Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Technology to Tackle Natural Disasters
Mains level: G20, Startups And Technology to tackle natural Disasters
Central Idea
- The concept of SUMups, a hypothetical bundling of complementary start-ups globally that work on some aspect of managing natural disasters. There are some of the innovative technologies developed by these start-ups and how they can be combined to develop more effective disaster management solutions.
Background: The Rising Frequency and Impact of Natural Disasters Globally
- Increasing Frequency and Severity of Natural Disasters: Globally, natural disasters have become increasingly common and the severity of their impact is worsening.
- FAO Report: According to the FAO’s report, there were 360 natural disasters per year in the 2010s that resulted in at least 10 deaths, affected 100 or more people, led to homelessness or injury, and required a declaration of a state of countrywide emergency and an appeal for international assistance.
- Comparison of Natural Disasters: This number is significantly higher than the 100 events recorded in the 1980s and the 90 events recorded in the 1970s.
- Frequency of Climate, Weather, and Hydrology-related Disasters: Furthermore, climate, weather, and hydrology-related disasters are becoming more frequent, while geophysical and biological emergencies are not, with the exception of Covid-19.
- Global Impact of Natural Disasters: The impact of these natural disasters is global, affecting countries across the world in various ways, including forest fires, heat and dust storms, and floods.
- The Need to Improve Disaster Response and Mitigation Efforts: As a society, it is important to recognize that natural disasters will continue to pose a threat and we need to improve our ability to respond and mitigate their effects.
- Measures Being Taken to Address the Issue of Natural Disasters: Fortunately, there are measures being taken to address this issue, including research into improving disaster response systems and the development of new technologies to aid in disaster preparedness and relief efforts.
- The disaster prevention technologies developed by start-up
- CERD-AR: CERD-AR developed an Augmented Reality (AR) application that gamifies the animations of disasters and provides disaster prevention drills to prepare people for evacuation and reaction in ultra-realistic settings.
- A Palo Alto-based start-up One Concern: One Concern built a digital twin of the world by analyzing satellite images to predict natural disasters. The platform combines Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning (AI/ML), and supercomputers to develop seismic and flood technology for real-time prediction of flooding and assess the risk associated with various events.
Emergency Response and Reconstruction Technologies
- Garuda Aerospace: Garuda Aerospace deployed drones in Turkey for surveillance in the affected earthquake areas to identify trapped victims.
- HW Design Labs: HW Design Labs developed IoT innovations that support disaster response teams in planning their operations effectively through deep penetrating ground sensing radars, wireless connectivity solutions, advanced tracking, and navigation services.
Emergency Communication Technologies
- MyResQR: This start-up provides emergency communication between victims and stakeholders. The smart QR code manages information and triggers SOS during emergencies by enabling first responders like ambulance services, hospital staff, and other emergency response teams.
Way Ahead
- The SUMups represent an opportunity to combine innovative disaster management technologies from start-ups globally to address the Sustainable Development Goals for the whole world, such as building resilient infrastructure and zero hunger.
Conclusion
- The Startup20 Engagement Group of G20 can enable many such SUMups that can help deal with the increasing frequency, intensity, and complexity of natural disasters in the future. Sharing ideas and collaborating globally can help us all become better prepared and equipped to tackle these events. The article emphasizes that the sharing of ideas can be a powerful tool for solving complex problems, and the development of SUMups is a step in the right direction for improving disaster management worldwide.
Mains Question
Q. What is the concept of SUMups? Discuss the innovative technologies developed by start-ups in the areas of disaster prevention.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: NA
Mains level: India Sweden Bilateral relation
Central Idea
- This year marks 75 years of bilateral relations between India and Sweden, and it is an occasion to celebrate. Bilateral trade has reached unprecedented levels in the past year, with Swedish companies making significant strides in the Indian market. The latest Indian administration has shown a keen interest in augmenting and broadening the partnership between the two countries.
The Past and Present: Bilateral Relations between India and Sweden
- Sweden and India have come a long way in the past 100 years.
- From limited contacts to a flourishing partnership, both countries have developed national wealth through industry and manufacturing. Swedish companies have been key drivers in both domains, and through their work, Sweden and India have found friends in one another.
- In 2023, Sweden is celebrating the anniversaries of Ericsson, SKF, Alfa Laval, and Volvo, notable Swedish companies in India.
Celebrating 75 Years of Friendship
- Record bilateral trade: India and Sweden celebrated a record year for bilateral trade in 2022, with Swedish companies experiencing strong growth in India.
- Flourishing partnership: Both countries are committed to expanding their partnership and collaborating in innovation, green transition, energy, health, industry policy and more.
Emphasizing the Importance of Industry and Manufacturing
- Key sectors: Industry and manufacturing are key to building long-term economic growth, and Sweden and India have identified these sectors as key areas of collaboration.
- Swedish companies have been key drivers: An active industry policy necessitates partnerships and taking bold steps, and Swedish companies have been key drivers in industry and manufacturing in India for several decades.
Prioritizing Green and Sustainable Practices
- Commitment to green supply chain: The future belongs to green and sustainable practices, and both Sweden and India are committed to socially and environmentally sustainable practices throughout the entire supply chain.
- Green transition and digitalisation: There is a clear commitment to this vision from governments and businesses alike, with a focus on digitalisation, the green transition, and the industry of the future.
Way ahead: Opportunities for Even Closer Ties
- There are opportunities for even closer ties between India and Sweden, including a Free Trade Agreement between the EU and India.
- The European Union presidency offers a chance to explore this possibility, which would have a positive impact on economic and industrial exchange, particularly in cities like Pune where Swedish companies have a strong presence.
Conclusion
- The partnership between India and Sweden has come a long way in the past 75 years. Both nations have identified industry and manufacturing as key to building long-term economic growth, and there is a need to deepen work towards socially and environmentally sustainable practices.
Mains Question
Q. Discuss the key areas of collaboration between India and Sweden in the context of their 75-year bilateral relationship?
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: PMLA, PEPs, FATF
Mains level: Recent changes in PMLA
Central idea: The Finance Ministry has amended the Prevention of Money Laundering (Maintenance of Records) Rules for widening the scope of Know your Customer (KYC) norms to include Politically Exposed Persons (PEPs), non-profit organisations (NPOs) and those dealing in virtual digital assets (VDA) as reporting entities.
Who are Politically Exposed Persons (PEP)?
- According to the modified PML Rules, the Finance Ministry has defined PEPs as-
- Individuals who have been entrusted with prominent public functions by a foreign country
- Includes heads of states or governments, senior politicians, senior government or judicial or military officers, senior executives of state-owned corporations, and important political party officials.
- Banks and financial institutions must maintain records of financial transactions of PEPs and share them with the Enforcement Directorate as and when sought.
Other key changes introduced
Recording of financial transactions of NPOs/NGOs
- The financial institutions must register the details of their NGO clients on the Darpan portal of the Niti Aayog.
- They are required to maintain the record for five years after the business relationship between a client and a reporting entity has ended or the account has been closed, whichever is later.
Tightening of the definition of beneficial owners
- The amendment to the PMLA rules includes the tightening of the definition of beneficial owners under the anti-money laundering law.
- As per the amendments, any individual or group holding 10 per cent ownership in the client of a ‘reporting entity’ will now be considered a beneficial owner against the ownership threshold of 25 per cent applicable earlier.
- The reporting entities include banks and financial institutions, firms engaged in real estate and jewellery sectors, intermediaries in casinos and crypto or virtual digital assets.
Collection of information from clients
- Reporting entities such as banks and crypto platforms are mandated to collect information from their clients under the anti-money laundering law.
- So far, these entities were required to maintain KYC details or records of documents evidencing the identity of their clients, as well as account files and business correspondence relating to clients.
- They will now have to also collect the details of the registered office address and principal place of business of their clients.
- Additionally, they are required to maintain a record of all transactions, including the record of all cash transactions of more than Rs 10 lakh.
Why such move?
- FATF assessment: The amendments assume significance ahead of India’s proposed FATF assessment, which is expected to be undertaken later this year.
- Risk-management: In one of its 40 recommendations, FATF recommends that financial institutions have risk-management systems to identify domestic and international PEPs.
- Remove ambiguities: The broader objective is to bring in legal uniformity and remove ambiguities before the FATF assessment.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Landslide Atlas of Indi
Mains level: Heavt rain induced disasters
The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) recently released the Landslide Atlas of India to identify landslide hotspots in the country.
What are Landslides?
- Landslides are natural disasters that occur in mountainous terrains where soil, rock, geology, and slope conditions are conducive.
- A landslide is the sudden movement of rock, boulders, earth, or debris down a slope.
- They can be triggered by natural causes such as heavy rainfall, earthquakes, snowmelting, and undercutting of slopes due to flooding.
- They are extremely hazardous, posing a threat to human and animal lives, damaging property, roads, and bridges, disrupting communication lines, and snapping power lines.
- Landslides are broadly classified based on the type of materials involved, the type of movement of the material, and the type of flow of the material.
Why do they occur?
- Landslides are natural disasters that occur mainly in mountainous terrains due to conducive conditions of soil, rock, geology, and slope.
- Heavy rainfall, earthquakes, snow-melting, and undercutting of slopes due to flooding can trigger landslides.
- Anthropogenic activities such as excavation, cutting of hills and trees, excessive infrastructure development, and overgrazing by cattle can also cause landslides.
Factors contributing
- The main factors that influence landslides include lithology, geological structures like faults, hill slopes, drainage, geomorphology, land use and land cover, soil texture and depth, and weathering of rocks.
- Rainfall variability pattern is the single biggest cause for landslides in India, with the Himalayas and the Western Ghats remaining highly vulnerable.
India’s vulnerability to landslides
- India is considered among the top five landslide-prone countries globally, where at least one death per 100 sq. km is reported in a year due to a landslide event.
- Approximately 12.6% of the country’s geographical land area (0.42 million sq km) is prone to landslides, with 66.5% of landslides reported from the North-western Himalayas, 18.8% from the North-eastern Himalayas, and 14.7% from the Western Ghats.
Risks in specific states
- Mizoram recorded the highest number of landslide events in the past 25 years, with 12,385 events, of which 8,926 were recorded in 2017 alone.
- Nagaland and Manipur also reported a high number of landslide events during the 2017 monsoon season.
- Uttarakhand and Kerala reported the highest number of landslides, with Uttarakhand experiencing 11,219 events since 1998, and Kerala making inhabitants significantly vulnerable to fatalities, despite fewer events.
Classification and Mapping of Landslides
- Landslides are broadly classified based on the type of materials involved, type of movement, type of flow of the material, and whether they spread laterally.
- The Landslide Atlas of India maps landslides mainly based on events and seasons.
- The National Remote Sensing Centre (NRSC) used a landslide database created from 1998 to 2022 using aerial and high-resolution satellite images.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Megha Tropiques Satellite, Controlled re-entry
Mains level: Space junk clearing
ISRO attempted a controlled re-entry of the Megha Tropiques-1 satellite with leftover fuel to lower the orbit and reduce space debris.
Megha Tropiques Satellite
- The weather satellite Megha Tropiques-1 was developed as a joint mission by Indian and French space agencies.
- It was launched aboard a PSLV by the space agency in 2011.
- And, although the planned mission life of the satellite was only three years, it continued providing data on water cycle and energy exchanges in the tropics for nearly a decade.
How was the satellite brought down?
- With over 120kgs of fuel remaining in the satellite even after being decommissioned.
- ISRO determined that there was enough to attempt a controlled re-entry.
- When the satellites re-enter the atmosphere, the friction causes it to heat up to extreme high temperatures of thousands of degrees Celsius.
- Without a heat shield, 99% of a satellite gets burnt up whether in a controlled re-entry or an uncontrolled one.
Significance of the move
- This was the first time that ISRO attempted such a manoeuvre to clear out space debris despite the satellite not being built to do so.
- Usually, satellites are left in their orbit and because of the gravitational pull of the earth, they come down to the atmosphere over years and years.
Why did ISRO attempt a controlled re-entry?
- ISRO attempted the control re-entry to demonstrate and understand the process of doing so.
- Keeping space clean is crucial with multiple spacefaring nations and private entities launching satellites.
- Thousands of objects are flying around in low earth orbits, including old satellites, parts, and rocket stages.
- Even small debris can destroy active satellites due to high speeds.
- Kessler syndrome is a scary scenario where space debris collisions create more debris.
What happens to satellites usually?
- A controlled re-entry like the one attempted by Isro earlier this week is possible only for satellites in the low-earth orbit – at about 1,000 kms over the surface of the earth.
- These manoeuvres, however, are not usually attempted because fuel reserves have to be maintained in the satellite after mission life is over.
- And, this is impossible for satellites placed in geo-stationary or geosynchronous orbit – where time taken by the satellite to orbit the earth matches Earth’s rotation.
- Such satellites are at altitudes of nearly 36,000 kms.
- For attempting to bring down a satellite from such as orbit, a huge fuel reserve would be needed. This will only make the satellite heavier and costlier at launch.
Also read-
[Sansad TV] Perspective: Cluttered Space
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