It prepares students mentally and physically for entry into the National Defence Academy (NDA) and Indian Naval Academy (INA).
MoD run Sainik Schools as joint venture with the respective state governments.

7. National Hydrogen Mission

Subject – Environment

Context – The launch of the National Hydrogen Mission was announced by PM Modi.

Concept –

The aim is to make India a global hub for the production and export ofgreen hydrogen.
The proposal for the National Hydrogen Mission was made in the Budget 2021 to launch NHM that would enable the generation of hydrogen “from green power sources”.
Currently imports 85% of its oil and 53% of gas demand, spending ₹12 trillion annually to meet the energy needs.
As part of the 2015 Paris Agreement, India has pledged to generate 40 per cent of its power through renewable energy — an aim it seeks to fulfil by 2030.

Hydrogen gas –

Hydrogen is a colourless, odourless gas abundant in the Earth’s atmosphere and is utilised for industrial uses such as petroleum refining, aerospace applications and manufacturing of chemicals, steel, and ammonia fertilisers.
Hydrogen is the lightest and first element on the periodic table.Since the weight of hydrogen is less than air, it rises in the atmosphere and is therefore rarely found in its pure form, H2.
At standard temperature and pressure, hydrogen is a nontoxic, nonmetallic, odorless, tasteless, colorless, and highly combustible diatomic gas.
Hydrogen fuel is a zero-emission fuel burned with oxygen.
Molecular hydrogen is not available on Earth in convenient natural reservoirs. Most hydrogen on Earth is bonded to oxygen in water and to carbon in live or dead and/or fossilized biomass. It can be created by splitting water into hydrogen and oxygen.
For industrial processes, hydrogen is extracted primarily through two methods, the gasification of coal or through a process called steam methane reformation (SMR).
In SME, methane from natural gas, when heated with steam, produces carbon monoxide and hydrogen that can be used as fuel.
However, these methods aren’t carbon-friendly, which means they cause vast emissions of greenhouse gasses like carbon dioxide. The hydrogen produced from these methods is called ‘brown’ hydrogen.
Another form of hydrogen, known as ‘blue hydrogen’ is also extracted similarly through SMR but is more carbon-friendly because it captures the carbon dioxide released and stores it, as opposed to emitting it into the atmosphere.
According to WEC, as of 2019, “96 per cent of hydrogen is produced from fossil fuels via carbon intensive processes”. Hydrogen thus obtained is called ‘grey’ hydrogen as the process, though not as expensive as the other methods, releases a lot of carbon dioxide.
Hydrogen can be stored physically as either a gas or a liquid.
- Storage of hydrogen as a gas typically requires high-pressure tanks.
- Storage of hydrogen as a liquid requires cryogenic temperatures because the boiling point of hydrogen at one atmosphere pressure is −252.8°C.
- Hydrogen can also be stored on the surfaces of solids (by adsorption) or within solids (by absorption).
Hydrogen is not a source of energy, like fossil fuels or renewable sources like sunlight and air, but an energy carrier, which means it has to be produced, or extracted, and stored before it can be used.

Green Hydrogen –

Green hydrogen is produced by splitting water into hydrogen and oxygen using an electrolyzer powered by electricity from renewable energy sources such as wind and solar.
Earlier this year, the Indian Oil Corporation Limited announced it would set up the country’s first green hydrogen plant. Reliance Energy followed, saying it would invest Rs 600 billion in building factories to produce green hydrogen among other carbon friendly technologies.

8. Indian Diaspora

Subject – IR

Context – Diaspora group protests in London.

Concept –

The term “diaspora” is derived from the Greek word diaspeire in, which means “dispersion”. Over time, the term evolved, and now loosely refers to any person/s belonging to a particular country with a common origin or culture, but residing outside their homeland for various reasons.
In India, diaspora is commonly understood to include Non-Resident Indians (NRIs), Persons of Indian Origin (PIOs) and Overseas Citizens of India (OCI), of which PIO and OCI card holders were merged under one category — OCI — in 2015.
The Indian migration began in large numbers during the British rule as indentured labourers to former colonies like Fiji, Kenya and Malaysia.
It continued in the post-independence period with Indians from different social strata moving to countries like the United Kingdom, the United States, and Gulf countries.

According to Global Migration Report 2020, India continues to be the largest country of origin of international migrants with a 17.5 million-strong diaspora across the world, and it received the highest remittance of $78.6 billion (this amounts to a whopping 3.4% of India’s GDP) from Indians living abroad.

9. Collegium System

Subject – Polity

Context – Rising judicial vacancies pose challenge

Concept –

It is the system of appointment and transfer of judges that has evolved through judgments of the SC, and not by an Act of Parliament or by a provision of the Constitution.
Evolution of the System:
- First Judges Case (1981):
When asked the Supreme Court of India whether the word “consultation” in the constitutional article 124 mean “concurrence”; the Supreme court overruled this and denied saying that Consultation does not mean concurrence. The President was not bound to make a decision based on the consultation of the Supreme Court.
- Second Judges Case (1993):
  - SC introduced the Collegium system, holding that “consultation” really meant “concurrence”.
  - It added that it was not the CJI’s individual opinion, but an institutional opinion formed in consultation with the two senior-most judges in the SC.
- Third Judges Case (1998):
  - SC on President’s reference expanded the Collegium to a five-member body, comprising the CJI and four of his senior-most colleagues.
- The SC collegium is headed by the CJI and comprises four other senior most judges of the court.
- A HC collegium is led by its Chief Justice and four other senior most judges of that court.
- Names recommended for appointment by a HC collegium reaches the government only after approval by the CJI and the SC collegium.
- Judges of the higher judiciary are appointed only through the collegium system and the government has a role only after names have been decided by the collegium.
- The government’s role is limited to getting an inquiry conducted by the Intelligence Bureau (IB) if a lawyer is to be elevated as a judge in a High Court or the Supreme Court.
  - It can also raise objections and seek clarifications regarding the collegium’s choices, but if the collegium reiterates the same names, the government is bound, under Constitution Bench judgments, to appoint them as judges.

10. Procedure established by law

Subject – Polity

Concept –

The “Procedure Established by Law” means that a law is duly enacted by the legislature or the concerned body is valid only if the correct procedure has been followed to the letter.
The concept has been enshrined in Article 21of the Indian Constitution, which states that “No person shall be deprived of his life or personal liberty except according to the procedure established by law”.
“Due Process of Law” is a doctrine that not only checks if there is a law to deprive the life and personal liberty of a person but also ensures that the law is made fair and just.
- If SC finds that any law as not fair, it will declare it as null and void. This doctrine provides for more fair treatment of individual rights.

11. Poland Restitution law

Subject – IR

Context – Israel condemns Poland restitution law

Concept –

It restricts the rights of Holocaust survivors or their descendants to reclaim property seized by the country’s former communist regime.
The law itself says nothing about the Holocaust or Second World War. Instead it establishes that any administrative decision issued 30 years ago or more can no longer be challenged, meaning that property owners who had their homes or business seized in the communist era can no longer get compensation.

12. Subhadra Kumari Chauhan

Context – Google has doodled Subhadra Kumari Chauhan.

Concept –

Subhadra Kumari Chauhan (16 August 1904– 15 February 1948) was an Indian poet. One of her most popular poems is “Jhansi ki Rani” (about the courageous Queen of Jhansi).
She was known to write constantly, even in the horse cart on the way to school, and her first poem was published at just nine years old. The call for Indian independence reached its height during her early adulthood. As a participant in the Indian Nationalist Movement, she used her poetry to call others to fight for their nation’s sovereignty.

13. Fall of Saigon

Subject – History

Concept –

The Vietnam War, also known as the Second Indo-China War, or in Vietnam, is known as the Resistance War against America. It came to an end on 30 April 1975 with the Fall of Saigon, capital of South Vietnam.
It was a war that raged on in 3 different countries; Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia.
During the war, the American military presence in the south grew steadily from a few thousand in 1954 to around 540,000 in 1968.
The Paris Peace Accords, signed in 1973, resulted in a cease-fire and the peaceful exchange of prisoners of war.
In 1976, Saigon was renamed Ho Chi Minh City.

14. Breakthrough Infections

Subject – Science and Tech

Context – ‘Breakthrough infections not a symptom of vaccine inefficiency’x`

Concept –

ICMR said that a small fraction of those vaccinated with either Covaxin or Covishield have tested positive (i.e. breakthrough” infections).
However, these instances do not undermine the efficacy of the vaccines.
The immune response begins to develop usually two weeks after every dose and there are variations within individuals, too.

What explains infections after vaccination

Healthcare and frontline workers, who were among the first to be vaccinated, were as a population far more exposed to the virus and therefore more susceptible.
Secondly, the emergence of “the highly transmissible second wave (newer variants) ” may have contributed to instances of infection among those vaccinated.
Several variants, which have mutations that have been shown to avoid detection by the immune system, and in some cases reduce the efficacy of vaccines, have been reported globally, including in India.

15. Goods and Services Tax (GST)

Subject – Economy

Context – GST hurdle for PM’s fortified rice plan. At present, the GST rate of 18 per cent is applied on fortified rice kernels (FRK)

Concept –

The Goods and Services Tax (GST) is a value-added tax levied on most goods and services sold for domestic consumption. The GST is paid by consumers, but it is remitted to the government by the businesses selling the goods and services.
Applicable On supply side: GST is applicable on ‘supply’ of goods or services as against the old concept on the manufacture of goods or on sale of goods or on provision of services.
Destination based Taxation: GST is based on the principle of destination-based consumption taxation as against the present principle of origin-based taxation.
Dual GST: It is a dual GST with the Centre and the States simultaneously levying tax on a common base. GST to be levied by the Centre is called Central GST (CGST) and that to be levied by the States is called State GST (SGST).
Import of goods or services would be treated as inter-state supplies and would be subject to Integrated Goods & Services Tax (IGST) in addition to the applicable customs duties.
GST rates to be mutually decided: CGST, SGST & IGST are levied at rates to be mutually agreed upon by the Centre and the States. The rates are notified on the recommendation of the GST Council.
Multiple Rates: Initially GST was levied at four rates viz. 5%, 12%, 16% and 28%. The schedule or list of items that would fall under these multiple slabs are worked out by the GST council.

16. Tribunals

Subject – Polity

Context – The Tribunals Reforms Bill, 2021 was introduced in Lok Sabha by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman

Concept –

Tribunal is a quasi-judicial institution that is set up to deal with problems such as resolving administrative or tax-related disputes.
It performs a number of functions like adjudicating disputes, determining rights between contesting parties, making an administrative decision, reviewing an existing administrative decision and so forth.
A Tribunal, generally, is any person or institution having an authority to judge, adjudicate on, or to determine claims or disputes – whether or not it is called a tribunal in its title.

Tribunals were not part of the original constitution; it was incorporated in the Indian Constitution by 42^nd Amendment Act, 1976.
- Article 323-A deals with Administrative Tribunals.
- Article 323-B deals with tribunals for other matters.
Under Article 323 B, the Parliament and the state legislatures are authorised to provide for the establishment of tribunals for the adjudication of disputes relating to the following matters:
- Taxation
- Foreign exchange, import and export
- Industrial and labour
- Land reforms
- Ceiling on urban property
- Elections to Parliament and state legislatures
- Food stuff
- Rent and tenancy rights
Articles 323 A and 323 B differ in the following three aspects:
- While Article 323 A contemplates the establishment of tribunals for public service matters only, Article 323 B contemplates the establishment of tribunals for certain other matters (mentioned above).
- While tribunals under Article 323 A can be established only by Parliament, tribunals under Article 323 B can be established both by Parliament and state legislatures with respect to matters falling within their legislative competence.
- Under Article 323 A, only one tribunal for the Centre and one for each state or two or more states may be established. There is no question of the hierarchy of tribunals, whereas under Article 323 B a hierarchy of tribunals may be created.

Central Administrative Tribunal

It has jurisdiction to deal with service matters pertaining to the Central Government employees or of any Union Territory, or local or other government under the control of the Government of India, or of a corporation owned or controlled by the Central Government.
- The CAT was set-up on 1 November 1985.
- It has 17 regular benches, 15 of which operate at the principal seats of High Courts and the remaining two at Jaipur and Lucknow.
- These Benches also hold circuit sittings at other seats of High Courts. The tribunal consists of a Chairman, Vice-Chairman and Members.
  - The Members are drawn, both from judicial as well as administrative streams so as to give the Tribunal the benefit of expertise both in legal and administrative spheres.
The appeals against the orders of an Administrative Tribunal shall lie before the Division Bench of the concerned High Court.

State Administrative Tribunal

Article 323 B empowers the state legislatures to set up tribunals for various matters like levy, assessment, collection and enforcement of any of the tax matters connected with land reforms covered by Article 31A.

Tribunals Reforms Bill, 2021

The Tribunals Reforms Bill, 2021 replaces a similar Ordinance promulgated in April 2021 that sought to dissolve eight tribunals that functioned as appellate bodies to hear disputes under various statutes, and transferred their functions to existing judicial forums such as a civil court or a High Court.
The Bill states that the Chairpersons and Members of the tribunal being abolished shall cease to hold office, and they will be entitled to claim compensation equivalent to three months’ pay and allowances for their premature termination.
It also proposes changes in the process of appointment of certain other tribunals.

While the Bill provides for uniform pay and rules for the search and selection committees across tribunals, it also provides for removal of tribunal members. It states that the central government shall, on the recommendation of the Search-cum-Selection Committee, remove from office any Chairperson or a Member, who—

(a) has been adjudged as an insolvent; or
(b) has been convicted of an offence which involves moral turpitude; or
(c) has become physically or mentally incapable of acting as such Chairperson or Member; or
(d) has acquired such financial or other interest as is likely to affect prejudicially his functions as such Chairperson or Member; or
(e) has so abused his position as to render his continuance in office prejudicial to the public interest.

17. Super app

Subject: Science and Technology

Context: Adani group is all set for a foray into the digital world as the chairman held its first internal meeting with employees of Adani Digital Labs, the youngest arm of the billionaire Gautam Adani-controlled conglomerate. The group has decided to design the app for every human in India across the vast ecosystem.

Concept:

A super app is a platform developed by a company offering various services under one umbrella. For example, China’s WeChat,. A physical world comparison of a super app would be a mall, which allows retail space to various brands and shops across businesses and verticals. The concept first emerged in China and southeast Asia
An app is called supper app if it delivers a compelling user experience by leveraging the unique capabilities of the platform. This is a kind of app benefits such as a seamless, integrated, contextualized and efficient user experience.
Unlike mono apps that offer one function in the most convenient way and in an understandable format, the super app advantage is in building an ecosystem that is made capable to provide solutions for different consumer needs.
Super app platform collects a large amount of data about users and increases personalization and the speed of customer engagement on this basis

Advantages

It shortens the way to the desired action. This provides convenience to the user.
User can use it for a variety of services.
It allows for a uniform and individual user experience.
It saves the phone or device memory.
It provides domestic and foreign retailers to easily get access to the market.
A super app do not require businesses to spend a large portion of their budget on development
Super apps also enable a simpler on boarding process for new customers and reduced KYC (Know Your Customer) costs, achieved through automatic sync of data from customers’ all-encompassing social and financial profiles

18. Semiconductor

Context: Mumbai-based conglomerate Tata Group, which has already forayed into manufacturing of hi-tech electronics, is now planning to get into semiconductor manufacturing.

Concept:

Semiconductor, any of a class of crystalline solids intermediate in electrical conductivity between a conductor and an insulator.
Common elemental semiconductors are silicon and germanium. Common semiconductor compounds are such as gallium arsenide or indium antimonide.

Applications

ICs(integrated circuits) and electronic discrete components such as diodes and transistors are made of semiconductors..
Semiconductors were used only as two-terminal devices, such as rectifiers and photo diodes semiconductors are used in solar technology
Used in 3D printing machines
Temperature sensors which used in air conditioners are made with semiconductor devices.
Semiconductors play a central role in the operation of bank ATMs, trains, the internet, communications and other parts of the social infrastructure, such as the medical network used for the care of elderly, among other things.
Semiconductor devices are used in microchips in computer, calculator, solar plates and other electronics devices.
The semiconductor technology have driven systems efficiency, miniaturization and energy savings, which in turn help to preserve the global environment in addition to achieving safe and comfortable life and to create prosperous future.

Advantages

Semiconductors have no requirement of filament heating so semiconductors device such as transistor takes place in almost all vacuum tube applications. Because of the filament vacuum tube requires heat for operation. Advantages
Semiconductor devices are solid-state devices. So they are shockproof.
Semiconductor devices are so small in size which makes it easily portable.
It has Less cost than a vacuum tube.
Semiconductor devices require less input power for operation.
During the operation period, it does not make any noise. So we can see semiconductor devices are noise-free devices.
Semiconductor materials have a longer lifespan. They have an almost unlimited life.

19. Tribal Research Institute (TRI)

Subject: Polity

Context: Minister of Tribal Affairs Sh. Arjun Munda; MoS Tribal Affairs, Renuka Singh Saruta, and Dy. Chief Minister & Minister for Tribal Welfare, Andhra Pradesh, Smt. PamulaPushpa Srivanijivirtually inaugurated the New Building complex for the Tribal Cultural Research and Training Mission (TRI) of Andhra Pradesh on 15th August, 2021 as a part of AzadiKaAmrutMahotsav

Concept:

Tribal Research Institute (TRI) is the research body of the Ministry of Tribal affairs at state level.
It is envisaged that TRIs should focus on their core responsibilities as body of knowledge & research more or less as a think tank for tribal development, preservation of tribal cultural heritage, providing inputs to States for evidence based planning and appropriate legislations, capacity building of tribals and persons / institutions associated with tribal affairs, dissemination of information and creation of awareness ..
Based on recommendations of expert group and NITI Aayog, the budget of TRI scheme has been Rs 120 cr in 2019-20.
Under scheme of “Support to TRIs” many states and UTs have come forward for setting up State TRIs and many existing TRIs have been provided funds for upgrading infrastructure.
The ministry of Tribal Affairs, is funding 27 Tribal Research Institutions for research on various aspects of tribal life and culture.

20. Earthquake

Subject: Geography

Context: The powerful earthquake that hit Haiti on Saturday killed hundreds and injured thousands more. The destruction comes just 11 years after a temblor killed tens of thousands of people, if not hundreds of thousands. Some 100,000 buildings were destroyed in the 2010 quake.

Concept:

The Enriquillo–Plantain Garden fault zone

The powerful earthquake that hit Haiti occurred along the Enriquillo-Plantain Garden fault zone, which cuts across Haiti’s southwestern Tiburon Peninsula. It’s the same fault zone along which the devastating 2010 earthquake occurred
The Enriquillo–Plantain Garden fault zone(EPGFZ or EPGZ) is a system of active coaxial left lateral-moving strike slip faults which runs along the southern side of the island of Hispaniola, where Haiti and the Dominican Republic are located.
The EPGFZ and the Septentrional-Orient fault zone bound a Gonâve Microplate, of the northern Caribbean Plate that is in the process of shearing off the Caribbean Plate and accreting to the North America Plate
An earthquake is shaking or trembling of the earth’s surface, caused by the seismic waves or earthquake waves that are generated due to a sudden movement (sudden release of energy) in the earth’s crust (shallow-focus earthquakes) or upper mantle (some shallow-focus and all intermediate and deep-focus earthquakes).
The point where the energy is released is called the focus or the hypocentre of an earthquake.
The point on the surface directly above the focus is called epicentre (first surface point to experience the earthquake waves).
A line connecting all points on the surface where the intensity is the same is called an isoseismic line.

Causes:

Fault Zones
Plate tectonics
Volcanic activity
Human Induced Earthquakes

Waves:

There are several different kinds of seismic waves, and they all move in different ways. The two main types of waves are body waves and surface waves.
Body waves can travel through the earth’s inner layers, but surface waves can only move along the surface of the planet like ripples on water
The first kind of body wave is the P wave or primary wave. This is the fastest kind of seismic wave, and, consequently, the first to ‘arrive’ at a seismic station. The P wave can move through solid rock and fluids, like water or the liquid layers of the earth. It pushes and pulls the rock it moves through just like sound waves push and pull the air.
The second type of body wave is the S wave or secondary wave, which is the second wave felt in an earthquake. An S wave is slower than a P wave and can only move through solid rock, not through any liquid medium. It is this property of S waves that led seismologists to conclude that the Earth’s outer core is a liquid.
S waves move rock particles up and down, or side-to-side–perpendicular to the direction that the wave is traveling in (the direction of wave propagation)

Distribution of Earthquakes

Causes:

Fault Zones
Plate tectonics
Volcanic activity
Human Induced Earthquakes

Waves:

There are several different kinds of seismic waves, and they all move in different ways. The two main types of waves are body waves and surface waves.
Body waves can travel through the earth’s inner layers, but surface waves can only move along the surface of the planet like ripples on water
The first kind of body wave is the P wave or primary wave. This is the fastest kind of seismic wave, and, consequently, the first to ‘arrive’ at a seismic station. The P wave can move through solid rock and fluids, like water or the liquid layers of the earth. It pushes and pulls the rock it moves through just like sound waves push and pull the air.
The second type of body wave is the S wave or secondary wave, which is the second wave felt in an earthquake. An S wave is slower than a P wave and can only move through solid rock, not through any liquid medium. It is this property of S waves that led seismologists to conclude that the Earth’s outer core is a liquid.
S waves move rock particles up and down, or side-to-side–perpendicular to the direction that the wave is traveling in (the direction of wave propagation)

Distribution of Earthquakes

Measuring earthquake: Mercalli’s Richter

The Mercalli scale bases its measurement on the observed effects of the earthquake and describes its intensity. It is a linear measurement.
On the other hand, the Richter scale measures the seismic waves, or the energy released, causing the earthquake and describes the quake’s magnitude. It is a logarithmic

Faults:

A fault is a fracture or zone of fractures between two blocks of rock. Faults allow the blocks to move relative to each other.
This movement may occur rapidly, in the form of an earthquake – or may occur slowly, in the form of creep.
Faults may range in length from a few millimeters to thousands of kilometres.
Most faults produce repeated displacements over geologic time. During an earthquake, the rock on one side of the fault suddenly slips with respect to the other.
The fault surface can be horizontal or vertical or some arbitrary angle in between.
Earth scientists use the angle of the fault with respect to the surface(known as the dip) and the direction of slip along the fault to classify faults.
Faults which move along the direction of the dip plane are dip-slip faults and described as either normal or reverse (thrust), depending on their motion.
Faults which move horizontally are known as strike-slip faults and are classified as either right-lateral or left-lateral.
Faults which show both dip-slip and strike-slip motion are known as oblique-slip faults.