The European Space Agency (ESA) has approved a Matosinhos Manifesto to accelerate the use of space in Europe.
Matosinhos Manifesto
At the Intermediate Ministerial Meeting that was held in Matosinhos, Portugal.
The Council of Ministers unanimously adopted this resolution that lays down a vision for the continent in terms of maintaining and expanding its activities in space.
The large-scale nature and fast pace of the climate crisis and other challenges means that no European nation will be able to effectively address them alone.
The manifesto defines three “accelerators” to further advance Europe’s space ambitions:
The first of these accelerators is for the ESA to start working towards the “Space for a Green Future”
The second accelerator is called “Rapid and Resilient Crisis Response” to support governments to act decisively on crises facing Europe, from flooding and storms to wildfires
The third accelerator mentioned in the resolution is “Protection of Space Assets”, whose objective is to safeguard ESA astronauts and assets from interference by space debris and space weather
A brief history of the ESA
The ESA is an intergovernmental organization that was formed in 1975 with the aim of developing Europe’s space capabilities.
The organization has 22 member states — Austria, Belgium, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the UK.
Slovenia, Latvia and Lithuania are Associate Members.
The number of countries moving towards authoritarianism in 2020 was higher than that of countries going in the other direction, towards democracy, a/c to the Global State of Democracy (GSD) Report, 2021.
Note: The Global Democracy Index is released by the Economic Intelligence Unit (EIU). One may get confused over this two.
About GSD Report
The GSD report is released by the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (International-IDEA).
The International-IDEA, is an inter-governmental organization supporting democracy, is chaired by Australia and includes India as a member-state.
The report aims to influence the global debate and analyses current trends and challenges to democracy, exacerbated by the Covid-19 pandemic.
It offers specific policy recommendations to spark new and innovative thinking for policymakers, governments and civil society organizations supporting democracy.
GSD framework
Highlights of the report
The US and three members of the European Union (EU) [Hungary, Poland and Slovenia] have also seen concerning democratic declines.
The pandemic has prolonged this existing negative trend into a five-year stretch, the longest such period since the start of the third wave of democratization in the 1970s.
Democratically elected Governments, including established democracies, are increasingly adopting authoritarian tactics.
This democratic backsliding has often enjoyed significant popular support.
India’s performance
The report highlighted the case of Brazil and India as “some of the most worrying examples of backsliding.
India is the backsliding democracy with the most democratic violations during the pandemic.
Violations include- Harassment, arrests and prosecution of human rights defenders, activists, journalists, students, academics and others critical of the government or its policies; internet obstructions etc.
Resilient democracies
The report pointed out that many democracies had proved to be resilient to the pandemic.
Despite pandemic restrictions on campaigning and media, the electoral component of democracy has shown remarkable resilience.
Countries around the world learned to hold elections in exceedingly difficult conditions and they rapidly activated special voting arrangements to allow citizens to continue exercising their democratic rights.
Democracy is good. I say this because other systems are worse.
Half-way through your preparation for UPSC-CSE 2022 and feel stressed? After attending UPSC CSE 2021, do you feel the exam is highly unpredictable ? Of course, not! If you want to know what UPSC expects from its candidates every year, then continue reading.
In 2020 alone, Civilsdaily helped 80+ students secure ranks in the exam. Over 25 Civilsdaily students secured ranks in the top 100. Many of these aspirants were also struggling to clear the exam in one attempt. With our guidance, they became more confident and focused to see their LSBNAA dream come true.
Listen to all their stories and strategies on our toppers talk series, Unherd.
Do you want to know how we planned their daily timetable till the interview stage? Fill up our mentorship form now to get a detailed 1-on-1 counselling session within the next 24 hours! We combine your hard-work with our guidance to derive the right formula for success!
Dear Students,
Many say that the Prelims 2021 paper was harder than Prelims 2020, a close analysis however reveals that there are more similarities than differences. Though one did not expect questions from sports this year, we all can agree that both the papers tested the application of current affairs knowledge to all the subjects.
Trends from the last five years tell us that UPSC is keener on testing conceptual clarity of topics from the syllabus. So, it’s no longer about reading GS, Optionals and Current Affairs in isolation. If you are reading a plethora of books or watching random videos, it’s time to reconsider your way of preparation.
Avoid Common Preparation Mistakes Early On
Unlike other exams, UPSC decides your fate based on what you have studied for the last 12-15 months over 1 month before the exam. Hence, rectifying preparation mistakes at the eleventh hour will not help you.
AIR 148 UPSC 2020 topper and our Civilsdaily student Ponmani explains why answer writing with mentorship for Mains is necessary.
Last month we mentored around 3500 IAS aspirants, some of whom were beginners and others who had an experience of few attempts.
We resolved common doubts related to right sources for various topics, answer writing for mains and how to crack the personality round. We found out that almost all of these aspirants struggled in one area or the other.
If someone was excellent in scoring at prelims test series, they were not confident about mains. If someone was good at history, they were not sure about science and technology. If someone had time to revise their GS portions, they did not have time for Optionals.
But is it wise to neglect your weak areas? Toppers manage to maintain slightly above average scores in all the subjects.
How Do Our Mentors Guide You
This is where you require a mentor. A mentor helps you understand where your preparation stands as of now and what more needs to be done to fulfill the expectations of UPSC. A mentor will help you maintain your focus even when the pressure is high, instead of succumbing to it.
This is how Civilsdaily mentorship helped Pranav Vijayvergiya clear the exam after 2 failed prelims attempts.
Watch what our Civilsdaily student and UPSC 2020 topper (AIR 42) Shreya feels about our mentoring program.
1.30 minute counselling session:Once you fill the form, our senior mentors get on a 30-40 minute call with you to understand your preparation level, study constraints, your strategy for the last 6 months, and create measurable targets for next week, next month and so on.
2.Access to our invite-only chat platform, Habitat: This is where you can post your daily doubts, discuss your test questions and have real-time, live discussions on news and op-eds, and connect with other aspirants in your optional groups.
.3. 1 on 1 mentor allotment: The mentor will be available on scheduled calls with you throughout all the stages of your UPSC preparation and will daily assess, evaluate, and plan the next module according to the available time.
Who are you?
Working Professional? Working and studying for UPSC though is not impossible, it certainly gets hectic. Your mentors will go through the entire syllabus of UPSC with you and plan a workable timetable.
Full time preparation? If you are allocating a year to prepare for IAS 2022, we will help you pick the right books and design practical & personalstrategies that you can follow everyday
Ports infrastructure is key to the development of any nation. India has a coastline spanning about 7,500 km. Around 90 percent of India’s external trade by volume and 70 percent by value are handled by ports. Imports of crude petroleum, iron ore, coal, and other essential commodities are all through the sea route. Twelve major ports and 205 non-major ports operate on India’s coast.
The blockage of the Suez Canal by the giant container ship had educated many about the necessity of state-of-the-art shipping and the dependence of the world trade on modernized ports. The alarm created by the shutdown raised fears of extended delays, goods shortages, and rising costs for consumers.
Background
What are ports?
A port can be defined as a harbor or an area that is able to provide shelter to numerous boats and vessels (transferring people or cargo) and can also allow constant or periodic transactions of shipment.
Types of the port according to cargo handled
1) Industrial Ports: These ports specialize in bulk cargo-like grain, sugar, ore, oil, chemicals, and similar materials.
2) Commercial Ports: These ports handle general cargo-packaged products and manufactured goods and passenger traffic.
3) Comprehensive Ports: Such ports handle bulk and general cargo in large volumes. Most of the world’s great ports are classified as comprehensive ports.
Types of port on the basis of location
1) Inland Ports: These ports are located away from the sea coast. They are linked to the sea through a river or a canal. Such ports are accessible to flat bottom ships or barges.
Eg. Kolkata is located on the river Hoogli.
2) Out Ports: These are deep water ports built away from the actual ports. These serve the parent ports by receiving those ships which are unable to approach them due to their large size.
Significance of port development and port connectivity for India
1) Reducing Logistics cost
Defragmented logistics: The World Bank Logistics Index released in 2018 ranked India 44th, far behind the US at 14 and China at 26.
Cost-effective: India aims to reduce the logistics cost from the present 14% of GDP to less than 10% by 2022 using coastal shipping and inland waterways as they would be 60 to 80 percent cheaper.
2) Blue Economy: Blue Economy as a concept includes all the economic activities related to oceans, seas, and coastal areas and emerges from a need for integrated conservation and sustainability in the management of the maritime domain.
India’s blue economy supports 95% of the country’s business through transportation and contributes an estimated 4% to its GDP.
India is also among the top 5 fish and aquaculture fish producing countries in the world.
3) Security
Ensuring safety of strategic installations: Port development would result in development of India’s coasts that harbor several strategic installations such as naval bases, nuclear power plants, satellite and missile launching ranges.
Curtailing transnational organized crime at sea: India is vulnerable to narcotic drug trafficking as it is located between two largest Opium producing regions of the world i.e. Golden Crescent (Iran, Afghanistan and Pakistan) in the west and Golden Triangle (Myanmar, Thailand and Laos) in the east.
Port development and efficient management of port resources would curtail such illegal practices and ensure safety of Sea Lanes of Communication (SLOC).
4) Keeping an eye on maritime traffic: Indian Ocean Region (IOR) is also the busiest maritime trade route, with 11,000 to 12,000 ships present in it at any given time.
Monitoring these vessels and regulating their movement is challenging but a necessity for prosperity of the country.
5) International Relations
Countering the influence of China: Through its Belt and Road Initiative, China has proactively exacerbated India’s pre-existing Sri Lanka-linked trans-shipment problem. Sri Lanka has already leased Hambantota port to China for 99 years. Therefore, port development and ensuring local trans-shipment facilities is a vital strategic necessity for India.
Regional integration: India’s eastern seaboard can help recreate an integrated hub and spoke model for regional connectivity in the Bay of Bengal as South Asia remains one of the least integrated areas.
Net Security Provider in the IOR: Many western countries are hedging on India’s ability to counter China in the IOR. India could hedge on their support to realize its ambition of Net Security Provider in the IOR by enhancing its coastal security and ensuring port modernizations and its connectivity with the hinterland.
6) Environment: The Indian Ocean is warming three times faster than the Pacific Ocean. Overfishing, coastal degradation, and pollution are also harming the marine ecosystem. Hence, good design and sound environmental impact management of construction and operational activities of the port are critical.
7) Social
Inclusive development: Industries require a safe and cheap means of exporting finished goods and importing raw materials. Hence, most industries in the world are located in the coastal belts, in the vicinity of major ports.
Sustainable livelihood development in the fisheries sector: India is the second largest fish producer in the world. By enhancing the capability to ship them to foreign countries, India could raise the income of fisher folk and secure the food security and nutrition security.
Examples of Port-led Development
1.Singapore: Singapore’s natural deep-sea ports and the geographical location at the crossroads of important shipping channels make its trade a major economic sector, next to production and services. 2.China: According to the Liner Shipping Connectivity Index (LSCI), several of China’s container ports rank among the most connected in the world. 3.UK: It is estimated that in 2017 the ports industry directly contributed to 61% of turnover, 57% of GVA, and 52% of employment.
Significance of Port-led development
To improve the ease of trading across borders, port-led development is crucial.
Developing ports enables efficient and cost-effective import and export.
For this, India needs to develop major transshipment ports, provide last-mile connectivity to ports, develop linkages with new regions, and enhance multi-modal connectivity with ports.
Governance of ports in India
Ports in India are classified as Major and Minor Ports. Major Ports are owned and managed bythe Central Government and Minor ports are owned and managed by the State Governments. India has 12 major and 205 notified minor and intermediate ports.
Major Ports:
Major Ports are under the Union list of the Indian Constitution and are administered under the Indian Ports Act 1908 and the Major Port Trust Act, 1963.
Each major port is governed by a Board of Trustees appointed by the Government of India. Their functions include planning, management and operations of ports.
Minor Ports
Minor ports are managed at the State level by the department in charge of ports or the State Maritime Board, if created, as is the case in Gujarat, Maharashtra, and Tamil Nadu.
The functions of the State maritime boards are similar to those of port trusts, and also include the authority to set tariffs.
They also focus on attracting private investment by awarding concession contracts, providing incentives, exclusivity rights and assuring land acquisition.
Service port model vs. Landlord port model
The service port model: The port authority owns the land and all available assets—fixed and mobile—and performs all regulatory and port functions.
The landlord port model: The publicly governed port authority acts as a regulatory body and as landlord while private companies carry out port operations—mainly cargo-handling activities.
Here, the port authority maintains ownership of the port while the infrastructure is leased to private firms that provide and maintain their own superstructure and install own equipment to handle cargo.
The recent performance of India’s port sector
Almost a quarter of India’s maritime trade is shipped through ports in other countries and over 80 percent of its trans-shipment cargo uses facilities at ports in Singapore, Colombo in Sri Lanka, and Klang in Malaysia.
Trans-shipment costs are leading to Indian port industry losses of Rs 15 billion annually. Thus, India has huge potential to harness when it comes to port utilization.
Issues and challenges in India’s port connectivity
High turnaround times: Ports in India suffer from high turnaround times for ships. For example, in Singapore, average ship turnaround time is less than a day. However, in India, it is over two days.
Port congestion: Port congestion due to container volume, shortage of handling equipment and inefficient operations is a major concern. Eg. Nhava Sheva port
Sub-optimal Transport Modal Mix: Lack of requisite infrastructure for evacuation from major and non-major ports leads to sub-optimal transport modal mix.
Limited Hinterland Linkages: There is inefficiency due to poor hinterland connectivity through rail, road, highways, coastal shipping and inland waterways. This in turn increases the cost of transportation and cargo movement.
Lengthy inspection and scrutiny: Though customs operations in India are rapidly going paperless and converting to digital, inspections and scrutiny continue to be lengthy for cargo and other shipping operations.
Inadequate infrastructure and Technology Issues:
Lack of adequate berthing facility, number of berths, and sufficient length for proper berthing of the vessels at the Non-Major Ports.
Most Non-Major Ports do not have proper material handling equipment in place which could facilitate a quick turnaround.
lack of equipment for handling large volume
lack adequate navigational aids, facilities and IT systems
Issues with Regulations:
Major and non-major ports fall under different jurisdictions. Further, the regulatory framework is rigid.
Foreign-flagged vessels are not allowed to ship cargo from one Indian port to another as that remains a protected turf for domestic shippers
Land acquisition and environmental clearances
Issues with PPP Model:
Most port PPPs impose strict limits on what private operators are allowed to do, usually in terms of the types of cargo they are allowed to handle.
Until recently, Other problems were related to tariff regulation and absence of dispute resolution mechanism
Environmental impact:
During the operation of ports, spillage or leakages from the loading and unloading of cargo and pollution from oil spills are common due to poor adherence to environmental laws and standards.
The water discharged during the cleaning of a ship and the discharge of ballast water is a threat to marine ecosystems
Dredging causes environmental problems (increased sedimentation) affecting local productivity of the local waters and its fisheries.
Social impacts of Port Development:
Most port projects and development results in displacement (such as Gangavaram Port in Andhra and Mundra in Gujarat).
other important concern expressed by fishing communities is the restriction of access to fishing grounds around a port
Manpower and Labor Issues: Lack of adequate training, falling manpower quality, opposition to reform are major issues
Unhealthy Competition: Analysts have cited the concerns over development of multiple ports in close vicinity handling similar cargo as it might lead to ports competing for the same cargo arrivals.
Government initiatives
1) Sagarmala program
It focuses on modernizing and developing ports, enhancing port connectivity, supporting coastal communities, and stimulating port-linked industrialization.
Sagarmala aims to reduce the logistics costs for foreign and domestic trade. It also aims to double the share of water transportation in the modal mix.
2) Jal Marg Vikas project (JMVP)
It is a project for the development of National Waterways in India.
It was implemented as an initiative towards national integration with an aim to reduce rail and road congestion, carbon footprint, and minimal resource depletion.
3) Central Road and Infrastructure Fund
The Ministry of Finance has amended the Central Road Fund Act, 2000 to include a list of projects and infrastructure sub-sectors, including inland waterways, for which the CRF could be used.
The CRF has since been renamed the Central Road and Infrastructure Fund.
4) The Draft Indian Ports Bill 2021 aims to centralize the administration of minor ports that are currently managed by state governments.
5) The Inland Vessels Bill 2021
Instead of distinct regulations created by the states, the bill attempts to include a single legislation for the country.
The registration certificate will be valid throughout the country and state approvals will not be necessary.
It also establishes a single database for recording vessel and crew information on an Internet portal.
6) Marine Aids to Navigation Bill 2021: It was passed by the Parliament, incorporating global best practices, technological developments and India’s international obligations in this field.
Way Forward
Environmental clearances, Tariff norms, land acquisition etc. need to be standardized and implemented for the port sector so as to boost foreign investments
It is important to provide rail and road connectivity to major and minor ports in order to ensure seamless multimodal transport and improve efficiency
Priority should be given on expanding capacity and improving operational efficiency. Emphasis should be placed on installing advanced cargo handling processes, scalability in processes and mechanization of port operations.
Technologies like big data and advanced GPS navigation systems should be optimally used for better functioning of ports
The regulatory regime should be made less complex and less rigid. Further, there should be vertical integration of all stakeholders for holistic development of ports in India
Port modernization and new port development, port connectivity enhancement, port-linked industrialization and coastal community development under the Sagarmala project has an immense scope for reduction in transportation and logistics costs and boosting export competitiveness.
The government needs to open up the dredging market to attract more players, particularly international players, in dredging activities to increase and maintain draft depth at ports to attract large vessels and enable them to become hub ports.
The newly-created National Asset Reconstruction Company (NARCL) in the public sector offers hopes for the faster clean up of lenders’ balance sheets.
Features of National Asset Reconstruction Company (NARCL)
The newly-minted ARC, NARCL is not a bank, but a specialised financial institution to help resolve the distressed assets of banks.
Faster aggregation: Its greatest virtue lies in the faster aggregation of distressed assets that lie scattered across several lenders.
Soverign assurance: Its securitised receipts (SRs) carry sovereign assurance.
This is of particular comfort to PSU banks as price discovery would not be subject to later investigations.
Focus on large accounts: It would initially focus on large accounts with debts over Rs 500 crore.
IDRCL: All eyes will be focused on IDRCL (Indian Debt Resolution Company), the operating arm, which would be in the private sector.
Past policy measures to resolve the bad debts
Institutional measures include BIFR (Board for Industrial and Financial Reconstruction, 1987), Lokadalat, DRT (Debt Recovery Tribunal, 1993), CDR (Corporate Debt Restructure, 2001), SARFAESI (Securitisation and Reconstruction of Financial Assets and Enforcement, 2002), ARC (Asset Recovery Company, 2002).
The RBI has also launched a slew of measures during 2013-14 to resolve, reconstruct and restructure stressed assets.
Why the measures to resolve the bad debt failed?
Of the 28 ARCs (private sector) in operation, many are bit players.
Dominance of few ARC: The top five ARCs account for over 70 per cent of the asset under management (AUM) and nearly 65 per cent of the capital.
Restructuring as an exception: Financial and business restructuring appears to be more an exception than the norm.
Nearly one-third of debts are rescheduled.
This is not much value addition to what lenders would have otherwise done at no additional cost.
Success and shortcomings of IBC: The IBC, introduced in 2016, was landmark legislation and marked a welcome departure from the earlier measures, with a legally time-bound resolution.
The focus is on resolution rather than recovery.
It nearly put an end to evergreening.
Even though there are delays under this newfound promise, they are counted in terms of days and not years and decades.
The NCLT (National Company Law Tribunal) is the backbone of the IBC, but lamentably is starved of infrastructure and over 50 per cent (34 out of 63) of NCLT benches were bereft of regular judges.
Even the parliamentary committee has expressed indignation on a large number of positions left vacant.
This lack of adequate infrastructure, coupled with the poor quality of its decisions, has proved to be the IBC’s Achilles’ heel.
We need judicial reforms for early and final resolutions.
Issue of delayed recognition and resolution: Forty-seven per cent of the cases referred to the IBC, representing over 1,349 cases, have been ordered for liquidation.
Against the aggregate claims of the creditors of about Rs 6.9 lakh crore, the liquidation value was estimated at a paltry Rs 0.49 lakh crore.
Suggestions to make IBC more effective
Delayed recognition and resolution: Lenders and regulators need to address the issue of delayed recognition and resolution.
Business stress and/or financial stress needs to be recognised even prior to regulatory norms on NPA classification.
Dealing with anchoring bias: The tendency to make decisions on the basis of first available information is called “anchoring bias”.
The first available information in bidding for distressed assets is the cost of acquisition to ARCs.
Potential bidders would quote prices nearer to this anchor.
Nobel Laureate Daniel Kahneman has suggests a three-step process to mitigate anchor bias: One, acknowledge the bias; two, seek more and new sources of information, and three, drop your anchor on the basis of new information.
Way forward for NARC
Forbid wilful defaulters from taking back distressed asset: The IBC has made considerable progress in bringing about behavioural change in errant and wilful defaulters by forbidding them to take back distressed assets.
Otherwise, the credit culture suffers.
The NARC should uphold this principle, not dilute it
Introduce Sunset clause: It should have a sunset clause of three to five years.
This will avoid the perpetuation of moral hazard and also encourage expeditious resolution.
Deal with anchor bias: Anchor bias needs to be mitigated by better extrinsic value discovery.
Avoid selling to other ARCs: It should avoid selling to other ARCs.
Conclusion
The RBI has recently released (November 2) a report on the working of ARCs and makes 42 recommendations to improve the performance of ARCs. This article incidentally makes an effort to identify some constraints and offer solutions to improve the performance of ARCs.
“Prelims, Mains and Interview are 3 stages of pilgrimages and I found all of them equally challenging”, says Vaibhav Rawat IAS after securing All India Rank 25 in UPSC 2020 Exam.
He started his preparation in 2018 without any idea of what was civil services or the challenging syllabus of UPSC. Fresh out of his job in Samsung R&D, Vaibhav initially faced umpteen difficulties in understanding or remembering what he had read. However, with daily studies there was an improvement and he was slowly able to master the topics. In his first attempt, Vaibhav reached till interview stage but missed out on the final ranking by a whisker. After this, he took the mentorship of Sajal Sir to score high marks in Mains and Interview. Vaibhav proves the saying that, successful people are not gifted but they work hard.
Upon finding his name in the final pdf, Vaibhav asserts that his parents are more happier than him. For Vaibhav, there is only relief as he doesn’t have to start the exhausting cycle of UPSC preparation all over again.
Open to All, Free to Attend—Ask me Anything Session with Vaibhav Rawat IAS
Vaibhav Rawat is geared up for an Ask me Anything Session with all Civilsdaily UPSC aspirants. For anyone wanting tips on certain topics, preparing for UPSC Mains in the last 3 months or suggestions on improving their marks, this session will be useful. Your questions will be Vaibhav’s answers which are drawn from his own experiences. Just register yourself with us as soon as possible to confirm your presence.
Key Takeaways of Vaibhav Rawat’s Webinar
1. Importance of having a role model. Who was Vaibhav Rawat’s idol and how did that help him stay calm and focused towards his goals?
2. Unpredictability of UPSC .What to study when you are not sure of the type of questions which would come in the exam?
3. The art of answer writing in Mains. What are few of the common practices Vaibhav followed in the Mains exam?
4.Memory techniques followed by Vaibhav Rawat. What did he do to recall important dates, names, statistics, conventions for the exam?
5. First Attempt v/s Second Attempt. How did Vaibhav approach prelims, mains and interview preparation?
6. Tips for beginners. Why is it better to work for a year or two before preparing for UPSC?
A major part of the session would be interactive and in Q&A format. This will surely benefit any aspirant who are in midway of their preparation.
Webinar Details
If you are studying hard but are unsure that you are studying right, then its time to get some assurance from the topper himself! Register for thisfree webinarby IAS officer Vaibhav Rawat.
On October 27 Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff of the US, reacted to China testing its nuclear-capable hypersonic weapons system by drawing an analogy with a Sputnik moment.
How US’s Ballistic Missile Defence led to the recent Sputnik moment
Since the US withdrawal from the Anti-Ballistic Missile (ABM) treaty in 2002, both Russia and China have been wary of Washington’s Ballistic Missile Defence (BMD) programme.
It undermines strategic stability: Missile defence is inherently destabilising — it undermines “strategic stability”.
A robust BMD would compromise the second strike capability of the adversary by neutralising the surviving incoming missiles in case of a near-decapitating first strike
Both Russia and China thus view the US BMD as undermining their deterrence and have sought ways to restore their retaliatory strike capability by investing in new technologies such as Hypersonic Glide Vehicles (HGVs).
HGVs can escape the missile defence systems.
HGVs fly at lower altitudes than ballistic missiles, which means they could potentially escape early warning systems, aided by the earth’s curvature.
Implications of Chinese test
It can set off competition: The Chinese tests have the potential to set off an aggressive competition among the nuclear powers to modernise their nuclear arsenals and add new, potentially destabilising capabilities to their arsenal.
Global and regional arms race: In the present era of minimal arms control measures, the Chinese hypersonic missile system test will trigger an intense arms race both at the global and regional levels.
With the Chinese test, the US may be forced to expand its hypersonic programme and further modernise its missile defence systems.
What should be the course of action for India
China’s nuclear-tipped hypersonic weapon systems, though not particularly India-focused, could nudge New Delhi to adopt two courses of action.
Missile program: First, accelerate its hypersonic missiles programme.
Chinese advancement in stealth technologies will drive New Delhi to seek similar capabilities but also develop effective countermeasures.
This can then set off a regional arms race, a sign that is not particularly encouraging for regional peace.
Consider the question “Examine the implications of recent hypersonic missile test by China for the region and global arms race control efforts? What should be the course of action for India? “
Conclusion
China’s hypersonic missile test may not have come with a Sputnik-like surprise, but it has the potential to set off a post-Sputnik-like arms race that does not augur well for the strategic stability both at the global and regional level.
A hypersonic missile is a vehicle that achieves a speed five times faster than the speed of sound, crossing Mach 5.
These missiles travel at a speed of around 6,115 km per hour, with a combination of technology and manoeuvrability of ballistic missiles and cruise missiles.
Fractional Orbital Bombardment System (FOBS)
A Fractional Orbital Bombardment System is a warhead delivery system that uses a low earth orbit towards its target destination.
Just before reaching the target, it deorbits through a retrograde engine burn.
“Prelims, Mains and Interview are 3 stages of pilgrimages and I found all of them equally challenging”, says Vaibhav Rawat IAS after securing All India Rank 25 in UPSC 2020 Exam.
He started his preparation in 2018 without any idea of what was civil services or the challenging syllabus of UPSC. Fresh out of his job in Samsung R&D, Vaibhav initially faced umpteen difficulties in understanding or remembering what he had read. However, with daily studies there was an improvement and he was slowly able to master the topics. In his first attempt, Vaibhav reached till interview stage but missed out on the final ranking by a whisker. After this, he took the mentorship of Sajal Sir to score high marks in Mains and Interview. Vaibhav proves the saying that, successful people are not gifted but they work hard.
Upon finding his name in the final pdf, Vaibhav asserts that his parents are more happier than him. For Vaibhav, there is only relief as he doesn’t have to start the exhausting cycle of UPSC preparation all over again.
Open to All, Free to Attend—Ask me Anything Session with Vaibhav Rawat IAS
Vaibhav Rawat is geared up for an Ask me Anything Session with all Civilsdaily UPSC aspirants. For anyone wanting tips on certain topics, preparing for UPSC Mains in the last 3 months or suggestions on improving their marks, this session will be useful. Your questions will be Vaibhav’s answers which are drawn from his own experiences. Just register yourself with us as soon as possible to confirm your presence.
Key Takeaways of Vaibhav Rawat’s Webinar
1. Importance of having a role model. Who was Vaibhav Rawat’s idol and how did that help him stay calm and focused towards his goals?
2. Unpredictability of UPSC .What to study when you are not sure of the type of questions which would come in the exam?
3. The art of answer writing in Mains. What are few of the common practices Vaibhav followed in the Mains exam?
4.Memory techniques followed by Vaibhav Rawat. What did he do to recall important dates, names, statistics, conventions for the exam?
5. First Attempt v/s Second Attempt. How did Vaibhav approach prelims, mains and interview preparation?
6. Tips for beginners. Why is it better to work for a year or two before preparing for UPSC?
A major part of the session would be interactive and in Q&A format. This will surely benefit any aspirant who are in midway of their preparation.
Webinar Details
If you are studying hard but are unsure that you are studying right, then its time to get some assurance from the topper himself! Register for thisfree webinarby IAS officer Vaibhav Rawat.
