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  • Innovations in Sciences, IT, Computers, Robotics and Nanotechnology

    What is the Large Hadron Collider (LHC)?

    Prelims Only | Science Tech | Mains Paper 3: Awareness in various sc and tech fields

    The world’s most powerful particle collider, the Large Hadron Collider (LHC), will begin smashing protons into each other at unprecedented levels of energy beginning July 5.

    What is the LHC?

    • The Large Hadron Collider is a giant, complex machine built to study particles that are the smallest known building blocks of all things.
    • Structurally, it is a 27-km-long track-loop buried 100 metres underground on the Swiss-French border.
    • In its operational state, it fires two beams of protons almost at the speed of light in opposite directions inside a ring of superconducting electromagnets.
    • The LHC’s second run (Run 2) began in 2015 and lasted till 2018. The second season of data taking produced five times more data than Run 1.
    • The third run will see 20 times more collisions as compared to Run 1.

    How does it work?

    • The magnetic field created by the superconducting electromagnets keeps the protons in a tight beam and guides them along the way as they travel through beam pipes and finally collide.
    • Just prior to collision, another type of magnet is used to ‘squeeze’ the particles closer together to increase the chances of collisions.
    • The particles are so tiny that the task of making them collide is akin to firing two needles 10 km apart with such precision that they meet halfway.

    Extreme conditions involved

    • Since the LHC’s powerful electromagnets carry almost as much current as a bolt of lightning, they must be kept chilled.
    • The LHC uses a distribution system of liquid helium to keep its critical components ultracold at minus 271.3 degrees Celsius, which is colder than interstellar space.
    • Given these requirements, it is not easy to warm up or cool down the gigantic machine.

    What is the latest upgrade?

    • Three years after it shut down for maintenance and upgrades, the collider was switched back on this April.
    • This is the LHC’s third run, and it will operate round-the-clock for four years at unprecedented energy levels of 13 tera electron volts.

    Note: A TeV is 100 billion, or 10-to-the-power-of-12, electon volts. An electron volt is the energy given to an electron by accelerating it through 1 volt of electric potential difference.

    Targets this year

    • It now aims to be delivering 1.6 billion proton-proton collisions per second.
    • The last time, the proton beams will be narrowed to less than 10 microns — a human hair is around 70 microns thick — to increase the collision rate.
    • ATLAS is the largest general purpose particle detector experiment at the LHC.
    • The Compact Muon Solenoid (CMS) experiment is one of the largest international scientific collaborations in history, with the same goals as ATLAS, but which uses a different magnet-system design.

    Previous runs & ‘God Particle’ discovery

    • Ten years ago, in 2012, scientists at CERN had announced to the world the discovery of the Higgs boson or the ‘God Particle’ during the LHC’s first run.
    • The discovery concluded the decades-long quest for the ‘force-carrying’ subatomic particle, and proved the existence of the Higgs mechanism, a theory put forth in the mid-sixties.
    • This led to Peter Higgs and his collaborator François Englert being awarded the Nobel Prize for physics in 2013.
    • The Higgs boson and its related energy field are believed to have played a vital role in the creation

     

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  • New Species of Plants and Animals Discovered

    Species in news: Chenkurinji

    Prelims Only | Enviro & Biodiversity | Mains Paper 3: Conservation, Environmental Pollution & Degradation, Eia

    This newscard is an excerpt from the original article published in The Hindu.

    Chenkurinji

    • Chenkurinji (Gluta travancorica) is a species endemic to the Agasthyamala Biosphere Reserve.
    • Belonging to the Anacardiaceae family, the tree was once abundant in the hills on the southern parts of the Aryankavu Pass in Kerala’s Kollam district.
    • The Shendurney Wildlife Sanctuary derives its name Chenkurinji (Gluta travancorica), a species endemic to the Agasthyamala Biosphere Reserve.

    Why in news?

    • It is very susceptible to climate change and the present condition of the species is quite bad with low regeneration performance.
    • Though there are seemingly enough number of the tree, most are not productive, generating a negative trend in its population.
    • The majority of the trees is old with poor flowering and fruiting rates.
    • Though the flowering usually happens in January, of late, the species has reported a tendency to extend the process due to climate change.

    Significance of Chenkurinji

    • It is reported to have medicinal properties and is used to lower blood pressure and treat arthritis.

     

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  • Economic Indicators and Various Reports On It- GDP, FD, EODB, WIR etc

    The inflation tightrope

    op-ed snap | Economics | Mains Paper 3: Indian Economy

    Context

    The Indian economy has been hit by inflationary shocks of late.

    Inflation story so far

    • RBI mandate: The inflation target of the Reserve Bank of India is 4 per cent, with a band of 2 per cent on either side.
    • Inflation was at or above the upper threshold of 6 per cent since the beginning of this year.
    • Only after inflation hit 7 per cent did the RBI raise the repo rate.
    • Increase in interest rate: The RBI has raised the cost of borrowing (by 90 basis points so far), with a promise of more to come.
    • Fuel taxes reduced: The central government has cut fuel taxes with alacrity, and has banned the export of certain items.

    Role of monetary authorities

    • Monetary authorities raise interest rates if inflation is above the preferred target, and vice versa.
    • What should be the interest rate? Interest rates should rise more than inflation so the “real” interest rates rise, causing a compression in demand (and a fall in economic activity), which in turn will reduce inflation.
    • The RBI embraced this idea. In 2016, an independent monetary policy committee was constituted.

    Effects of global inflation

    • Some part of inflation is coming from abroad is an added complication.
    • Outflow of fund: There has also been a steady outflow of foreign funds from the stock market.
    • Depreciation of rupee: This could cause the rupee to depreciate, in turn, raising the prices of imported goods thereby adding to the inflationary woes.

    Two ways in which the Indian economy is different

    1] Role of agriculture in Indian economy

    • India’s non-food and non-oil components of the consumer price index CPI are about 47 per cent.
    •  In comparison, for the ECB, it is less than one-third of the CPI.
    • Of course, the RBI has no control over international prices of food and oil, so it must squeeze less than 50 per cent of the domestic economy to lower inflation.
    • The real interest rise works through demand compression.
    • But the problem is on the supply side.
    • Also, as compared to the RBI, the ECB would suffer a lower rise in inflation, and has a larger menu on which to apply demand compression.

    2] Exchange rate and its effect on output

    • Until the 1970s, the accepted wisdom was that an economy had to achieve both internal balance and external balance.
    • Internal balance consisted of full employment and low inflation using monetary and fiscal policies.
    • Over time, the internal balance has come to mean, from a policy perspective, low inflation, since “the market” will ensure full employment.
    • External balance required a balanced current account over some horizon (“don’t get too much into foreign debt”), by using, for example, the exchange rate.
    • For the OECD countries, the external balance was not a constraint any longer, since they had made their currencies fully convertible, and international capital flows were unrestricted.
    • But this is not the case with India.
    • If it were so, no one would be interested in discussing the country’s foreign exchange reserves, because these could be generated instantaneously by exchanging the domestic currency for foreign exchange.

    India’s foreign reserves and its impact on competitiveness of Indian products

    • Until 2020, India had seen massive portfolio capital inflows when OECD interest rates were low, and its current account deficits were financed by foreign reserves.
    • But portfolio inflows can, and do, reverse themselves.
    • FII inflows also contribute to India’s lack of competitiveness.
    • The RBI bought foreign exchange (with rupees).
    • But fearing this would stoke inflation, it sold government bonds, and removed the excess liquidity.
    • This “sterilised intervention” saw the RBI’s foreign exchange assets going up, matched by a reduced holding of government bonds.
    • Thus, India’s foreign exchange reserves were not its “own”— there were liabilities against it.
    • India’s Dutch Disease: The RBI could have let the rupee appreciate or have accumulated foreign reserves.
    • It chose an intermediate solution — a mix of an appreciation and accumulation of reserves.
    • The appreciation caused by inflows reduced international competitiveness for Indian products.
    • In effect, we had our own episode of the “Dutch Disease”.

    Way forward

    • As the RBI raises interest rates, outflows will possibly slow down with the rupee appreciating.
    • That is not good for external balance.
    •  It is easy to see that inflation targeting could be at odds with external balance.

    Conclusion

    If inflation does prove stubborn, and fighting inflation is all that the authorities in India worry about, we could see an external crisis.

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    Back2Basics: What is Dutch Disease?

    • Dutch disease is an economic term for the negative consequences that can arise from a spike in the value of a nation’s currency.
    • It is primarily associated with the new discovery or exploitation of a valuable natural resource and the unexpected repercussions that such a discovery can have on the overall economy of a nation.
    • Symptoms include a rising currency value leading to a drop in exports and a loss of jobs to other countries.

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  • Goods and Services Tax (GST)

    Towards a single low tax regime

    | Economics | Mains Paper 3: Indian Economy

    Context

    The introduction of a uniform GST was a watershed moment in India since the country’s earlier regime of taxes and cesses. However, GST is still a complicated tax regime with different slabs.

    Unified single tax

    • Empirical data from across the world on the benefits of a unified single tax is incontrovertible
    • This needs bold and clear reformist thinking at the political level.
    • Imposing a high GST in some areas does not make sense.
    • ‘Sin’ taxes are at cross purposes with the government’s policy of generating growth and creating jobs under ‘Make in India’.
    • High taxes on air-conditioners, air conditioned restaurants, chocolates and luxury cars create an economic ripple effect downstream, in a complex web of businesses that have symbiotic relationships.
    • The effect finally reaches down to the bottom of the employment pyramid.
    • Distrust between State and centre: There is distrust between the States and the Centre on revenue sharing.
    • There is also anger at the Centre for riding roughshod over the States’ autonomy and disregarding the federal structure.

    Multiple rates: A major shortcoming in the structure of GST

    • One of the most important shortcomings in the structure of GST is multiple rates.
    • The committee headed by the Chief Economic Adviser estimated the tax rate at 15-15.5 per cent.
    • It further recommended that in keeping with growing international practice, India should strive towards a single rate in the medium-term to facilitate administrative simplicity and compliance, but in the immediate context, it should have a three-tier structure (excluding zero).
    • The structure finally adopted was to have four rates of 5, 12, 18, and 28 per cent besides zero, though almost 75 per cent of the revenues accrue from the 12 and 18 per cent slabs.
    • Why single rate structure? The reasons for adopting a single rate structure in most countries are:
    • To have a simple tax system,
    • To prevent misclassifications and litigations arising therefrom,
    • To avoid an inverted duty structure of taxes on inputs exceeding those on outputs requiring detailed scrutiny and refunds.
    • Why multiple rates? The main reason for rate differentiation is equity.
    • But it is argued that this is an inefficient way of targeting benefits for the poor. 
    • Although the exempted and low-rated items are consumed relatively more by the poor, in absolute terms, the consumption may be more by the rich.

    Way forward

    • Move people up the value chain: The plan must be to figure out how to rev up the economy by making the rich and upper middle class spend and move more people up the value chain instead of designing a tax system that keeps these products out of the new consumer class’s reach.
    • The same lack of logic applies to taxes on wine, rum and beer, which generate large-scale employment and are the backbone of grape and sugarcane farming and the cocoa industry.
    • In the automobile sector, the GST on electric cars, tractors, cycles, bikes, low-end and luxury cars ranges anywhere from 5% to 50%.
    • The sale of automobiles is the barometer of an economy.
    • Single tax slab: A directive to the bureaucracy is necessary to come up with just two categories: goods eligible for zero tax and goods that will fall under a single rate, say 10% or 12%.
    • Then there are items that are exempt from GST.
    • Bring fuels under GST:  Petrol, diesel, aviation turbine fuel are not under the purview of GST, but come under Central excise and State taxes.
    • A single low tax regime will ensure compliance, widen the tax net, improve ease of doing business, boost the economy, create jobs, increase tax collections and reduce corruption

    Conclusion

    The Finance Minister should take a cue from the Prime Minister, who hinted at major reforms in the aftermath of COVID-19, and do away with all the confusing tax slabs in one fell swoop.

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  • Agricultural Sector and Marketing Reforms – eNAM, Model APMC Act, Eco Survey Reco, etc.

    Why rice and wheat bans aren’t the answer to inflation

    op-ed snap | Agriculture | Mains Paper 3: Agriculture and related issues

    Context

    There are reports suggesting that the government is mulling a ban on rice exports to tame inflation.

    Background

    • This is surely not the first time an attempt is being made to ban wheat and rice exports.
    • It was also done in 2007-08, in the wake of the global financial crisis.
    • Perhaps government will also impose stocking limits on traders for a host of commodities, suspend futures trading in food items, and even conduct income tax raids on traders of food.

    Issues in India’s rice export strategy

    • Highest ever volume: India exported the highest-ever volume of 21 million metric tonnes (MMT) of rice in 2021-22 (FY22) in a global market of about 51.3 MMT, which amounts to about 41 per cent of global exports.
    • Reduces price: Such large volumes of rice exports brought down global prices of rice by about 23 per cent in March (YoY), when all other cereal prices, be it wheat or maize, were going up substantially in global markets.
    • In fact, in FY22, the unit value of exports of common rice was just $354/tonne, which was lower than the minimum support price (MSP) of rice.
    • Below MSP buying or leakage from PMGKAY: This meant that rice exporters were either buying rice (paddy) from farmers and millers at below the MSP or that quite a substantial part of rice was given free under the PM Garib Kalyan Ann Yojana (PMGKAY) was being siphoned away for exports at prices below MSP.
    • Artificial competitive advantage: Free electricity for irrigation in several states, most notably Punjab, and highly subsidised fertilisers, especially urea, create an artificial competitive advantage for Indian rice in global markets.
    • Suggestion: This is a perfect case for “optimal export tax” — not a ban — on rice exports.
    • If we can’t raise the domestic price of urea, which is long overdue, we should at least recover a part of the urea subsidy from rice exports by imposing an optimal export tax.

    Why export ban on wheat and rice is not a solution

    • Small contribution of cereals in inflation: In May, the consumer price index (CPI) inflation was 7.04 per cent (YoY). The cereals group as a whole contributed only 6.6 per cent to this inflation.
    • Within that, wheat, other than through PDS, contributed just 3.11 per cent and non-PDS rice contributed 1.59 per cent.
    • So, by imposing a ban on wheat and rice exports, India can’t tame its inflation as more than 95 per cent of CPI inflation is due to other items.
    • Interestingly, inflation in vegetables contributed 14.4 per cent to CPI inflation, which is more than three times the contribution of rice and wheat combined. And within vegetables, tomatoes alone contributed 7.01 per cent.
    • What all this indicates is that agri-trade policies need to be more stable and predictable, rather than a result of knee-jerk reactions.
    • Irresponsible behaviour: Export bans on food items also show somewhat irresponsible behaviour at the global level, unless there is some major calamity in the country concerned.
    • The recently concluded WTO ministerial meeting as well as the G-7 meet expressed concerns about food security in vulnerable nations.

    Way forward

    • Efficient value chain and processing facilities: In commodities like vegetables, most of which are largely perishable, we need to build efficient value chains and link these to processing facilities.
    • The same would go for onions, which often bring tears to kitchen budgets when prices shoot up.
    • A switch to dehydrated onion flakes and onion powder would be the answer.
    • Our food processing industry, especially in perishable products, is way behind the curve compared to several Southeast Asian nations.

    Conclusion

    If India wants to be a globally responsible player, it should avoid sudden and abrupt bans and, if need be, filter them through transparent export taxes to recover its large subsidies on power and fertilisers.

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  • Police Reforms – SC directives, NPC, other committees reports

    Custodial deaths

    op-ed snap | Governance | Mains Paper 2: Governance, Transparency & Accountability, Citizens Charters

    Context

    The recent spate of custodial deaths in Tamil Nadu has yet again highlighted the methods used by the police during interrogation.

    Custodial deaths in India

    • It is not uncommon knowledge that the police, when they grow increasingly frustrated with the trajectory of their interrogation, sometimes resort to torture and violence which could lead to the death of the suspect.
    • Custodial deaths are common despite enormous time and money being spent on training police personnel to embrace scientific methods of investigation.
    • This is because police personnel are humans from different backgrounds and with different perspectives.

    Use of technology by law enforcement agencies

    • There is no doubt that technology can help avert police custodial deaths. For example, body cameras could hold officers liable.
    • Deception detection tests (DDTs), which deploy technologies such as polygraph, narco-analysis and brain mapping, could be valuable in learning information that is known only to a criminal regarding a crime.
    • Among the DDTs, the Brain Fingerprinting System (BFS) is an innovative technology that several police forces contemplate adding to their investigative tools.
    • The technique helps investigative agencies uncover clues in complicated cases.
    • With informed consent, however, any information or material discovered during the BFS tests can be part of the evidence.
    • Police departments are increasingly using robots for surveillance and bomb detection.
    • Many departments now want robotic interrogators for interrogating suspects.
    • Use of robots: Police departments are increasingly using robots for surveillance and bomb detection.
    • Use of robots for interrogation: Many departments now want robotic interrogators for interrogating suspects.
    • Many experts today believe that robots can meet or exceed the capabilities of the human interrogator, partially because humans are inclined to respond to robots in ways that they do to humans.
    • Robots equipped with AI and sensor technology can build a rapport with the suspects, utilise persuasive techniques like flattery, shame and coercion, and strategically use body language.
    • Use of AI/ML: Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML) are emerging as tool of interrogations. AI can detect human emotions and predict behaviour.
    • Therefore, these are also options.
    • ML can in real-time alert superiors when police are meting out inhumane treatment to suspects.

    Issues with the use of technologies

    • Informed consent: In 2010, the Supreme Court, in Selvi v. State of Karnataka, rendered the BFS evidence inadmissible.
    • The court observed that the state could not perform narco analysis, polygraph, and brain-mapping tests on any individual without their consent.
    • High cost of technology: As the BFS is high-end technology, it is expensive and unavailable in several States.
    • There is a lot of concern about AI or robot interrogations, both legally and ethically.
    • Risk of bias: There exists the risk of bias, the peril of automated interrogation tactics, the threat of ML algorithms targeting individuals and communities, and the hazard of its misuse for surveillance.

    Way forward

    • Multi-pronged strategy: What we need is the formulation of a multi-pronged strategy by the decision-makers encompassing legal enactments, technology, accountability, training and community relations.
    • Onus of proof on police: The Law Commission of India’s proposition in 2003 to change the Evidence Act to place the onus of proof on the police for not having tortured suspects is important in this regard.
    • Strict implementation of D.K. Basu case guidelines: Besides, stringent action must be taken against personnel who breach the commandments issued by the apex court in D.K. Basu v. State of West Bengal (1997).
    • Law against custodial torture: The draft bill on the Prevention of Torture, 2017, which has not seen the day, needs to be revived.

    Conclusion

    While the technology available to the police and law-enforcement agencies is constantly improving, it is a restricted tool that can’t eradicate custodial deaths. While it might provide comfort and transparency, it can never address the underlying issues that lead to these situations.

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    Back2Basics:  Supreme Court judgement in DK Basu case

    • The DK Basu judgment since 1987 is crucial in dealing with issue of custodial deaths.
    • The judgement has origin from a letter complaint in 1986, which was converted into PIL.
    • 4 crucial and comprehensive judgments — in 1996, twice in 2001 and in 2015 — lay down over 20 commandments, forming the complete structure of this judgement.

    Details of judgment:

    First 11 commandments in 1996, focused on vital processual safeguards:

    • All officials must carry name tags and full identification, arrest memo must be prepared, containing all details regarding time and place of arrest, attested by one family member or respectable member of the locality.
    • The location of arrest must be intimated to one family or next friend, details notified to the nearest legal aid organisation and arrestee must be made known of DK Basu judgement.
    • All such compliances must be recorded in the police register, arrestee must get periodical medical examination, inspection memo must be signed by arrestee also and all such information must be centralised in a central police control room.
    • Breach to be culpable with severe departmental action and additionally contempt also, and this would all be in addition to, not substitution of, any existing remedy.
    • All of the above preventive and punitive measures could go with, and were not alternatives to, full civil monetary damage claims for constitutional tort.

    8 other intermediate orders till 2015:

    • Precise detailed compliance reports of above orders to be submitted by all states and UT and any delayed responses to be  looked into by special sub-committees appointed by state human rights body.
    • Also where no SHRC existed, the chief justice of the high courts to monitor it administratively.
    • It emphasised that existing powers for magisterial inquiries under the CrPC were lackadaisical and must be completed in four months, unless sessions court judges recorded reasons for extension.
    • It also directed SHRCs to be set up expeditiously in each part of India.

    The third and last phase of judgment ended in 2015:

    • Stern directions were given to set up SHRCs and also fill up large vacancies in existing bodies.
    • The power of setting up human rights courts under Section 30 of the NHRC Act was directed to be operationalised.
    • All prisons had to have CCTVs within one year.
    • Non-official visitors would do surprise checks on prisons and police stations.
    • Prosecutions and departmental action to be made unhesitatingly mandated.

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  • Oil and Gas Sector – HELP, Open Acreage Policy, etc.

    After Ukraine, the new energy disorder

    op-ed snap | Economics | Mains Paper 3: Infrastructure: Energy, Ports, Roads, Airports, Railways Etc.

    Context

    Our long-standing “friend“ (Russia) is now in the bad books of our other friends (the US and Europe) and in a deepening relationship with our adversary (China). The Gulf countries are crucial for our energy security but Russia has replaced them as our principal supplier

    How Ukraine war is changing the energy policies

    • Six months back before the start of the Ukrainian conflict, there was a deepening sense that fossil fuels and the industry built around them were in terminal decline.
    • After the Ukraine war began, the petroleum market is tight and prices are ratcheting up.
    • Oil prices are close to $120/bbl and gas prices have jumped 500 per cent year on year in Europe.
    • The regulatory constraints on petroleum exploration and distribution infrastructure have been eased and several countries have removed the output limits on thermal power generation and reopened the coal mines that were closed.
    • The share prices of the oil majors are trading at multi-year highs.

    Three issues that influences India’s energy policy

    1] Long term implications of buying oil from Russia

    • India is now a major purchaser of Russian crude.
    • Last month, it reportedly purchased an average of 1.2 mbd.
    • If this figure is correct, Russia is now our largest provider of crude oil surpassing Saudi Arabia and Iraq.
    • The reason for this ramp-up is the price discount offered by Russia.
    • The decision is driven by good economics and energy security.
    • The Western world does not, however, see it this way.
    •  The question does arise: What might be the medium to longer-term implications of our “support” to Russia on relations with Capitol Hill, the UK and the European Commission?

    2] Increased economic and energy ties of Russia and China

    •  Russia and China have, for long, shared the view that the US is their biggest security threat.
    • China also increased the purchase of Russian oil and gas.
    • This tightened economic and energy embrace has implications for India.
    • Several questions will need to be addressed.
    • Russia’s role in India-China conflict: How might a post-Ukraine weakened Russia that is in hock to China respond to India in the event matters deteriorate on our border with China?
    • Will they be reliable providers of crude oil, military equipment, minerals, and metals essential for our green transition?
    • Will they be politically autonomous or client states?

    3] Important role of the Gulf states

    • The Ukrainian crisis has forced a presidential u-turn. Later this month, President Biden will visit Saudi Arabia.
    • Several other European leaders will also beat a path to the Gulf, all in the hope of extracting a promise of higher production to lower oil prices and some to negotiate gas supply deals.
    • India needs the Gulf producers for supply security. But it also wants oil prices to come down.
    •  The position of these producers in the reordered post-Ukraine energy landscape is, therefore, of relevance.
    • Will they respond positively to the courtship of Russia/China, move back into the Western fold, or stay outside both orbits, neutral and opportunistic?
    • The answer will bear on India’s energy security.

    Way forward

    • Integrated energy policy: What we need is a mechanism for the development and execution of an integrated energy policy.
    • This is because currently there is no executive authority responsible for energy.
    • There are ministries responsible for components of energy policy but no formal mechanism for aligning their separate approaches.
    • The Ukraine war has disrupted the existing energy order.
    • The new energy (dis) order has created fissures that impact our national security, economic growth, trade, clean energy supply lines, transfer of technology and international relations.
    • We cannot, therefore, afford to continue with our existing siloed approach.

    Conclusion

    The Ukrainian crisis has radically altered the contours of the global energy landscape and created a tangle of relationships and issues for India. To smoothen this tangle and address the issues India should adopt “a whole of the system” approach to energy policy.

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  • Foreign Policy Watch: India-Russia

    Strains on India-Russia Defence Cooperation

    | International Relations | Mains Paper 2: Bilateral, Regional and Global Groupings and agreements involving India

    As the war in Ukraine stretches over four months with no end in sight, it has given rise to apprehensions on Russia’s ability to adhere to timely deliveries of spares and hardware to India.

    History of the bilateral defence ties

    • India was reliant, almost solely on the British, and other Western nations for its arms imports immediately after Independence.
    • However, this dependence weaned, and by the 1970s India was importing several weapons systems from then USSR, making it the country’s largest defence importer for decades.

    A major chunk of India’s strategic arms

    • Russia has provided some of the most sensitive and important weapons platforms that India has required from time to time including nuclear submarines, aircraft carriers, tanks, guns, fighter jets, and missiles.
    • According to one estimate, the share of Russian-origin weapons and platforms across Indian armed forces is as high as 85%.
    • Russia is the second-largest arms exporter in the world, following only the United States.
    • For Russia, India is the largest importer, and for India, Russia is the largest exporter when it comes to arms transfer.

    What saw the decline?

    • Between 2000 and 2020, Russia accounted for 66.5% of India’s arms imports.
    • Russia’s share in Indian arms imports was down to about 50% between 2016 and 2020, but it still remained the largest single importer.

    Present status of defence cooperation

    • When the war began, Indian armed forces had stocks of spares and supplies for eight to ten months and the expectation was that the war would end quickly.
    • However, as it stretches on with no clear endgame, there are apprehensions on Russia’s ability to adhere to the timelines for both spares as well as new deliveries.
    • Armed forces are looking at certain alternative mitigation measures and identifying alternate sources from friendly foreign countries.
    • However, in the long term, this is also an opportunity for the private industry to step up production and meet the requirements.

    Impact of the war

    • While some timeline lapses and shipping delays were possible, there would not be any dent on the Army’s operational preparedness along the borders.
    • In addition, the armed forces have also made significant emergency procurements since the standoff in Eastern Ladakh and have stocked up on spares and ammunition.
    • However, Russia has assured India that it would adhere to delivery timelines.
    • Since the war sees no end, Russian industry would be caught up in replenishing the inventories of their own armed forces.

    What is the status of deals underway/new deals pending with Russia?

    • The defence trade between India and Russia has crossed $15 billion since 2018, in the backdrop of some big deals including the $5.43 billion S-400 long range air defence systems.
    • Other major contracts currently under implementation are construction of four additional stealth frigates in Russia and India,
    • There is a licensed production of the Mango Armor-piercing fin-stabilised discarding sabot (APFSDS) rounds for the T-90S tanks as also additional T-90S tanks, AK-203 assault rifles among others.

    Deferred deals in downtime

    • There are several big deals deferred by the Defence Ministry as part of the review of all direct import deals.
    • This is in conjunction with efforts to push the ‘Make in India’ scheme in defence.
    • Russian deals have also been deferred including the one for 21 MiG-29 fighter jets for the Indian Air Force (IAF) along with the upgradation of 59 existing Mig-29 jets.
    • This also includes the deferment of the manufacture of 12 SU-30 MKI aircraft by Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL).

    What is the status of payments?

    • While India continues to remain Russia’s largest arms buyer with a major chunk of legacy hardware from Russia and the Soviet Union, the volume of imports has reduced in the last decade.
    • With Russia being shut out of the global SWIFT system for money transfers, India and Russia have agreed to conduct payments through the Rupee-Rouble arrangement.
    • With several big ticket deals including the S-400 under implementation, there are large volume of payments to be made.

     

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  • Disasters and Disaster Management – Sendai Framework, Floods, Cyclones, etc.

    Earthquake in Afghanistan

    | Enviro & Biodiversity | Mains Paper 1: Geographical Features & Their Location

    Recently a powerful earthquake of magnitude 5.9 on the Richter scale struck a remote town in Afghanistan, killing over a thousand and injuring many more.

    How do earthquakes happen?

    • According to the theory of plate tectonics, the Earth’s crust and upper mantle are made of large rigid plates that can move relative to one another.
    • Slip on faults near the plate boundaries can result in earthquakes.
    • The point inside the Earth where the earthquake rupture starts is called the focus or hypocentre.
    • The point directly above it on the surface of the Earth is the epicentre.

    What are Seismic Waves?

    • Any elastic material when subjected to stress, stretches in a proportional way, until the elastic limit is reached.
    • When the elastic limit is crossed, it breaks.
    • Similarly, the Earth also has an elastic limit and when the stress is higher than this limit, it breaks.
    • Then there is a generation of heat, and energy is released. Since the material is elastic, the energy is released in the form of elastic waves.
    • These propagate to a distance determined by the extent of the impact. These are known as seismic waves.

    Why Earthquake in Afghanistan?

    • Afghanistan is earthquake-prone because it’s located in the mountainous Hindu Kush region, which is part of the Alpide belt — the second most seismically active region in the world after the Pacific Ring of Fire.
    • The Alpide belt runs about 15,000 kilometers, from the southern part of Eurasia through the Himalayas and into the Atlantic.
    • Along with the Hindu Kush, it includes a number of mountain ranges, such as the Alps, Atlas Mountains and the Caucasus Mountains.
    • Additionally, the Earth’s crust is especially lively in Afghanistan because it is where the Arabian, Indian and Eurasian tectonic plates meet.
    • The boundary between the Indian and Eurasian plates exists near Afghanistan’s border with Pakistan.

    How are earthquakes measured?

    • Earthquakes are measured by seismographic networks, which are made of seismic stations, each of which measures the shaking of the ground beneath it.
    • In India, the National Seismological Network does this work.
    • It has a history of about 120 years and its sensors can now detect an earthquake within five to ten minutes.

    Issues with Earthquake measurement

    • Everywhere, the wave parameters are measured, not the total energy released.
    • There is a direct relationship between the quantum of energy released and the wave amplitude.
    • The amplitude of the wave is a function of the time period of the wave.
    • It is possible to convert the measured wave amplitude into the energy released for that earthquake.
    • This is what seismologists call the magnitude of the earthquake.

    What is the Richter magnitude scale?

    • This is a measure of the magnitude of an earthquake and was first defined by Charles F. Richter of the California Institute of Technology, U.S., in 1935.
    • The magnitude of an earthquake is the logarithm of the amplitude of the waves measured by the seismographs.
    • Richter scale magnitudes are expressed as a whole number and a decimal part, for example 6.3 or 5.2.
    • Since it is a logarithmic scale, an increase of the whole number by one unit signifies a tenfold increase in the amplitude of the wave and a 31-times increase of the energy released.

    How are zones designated?

    • Based on seismicity, intensity of earthquakes experienced, and geological and tectonic qualities of a region, countries are divided into several zones.
    • In India, for example, there are four zones, designated Zone II-Zone V. Among these, Zone V is the most hazardous and Zone II the least hazardous.

    Can we predict Earthquakes?

    • Since parameters of the earthquake are unknown, it is near impossible to predict an earthquake.
    • The problem with earthquakes is that they are heavily dependent on the material property, which varies from place to place.
    • If there are elastic waves propagating through a material, there are two kinds of waves — the primary wave which reaches first, and the second one called the secondary wave, which is more destructive.
    • If it is known that the amount of energy released is extremely high, trains and power grids can be shut down and the damage minimised.
    • This has worked in some locations, but not on a large commercial basis.

    Successful attempts made so far

    • The most successful early warning systems are in Japan.
    • They have several hundreds of thousands recording devices.
    • Responses are sent to a central point where they estimate whether it is large enough to form a tsunami or some other hazard, and precautionary steps are taken.

     

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  • Terrorism and Challenges Related To It

    Functioning of the National Investigation Agency (NIA)

    | Security Issues | Mains Paper 3: Various Security Forces, Agencies & Their Mandates

    The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has taken over the probe into the terrible beheading of a person in Udaipur by Jihadi radicalists.

    What is the NIA?

    • Headquartered in Delhi, the NIA has its branches in Hyderabad, Guwahati, Kochi, Lucknow, Mumbai, Kolkata, Raipur, Jammu, Chandigarh, Ranchi, Chennai, Imphal, Bengaluru and Patna.
    • It is a central agency mandated to investigate all the offences affecting:
    1. Sovereignty, security and integrity of India
    2. Friendly relations with foreign states
    3. Offences under the statutory laws enacted to implement international treaties, agreements, conventions and resolutions of the United Nations, its agencies and other international organisations
    • The offense include terror acts and their possible links with crimes like smuggling of arms, drugs and fake Indian currency and infiltration from across the borders.
    • The agency has the power to search, seize, arrest and prosecute those involved in such offences.

    When did the NIA come into being?

    • In the wake of the 26/11 Mumbai terror attack in November 2008, which shocked the entire world, the then United Progressive Alliance government decided to establish the NIA.
    • In December 2008, former Union Home Minister P. Chidambaram introduced the National Investigation Agency Bill.
    • The agency would deal with only eight laws mentioned in the schedule and that a balance had been struck between the right of the State and duties of the Central government to investigate the more important cases.
    • The agency came into existence on December 31, 2008, and started its functioning in 2009.
    • Till date, the NIA has registered 447 cases.

    What are the scheduled offences?

    The list includes the

    1. Explosive Substances Act,
    2. Atomic Energy Act,
    3. Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act,
    4. Anti-Hijacking Act,
    5. Suppression of Unlawful Acts against Safety of Civil Aviation Act,
    6. SAARC Convention (Suppression of Terrorism) Act,
    7. Suppression of Unlawful Acts Against Safety of Maritime Navigation and Fixed Platforms on Continental Shelf Act,
    8. Weapons of Mass Destruction and their Delivery Systems (Prohibition of Unlawful Activities) Act and
    9. Relevant offences under the Indian Penal Code, Arms Act and
    10. Information Technology Act
    • In September 2020, the Centre empowered the NIA to also probe offences under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act that are connected to terror cases.

    How wide is NIA’s jurisdiction?

    • The law under which the agency operates extends to the whole of India.
    • It also applies to:
    1. Indian citizens outside the country;
    2. Persons in the service of the government wherever they are posted;
    3. Persons on ships and aircraft registered in India wherever they may be;
    4. Persons who commit a scheduled offence beyond India against the Indian citizen or affecting the interest of India.

    How does the NIA take up a probe?

    • As provided under Section 6 of the Act, State governments can refer the cases pertaining to the scheduled offences registered at any police station to the Central government (Union Home Ministry) for NIA investigation.
    • After assessing the details made available, the Centre can then direct the agency to take over the case.
    • State governments are required to extend all assistance to the NIA.
    • Even when the Central government is of the opinion that a scheduled offence has been committed which is required to be investigated under the Act, it may, suo motu, direct the agency to take up/over the probe.

     

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