Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: SolarWinds Hack
Mains level: Cyber attacks and the treats posed to national security
The ‘SolarWinds hack’, a cyberattack recently discovered in the US, has emerged as one of the biggest ever targeted against the US government, its agencies and several other private companies.
Do you know about the ‘Five Eyes’ group of nations?
Solar-Winds Hack
- It was first discovered by US cybersecurity company FireEye, and since then more developments continue to come to light each day.
- The US termed it as a highly sophisticated threat actor calling it a state-sponsored attack, although it did not name Russia.
- It said the attack was carried out by a nation with top-tier offensive capabilities and the attacker primarily sought information related to certain government customers.
How dangerous is the attack?
- This is being called a ‘Supply Chain’ attack.
- Instead of directly attacking the federal government or a private organization’s network, the hackers target a third-party vendor, which supplies software to them.
- Once installed, the malware gave a backdoor entry to the hackers to the systems and networks of SolarWinds’ customers.
- More importantly, the malware was also able to thwart tools such as anti-virus that could detect it.
The deadliest cyber-attack ever in the US
- The US Energy department which is responsible for managing America’s nuclear weapons is the latest agency to confirm that it has been breached in the SolarWinds cyber attack.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Conjunction in space-phenomena
Mains level: Not Much
After nearly 400 years, Saturn and Jupiter – the two largest planets in our solar system – will be brought closest in the night sky by an astronomical event called the “great conjunction” and popularly referred to as the “Christmas Star”.
Try this PYQ:
What is a coma, in the context of Astronomy?
(a) Bright half of material on the comet
(b) Long tail of dust
(c) Two asteroids orbiting each other
(d) Two planets orbiting each other
What are the Conjunctions?
- A conjunction is not unique to Saturn and Jupiter however, it is the name given to any event where planets or asteroids appear to be very close together in the sky when viewed from the Earth.
- In June 2005 for instance, as a result of the “spectacular” conjunction, Mercury, Venus and Saturn appeared so close together in the sky that the patch of sky where the three planets were could be covered by a thumb.
- Astronomers use the word “great” for the conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn because of the planets’ sizes.
The “Great Conjunction”
- It happens once in about 20 years because of the time each of the planets takes to orbit around the Sun.
- Jupiter takes roughly 12 years to complete one lap around the Sun and Saturn takes 30 years.
- This is because Saturn has a larger orbit and moves more slowly because it is not as strongly influenced by the Sun’s gravitational force as planets that are closer to the Sun.
- As the two planets move along their orbits, every two decades, Jupiter catches up with Saturn resulting in what astronomers call the great conjunction.
A ‘rare alignment’
- Jupiter and Saturn are bright planets and can be typically seen with the naked eye even from cities.
- But during conjunction, they appear to be close to each other, which is what makes the event noteworthy.
- The event will coincide with the winter solstice (shortest day of the year in terms of hours of sunlight received) in the Northern Hemisphere and summer solstice in the Southern Hemisphere.
- This year, however, the event is rare because the planets will come the closest to each other in nearly four centuries; in what astronomer Henry Throop described is a result of a “rare alignment” of the planets.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: KG basin, Natural Gas
Mains level: Oil and gas reserves in KG basin
Reliance Industries Ltd and BP (British Petroleum) have announced the start of gas production from the R cluster of the KG Basin, the deepest off-shore gas field in Asia.
Must read
https://www.civilsdaily.com/burning-issue-natural-gas-marketing-reforms/
Krishna-Godavari Basin
- The Krishna Godavari Basin is a proven petroliferous basin of continental margin located on the east coast of India.
- Its onland part covers an area of 15000 sq. km and the offshore part covers an area of 25,000 sq. km up to 1000 m isobath.
- The basin contains about 5 km thick sediments with several cycles of deposition, ranging in age from Late Carboniferous to Pleistocene.
- The major geomorphologic units of the Krishna Godavari basin are Upland plains, Coastal plains, Recent Flood and Delta Plains.
Minerals found
- KG inland and offshore basins have good prospects of tight oil and tight gas reserves from the conducted field studies.
- The first gas discovery in the basin was in 1983.
- Most of the conventional wells drilled and operated have a shorter lifespan than envisaged life and with erratic production.
- This may be due to drilling of conventional wells in tight oil and gas fields without horizontal drilling in the shale rock formations and hydraulic fracturing.
Note: Tight gas and tight oil are produced from reservoir rocks with such low permeability that considerable hydraulic fracturing is required to harvest the well at economic rates.
The KGD6 block
- Krishna Godavari Dhirubhai 6 (KG-D6) was Reliance’s first offshore gas field development and its first underwater discovery.
- It was also India’s largest deposit of natural gas and the largest such discovery in the world in 2002.
- The project takes its name from India’s Krishna-Godavari Basin, which covers more than 19,000 square miles (50,000 square kilometres) in Andhra Pradesh and production block D6 in the Bay of Bengal.
Why is this important?
- The R cluster, along with the Satellite Cluster and MJ gas fields in the KG Basin is expected to produce around 30 MMSCMD (million standard cubic metres per day) of natural gas.
- This is about 15% of India’s projected demand for natural gas by 2023.
Do they impact India’s energy security efforts?
- The three projects are a key part of the plan to boost domestic production of natural gas to increase the share of natural gas in India’s energy basket from 6.2% now to 15% by 2030.
- Increased domestic production of natural gas is an important aspect of reducing India’s dependence on imports and improves energy security.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Guru Tegh Bahadur
Mains level: Not Much
The Prime Minister has paid tributes to Sri Guru Tegh Bahadur Ji on his Martyrdom Day.
Try this PYQ:
Q. Consider the following Bhakti Saints:
- Dadu Dayal
- Guru Nanak
- Tyagaraja
Who among the above was/were preaching when the Lodi dynasty fell and Babur took over?
(a) 1 and 3
(b) 2 only
(c) 2 and 3
(d) 1 and 2
Guru Tegh Bahadur (1621–1675)
- Guru Tegh Bahadur was the ninth of ten Gurus of the Sikh religion. He was born at Amritsar in 1621 and was the youngest son of Guru Hargobind.
- His term as Guru ran from 1665 to 1675. One hundred and fifteen of his hymns are in Guru Granth Sahib.
- There are several accounts explaining the motive behind the assassination of Guru Tegh Bahadur on Aurangzeb’s orders.
- He stood up for the rights of Kashmiri Pandits who approached him against religious persecution by Aurangzeb.
- He was publicly killed in 1675 on the orders of Mughal emperor Aurangzeb in Delhi for himself refusing Mughal rulers and defying them.
- Gurudwara Sis Ganj Sahib and Gurdwara Rakab Ganj Sahib in Delhi mark the places of execution and cremation of his body.
Impact of his martyrdom
- The execution hardened the resolve of Sikhs against religious oppression and persecution.
- His martyrdom helped all Sikh Panths consolidate to make the protection of human rights central to its Sikh identity.
- Inspired by him, his nine-year-old son, Guru Gobind Singh Ji, eventually organized the Sikh group into a distinct, formal, symbol-patterned community came to be known as Khalsa (Martial) identity.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Koothambalam
Mains level: Keralan Architecture
The renovated Koothambalam of the Sreekrishna temple, Guruvayur, has been selected for the UNESCO Asia-Pacific Award for cultural heritage conservation.
Try this PYQ:
Q. Building ‘Kalyana Mandapas’ was a notable feature in the temple construction in the kingdom of-
(a) Chalukya
(b) Chandela
(c) Rashtrakuta
(d) Vijayanagara
What is Koothambalam?
- Koothambalam meaning temple theatre is a closed hall for staging Koothu, Nangiar koothu and Koodiyattam, the ancient ritualistic art forms of Kerala.
- Koothambalams are said to be constructed according to the guidelines given in chapter 2 of Nātyasāstra of Bharata Muni.
- The stage within the hall is considered to be as sacred as the temple sanctum.
Its’ construction
- It is constructed within the cloister of the Temple; more precisely within the pancaprakaras of the temple. The prescribe location is between the prakaras of bahyahara and maryada.
- In Kerala tradition, it is considered as one among the panchaprasadas of a temple complex.
- Its dimension varies from temple to temple.
- A square platform with a separate pyramidal roof supported by pillars in the centre called natyamandapam is constructed as s separate structure within the large hall of Koothampalam.
- The floor of the hall is divided into two equal halves and one part is for performance (including stage, instruments, green room etc.) and another half for seating audience.
About Guruvayur Temple
- It is a Hindu temple dedicated to the Hindu lord, Guruvayurappan (a four-armed form of the Lord Vishnu), located in the town of Guruvayur in Kerala.
- It is one of the most important places of worship for Hindus in Kerala and is often referred to as Bhuloka Vaikunta (Holy Abode of Vishnu on Earth).
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: NA
Mains level: India-UK ties
India and the U.K. must not allow concerns of the moment to dominate their relationship.
Practice Question: Discuss the opportunities and the challenges in the India-UK relationships. What is the prospectus of India-UK relations after Brexit and Coronavirus pandemic?
Secretary’s Delhi visit
- British Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab’s Delhi visit came with a declaration of immediate and longer-term goals for the India-U.K. relationship.
- It prepares the way for PM Johnson’s India visit, as the chief guest at Republic Day and to invite PM Modi to the U.K. to the G-7 and the Climate Change (COP26) summits next year.
- Johnson will be the first head of government to visit India after the spread of COVID-19; this will also be his first bilateral visit anywhere after Brexit signalling the importance of ties with India.
A new page in ties
- Upgrading the ties – Both countries up for upgrading of the 2004 India-U.K. Strategic Partnership to a “Comprehensive” Strategic Partnership.
- This will help to envision closer military ties, cooperation in Indo-Pacific strategies, counter-terrorism and fighting climate change.
- Hoping for FTA – Britain is on a mission to secure free trade partners after Brexit. It has wrapped up nearly 20 trade deals, including most recently with the U.S., Japan, and Vietnam and is hoping for India to sign the same.
- Corona pandemic and cooperation for vaccine manufacturing – The highlight of India’s relations will be closer cooperation on the coronavirus vaccine.
- India’s Serum Institute set to produce and distribute the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine in India, and then as part of the COVAX project to other developing countries.
Challenges in India-UK relations
- Stagnancy in the relations – India-UK relations are stagnant for the past five years due to Britain’s Brexit preoccupation.
- The relationship has failed to progress in this time, despite visits by Mr Modi and former British Prime Minister Theresa May.
- Other less important issues gained the narrative – Issues such as visas and the fate of fugitive Indian businessmen in the U.K. have been allowed to dominate the narrative.
- The MEA had responded sharply to protests at the Indian High Commission in London over the Article 370 move in Jammu and Kashmir, and the Citizenship (Amendment) Act.
- Britain’s concerns about the farmers’ protests that sparked responses in New Delhi about interference in India’s internal matters.
- Sometimes, intense interest from the British Indian diaspora makes Indian politics a factor in British politics is a reminder of how closely linked the two countries remain.
- A new chapter in India-UK relationship would necessarily entail the K. to be more sensitive to India’s concerns, and for India to be less sensitive when Britain expresses its concerns.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: NA
Mains level: Farmers agitation and the fuss
The intended beneficiaries often understand the realities of the systems better; policymakers need to build trust.
Practice Question: The farmers protest against the new farm laws rises the serious concerns about the policymaking and involvement of citizen in the process by experts. What can be done to improve the trust of the public and how the challenge of agricultural income be solved?
Reassessment is needed
- The purpose of agriculture reforms is to increase farmers’ incomes. Farmers want the laws repealed.
- The Supreme Court of India has called for discussions between the government and farmers around the country.
- It is time to go back to the drawing board about the purpose and the process of agriculture reforms.
- According to economists, fewer people must work on farms for farm productivity and incomes to be improved. Which begs the question of how the millions displaced from farms will earn incomes.
- Indian industry is not growing much. There too, according to economists, humans should be replaced by technology for improving productivity.
Flipside of productivity
- Landholdings are too small for mechanization to improve farm productivity. Their solution is to ‘scale-up’ farms.
- Mechanization requires standardization of work, hence mechanized farming on scale requires monocropping.
- Large-scale specialization upsets the ecological balance. Reduced diversity of flora enables pests to spread more easily; soil quality is reduced; water resources get depleted.
- Solutions to these new problems require more industrial inputs, with more costs for farmers.
- The harmful side-effects of this approach to improve agriculture productivity are very visible in Punjab nowhere farm incomes have grown at the cost of water resources.
Nature’s self-adaptive system
- The ecological imbalance out of monocropping made the trees more vulnerable to pests.
- Nature is a complex ‘self-adaptive’ system. It knows how to take care of itself.
- When Man tries to overpower Nature with his science and industry, without understanding how Nature functions, he harms Nature — and ultimately himself.
- Challenges of environmental degradation and increasing inequalities require that the economic calculus shifts from ‘economies of scale with standardization’ to ‘economies of scope for sustainability’.
- This will make large-scale mechanization more difficult. It will require the use of more ‘flexible’ human labour.
- In the long run, not only will this be good for the ecology, but it will also increase employment and incomes for people in the lower half of the economic pyramid.
Market access
- Farm incomes can increase with access to wider markets for farm produce, which is an objective of the agricultural reforms.
- Indian farmers fear that they will not have adequate pricing power when pushed into large supply systems and less regulated markets.
- Connections into global supply chains can increase volumes of sales which always favour the larger players in the supply chains who have easier access to capital.
- Studies show that farmers in developed countries formed collectives which enable their voice to be heard by politicians and they could set the rules of global trade.
Strengthen cooperatives
- Institutions for cooperative ownership and collective bargaining must be strengthened to give power to small farmers before opening markets to large corporations.
- A very good example is the Indian dairy sector. It’s ‘per person productivity is much lower than in New Zealand and Australian dairy producers’.
- Still, it provides millions of tiny producers with reasonable incomes which large-scale industrial dairy producers do not.
- Moreover, with its cooperative aggregation, the Indian dairy sector has also acquired political clout.
- It has compelled the Indian government not to join the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership to connect the Indian economy with larger supply chains.
Low agriculture income
- The problem of low incomes in India’s agriculture sector is a complex systems problem which cannot be solved by agriculture experts alone.
- Experts from many disciplines must collaborate to find systemic solutions.
- The intended beneficiaries of the new policies must be included in the designing of the new policies right at the beginning as they understand the realities of systems better than experts.
- When policymakers say ‘the people don’t get it’ after the policy is announced and the intended beneficiaries protest, it is an indication that the experts didn’t get it.
The reforms of the 1990s
- The stand-off in agriculture reforms has caused a flurry of discussions about democracy, consultation, and processes for economic reforms.
- The immediate beneficiaries of the 1991 reforms were all Indian consumers, rich and poor, who would benefit from access to better quality products from around the world.
- The principal opponents of the reforms were a few large industrialists whose products citizens were not satisfied with.
- Governments have more power over a few industrialists than they have over the masses.
- The 1991 reforms changed industrial licensing and trade policies — both subjects of the Union government.
- ‘Factor market’ reforms, inland, agriculture, and labour regulations, which are necessary to realize the full benefits of the 1991 reforms are State subjects.
- They affect the lives of people on the ground, and differently, around the country. Therefore, the central government, no matter how strong it is, must not force these reforms onto the States.
Conclusion:
Silo experts cannot help
- India’s policymakers must improve their expertise in solving complex, multi-disciplinary problems.
- They must apply the discipline of systems thinking, and not rely on siloed domain experts.
- Citizens around the country must be involved in the policymaking throughout the evolution of policies.
- The policies of the government should create public value and it satisfies the desire of citizens for a well-ordered society, in which fair, efficient, and accountable public institutions exist.
- Trust is essential for a well-governed society. The lesson for India’s leaders is- good processes for making public policies build trust between citizens and their governments.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Refuse-derived fuel (RDF)
Mains level: MSW management
The new plant at Bidadi has several advantages but also some operational challenges.
Practice Question: Discuss the various benefits of waste to energy plants and challenges in running them successfully.
The prospectus of new plant
- The new 5 MW waste-to-energy plant is going to set up near Bidadi, Karnataka.
- This plant is expected to process 600 tonnes per day of inorganic waste.
- The inorganic waste, which consists of bad quality plastics and used cloth pieces, can be processed as Refuse Derived Fuel (RDF). This material has a calorific value of more than 2,500 kJ/kg.
- This can be used to generate steam energy, which can be converted into electric energy.
A well-planned plant
- The waste-to-energy plants usually accept the RDF material generated in organic composting plants.
- They also segregate the wet and inorganic material near the plant, convert organic waste to compost, and inorganic waste to energy.
- About 50 tonnes of RDF generate 1 MW of power, which indicates that the plant at Bidadi has been appropriately designed.
A permanent solution
- Handling inorganic waste that is not fit for recycling has always been a challenge.
- At present, these high-calorific materials are landfilled or left unhandled in waste plants and cause fire accidents.
- Attempts to send this material to cement kilns have not fructified.
- The proposed plant can source 600 tonnes per day of this RDF and generate 11.5 MW of power equivalent to 2.4 lakh units of power per day.
- This will reduce the dependence on unscientific landfills, reduce fire accidents, and provide a permanent solution to recover value from inorganic waste.
Challenges
- Needed a good demonstration model – Over the last decade, several Indian cities have been trying to set up such plants but a good demonstration model is yet to be established.
- Nature of waste – Technology suppliers are international organizations who struggle with the change in quality and nature of waste generated in Indian cities. A few plants in India have stopped operations for this reason.
- The plants require fine inorganic material with less than 5% moisture and less than 5% silt and soil contents, whereas the moisture and inert content in the mixed waste generated is more than 15%-20%.
- The sticky silt and soil particles can also reduce the calorific value.
- Economic cost per unit of electricity – The other big challenge for this plant is the power tariff which is around ₹7-8 KwH which is higher than the ₹3-4 per KwH generated through coal and other means.
Way forward
- For the successful running, the plant needs to ease the challenge of handling inorganic waste, the efficiency of organic waste processing/ composting plants.
- With the increasing waste generation in the coming years, there is a need for more such plants which are environment friendly.
Back2Basics: Refuse-derived fuel (RDF)
- Refuse-derived fuel (RDF) is a fuel produced from various types of waste such as municipal solid waste (MSW), industrial waste or commercial waste.
- It is selected waste and by-products with recoverable calorific value can be used as fuels in a cement kiln, replacing a portion of conventional fossil fuels, like coal, if they meet strict specifications.
- Sometimes they can only be used after pre-processing to provide ‘tailor-made’ fuels for the cement process.
- RDF consists largely of combustible components of such waste, as non-recyclable plastics (not including PVC), paper cardboard, labels, and other corrugated materials.
- These fractions are separated by different processing steps, such as screening, air classification, ballistic separation, separation of ferrous and non-ferrous materials, glass, stones and other foreign materials and shredding into a uniform grain size, or also pelletized.
- This produces a homogeneous material which can be used as a substitute for fossil fuels in e.g. cement plants, lime plants, coal-fired power plants or as a reduction agent in steel furnaces.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Art. 352
Mains level: National Emergency
The Supreme Court agreed to look into whether it should examine the constitutionality of the proclamation of National Emergency in 1975 by the then Indira Gandhi-led government.
Q.Discuss how the imposition of National Emergency under Art. 352 of the Constitution seek to change India’s federal character.
What is the issue?
- A 94-year old lady is seeking compensation for the loss she suffered due to the proclamation of emergency.
- Petitioner has claimed that a number of her immovable properties were illegally occupied for their activities during the Emergency.
- A bench of the Supreme Court has agreed to examine if the court could examine whether the proclamation of Emergency was constitutional.
- The court was hesitant to take up the issue as 45 years have passed since the declaration of Emergency and examining such an issue on merits now could be a cumbersome process.
What is a National Emergency?
- A national emergency can be declared on the basis of “external aggression or war” and “internal disturbance” in the whole of India or a part of its territory under Article 352.
- Such an emergency was declared in India in 1962 war (China war), 1971 war (Pakistan war), and 1975 internal disturbance (declared by Indira Gandhi).
- But after the 44th amendment act 1978 added the provision for Internal Emergency.
- The President can declare such an emergency only on the basis of a written request by the Cabinet headed by the Prime Minister.
The 1975 Emergency
- On June 12, 1975, the Allahabad High Court had declared the election of then PM Indira Gandhi as null and void.
- Following the court decision, Gandhi moved the Supreme Court and stayed the high court’s decision allowing her to remain as PM while limiting her right to vote in the parliament till the appeal was decided.
- Following an opposition rally for the resignation of Indira Gandhi, she made a decision to impose a national Emergency which would give the central government sweeping powers.
- On June 25, 1975, then President Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed relying on Article 352 of the Constitution declared a national emergency in the country.
What happened after the proclamation of Emergency?
- From media censorship, suspension of civil liberties and attempts to fundamentally change the Constitution to suit the government, the Emergency is remembered as a dark period in India’s democracy.
- The 38th- 42nd Constitutional amendments were passed during the Emergency which led to a tussle between the executive and the judiciary that gave the Parliament a power to amend the Constitution.
- Many of these changes were either overturned by courts or were reversed in the 44th Constitutional amendment in 1978 which was brought in after the Janata government was voted to power.
Series of Amendments
- Through the 38th Constitutional Amendment, Gandhi sought to expand the power of the President and barred judicial review of the proclamation of Emergency.
- The 39th amendment was intended to nullify the effect of the Allahabad High Court ruling that declared Gandhi’s election as null and void.
- The amendment placed any dispute to the election to the office of the Prime Minister, President beyond the scope of judicial review.
- The 40th amendment placed crucial land reforms in the Ninth schedule, beyond the scope of judicial review.
- The 41st Amendment said no criminal proceedings “whatsoever” could lie against a President, Prime Minister, or Governor for acts before or during their terms of office.
- In the 42nd amendment, the Parliament expanded its powers to amend the Constitution, even its ‘basic structure’ and curtail any fundamental rights.
The 44th Amendment
- Through the 43rd and 44th amendments, many of the amendments made during the Emergency were withdrawn.
- Article 352- the provisions relating to Emergency itself was strengthened to prevent misuse by the executive.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Art. 19
Mains level: Right to Protest and limtations over it
The Supreme Court has that said farmers have a constitutional right to continue with their “absolutely perfect” protest as long as their dissent against the three controversial agricultural laws did not slip into violence.
Q.It is the abundant duty of the State to aid and limit the exercise of Right to Protest peacefully. Examine.
Right to Protest
- The right to protest is the manifestation of the right to freedom of assembly, the right to freedom of association, and the right to freedom of speech.
- The Constitution of India provides the right of freedom, given in Article 19 with the view of guaranteeing individual rights that were considered vital by the framers of the constitution.
- The Right to protest peacefully is enshrined in Article 19(1) (a) guarantees the freedom of speech and expression; Article 19(1) (b) assures citizens the right to assemble peaceably and without arms.
- Article 19(2) imposes reasonable restrictions on the right to assemble peaceably and without arms.
Reasonable restrictions do exist in practice
- Fundamental rights do not live in isolation. The right of the protester has to be balanced with the right of the commuter. They have to co-exist in mutual respect.
- The court held it was entirely the responsibility of the administration to prevent encroachments in public spaces.
- Democracy and dissent go hand in hand, but then the demonstrations expressing dissent have to be in designated places alone.
- The present case was not even one of the protests taking place in an undesignated area but was a blockage of a public way which caused grave inconvenience to commuters.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: CMS-01
Mains level: Not Much
The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) successfully placed into a transfer orbit India’s 42nd communications satellite, CMS-01, carried onboard the PSLV-C50.
CMS-01
- It is a communications satellite envisaged for providing services in extended C Band of the frequency spectrum and its coverage will include the Indian mainland and the Andaman & Nicobar and Lakshadweep islands, the ISRO.
- The satellite is expected to have a life of over seven years.
- It was injected precisely into its pre-defined sub- geostationary transfer orbit (GTO).
- CMS-01 is considered to be a replacement of the aged satellite GSAT-12. It provides services like tele-education, tele-medicine, disaster management support and Satellite Internet access.
What is GTO?
- A geosynchronous transfer orbit or geostationary transfer orbit (GTO) is a type of geocentric orbit.
- Satellites which are destined for geosynchronous (GSO) or geostationary orbit (GEO) are (almost) always put into a GTO as an intermediate step for reaching their final orbit.
- A GTO is highly elliptic.
- Its perigee (closest point to Earth) is typically as high as low Earth orbit (LEO), while its apogee (furthest point from Earth) is as high as geostationary (or equally, a geosynchronous) orbit.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Icebergs
Mains level: Impact of climate changes on Cryosphere
A research mission is held to find out the impact of a giant floating iceberg A-68s on the wildlife and marine life on a sub-Antarctic island.
Q. How does the cryosphere affect global climate? (CSM 2017)
What are Icebergs?
- An iceberg is a large piece of freshwater ice that has broken off a glacier or an ice shelf and is floating freely in open (salt) water.
- Small bits of disintegrating icebergs are called “growlers” or “bergy bits”.
- Much of an iceberg is below the surface which led to the expression “tip of the iceberg” to illustrate a small part of a larger unseen issue.
- Icebergs are considered a serious maritime hazard, especially for shipping industries.
A-68s
- The iceberg — named A-68s — is travelling at varying speeds depending on local conditions, but at its fastest was travelling about 20 kilometres a day.
- The huge iceberg — the size of the U.S. state of Delaware — has been floating north since it broke away from Antarctica’s Larsen C ice shelf in 2017.
- It is now about 75 kilometres from the island of South Georgia, and scientists are concerned over the risks it poses to the wildlife in the area if it grounds near the island.
- South Georgia is home to colonies of tens of thousands of penguins and 6 million fur seals, which could be threatened by the iceberg during their breeding season.
- The waters near the island are also one of the world’s largest marine protected areas and house more marine species than the Galapagos.
- Destruction by the iceberg will release this stored carbon back into the water and, potentially, the atmosphere, which would be a further negative impact.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Metal-CO2 battery
Mains level: Optimization of space missions and thier payloads
India’s planetary missions like Mars Mission may soon be able to reduce payload mass and launch costs with the help of an indigenously developed Metal- CO2 battery with CO2 as an Energy Carrier.
Try this PYQ:
Q.Hydrogen fuel cell vehicles produce one of the following as “exhaust”:
(a) NH3
(b) CH4
(c) H2O
(d) H2O2
Metal CO2 Battery
- An IIT professor recently demonstrated the technical feasibility of Lithium- CO2 battery in simulated Mars atmosphere for the first time.
- The development of Metal-CO2 batteries will provide highly specific energy density with the reduction in mass and volume, which will reduce payload mass and launch cost of planetary missions.
- Metal-CO2 batteries have a great potential to offer significantly high energy density than the currently used Li-ion batteries.
- They provide a useful solution to fix CO2 emissions, which is better than energy-intensive traditional CO2 fixation methods.
It’s working
- A primary Li-CO2 battery uses pure carbon dioxide as a cathode.
- According to chemical knowledge, Lithium metal can react with CO2 to form lithium oxalate at room temperature.
- While at high temperatures, lithium oxalate decomposes to form lithium carbonate and carbon monoxide gas.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: About the railway line
Mains level: Recent trends in India-Bangladesh ties
Ours and Bangladeshi PM has jointly inaugurated a railway link between Haldibari in India and Chilahati in Bangladesh.
Examine the opportunities and challenges in the adoption PPP model by the Indian Railways.
Haldibari – Chilahati Rail Link
- This rail link being made functional is the 5th rail link between India and Bangladesh.
- It was operational till 1965. This was part of the Broad Gauge main route from Kolkata to Siliguri during partition.
- Trains travelling to Assam and North Bengal continued to travel through the then East Pakistan territory even after partition.
- For example, a train from Sealdah to Siliguri used to enter East Pakistan territory from Darshana and exit using the Haldibari – Chilahati link.
- However, the war of 1965 effectively cut off all the railway links between India and the then East Pakistan.
- So on the Eastern Sector of India partition of the railways thus happened in 1965. So the importance of the reopening of this rail link can be well imagined.
A British-era legacy
- The railway network of India and Bangladesh are mostly inherited from British Era Indian Railways.
- After partition in 1947, 7 rail links were operational between India and the then East Pakistan (up to 1965). Presently, there are 4 operational rail links between India and Bangladesh.
- They are, Petrapole (India) – Benapole (Bangladesh), Gede (India) – Darshana (Bangladesh), Singhabad (India)-Rohanpur (Bangladesh), Radhikapur (India)–Birol (Bangladesh).
Benefits offered by the rail
- The rail link will be beneficial for transit into Bangladesh from Assam and West Bengal.
- It will enhance rail network access to the main ports, dry ports, and land borders to support the growth in regional trade and to encourage economic and social development of the region.
- Common people and businessman of both countries will be able to reap the benefit of both goods and passenger traffic, once passenger trains are planned in this route.
- With this new link coming into operation, tourists from Bangladesh will be able to visit places like Darjeeling, Sikkim, Dooars apart from countries like Nepal, Bhutan etc easily.
- Economic activities of these South Asian countries will also be benefitted from this new rail link.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: NA
Mains level: Concerns of farmers other than MSP
With most farming land held by only 20% of its cultivators in Assam, there is a perception that agriculture is unimportant. However, the new farm laws are equally detrimental to small and marginal farmers in the state.
Muted response from the state’s farming community
- With more than 70% of Assam’s population directly or indirectly dependent for their livelihood on the agricultural sector, it is surprising that the state has only seen sporadic protests against the farm laws passed by the Central government.
- Reformists would like to read this muted response from the state’s farming community as the voice of the silent majority who expect to benefit from the new farm laws.
- The real answer lies in the political economy of the state’s rural sector, which has its origins in the colonial handling of its agrarian possibilities.
Q. Farmers agitations in India are often region-specific. Discuss
Ungrounded and uncultivated
- The pre-Independence British administration had invested substantially in the agriculture in what today constitutes Punjab and Haryana, building dams and irrigation facilities and creating conditions that allowed farmers to benefit from the post-independence Green Revolution.
- This gave rise to the capitalist class among them.
- However, at the same time, peasants in Assam were arbitrarily taxed by the British Raj to make them voluntarily give up farming in favour of joining the labour forces of the tea industry in the region.
- Its policies did result in the transfer of land from the peasantry to mid-level revenue officials, leading to a highly unequal land distribution that has persisted since that time.
- Since the landed class tended to support the Indian National Congress-led freedom struggle, no land reform programme has ever been pursued seriously in the post-independence period.
Unequal land distribution
- Seven decades after independence, Assam’s agrarian setting is still characterized by a very high level of unequal land distribution.
- The evidence documented in the Assam Human Development Report, 2014 shows that 20% of farmers hold as much as 70% of the state’s farmland and shows tenancy at a much higher level of 26%.
- The lack of legal recognition of tenants means most of them have never been beneficiaries of public policies in agriculture in the state.
- The state’s agriculture is characterized by mono-cropping, with rice accounting for 90% of the land cultivated, but public procurement at the minimum support price (MSP) is conspicuously absent.
- The latest information from the public information bureau (PIB) shows that the state produces 4.2% of the country’s rice, but only 0.2% of its farmers availed public procurement by the Food Corporation of India (FCI).
- Most farmers had to bear with the low prices of rice in the open markets, even as the state was flooded with rice sourced from elsewhere through the public distribution system.
- Frequent floods often ravage the region, reducing farming operations to just one season in most flood-affected districts. Assam’s cropping intensity of 146% is one of the lowest among all major rice-producing states.
- In such a setting, the landed class takes little interest in farming, even as small and marginal farmers have increasingly been migrating, many even outside the state, to earn their livelihoods.
- It’s not surprising that the state’s agriculture is still stuck at the subsistence level. The Assam Economic Survey 2017-18 shows only 38% of the state’s land under high yielding variety seeds and 26% of its land under irrigation.
APMC must be strengthened
- The farmers of Assam might benefit from the breaking down of MSP procurement elsewhere through higher prices in the open market.
- The new farm laws are more or less meaningless, which are more about APMC markets than about MSP.
- With just 24 regulated APMC markets, Assam does not have enough marketing infrastructure to justify the argument made by the advocates of the new farm laws that the new Acts will liberate the farmers from the APMC markets’ monopoly and boost private investment in the sector.
- With the state’s agricultural marketing largely revolving around 700-odd unregulated haats (village markets), the 24 APMC markets are hardly enough to curtail the farmers’ ‘freedom’ to dispose of their produce.
- The credit deposit ratio (CDR) reported by major national banks in the state in 2017 is still below 40% compared to 72% at the national level, showing that the state is losing much of its savings to better-endowed states instead of receiving investment from outside the state.
- The APMC market as a public institution still has a large role to play in reviving the state’s agricultural sector. Additionally, it can stop growing inter-state migration that has come to light in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: NA
Mains level: Bovine nationalism
The recent law passed by the Karnataka State Assembly on bovine slaughter is a topic of contention.
Prevention of Slaughter and Preservation of Cattle Bill (2020)
- The Karnataka state assembly passed the Prevention of Slaughter and Preservation of Cattle Bill (2020).
- It has banned the slaughter of all cows, bulls, bullocks and calves as well as it also outlaws the slaughter of buffaloes below the age of 13.
- Smuggling and transporting animals for slaughter is also an offence.
- The bill prescribes punishments of between three to seven years – which is more than the punishment prescribed in Indian law for causing the death of a human being by negligence.
- It also gives the police powers to conduct searches based on suspicion.
- Though the bill has yet to be passed by the state’s Legislative Council, the government has said it will pass an ordinance to implement its provisions.
Practice Question: The recent law passed by Karnataka State Assembly on bovine slaughter is a topic of contention. Analyze.
Muslims and farmers
- The legislation, based on Hinduism’s reverence for the cow, undermines the food practices of many Indians, for whom beef is a cheap source of protein.
- Already, Indians are some of the most malnourished people on the planet and, remarkably, nutrition standards are worsening.
- The bill also penalizes people working in the meat and leather industries that depend on cattle slaughter, many of whom are Muslim.
Dairy economics
- The sector that will take the largest hit from the legislation is the dairy industry. India’s dairy industry is massive with an annual turnover of Rs 6.5 lakh crore – making it by far India’s largest agricultural product.
- India’s farmers earn more from dairy than wheat and rice put together. India has almost as many bovines as people in the United States with one for every four Indians.
- The problem with the bill is that that slaughter is integral to the dairy industry’s economic functioning. Dairy farming in India functions on small margins. As a result, the upkeep of unproductive animals would throw their bottom lines out of alignment.
- When a male calf is born or a milch animal stops giving milk (or yield falls), farmers need to be able to get rid of the animal. In normal times, this sale is also a source of capital for the farmer.
- In 2014, the size of the used cattle market just in Maharashtra was valued at as much as Rs 1,180 crore per year.
- Verghese Kurien, founder of Amul and the architect of India’s White Revolution, that supercharged India’s milk production from 1970, opposed any ban on cow slaughter. Kurein was clear that the economics of dairy demanded slaughter.
Cowed down
- The statistics produced by the 2019 Livestock Census are clear: cow slaughter laws have actually ended up harming cows.
- Between 2012 and 2019, states with cow slaughter laws such as Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh saw their cattle numbers fall (by 10.07%, 4.42% and 3.93%, respectively).
- On the other hand, West Bengal – one of India’s rare states where cattle slaughter has no restrictions – saw a massive increase of 15.18%. As a result, Bengal now has the Indian Union’s largest cattle population.
- Farmers simply let unproductive cattle loose, giving rise to the problem of large herds of feral cows which have caused economic havoc and pose a danger of citizens – a problem unique to India.
- In the countryside of many states, famished cattle herds now pose a danger to crops and cause accidents.
Buffalo nation
- Naturally, stray cattle numbers are directly linked to cow slaughter laws. States such as Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat have seen substantial rises in their stray cow population between 2012 and 2019 while West Bengal has seen a sharp fall.
- Between 2012 and 2019, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh saw their buffalo numbers rise.
- Since the buffalo – not seen as sacred in Hinduism – could be slaughtered legally, dairy farmers were clearly preferring it over the holy cow.
- But the Karnataka bill very alarming even compared to the devastation caused by the earlier cow slaughter laws is because it even targets buffalos.
Making it worse
- Karnataka’s stringent laws against cow slaughter is part of a policy pattern that – rather than make India’s already precarious economic situation better – makes Indians worse off.
- Recent examples include demonetization, the new Goods and Services Tax as well as putting in place the world’s harshest Covid-19 lockdown, making sure India’s was the worst affected country economically during the pandemic.
- India is going through a rural crisis. With poor yields due to unscientific farming methods and lack of support structures like irrigation, the average monthly income of the Indian farmer stands at only Rs 6,427 per month.
- To make matters worse, for small farmers (defined as owning less than a hectare of land), their farming income is too low to cover their expenses and they are in debt and this describes the situation of 83% of Indian farmers.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: WTO
Mains level: WTO
The next Director-General of the organization will have to navigate through a slew of thorny issues in WTO.
WTO to lead by a woman for the first time
- For the first time in its 25-year history, the World Trade Organization (WTO) will be led by a woman.
- The D-G’s job will require perseverance and outstanding negotiating skills for balancing the diverse and varied interests of the 164 member countries, and especially, for reconciling competing for multilateral and national visions, for the organization to work efficiently.
- The next D-G will have to grapple with the global economic fallout of the COVID-19 pandemic and work towards carrying out reforms of the multilateral trading system for reviving the world economy.
- On all these issues, her non-partisan role will be watched carefully.
Practice Question: In the wake of the global economic fallout of the COVID-19 pandemic, discuss the challenges ahead of WTO.
Tussle between developed and developing countries
- The current impasse in the WTO negotiations has led member countries to believe in the necessity of carrying out urgent reforms, which is likely to throw up some difficult choices for developing countries like India.
- At the core of the divide within the WTO is the Doha Development Agenda, which the developed countries sought to move in favour of a new agenda that includes, amongst others, e-commerce, investment facilitation, MSMEs and gender.
- Salvaging the ‘development’-centric agenda is critical for a large number of developing countries as they essentially see trade as a catalyst of development.
- Restoring the WTO dispute settlement mechanism, especially the revival of its Appellate body, is also crucial for the organization’s efficient functioning.
Definition of ‘Developing Country’ – a contentious issue
- The push for a change in the definition of “developing country” under the principle of special and differential treatment (S&DT), aimed at upgrading certain developing countries, will deeply affect the status of emerging economies such as India, China, South Africa, Turkey, Egypt, etc.
- The assumption that some countries have benefited immensely from the WTO rules since its formation in 1995 is flawed, at least in the case of India. And even if there may be no consensus of views on measuring ‘development’, India will remain a developing country no matter which parameter is used.
- The way out for India could be to negotiate a longer phase-out period or an acceptable formula based on development indices, etc.
Fisheries subsidies negotiations
- Among the current negotiations at the WTO, the fisheries subsidies negotiations command the highest attention.
- India can lead the way in finding a landing zone by urging others to settle for the lowest common denominator while seeking permanent protection for traditional and artisanal farmers who are at the subsistence level of survival.
- The danger lies in seeking larger carve-outs, which could result in developed countries ploughing precious fisheries resources in international waters.
Lessons from COVID-19
- The COVID-19 crisis has revealed the urgent and enduring need for international cooperation and collaboration, as no country can fight the pandemic alone.
- The D-G can help mitigate the effects of the pandemic by giving clear directions on ensuring that supply chains remain free and open, recommending a standard harmonized system with classification for vaccines, and by the removal of import/export restrictions.
- Voluntary sharing and pooling of Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) is required for any global effort to tackle the pandemic, but with the fear of vaccine nationalism looming large, several countries are seeking to secure the future supply of leading COVID-19 vaccines.
- India’sreiteration that its vaccine production and delivery capacity will help the whole of humanity will require the D-G to play a responsible role in removing barriers to intellectual property and securing a legal framework within the WTO TRIPS Agreement.
- This can be done by lending salience to the effective interpretation of Articles 8 and 31 of the Agreement, that allow compulsory licensing and agreement of a patent without the authorization of its owner under certain conditions.
Way Forward
- The consensus-based decision-making in the WTO, which makes dissension by even one member stop the process in its track, gives developing countries some heft and influence at par with developed countries.
- The D-G would need to tread cautiously on this front, as some will allude to the successful implementation of the Trade Facilitation Agreement in 2017 that allowed member countries to make commitments in a phased manner in accordance with their domestic preparedness.
- Most imminently, the next D-G will need to build trust among its members that the WTO needs greater engagement by all countries, to stitch fair rules in the larger interest of all nations and thwart unfair trade practices of a few.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Sessions of the Parliament
Mains level: Executive responsibility to the Legislature
The centre has said that there will be no winter session of Parliament this time due to the COVID despite the ‘success’ in curbing the pandemic. This year, the Parliament has met for only 33 days!
Q. The undue delays and inactions by the constitutional functionaries threaten to widen the constitutional faultlines among the Executives. Critically comment.
Sessions of Parliament
- The power to convene a session of Parliament rests with the government. But it is the President who summons Parliament.
- The decision is taken by the Cabinet Committee on Parliamentary Affairs, which currently comprises nine ministers, including those for Defence, Home, Finance, and Law.
- The decision of the Committee is formalized by the President, in whose name MPs are summoned to meet for a session.
- A general scheme of sittings was recommended in 1955 by the General Purpose Committee of Lok Sabha.
- It was accepted by the government of PM Jawaharlal Nehru but was not implemented.
No fixed calendar
- India does not have a fixed parliamentary calendar.
- By convention, Parliament meets for three sessions in a year.
- The longest, the Budget Session, starts towards the end of January and concludes by the end of April or first week of May.
- The session has a recess so that Parliamentary Committees can discuss the budgetary proposals.
- The second session is the three-week Monsoon Session, which usually begins in July and finishes in August.
- The parliamentary year ends with a three-week-long Winter Session, which is held from November to December.
What the Constitution says
- The summoning of Parliament is specified in Article 85 of the Constitution. Like many other articles, it is based on a provision of The Government of India Act, 1935.
- This provision specified that the central legislature had to be summoned to meet at least once a year and that not more than 12 months could elapse between two sessions.
- Dr B R Ambedkar stated that the purpose of this provision was to summon the legislature only to collect revenue and that the once-a-year meeting was designed to avoid scrutiny of the government by the legislature.
- His drafting of the provision reduced the gap between sessions to six months and specified that Parliament should meet at least twice a year.
Convening a Session: The debate
- During the debate, members of the Constituent Assembly highlighted three issues: (i) the number of sessions in a year, (ii) the number of days of sitting and, (iii) who should have the power to convene Parliament.
- Prof K T Shah from Bihar was of the opinion that Parliament should sit throughout the year, with breaks in between.
- Others wanted Parliament to sit for longer durations and gave examples of the British and American legislatures which during that time were meeting for more than a hundred days in a year.
- Prof Shah also wanted the presiding officers of the two Houses to be empowered to convene Parliament in certain circumstances. These suggestions were not accepted by Dr Ambedkar.
Moved, delayed, stretched
- Over the years, governments have shuffled around the dates of sessions to accommodate political and legislative exigencies.
- Sessions have also been cut short or delayed to allow the government to issue Ordinances.
Fewer House sittings
- Over the years, there has been a decline in the sittings days of Parliament.
- During the first two decades of Parliament, Lok Sabha met for an average of a little more than 120 days a year.
- This has come down to approximately 70 days in the last decade.
Why sittings are reducing day by day?
- One institutional reason given for this is the reduction in the workload of Parliament by its Standing Committees, which, since the 1990s, have anchored debates outside the House.
- However, several Committees have recommended that Parliament should meet for at least 120 days in a year.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Various monetary policy tools
Mains level: Currency manipulation
The U.S. Treasury has labelled Switzerland and Vietnam as currency manipulators and added three new names, including India, to a watch list of countries. Earlier it had removed India from the list in March 2019.
What is Currency Manipulation?
- Currency manipulation refers to actions taken by governments to change the value of their currencies relative to other currencies in order to bring about some desirable objective.
- The typical claim – often doubtful – is that countries manipulate their currencies in order to make their exports effectively cheaper on the world market and in turn make imports more expensive.
Why do countries manipulate their currencies?
- In general, countries prefer their currency to be weak because it makes them more competitive on the international trade front.
- A lower currency makes a country’s exports more attractive because they are cheaper on the international market.
- For example, a weak Rupee makes Indian exports less expensive for offshore buyers.
- Secondly, by boosting exports, a country can use a lower currency to shrink its trade deficit.
- Finally, a weaker currency alleviates pressure on a country’s sovereign debt obligations.
- After issuing offshore debt, a country will make payments, and as these payments are denominated in the offshore currency, a weak local currency effectively decreases these debt payments.
US treasury’s criteria
To be labelled a manipulator by the U.S. Treasury:
- Countries must at least have a $20 billion-plus bilateral trade surplus with the US
- foreign currency intervention exceeding 2% of GDP and a global current account surplus exceeding 2% of GDP
Implications for India
- India has traditionally tried to balance between preventing excess currency appreciation on the one hand and protecting domestic financial stability on the other.
- India being on the watch list could restrict the RBI in the foreign exchange operations it needs to pursue to protect financial stability.
- This comes when global capital flows threaten to overwhelm domestic monetary policy.
- The two most obvious consequences could be an appreciating rupee as well as excess liquidity that messes with the interest rate policy of the RBI.
- Indian policymakers have to be sensitive for the unpredictable nature of policy-making in the US under Trump, especially concerning global trade.
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From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Chang E probe
Mains level: Various lunar missions and their success
A Chinese lunar capsule has returned to Earth with the first fresh samples of rock and debris from the moon in more than 40 years.
Try this PYQ:
Q.What do you understand by the term Aitken basin:
(a) It is a desert in the southern Chile which is known to be the only location on earth where no rainfall takes place
(b) It is an impact crater on the far side of the Moon
(c) It is a Pacific coast basin, which is known to house large amounts of oil and gas
(d) It is a deep hyper saline anoxic basin where no aquatic animals are found
Chang’e-5 Probe
- The Chang’e-5 probe, named after the mythical Chinese moon goddess, aims to shovel up lunar rocks and soil to help scientists learn about the moon’s origins, formation and volcanic activity on its surface.
- The goal of the mission is to land in the Mons Rumker region of the moon, where it will operate for one lunar day, which is two weeks long.
- It will collect 2 kg of surface material from a previously unexplored area known as Oceanus Procellarum — or “Ocean of Storms” — which consist of vast lava plain.
- The original mission, planned for 2017, was delayed due to an engine failure in China’s Long March 5 launch rocket.
A big achievement
- The successful mission was the latest breakthrough for China’s increasingly ambitious space programme that includes a robotic mission to Mars and plans for a permanent orbiting space station.
- This return marked China’s third successful lunar landing but the only one to lift off again from the moon.
- It also marked the first time scientists have obtained fresh samples of lunar rocks since the former Soviet Union’s Luna 24 robot probe in 1976.
Significance of the mission
- Rocks found on the Moon are older than any that have been found on Earth and therefore they are valuable in providing information about the Earth and the Moon’s shared history.
- Lunar samples can help to unravel some important questions in lunar science and astronomy, including the Moon’s age, its formation, the similarities and differences between the Earth and the Moon’s geologic features.
- For instance, the shape, size, arrangement and composition of individual grains and crystals in a rock can tell scientists about its history, while the radioactive clock can tell them the rock’s age.
- Further, tiny cracks in rocks can tell them about the radiation history of the Sun in the last 100,000 years.
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