Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Goa Liberation Day
Mains level: Decolonization in India
The President of India tweeted her greetings to the nation on December 19, marking Goa Liberation Day, which is celebrated annually to mark the success of ‘Operation Vijay’ undertaken by the Indian armed forces to defeat Portuguese colonial forces and liberate Goa in 1961.
What is the news?
- Goa was liberated 15 years after India attained freedom.
- Last year PM Modi accused Nehru as guilty of leaving satyagrahis in the dismay, refusing to send the Indian Army to liberate Goa, even after 25 of them were shot dead by the Portuguese Army.
Goa’s Colonization: A backgrounder
- Goa became a Portuguese colony in 1510, when Admiral Afonso de Albuquerque defeated the forces of the sultan of Bjiapur, Yusuf Adil Shah.
- The next four and a half centuries saw one of Asia’s longest colonial encounters — Goa found itself at the intersection of competing regional and global powers.
- It received a religious and cultural ferment that lead eventually to the germination of a distinct Goan identity that continues to be a source of contestation even today.
- By the turn of the twentieth century, Goa had started to witness an upsurge of nationalist sentiment opposed to Portugal’s colonial rule, in sync with the anti-British nationalist movement.
Beginning of freedom movement
- Tristao de Braganza Cunha, celebrated as the father of Goan nationalism, founded the Goa National Congress at the Calcutta session of the Indian National Congress in 1928.
- In 1946, the socialist leader Ram Manohar Lohia led a historic rally in Goa that gave a call for civil liberties and freedom, and eventual integration with India.
- This event became a watershed moment in Goa’s freedom struggle.
- At the same time, there was a thinking that civil liberties could not be won by peaceful methods, and a more aggressive armed struggle was needed.
- This was the view of the Azad Gomantak Dal (AGD), whose co-founder Prabhakar Sinari is one of the few freedom fighters still living today.
- Finally, Goa was liberated on December 19, 1961 by swift Indian military action that lasted less than two days.
Recognition of Goa
- The Supreme Court of India recognized the validity of the annexation and rejected the continued applicability of the law of occupation.
- In a treaty with retroactive effect, Portugal recognized Indian sovereignty in 1974.
- Under the jus cogens rule, forceful annexations including the annexation of Goa are held as illegal since they have taken place after the UN Charter came into force.
Why was Goa left un-colonized?
As India moved towards independence, however, it became clear that Goa would not be free any time soon, because of a variety of complex factors.
- No immediate war: Then PM Nehru felt that if he launched a military operation (like in Hyderabad) to oust the colonial rulers, his image as a global leader of peace would be impacted.
- Trauma of Partition: The trauma of Partition and the massive rupture that followed, coupled with the war with Pakistan, kept the Government of India from opening another front.
- Internationalization of the issue: This might have led the international community to get involved.
- No demand from within: It was Gandhi’s opinion that a lot of groundwork was still needed to raise the consciousness of the people, and the diverse political voices emerging within be brought under a common umbrella.
Nehruvian dilemma
- India’s global image: Nehru was headed in shaping India’s position in the comity of nations.
- Trying peaceful options: He was trying to exhaust all options available to him given the circumstances that India was emerging from.
- Portuguese obsession: Portugal had changed its constitution in 1951 to claim Goa not as a colonial possession, but as an overseas province.
- Portugal in NATO: The move was apparently aimed at making Goa a part of the newly formed North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) military alliance. Hence the collective security clause of the treaty would be triggered.
- Weak indigenous push: Nehru saw it prudent to pursue bilateral diplomatic measures with Portugal to negotiate a peaceful transfer while, at the same time, a more ‘overt’ indigenous push for liberation.
Why did Nehru wait until December 1961 to launch a full-scale military offensive?
India could no longer be seen to delay the liberation of Goa because:
- Portuguese offensive against Satyagrahis: The firing incident also provoked a sharp response from the Government of India, which snapped diplomatic and consular ties with Portugal in 1955.
- India as torchbearer of de-colonization: India got itself firmly established as a leader of the Non Aligned World and Afro-Asian Unity, with decolonization and anti-imperialism as the pillars of its policy.
- Criticisms from African nations: An Indian Council of Africa seminar on Portuguese colonies organized in 1961 heard strong views from African as this was hampering their own struggles against the ruthless regime.
- Weakening Colonialism: The delegates were certain that the Portuguese empire would collapse the day Goa was liberated.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Location of Rwanda
Mains level: Not Much
Britain’s plan to send migrants to Rwanda is lawful, London’s High Court ruled, in a victory for PM Rishi Sunak who has made a high-stakes political promise to tackle the record number of migrant arrivals.
Immigrant’s crisis in UK
- Since 2018, there has been a marked rise in the number of refugees and asylum seekers that undertake dangerous crossings between Calais in France and Dover in England.
- Most such migrants and asylum seekers hail from war-torn countries like Sudan, Afghanistan, and Yemen, or developing countries like Iran and Iraq.
- The Britain that has adopted a hardline stance on illegal immigration, these crossings constitute an immigration crisis.
- The Nationality and Borders Bill, 2021, which is still under consideration in the UK, allows the British government to strip anyone’s citizenship without notice under “exceptional circumstances”.
- The Rwanda deal is the operationalization of one objective in the Bill which is to deter illegal entry into the United Kingdom.
What is the Rwanda Deal?
- The UK and Rwanda Migration and Economic Development Partnership or the Rwanda Deal is a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed between the two governments.
- Under this deal, Rwanda will commit to taking in asylum seekers who arrive in the UK on or after January 1, 2022, using illegally facilitated and unlawful cross border migration.
- Rwanda will function as the holding centre where asylum applicants will wait while the Rwandan government makes decisions about their asylum and resettlement petitions in Rwanda.
- Rwanda will, on its part, accommodate anyone who is not a minor and does not have a criminal record.
Rationale of the deal
- The deal aims to combat “people smugglers”, who often charge exorbitant prices from vulnerable migrants to put them on unseaworthy boats from France to England that often lead to mass drownings.
- The UK contends that this solution to the migrant issue is humane and meant to target the gangs that run these illegal crossings.
What will the scheme cost the UK?
- The UK will pay Rwanda £120 million as part of an “economic transformation and integration fund” and will also bear the operational costs along with an, as yet undetermined, amount for each migrant.
- Currently, the UK pays £4.7 million per day to accommodate approximately 25,000 asylum seekers.
- At the end of 2021, this amounted to £430 million annually with a projected increase of £100 million in 2022.
- The Rwanda Deal is predicted to reduce these costs by outsourcing the hosting of such migrants to a third country.
Will the Rwanda Deal solve the problem of illegal immigration?
- This deal will be implemented in a matter of weeks unless it is challenged and stayed by British courts.
- While Boris Johnson’s government is undoubtedly bracing for such legal challenges, it remains unclear if the Rwanda Deal will solve the problem of unlawful crossings.
- Evidence from similar experiences indicates that such policies do not fully combat “people smuggling”.
Criticisms of the deal
- There are dangers of transferring refugees and asylum seekers to third countries without sufficient safeguards.
- The refugees are traded like commodities and transferred abroad for processing.
- Such arrangements simply shift asylum responsibilities, evade international obligations, and are contrary to the letter and spirit of the Refugee Convention.
- Rwanda also has a known track record of extrajudicial killings, suspicious deaths in custody, unlawful or arbitrary detention, torture, and abusive prosecutions, particularly targeting critics and dissidents.
Do any other countries send asylum seekers overseas?
- Yes, several other countries — including Australia, Israel and Denmark — have been sending asylum seekers overseas.
- Australia has been making full use of offshore detention centres since 2001.
- Israel, too, chose to deal with a growing influx of asylum seekers and illegal immigrants from places like Sudan and Eritrea by striking deals with third countries.
- Those rejected for asylum were given the choice of returning to their home country or accepting $3,500 and a plane ticket to one of the third countries.
- They faced the threat of arrest if they chose to remain in Israel.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: INS Mormugao
Mains level: Indian navy modernization
Indian Naval Ship (INS) Mormugao (Pennant 67), a P15B stealth-guided missile destroyer was commissioned into the Indian Navy.
INS Mormugao
- This was the second ship to be inducted as a part of the four ‘Visakhapatnam’ class destroyers.
- It is indigenously designed by the Navy’s in-house organisation Warship Design Bureau and constructed by Mazagaon Dock Shipbuilders Limited (MDL) in the country’s financial capital Mumbai.
- The ship was named after a key port in the Indian state of Goa, it was inducted on the eve of Goa Liberation Day.
- The ship was first launched in September 2016 and began sea trials last year on December 19 which coincided with the day that Goa was liberated from Portuguese rule six decades earlier with December 18 marking the launch of Operation Vijay by the Indian Armed Forces in 1961.
- Singh also paid tributed former defence minister, the late Manohar Parrikar who had launched INS Mormugao in 2016.
Features of INS Mormugao
- The ship measures 163 metres by 17 metres and has the ability to fight in nuclear, biological, as well as chemical (NBC) warfare due to its total atmospheric control system (TACS).
- Additionally, with a displacement of 7,400 tonnes, the INS Mormugao is loaded with state-of-the-art weapons.
- It will be operated by a crew of at least 350 which would include 50 officers and 250 sailors.
- Over 75 per cent of the ship’s content was manufactured and developed in India, either directly or designed and developed by Indian Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) or through strategic tie-ups.
- It is capable of achieving speeds of 30 knots (55 km/hour) as it is propelled by four powerful gas turbines in a ‘combined gas and gas’ (COGAG) configuration.
Combat weaponry
- INS Mormugao includes weapons like BrahMos surface-to-surface missiles and Barak-8 surface-to-air missiles.
- It is also fitted with a modern surveillance radar which helps provide target data to the ship’s weapon system.
- Additionally, the ship’s weaponry also includes indigenously-developed rocket launchers, torpedo launchers and ASW helicopters like Sea King or HAL Dhruv.
Historic significance of Mormugao Port
- Even as a port, Mormugao has contributed significantly to the growth of India’s maritime trade.
- Even today, it is one of the oldest and largest ports in the country and will retain this special place due to the services it provides be it Mormugao fort or Mormugao port.
- It is landmark since the 17th century Maratha campaign against the Portuguese under Chhatrapati Sambhaji (Ch. Shivaji Maharaj’s son).
Back2Basics: Project PB15
- P15B destroyers is a class of four ships built by the country’s MDSL with INS Visakhapatnam (Pennant D66), commissioned last year in November as the year.
- These ships are set to be more advanced than the Kolkata class under the project named 15A which comprised INS Kolkata, INS Kochi, and INS Chennai.
- The contract for the ships was signed back in 2011 and under Project 15B they were to be named after four major Indian cities like Visakhapatnam, Mormugao, Imphal, and Surat.
- A group of ships with similar tonnage, usage, capabilities, and weaponry are referred to as a ship’s ‘class’.
- P15B destroyers incorporate new design concepts for improved survivability, seakeeping and manoeuvrability.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Multiple Signs of Adaptive-evolution (MSA)
Mains level: NA
Researchers at the Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER) Bhopal have found out the carried out whole genome sequencing of banyan and peepal from leaf tissue samples.
Science behind long life: Multiple Signs of Adaptive-evolution (MSA)
- Scientists identified 25,016 coding gene sequences in banyan and 23,929 in peepal.
- Both trees faced a population bottleneck around 0.8 million years ago and evolved genes with multiple signs of adaptive evolution (MSA).
- In banyan, the MSA genes are mainly involved in root growth, pollen tube and seed development, leaf formation, cell wall synthesis, metabolism and other developmental processes.
How MSA prolongs the life?
- Disease resistance and other stress tolerance gene families showed expansion as well as high expression, contributing to the plants’ long lifespan.
- The MSA genes of peepal are associated with root cell elongation, cell proliferation, seed and pollen tube growth, lateral organ development, controlling flowering time, metabolism and intracellular transport.
- The team zeroed in on 17 MSA genes in banyan and 19 MSA genes in peepal that are mainly related to well-developed morphology, and tolerance against drought, oxidative stress and pathogens.
- Genes involved in growth-regulating auxin signalling and plant senescence-regulating pathways also showed evolutionary signatures.
- Also, 88% and 89% of the MSA genes in banyan and peepal trees, respectively, are associated with tolerance against biotic and abiotic stress responses.
- This, in turn, helps these plants to survive when faced with environmental challenges.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: mRNA Vaccine
Mains level: Not Much
The results of a trial of an experimental cancer vaccine built on the mRNA (messenger ribonucleic acid) platform, made by Moderna and MSD (Merck&Co.), have shown promising results.
What is mRNA?
- Messenger RNA (mRNA) is a single-stranded RNA (Ribo Nucleic Acid) molecule that is complementary to one of the DNA strands of a gene.
- The mRNA is an RNA version of the gene that leaves the cell nucleus and moves to the cytoplasm where proteins are made.
- During protein synthesis, an organelle called a ribosome moves along the mRNA, reads its base sequence, and uses the genetic code to translate each three-base triplet, or codon, into its corresponding amino acid.
What are mRNA vaccines?
- mRNA vaccines work by introducing a piece of mRNA that corresponds to a viral protein, usually a small piece of a protein found on the virus’s outer membrane.
- Individuals who get an mRNA vaccine are not exposed to the virus, nor can they become infected with the virus by the vaccine.
- As part of a normal immune response, the immune system recognizes that the protein is foreign and produces specialized proteins called antibodies.
- Antibodies help protect the body against infection by recognizing individual viruses or other pathogens, attaching to them, and marking the pathogens for destruction.
- Once produced, antibodies remain in the body, even after the body has rid itself of the pathogen, so that the immune system can quickly respond if exposed again.
How does the vaccine work?
- The personalized cancer vaccine uses the same messenger-RNA technology that was used to produce the COVID vaccine.
- It allows the body’s immune system to seek and destroy cancerous cells, in this case melanoma, but with the hope that it could lead to new ways to fight other types of cancers too.
Why is it a significant feat?
- The cancer vaccine showed a 44% reduction in the risk of dying of cancer or having the cancer progress.
- As a personalized cancer vaccine, it is tailor-made for every patient.
- As a consequence, it is expected to be very expensive to make.
- But oncologists across the world have welcomed this as an exciting new opportunity in cancer care.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: DNA Fingerprinting
Mains level: Advanced criminology
Delhi Police has established identity of a victim of brutal murder and mutilation by DNA fingerprinting.
What is DNA fingerprinting?
- DNA fingerprinting was first developed in 1984 by Alec Jeffreys in the UK, after Jeffreys discovered that no two people could have the same DNA sequence.
- Within three years of the discovery, the UK achieved the world’s first conviction based on DNA evidence in a case of rape and murder.
How is DNA fingerprinting done?
- Each person’s DNA, except for identical twins, is unique.
- By analyzing selected DNA sequences (called loci), a crime laboratory can develop a profile to be used in identifying a suspect.
- DNA can be extracted from many sources, such as hair, bone, teeth, saliva, and blood.
- Because there is DNA in most cells in the human body, even a minuscule amount of bodily fluid or tissue can yield useful information.
- Samples may even be extracted from used clothes, linen, combs, or other frequently used items.
Deoxyribonucleic Acid (DNA)
- DNA is the hereditary material in humans and almost all other organisms. Nearly every cell in a person’s body has the same DNA.
- Most DNA is located in the cell nucleus (where it is called nuclear DNA), but a small amount of DNA can also be found in the mitochondria (where it is called mitochondrial DNA or mtDNA).
- Mitochondria are structures within cells that convert the energy from food into a form that cells can use.
- The information in DNA is stored as a code made up of four chemical bases: adenine (A), guanine (G), cytosine (C), and thymine (T).
- Human DNA consists of about 3 billion bases, and more than 99 percent of those bases are the same in all people.
- The order, or sequence, of these bases determines the information available for building and maintaining an organism, similar to the way in which letters of the alphabet appear in a certain order to form words and sentences.
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How it is used in criminal investigation?
- DNA evidence is used to solve crimes in two ways:
- If a suspect is known, that person’s DNA sample can be compared to biological evidence found at a crime scene to establish whether the suspect was at the crime scene or whether they committed the crime.
- If a suspect is not known, biological evidence from the crime scene can be analyzed and compared to offender profiles in existing DNA databases to assist in identifying a suspect.
- Beyond its accuracy, DNA fingerprinting can also sift through crime scene evidence in different ways, previously unavailable to investigators.
- For instance, advanced DNA fingerprinting can make separate prints of various individuals even from a sample mixture found at the crime scene — this is of help during gang rape investigations as each perpetrator can be individually identified.
DNA fingerprinting in India
- By 1988, Lalji Singh, who had been in the UK from 1974 to 1987 on a Commonwealth Fellowship, developed DNA fingerprinting for crime investigations in Hyderabad.
- Today, Lalji Singh, who passed away in 2017, is known as “the father of DNA fingerprinting in India.”
- In 1989, DNA fingerprinting was first used in a case by the Kerala Police.
- By the early 1990s, the technology had begun to be used for establishing paternity, and to link criminals and identify victims in sensational crimes.
- From the 2000s onwards, the technology became a staple in rape cases where vaginal swab samples were matched with semen samples from suspects.
Challenges with DNA fingerprinting in India
- It is vital to ensure that the DNA of the investigators does not get mixed with that of the victims or the suspects.
- Thus, picking up samples from a crime scene with sterile tools and storing samples in a proper manner are crucial for the evidence to stand a judicial test.
- While India has rules and guidelines regarding this, India’s police forces have a lot of catching up to do with counterparts overseas.
- While central agencies such as CBI have the expertise to ensure that crime scenes are protected and correct procedure is followed, state police forces are inadequately trained or fully equipped.
Issues with such technology
- The problem is not limited to the police awareness.
- The capacity for DNA fingerprinting in the country itself is lacking.
- DNA fingerprinting is available only at a few places — Maharashtra, West Bengal, Delhi, Hyderabad and Chandigarh.
- Advanced practices in the technology are limited to the Centre for DNA Fingerprinting and Diagnostics (CDFD) in Hyderabad.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: GI Tag
Mains level: Contribution of GI tags in rural economy
Five agricultural products of Kerala have been granted Geographical Indication (GI) status.
Which are the 5 GI products?
- These are the latest Geographical Indications that have been registered-
- Attappady Attukombu Avara: It cultivated in the Attappady region of Palakkad, is curved like a goat’s horn as its name indicates. Its higher anthocyanin content compared to other dolichos beans imparts violet colour in the stem and fruits. Anthocyanin is helpful against cardiovascular diseases along with its antidiabetic properties. Other than this, calcium, protein, and fibre content are also high. The higher phenolic content of imparts resistance against pest and diseases, making the crop suitable for organic cultivation.
- Attappady Thuvara: It is having seeds with white coat. Compared to other red grams, Attappady Thuvara seeds are bigger and have higher seed weight. This delicious red gram, which is used as vegetable and dal, is rich in protein, carbohydrate, fibre, calcium and magnesium.
- Kanthalloor-Vattavada Veluthulli (garlic): Compared to the garlic produced in other areas, this garlic contains higher amount of sulphides, flavonoids, and proteins. It is rich in allicin, which is effective against microbial infections, blood sugar, cancer, cholesterol, heart diseases, and damages to blood vessels. The garlic cultivated in this area is also rich in essential oil.
- Onattukara Ellu and its oil: It is famous for its unique health benefits. Relatively higher antioxidant content in Onattukara Ellu helps in fighting the free radicals, which destroy the body cells. Also, the high content of unsaturated fat makes it beneficial for heart patients.
- Kodungalloor Pottuvellari: It is cultivated in Kodungalloor and parts of Ernakulam is consumed as juice and in other forms. This snap melon, which is harvested in summer, is an excellent for quenching thirst. It contains high amount of Vitamin C. Compared to other cucurbits, nutrients such as calcium, magnesium, fibre and fat content are also high in that.
- The unique features of the products, imparted by the agro-climatic conditions of the geographical area of their production, are the basis for getting a GI tag.
What are the other GIs tags awarded?
Adding to the present collection of Geographical Indications (GIs), nine new items, including-
- Gamocha of Assam
- Tandur red gram of Telangana
- Raktsey Karpo apricot of Ladakh, and
- Alibag white onion of Maharashtra
Do you know?
Karnataka and Tamil Nadu are states with the highest number of GI tags, followed by Kerala (35), Uttar Pradesh (34), and Maharashtra (31).
About GI Tag
- Recognised by the World Trade Organization (WTO), GI is used to denote the geographical territory from where a product, be it agricultural produce, natural product, or manufactured.
- It conveys the assurance of quality, distinctiveness, and attributes that are unique to that specific geographic region/place of origin.
- India became a signatory to this convention, when, as a member of WTO, it enacted the Geographical Indications (Registration and Protection) Act, 1999, which came into effect on September 15, 2003.
- To protect the GI of goods, a GI registry has been established to administer the GI of Goods (Registration and Protection) Act, 1999, under the Controller General of Patents, Designs & Trade Marks.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Panini, Language Machine
Mains level: Not Much
A grammatical problem by Panini that has defeated Sanskrit scholars since the 5th Century BC has finally been solved by an Indian Ph.D. student at the University of Cambridge.
Who was Panini?
- Panini was a Sanskrit philologist, grammarian, and revered scholar in ancient India, variously dated between the 6th and 4th century BCE.
- Since the discovery and publication of his work by European scholars in the nineteenth century, Panini has been considered the “first descriptive linguist” and even labelled as “the father of linguistics”.
- Panini’s grammar was influential on such foundational linguists as Ferdinand de Saussure and Leonard Bloomfield.
Major literary works
- Panini is known for his texts- Astadhyayi, a sutra-style treatise on Sanskrit grammar, verses or rules on linguistics, syntax and semantics in “eight chapters” which is the foundational text of the Vyakarna branch of the Vedanga.
- His text attracted numerous bhashya (commentaries), of which Patanjali’s Mahabhashya is the most famous.
- His ideas influenced and attracted commentaries from scholars of other Indian religions such as Buddhism.
What is the recent breakthrough?
- Panini had an extraordinary mind and he built a language machine unrivaled in human history.
- The 2,500-year-old algorithm decoded by him makes it possible, for the first time, to accurately use Panini’s so-called “language machine”.
- This discovery makes it possible to “derive” any Sanskrit word, to construct millions of grammatically correct words, using Panini’s language machine.
- This is widely considered to be one of the greatest intellectual achievements in history.
How does this language machine works?
- Panini’s system – 4,000 rules detailed in his renowned work, the Astadhyayi, which is thought to have been written around 500 BC – is meant to work like a machine.
- Feed in the base and suffix of a word and it should turn them into grammatically correct words and sentences through a step-by-step process.
Significance of this development
- A major implication of the recent discovery is that now there is an algorithm that runs Panini’s grammar.
- We can potentially teach this grammar to computers.
- Computer scientists working on Natural Language Processing (NLP) gave up on rule-based approaches over 50 years ago.
- NLP is a branch of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning.
- So teaching computers how to combine the speaker’s intention with Panini’s rule-based grammar to produce human speech would be a major milestone in the history of human interaction with machines.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: BH Series
Mains level: Not Much
The Ministry of Road Transport and Highway has notified new rules to further increase the scope of implementation of the BH series registrations for vehicles.
What is the update?
The transport ministry has proposed new rules that would permit transfer of vehicles with BH series registration mark to other persons, who are eligible or ineligible for the getting the series.
What is Bharat series (BH-series)?
- There was a procedure of re-registration of a vehicle while moving to another state.
- A vehicle bearing BH registration mark shall not require assignment of a new registration mark when the owner of the vehicle shifts from one State to another.
- Format of Bharat series (BH-series) Registration Mark –
Registration Mark Format:
- YY BH #### XX
- YY – Year of first registration
- BH- Code for Bharat Series
- ####- 0000 to 9999 (randomized)
- XX- Alphabets (AA to ZZ)
Why such move?
- Station relocation occurs with both Government and private sector employees.
- Such movements create a sense of unease in the minds of such employees with regard to transfer of registration from the parent state to another state.
- Under section 47 of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988, a person is allowed to keep the vehicle for not more than 12 months in any state other than the state where the vehicle is registered.
Who can get this BH series?
- BH-series will be available on voluntary basis to Defense personnel, employees of Central Government/ State Government/ Central/ State PSUs and private sector companies/organizations.
- The motor vehicle tax will be levied for two years or in multiple of two.
- This scheme will facilitate free movement of personal vehicles across States/UTs of India upon relocation to a new State/UT.
- After completion of the fourteenth year, the motor vehicle tax shall be levied annually which shall be half of the amount which was charged earlier for that vehicle.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: CPJ Report
Mains level: Freedom of press
The number of journalists jailed around the world for practicing their profession has touched a record high, with 363 reporters deprived of their freedom as of December 1, 2022, according to the 2022 prison census released by the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ).
About Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ)
- The CPJ is an American independent non-profit, non-governmental organization, based in New York City, New York, with correspondents around the world.
- CPJ promotes press freedom and defends the rights of journalists.
- It is often called as the “Journalism’s Red Cross.”
- Since late 1980s, the organization has been publishing an annual census of journalists killed or imprisoned in relation to their work.
Key highlights of CPJ report
- This year’s top five jailers of journalists were Iran, China, Myanmar, Turkey, and Belarus, respectively.
- New ‘fake news’ laws, criminal defamation, and abuse of judiciary are also tactics used to clamp down on press freedom.
- This year’s top five jailers of journalists were Iran, China, Myanmar, Turkey, and Belarus, respectively.
- These govt aimed to keep the lid on broiling discontent in a world disrupted by COVID-19 and the economic fallout from Russia’s war on Ukraine.
- In China, too, another ‘worst offender’, many imprisoned journalists were Uighurs from Xinjiang.
What did it say about India?
India continues to draw criticism over its treatment of the media, in particular its use of-
- Jammu and Kashmir Public Safety Act,
- Preventive detention law- to keep journalists behind bars after they were granted court-ordered bail in separate cases,
- Terrorism-related Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act to investigate and charge the journalists.
Why does this report matter?
- Earlier this year, India has reached 150th position in the World Press Freedom Index, dropping further from its last year’s 142nd rank out of 180 countries.
- The safety of journalists is a grave concern in the Indian media landscape.
Conclusion
- The right occasion to deliberate about the much-needed reforms in the media ecosystem in the country is due.
- Establishing plurality in ownership, better legal frameworks to protect journalists, and steps to reduce the influence of vested interest groups in Media operations are the immediate steps required.
Back2Basics: Freedom of Press and Constitutional Provisions
- The Supreme Court in Romesh Thappar v. the State of Madras, 1950 observed that freedom of the press lay at the foundation of all democratic organisations.
- It is guaranteed under the freedom of speech and expression under Article 19, which deals with ‘Protection of certain rights regarding freedom of speech, etc.
- Freedom of the press is not expressly protected by the Indian legal system but it is impliedly protected under article 19(1) (a) of the constitution.
- The freedom of the press is also not absolute.
Reasonable restrictions
- A law could impose only those restrictions on the exercise of this right, it faces certain restrictions under article 19(2), which is as follows:
- Sovereignty and integrity of India
- Security of the State,
- Friendly relations with foreign States
- Public order, decency or morality
- Contempt of court
- Defamation
- Incitement to an offence
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Agni Missiles
Mains level: LAC skirmishes
India successfully carried out the night trials of the Agni V nuclear-capable ballistic missile days after Indian and Chinese troops clashed in Tawang district of Arunachal Pradesh.
Why in news?
- It was a midnight test fire.
- And there are rumours about the increased range and stealth capabilities of Agni-V missile.
Agni Missiles
- Agni missiles are long range, nuclear weapons capable surface to surface ballistic missile.
- The first missile of the series, Agni-I was developed under the Integrated Guided Missile Development Program (IGMDP) and tested in 1989.
- After its success, Agni missile program was separated from the IGMDP upon realizing its strategic importance.
- It was designated as a special program in India’s defence budget and provided adequate funds for subsequent development.
Variants of Agni missiles
- Agni I: It is a Medium Range Ballistic Missile with a Range of 700-800 km.
- Agni II: It is also a Medium Range Ballistic Missile with a Range more than 2000 km.
- Agni III: It is also an Inter-Medium Range Ballistic Missile with Range of more than 2,500 Km
- Agni IV: It is also an Inter-Medium Range Ballistic Missile with Range is more than 3,500 km and can fire from a road mobile launcher.
- Agni-V: Currently it is the longest of Agni series, an Inter-Continental Ballistic Missile (ICBM) with a range of over 5,000 km.
- Agni- VI: The longest of the Agni series, an Inter-Continental Ballistic Missile (ICBM) with a range of ICBM 11,000–12,000 km.
Strategic significance of Agni Missiles
- The success of AGNI missiles is in line with India’s stated policy to have ‘credible minimum deterrence’ that underpins the commitment to ‘No First Use’.
- What makes Agni 5 agile is that it is a “canisterised” missile. It means that the missile can be launched from road and rail platforms, making it easier for it to be deployed and launched at a quicker pace.
- The canisterisation also gives the missile a longer shelf life, protecting it from the harsher climatic conditions.
- While India is among the handful of nations with ICBM capability.
- The next generation of the missile, Agni VI, under development, is expected to have a range of around 8,000 km.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: PFMS, PAC
Mains level: Read the attached story
The Public Accounts Committee (PAC), in its report found that the tasks related to the implementation of the PFMS appeared to have been dealt with a casual approach and there was no proper financial planning.
Public Finance Management System (PFMS)
- PFMS is an online platform developed and implemented by the office of the Controller General of Accounts (CGA) under the Union Ministry of Finance.
- The PFMS portal is used to make direct payments to beneficiaries of government schemes.
- PFMS initially started as a Plan scheme named CPSMS of the Planning Commission in 2008-09 as a pilot in four States of Madhya Pradesh, Bihar, Punjab and Mizoram.
- It was for four Flagship schemes e.g. MGNREGS, NRHM, SSA and PMGSY.
- In December, 2013 the Union Cabinet approved the national roll out of PFMS for all States.
Mandate of PFMS
PFMS has been mandated the following:
- It acts as a financial management platform for all plan schemes and allows for efficient and effective tracking of fund flow to the lowest level of implementation for the planning scheme of the Government.
- It is mandated to provide information on fund utilization leading to better monitoring, review, and decision support system to enhance public accountability in the implementation of plan schemes.
- To result in effectiveness and economy in Public Finance Management through better cash management for Government transparency in public expenditure and real-time information on resource availability and utilization across schemes.
Achievements of PFMS
- PFMS can be credited to the transformation of Direct Beneficiary Transfers space in financial governance in India.
- An estimated 102 crore DBT transactions were done through PFMS in FY 19-20 amounting to about ₹2.67 lakh crore.
- Through efficient use of technology, PFMS is estimated to have saved about ₹1 lakh crore in direct beneficiary transfers.
Factors that could determine the successful evolution of PFMS in future
- Agility in terms of Onboarding/Integrating all Govt. accounts: Only after ensuring significant coverage, the true execution of the concept will take place.
- Effective data management capabilities: PFMS will have to add significant data management capabilities in order to ensure better monitoring/review to deliver on the idea of a decision support system for effective cash management or management of idle float in the system.
- Constantly upgrading: Adaption to rapid changes in technology is another key area that would call for a considerable amount of focus both in terms of gradation and monitoring.
- Collaboration with the banking system: Lastly, one of the most critical factors for the successful execution of PFMS is its integration with the banking systems.
What did PAC observe now?
- PAC is concerned over data security of PFMS.
- It observed that in the absence of a dedicated workforce, a key strategic system like the PFMS could possibly encounter new threats every now and then owing to the advancements in technology.
- It stressed the need for a thorough assessment of physical and technical infrastructure along with back-up arrangements required in the PFMS scheme.
Conclusion
- The PFMS has revolutionized the ways public finances are managed in the country.
- With constant improvement and increasing coverage, the scope of PFMS is ever-increasing.
Back2Basics: Public Accounts Committee
- The PAC is a committee of selected members of parliament constituted for the purpose of auditing the revenue and the expenditure of the Government of India.
- It was established in 1921 after its first mention in the Government of India Act, 1919.
- PAC is one of the parliamentary committees that examine the annual audit reports of CAG, which the President lays before the Parliament of India.
- It seeks to examines public expenditure.
- Those three reports submitted by CAG are:
- Audit report on appropriation accounts
- Audit report on finance accounts
- Audit report on public undertakings
Its members-
- It consists of not more than twenty-two members, fifteen elected by Lok Sabha and not more than seven members of Rajya Sabha, the upper house of the Parliament.
- The members are elected every year from amongst its members of respective houses according to the principle of proportional representation by means of single transferable vote.
- None of its members are allowed to be ministers in the government.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: NA
Mains level: Airport traffic management
As more passengers take to the skies, airports in India’s top cities—Delhi, Mumbai, and Bengaluru—are witnessing heavy traffic.
What is causing congestion at airports?
- There are lengthy queues at airport entry, check-in counters, security, and immigration.
- There is crowding at baggage claim areas too.
- This is the result of an unexpected surge in demand for air travel because of the holiday season—the last two years saw muted demand during this period because of the pandemic.
- Air traffic has been 1-7% above pre-covid levels of 4 lakh daily flyers for the past 10 days.
- Consequently, the personnel strength of CISF at check-in, the number of X-Ray machines and automatic trays for security, as well as baggage belts, have fallen short in handling the demand.
Which airports are most affected?
- The congestion is more severe at airports with maximum connectivity such as Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru, and Hyderabad.
- The worst-hit is Delhi—the busiest airport in India and 10th busiest in the world.
- Delhi handles the largest share of international as well as domestic air traffic in the country with a 27% share in international segment for the country and 20% in overall air traffic in India.
- The airport, with three terminals, has a capacity to handle around 70 million passengers per annum.
- Over the last 10 days, the airport has handled over 190,000 passengers daily, which is close to its full capacity.
Is airport congestion an India-specific problem?
- Globally, air travel continues to face disruptions.
- Europe’s busiest airport, London Heathrow, needs to hire around 25,000 staff to manage peak hours.
- Schiphol in Amsterdam has imposed a 20% cap on capacity to manage traffic.
- The aviation industry laid off thousands of people during the pandemic, and expects staff strength to realign by mid-2023.
What is being done to decongest airports?
- The aviation ministry has recommended a reduction in the number of flights and more manpower at all check-in and baggage drop counters.
- It has sought for increasing the number of X-ray machines and baggage trays for security check.
- The government will also analyse manpower requirements at immigration counters and, if required, additional personnel will be deployed.
- IndiGo, the largest airline in India, has asked fliers to report 3.5 hours early for domestic flights from Delhi.
Easing the airport congestion
- There is no immediate solution, and the government’s action plan will only bring temporary relief. Increasing the number of personnel at entry, security, and immigration will take time.
- Higher usage of the contactless travel platform—Digi Yatra—for passengers without check-in luggage is expected to ease the congestion a bit.
- Cities like Delhi and Mumbai need additional infrastructure.
- However, the Jewar airport in Noida and the Navi Mumbai airport are expected to be operational only by 2024.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Beypore Uru, GI Tags in news
Mains level: Not Much
The District Tourism Promotion Council, Kozhikode has applied for a Geographical Indication (GI) tag for the famous Beypore Uru (boat).
Beypore Uru
- Beypore Uru is a wooden dhow (ship / sailing boat / sailing vessel) handcrafted by skilled artisans and carpenters in Beypore, Kerala.
- They are a symbol of Kerala’s trade relations and friendship with the Gulf countries.
- It is purely made of premium wood, without using any modern techniques.
- The wood used is still sawed the traditional way which requires immense expertise.
- It takes anywhere between 1-4 years to build each Uru and the entire process is done manually.
Its historic significance
- Historical records show that Beypore has been a legendary maritime hub for traders from across the world since the 1st Century C.E.
- The iconic Uru ships have been in high demand for around 2000 years.
- The history of Khalasis, skilled natives engaged in launching the Uru boats at Beypore, dates back to 2000 years.
- The prominent people among them are Odayis. They manage the technical matters of ship building.
- Their family name comes from Odam (a type of small ship previously used in interactions/trade between the Malabar coast and Lakshadweep).
- They are also referred to as Mappila Khalasis as majority of them are Mappila Muslims.
Try this PYQ:
Q.With reference to ‘Changpa’ community of India, consider the following statement:
- They live mainly in the State of Uttarakhand.
- They rear the Pashmina goats that yield fine wool.
- They are kept in the category of Scheduled Tribes.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
(a) 1 only
(b) 2 and 3 only
(c) 3 only
(d) 1, 2 and 3
Post your answers here.
Back2Basics: Geographical Indication (GI)
- A GI is a sign used on products that have a specific geographical origin and possess qualities or a reputation that are due to that origin.
- Nodal Agency: Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT), Ministry of Commerce and Industry
- India, as a member of the World Trade Organization (WTO), enacted the Geographical Indications of Goods (Registration and Protection) Act, 1999 w.e.f. September 2003.
- GIs have been defined under Article 22 (1) of the WTO Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) Agreement.
- The tag stands valid for 10 years.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: OIC
Mains level: Pakistani narrative for Kashmir
India strongly condemned the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation chief’s visit to Line of Control (LoC) from the Pakistani side.
What is OIC?
- The OIC — formerly Organisation of the Islamic Conference — is the world’s second-largest inter-governmental organization after the UN, with a membership of 57 states.
- The OIC’s stated objective is “to safeguard and protect the interests of the Muslim world in the spirit of promoting international peace and harmony among various people of the world”.
- OIC has reserved membership for Muslim-majority countries. Russia, Thailand, and a couple of other small countries have Observer status.
India and OIC
- At the 45th session of the Foreign Ministers’ Summit in 2018, Bangladesh suggested that India, where more than 10% of the world’s Muslims live, should be given Observer status.
- In 1969, India was dis-invited from the Conference of Islamic Countries in Rabat, Morocco at Pakistan’s behest.
- Then Agriculture Minister Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed was dis-invited upon arrival in Morocco after Pakistan President Yahya Khan lobbied against Indian participation.
Recent developments
- In 2019, India made its maiden appearance at the OIC Foreign Ministers’ meeting in Abu Dhabi, as a “guest of honor”.
- This first-time invitation was seen as a diplomatic victory for New Delhi, especially at a time of heightened tensions with Pakistan following the Pulwama attack.
- Pakistan had opposed the invitation to Swaraj and it boycotted the plenary after the UAE turned down its demand to rescind the invitation.
- Earlier this year, the ousted Pakistani PM called a OIC summit which ended up without any remarks.
What is the OIC’s stand on Kashmir?
- It has been generally supportive of Pakistan’s stand on Kashmir and has issued statements criticizing India.
- Last year, after India revoked Article 370 in Kashmir, Pakistan lobbied with the OIC for their condemnation of the move.
- To Pakistan’s surprise, Saudi Arabia and the UAE — both top leaders among the Muslim countries — issued nuanced statements, and were not as harshly critical of New Delhi as Islamabad had hoped.
- Since then, Islamabad has tried to rouse sentiments among the Islamic countries, but only a handful of them — Turkey and Malaysia — publicly criticized India.
How has India been responding?
- India has consistently underlined that J&K is an integral part of India and is a matter strictly internal to India.
- The strength with which India has made this assertion has varied slightly at times, but never the core message.
- It has maintained its “consistent and well known” stand that the OIC had no locus standi.
- India asserts that- OIC has become a “mouthpiece” of Pakistan and that the organisation has been taking “blatantly communal, partisan and factually incorrect approach to issues”.
OIC members and India
- Individually, India has good relations with almost all member nations. Ties with the UAE and Saudi Arabia, especially, have looked up significantly in recent years.
- The OIC includes two of India’s close neighbors, Bangladesh and Maldives.
- Indian diplomats say both countries privately admit they do not want to complicate their bilateral ties with India on Kashmir but play along with OIC.
Way ahead
- India now sees the duality of the OIC as untenable, since many of these countries have good bilateral ties and convey to India to ignore OIC statements.
- But these countries sign off on the joint statements which are largely drafted by Pakistan.
- India feels it important to challenge the double-speak since Pakistan’s campaign and currency on the Kashmir issue have hardly any takers in the international community.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Loan Write-Off
Mains level: NPAs
Banks have written off bad loans worth ₹10,09,511 crore during the last five financial years, finance minister informed the Parliament.
What is a loan write-off?
- Writing off a loan essentially means it will no longer be counted as an asset.
- By writing off loans, a bank can reduce the level of non-performing assets (NPAs) on its books.
- The bank moves the defaulted loan, or NPA, out of the assets side and reports the amount as a loss.
- An additional benefit is that the amount so written off reduces the bank’s tax liability.
- The loans written off by the banks are the depositors’ money.
Why do banks resort to write-offs?
- Recovery issues: The bank writes off a loan after the borrower has defaulted on the loan repayment and there is a very low chance of recovery. However, the chances of recovery from written-off loans are very low.
- Provisioning: After the write-off, banks are supposed to continue their efforts to recover the loan using various options. They have to make provisioning as well.
- Reduce tax liability: The tax liability will also come down as the written-off amount is reduced from the profit.
Who is at the forefront of write-offs?
- Public sector banks reported the lion’s share of write-offs at Rs 734,738 crore accounting for 72.78 per cent of the exercise.
- Among individual public sector banks, reduction in NPAs due to write-offs in the case of State Bank of India Rs 204,486 crore in the last five years.
- Among private banks, ICICI Bank’s reduction in NPAs due to write-offs was Rs 50,514 crore in the last five years.
- Axis Bank wrote off Rs 49,715 crore and HDFC Bank Rs 34,782 crore during the period, according to the RBI.
What about recovery of such loans?
- Since the loan account is not closed in write-off, the right to recovery of the amount is not waived by the lender or the bank.
- The bank or lender can try to recover the loan amount from the loan defaulter.
Back2Basics: Non-Performing Assets (NPAs)
- A NPA is a loan or advance for which the principal or interest payment remained overdue for a period of 90 days.
- Banks are required to classify NPAs further into Substandard, Doubtful and Loss assets.
- Substandard assets: Assets which has remained NPA for a period less than or equal to 12 months.
- Doubtful assets: An asset would be classified as doubtful if it has remained in the substandard category for a period of 12 months.
- Loss assets: As per RBI, “Loss asset is considered uncollectible and of such little value that its continuance as a bankable asset is not warranted, although there may be some salvage or recovery value.”
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Fusion Energy
Mains level: Clean energy developments
US announced a “major scientific breakthrough” in the decades-long quest to harness fusion, the energy that powers the sun and stars.
What is Fusion?
- Fusion works by pressing hydrogen atoms into each other with such force that they combine into helium, releasing enormous amounts of energy and heat.
- This process occurs in our Sun and other stars.
- Creating conditions for fusion on Earth involves generating and sustaining a plasma.
- Plasmas are gases that are so hot that electrons are freed from atomic nuclei.
How is it carried out?
- Three conditions must be fulfilled to achieve fusion in a laboratory:
- Very high temperature (on the order of 150,000,000° Celsius);
- Sufficient plasma particle density (to increase the likelihood that collisions do occur); and
- Sufficient confinement time (to hold the plasma, which has a propensity to expand, within a defined volume).
- At extreme temperatures, electrons are separated from nuclei and a gas becomes a plasma—often referred to as the fourth state of matter.
- Fusion plasmas provide the environment in which light elements can fuse and yield energy.
Fusion Energy
- The process releases energy because the total mass of the resulting single nucleus is less than the mass of the two original nuclei.
- The leftover mass becomes energy.
What did the US achieve?
- The US experiment uses a process called inertial confinement fusion.
- It involved bombarding a tiny pellet of hydrogen plasma with the world’s biggest laser.
Why is it perceived as energy of the future?
- Carbon free: Fusion Reactions could one day produce nearly limitless, carbon-free energy, displacing fossil fuels and other traditional energy sources.
- Efficient: Net energy gain has been an elusive goal because fusion happens at such high temperatures and pressures that it is incredibly difficult to control.
- Clean: Unlike other nuclear reactions, it doesn’t create radioactive waste.
Fusion still far from reality. Why?
- Significant though the achievement is, it does little to bring the goal of producing electricity from fusion reactions any closer to reality.
- By all estimates, use of the fusion process for generating electricity at a commercial scale is still two to three decades away.
- The technology used in the US experiment might take even longer to get deployed.
India’s progress: ITER project
- International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER) is one of the most ambitious energy projects in the world today.
- The idea for an international joint experiment in fusion was first launched in 1985.
- In southern France, 35 nations* are collaborating to build the world’s largest tokamak, a magnetic fusion device that has been designed to prove the feasibility of fusion.
- ITER is funded and run by seven member parties: China, the European Union, India, Japan, Russia, South Korea and the United States.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Base Editing
Mains level: Not Much
A teenage cancer patient suffering from T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (T-ALL) has defeated her seemingly incurable cancer with the help of base editing technique.
Base Editing
- Bases are the language of life. The four types of base – adenine (A), cytosine (C), guanine (G) and thymine (T) – are the building blocks of our genetic code.
- Just as letters in the alphabet spell out words that carry meaning, the billions of bases in our DNA spell out the instruction manual for our body.
- Base editing allows scientists to zoom to a precise part of the genetic code and then alter the molecular structure of just one base, converting it into another and changing the genetic instructions.
- The large team of doctors and scientists used this tool to engineer a new type of T-cell that was capable of hunting down and killing cancerous T-cells.
What is T-Cell?
- T (thymus) cells are type of white blood cell.
- They are part of the immune system and develop from stem cells in the bone marrow.
- They help protect the body from infection and may help fight cancer.
- Also called T lymphocyte and thymocyte.
How base editing helped this teenage cancer patient?
- Doctors started with healthy T-cells that came from a donor and set about modifying them.
- The first base edit disabled the T-cells targeting mechanism so they would not assault patient’s body.
- The second removed a chemical marking, called CD7, which is on all T-cells.
- The third edit was an invisibility cloak that prevented the cells being killed by a chemotherapy drug.
- The final stage of genetic modification instructed the T-cells to go hunting for anything with the CD7 marking on it so that it would destroy every T-cell in patient’s body – including the cancerous ones.
- That’s why this marking has to be removed from the therapy – otherwise it would just destroy itself.
- If the therapy works, the patient’s immune system – including T-cells – will be rebuilt with the second bone-marrow transplant.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Geminids meteoric shower
Mains level: Not Much
Bengalurians are all set to witness the annual Geminids meteor shower.
What are meteor showers?
- Meteors are usually fragments of comets.
- As they enter the Earth’s atmosphere at high speed, they burn up, creating a spectacular “shower”.
- Meteors come from leftover comet particles and bits from asteroids.
- When these objects come around the Sun, they leave a dusty trail behind them.
- Every year Earth passes through these debris trails, which allows the bits to collide with our atmosphere where they disintegrate to create fiery and colorful streaks in the sky.
What makes the Geminids unique?
- Geminids is one of the brightest and most reliable annual meteor showers.
- They are unique because unlike most meteor showers, they originate not from a comet, but from an asteroid, the 3200 Phaethon.
- The 3200 Phaethon was discovered on October 11, 1983.
- It is named after the Greek mythology character Phaethon, son of the Sun God Helios.
- It takes 1.4 years to complete one round of the Sun.
- As the 3200 Phaethon moves close to the Sun while orbiting it, the rocks on its surface heat up and break off.
- When the Earth passes through the trail of this debris, the Geminids are caused.
Why are they called Geminids?
- That comes from the constellation Gemini, from whose location in the sky the meteor shower appears to originate.
- The constellation for which a meteor shower is named only serves to aid viewers in determining which shower they are viewing on a given night.
- The constellation is not the source of the meteors.
Back2Basics:
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Western Disturbances
Mains level: Not Much
The days have been unusually warm for winter in New Delhi with the maximum temperature remaining above normal mostly on account of fewer western disturbances affecting this year.
Western Disturbances
- A western disturbance is an extratropical storm originating in the Mediterranean region that brings sudden winter rain to the northwestern parts of the Indian subcontinent.
- They are labelled as an extra-tropical storm originating in the Mediterranean, is an area of low pressure that brings sudden showers, snow, and fog in northwest India.
- In the term “extra-tropical storm”, storm refers to low pressure. “Extra-tropical” means outside the tropics. As the WD originates outside the tropical region, the word “extra-tropical” has been associated with them.
- It is a non-monsoonal precipitation pattern driven by the westerlies.
- The moisture in these storms usually originates over the Mediterranean Sea, the Caspian Sea and the Black Sea.
- Extratropical storms are global phenomena with moisture usually carried in the upper atmosphere, unlike their tropical counterparts where the moisture is carried in the lower atmosphere.
- In the case of the Indian subcontinent, moisture is sometimes shed as rain when the storm system encounters the Himalayas.
- Western disturbances are more frequent and strong in the winter season.
Impact: Winter Rainfall and Extreme Cold
- Western disturbances, specifically the ones in winter, bring moderate to heavy rain in low-lying areas and heavy snow to mountainous areas of the Indian Subcontinent.
- They are the cause of most winter and pre-monsoon season rainfall across northwest India.
- An average of four to five western disturbances forms during the winter season.
Its significance
- Precipitation during the winter season has great importance in agriculture, particularly for the rabi crops.
- Wheat among them is one of the most important crops, which helps to meet India’s food security.
Try this PYQ:
Consider the following statements:
- The winds which blow between 30°N and 60°S latitudes throughout the year are known as westerlies.
- The moist air masses that cause winter rains in the North-Western region of India are part of westerlies.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
(a) Only 1
(b) Only 2
(c) Both 1 and 2
(d) Neither 1 nor 2
Post your answers here.
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