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[Sansad TV] Perspective: Data Localization- Is India prepared?
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Context
- In 2006 British mathematician Clive Humbly said that Data is the oil of the 21st Century. This has indeed turned out to be true with the rapid growth of the digital economy.
- Data plays an increasingly important role as an economic and strategic resource.
- In this article, we shall learn about our stand on the issue of data localization and what are the challenges on this front.
The ‘Data’ under debate
- Data is any collection of strategic, personal and transactional information that is stored in a way so computers can easily read it.
- These days, most people refer to data to mean information about their messages, social media posts, online transactions, and browser searches.
- Big data refers to the immense amount of data that can now be collected, stored, and analyzed to find patterns.
What is Data Localization?
- Data localization refers to various policy measures that restrict data flows by limiting the physical storage and processing of data within a given jurisdiction’s boundaries.
- As per the UN’s digital economy report, 2021 64.2 zettabytes of data were created in 2020 which is a 314 percent increase from 2015.
- It can be used to make decisions with economic impacts, environmental impacts or effects on health, education or society in general.
- The volume of data in the world is increasing exponentially.
Why is Data important?
- This large collection of information about people’s online habits has become an important source of profits.
- Your online activity can expose a lot about who you are, and companies find it valuable to use the information to target advertisements to you.
- Governments and political parties have also gained interest in these data sets for elections and policymaking.
India’s favor for Data Localization
- India’s recent drafts and statements have strong signals for data localization, which means that data of Indians (even if collected by an American company) must be stored and processed in India.
- Along with an RBI directive to payment companies to localize financial data, the Ministry of Commerce’s draft e-commerce policy is currently in public consultation.
- The IT Ministry has drafted a data protection law that will be introduced in Parliament and has also framed draft intermediary rules that were leaked earlier.
- These laws, broadly speaking, could require Facebook, Google, and Amazon to store and process in India information such as an Indian’s messages, searches, and purchases.
- In some cases, they restrict what type of data these companies can collect. In others, it requires only a copy of the data to be in the country.
- By requiring a copy of the data to be stored in India (data mirroring), the government hopes to have more direct control over these companies, including the option to levy more taxes on them.
- The government also argues for data localization on the ground of national security, to prevent foreign surveillance and attacks.
Arguments in favor of data localization
- Data accessibility: It will help Indian law enforcement access user data. This especially gained prominence when incidences of lynchings across the country were linked to WhatsApp rumours whose stance on encrypted content frustrated government officials.
- Cost saving: Along with government support, most domestic-born technology companies (which tend to have heavy foreign investments) support data localization. Most of these firms store their data exclusively in India.
- Privacy protection: Some Indian companies have strongly argued that data regulation for privacy and security will have little teeth without localization, citing models in China and Russia.
- Prevent snooping: Secures citizen’s data and provides data privacy and data sovereignty from foreign surveillance. Example – Facebook shared user data with Cambridge Analytica to influence voting.
- Employment generation: Many argue that localization would lead to a larger presence of MNC’s in India overall, such as local offices, and increase tax liability and open more jobs.
- Corporate accountability: Greater accountability from firms like Google, Facebook etc. about the end use of data. Minimizes conflict of jurisdiction due to cross-border data sharing and delay in justice delivery in case of data breach.
Argument against data localization
- Backlash from partner countries: Industry bodies, especially those with significant ties to the US, have slung heavy backlash.
- Politicization of issue: Much of this sentiment hampers to the values of a globalised, competitive internet marketplace, where costs and speeds determine information flows, rather than nationalistic borders.
- Unease of doing business: Opponents say that this, in turn, may backfire on India’s own young start-ups that are attempting global growth, or on larger firms that process foreign data in India.
- Domestic misuse of data: Critics caution against state misuse and surveillance of personal data. They also argue that security and government access is not achieved by localisation.
- Huge cost of storage: Huge costs are involved to fulfill data localisation requirements. The servers need 24×7 power supply and the power outages may lead to shutdown of critical ins
Policy moves in India: Data Protection Bill
- The Justice Srikrishna Committee in its report accompanying the draft Personal Data Protection Bill notes that eight of the top 10 most accessed websites in India are owned by U.S. entities
- The Bill calls for a copy of user data to be mandatorily localized in India.
- This reality has often hindered Indian law enforcement agencies when investigating routine crimes or crimes with a cyber element.
Is location sole measure of claiming data rights?
- Questions around whether access to data is determined by the location of the user, location of data or the place of incorporation of the service provider have become central considerations for governments seeking to solve the cross-border data sharing conundrum
- The Clarifying Lawful Overseas Use of Data (CLOUD) Act, passed by the U.S. Congress earlier this year, seeks to de-monopolize control over data from U.S. authorities
- The law will for the first time allow tech companies to share data directly with certain foreign governments
- This requires an executive agreement between the U.S. and the foreign country certifying that the state has robust privacy protections and respect for due process and the rule of law
- The CLOUD Act creates a potential mechanism through with countries such as India can request data not just for crimes committed within their borders but also for transnational crimes involving their state interests
Identifying the Indian Government’s Stated Goals

The first step is to identify and define the Indian government’s objectives precisely. As explained in the previous section, the following four objectives have been articulated in multiple Indian government documents.
- securing faster and better access to personal data for law enforcement
- spurring increased economic growth and employment
- preventing foreign surveillance, and
- better enforcing data protection laws
Way Forward
- Conduct a full-scale assessment: To understand the exact requirements and to reach alignment on the necessary actions.
- Review the potential market opportunity: This should be done in a particular region or country to determine if it warrants its own IT and data infrastructure.
- Define a target state for a possible regional IT and data infrastructure and operations: This should include the extent to which the company will use local providers or set up its own localized capabilities.
- Implement proper budgeting and planning: This should include the necessary support from global and regional IT and data teams.
- Identify specific security and privacy controls: Given the data types and the severity of the risks, these might include tokenization to protect personally identifiable information (PII) during the migration to local infrastructure and field-level encryption for securing sensitive personal data.
- Infrastructure development: Undertake the actual data migration and set up the local infrastructure and operations securely.
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October 20, 2022
China’s total trade surplus with India ‘surpasses $1 trillion’
The favourable trade balance that China has enjoyed with India, since bilateral trade began to boom in the early 2000s, has now exceeded $1 trillion.

India-China bilateral trade
- In 2021, annual two-way trade crossed $100 billion for the first time, reaching $125.6 billion, with India’s imports accounting for $97.5 billion, pegging the imbalance at close to $70 billion.
- This is certainly a healthy deficit compared to the industrial development in both nations.
A quick backgrounder
- Trade ties began to boom since the early 2000s.
- This was driven largely by India’s imports of Chinese machinery and other equipment.
- It rose up from $3 billion in the year 2000 to $42 billion in 2008, the year China became India’s largest trading partner.
The Hindi-Chini buy buy
- A third of machinery and almost two-fifths of organic chemicals that India purchases from the world come from China.
- Automotive parts and fertilizers are other items where China’s share in India’s import is more than 25 per cent.
- Several of these products are used by Indian manufacturers in the production of finished goods, thus thoroughly integrating China in India’s manufacturing supply chain.
- For instance India sources close to 90 per cent of certain mobile phone parts from China.
India’s export to China
- Even as an export market, China is a major partner for India.
- China is the third-largest destination for Indian shipments.
- At the same time, India only accounts for a little over two percent of China’s total exports, according to the Federation of Indian Export Organisation (FIEO).
Should we worry about this?
- Trade deficits/surpluses are just accounting exercises and having a trade deficit against a country doesn’t make the domestic economy weaker or worse off.
- In this light, India’s trade imbalance with China should not be viewed in isolation.
- For instance, pharmaceuticals that India exports to the world require ingredients that are imported from China.
- Chinese imports of Indian seafood are one area that has recently shown robust growth and carries scope to grow in future.
So, having a trade deficit is good?
- Of course NOT. Running persistent trade deficits across all countries raises two main issues.
1. Availability of foreign exchange reserves to “buy” the imports.
2. Lack of domestic capacity to produce most efficiently.
Can we ban trade with China?

Ans. Certainly NOT!
- It will hurt the Indian poor the most: This is because the poor are more price-sensitive. For instance, if Chinese TVs were replaced by either costlier Indian TVs or less efficient ones, unlike poor, richer Indians may buy the costlier option.
- It will punish Indian producers and exporters: Several businesses in India import intermediate goods and raw materials, which, in turn, are used to create final goods — both for the domestic Indian market as well as the global market (as Indian exports).
- Pharma sector could be worst hit: For instance, of the nearly $3.6 billion worth of ingredients that Indian drug-makers import to manufacture several essential medicines, China catered to around 68 per cent.
- Ban will barely hurt China: According to the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) data for 2018, 15.3% of India’s imports are from China, and 5.1% of India’s exports go to China.
- Chinese money funds Indian unicorns: India and China have also become increasingly integrated in recent years. Chinese money, for instance, has penetrated India’s technology sector, with companies like Alibaba and Tencent strategically pumping in billions of dollars into Indian startups such as Zomato, Paytm, Big Basket and Ola.
- India will lose policy credibility: It has also been suggested that India should renege on existing contracts with China. This can be detrimental to India’s effort to attract foreign investment.
China is our Frenemy. Here is why.
- The first thing to understand is that turning a border dispute into a trade war is unlikely to solve the border dispute.
- Worse, given India and China’s position in both global trades as well as relative to each other, this trade war will hurt India far more than China.
- Again, these measures will be most poorly timed since the Indian economy is already at its weakest point ever — facing a sharp GDP contraction.
Way forward
- In the long term, under the banner of self-reliance, India must develop its domestic capabilities and acquire a higher share of global trade by raising its competitiveness.
- But no country is completely self-sufficient and that is why trade is such a fantastic idea.
- For the long run, a more effective strategy needs to be built to provide an ecosystem that addresses the cost disability of Indian manufacturing leading to such imports.
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October 20, 2022
TN bans online ‘Games of chance’ and Gambling
Online gambling and online games of chance have been banned in Tamil Nadu. At the same time, the other online games will be regulated.

What is Online Gaming?
- Online games refer to games that are played over some form of computer network, most often the Internet.
Types of gaming
- The types of online gaming include:
1. E-sports (well-organized electronic sports which include professional players) ex. Chess
2. Fantasy sports (choosing real-life sports players and winning points based on players’ performance) ex. MPL cricket
3. Skill-based (mental skill) ex. Archery
4. Gamble (based on random activity) ex. Playing Cards, Rummy
Online gaming sector in India
- In the past few years, India’s nascent online gaming industry witnessed an unprecedented rise, catapulting it to the top five mobile gaming markets in the world.
- Registering a growth rate of 38%, online gaming is the next sunrise industry.
- Currently, there are more than 400 gaming companies in India, and it is home to 420 million online gamers, second only to China, according to an analysis by KPMG.
Why is the gaming industry booming in India?
1. Digital India boom in the gaming industry
2. Narrowing of the digital divide
3. IT boom
Other factors promoting the boom
1. Growing younger population
2. Higher disposable income
3. Inexpensive internet data
4. Introduction of new gaming genres, and
5. Increasing number of smartphone and tablet users
Prospects of online gaming
- State List Subject: The state legislators are, vide Entry No. 34 of List II (State List) of the Seventh Schedule, given exclusive power to make laws relating to betting and gambling.
- Distinction in laws: Most Indian states regulate gaming on the basis of a distinction in law between ‘games of skill’ and ‘games of chance’.
- Classification on dominant element: As such, a ‘dominant element’ test is utilized to determine whether chance or skill is the dominating element in determining the result of the game.
- Linked economic activity: Staking money or property on the outcome of a ‘game of chance’ is prohibited and subjects the guilty parties to criminal sanctions.
- ‘Game of Skill’ debate: Placing any stakes on the outcome of a ‘game of skill’ is not illegal per se and may be permissible. It is important to note that the Supreme Court recognized that no game is purely a ‘game of skill’ and almost all games have an element of chance.
Need for regulation
- No comprehensive regulation: India currently has no comprehensive legislation with regards to the legality of online gaming or boundaries that specify applicable tax rates within the betting and gambling industry.
- Ambiguity of the sector: The gaming sector is nascent and is still evolving, and many states are bringing about legislation seeking to bring about some order in the online gaming sector.
- State list subject: Online gaming in India is allowed in most parts of the country. However, different states have their own legislation with regards to whether online gaming is permitted.
- Economic advantage: Well-regulated online gaming has its own advantages, such as economic growth and employment benefits.
Issues with online gaming
- Gaming addiction: Numerous people are developing an addiction to online gaming. This is destroying lives and devastating families.
- Compulsive gaming: Gaming by children is affecting their performance in schools and impacting their social lives & relationships with family members. Ex. PUBG
- Impact on psychological health: Online games like PUBG and the Blue Whale Challenge were banned after incidents of violence and suicide.
- Threat to Data privacy: Inadvertent sharing of personal information can lead to cases of cheating, privacy violations, abuse, and bullying.
- Betting and gambling: Online games based on the traditional ludo, arguably the most popular online game in India, have run into controversy, and allegations of betting and gambling.
Why hasn’t a comprehensive law yet materialized?
- Earlier, states like Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, and Karnataka also passed laws banning online games.
- However, they were quashed by state High Courts on grounds that an outright ban was unfair to games of skill:
1. Violation of fundamental rights of trade and commerce, liberty and privacy, speech and expression;
2. Law being manifestly arbitrary and irrational insofar as it did not distinguish between two different categories of games, i.e. games of skill and chance;
3. Lack of legislative Competence of State legislatures to enact laws on online skill-based games.
Way forward
- Censoring: Minors should be allowed to proceed only with the consent of their parents — OTP verification on Aadhaar could resolve this.
- Awareness: Gaming companies should proactively educate users about potential risks and how to identify likely situations of cheating and abuse.
- Regulating mechanism: A Gaming Authority in the central government should be created.
- Accountability of the gaming company: It could be made responsible for the online gaming industry, monitoring its operations, preventing societal issues, suitably classifying games of skill or chance, overseeing consumer protection, and combatting illegality and crime.
- All-encompassing legislation: the Centre should formulate an overarching regulatory framework for online games of skill. India must move beyond skill-versus-chance debates to keep up with the global gaming industry.
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October 20, 2022
Lothal: ‘Oldest Dock in the World’, to get heritage complex
Prime Minister has reviewed the construction of the National Maritime Heritage Complex (NMHC) site at Gujarat’s Lothal via video conferencing.

Where is Lothal?
- Lothal was one of the southernmost sites of the Indus Valley civilization, located in the Bhal region of what is now the state of Gujarat.
- The port city is believed to have been built in 2,200 BC. Lothal was a thriving trade centre in ancient times, with its trade of beads, gems and ornaments reaching West Asia and Africa.
- The meaning of Lothal (a combination of Loth and (s) thal) in Gujarati is “the mound of the dead”.
- Incidentally, the name of the city of Mohenjo-daro (also part of the Indus Valley Civilisation, now in Pakistan) means the same in Sindhi.
- In the region, it can be compared with other Indus port towns of Balakot (Pakistan), Khirasa (in Gujarat’s Kutch) and Kuntasi (in Rajkot).
When was it discovered?
- Indian archaeologists started the search for cities of the Harappan Civilisation post-1947 in Gujarat’s Saurashtra.
- Archaeologist SR Rao led the team which discovered a number of Harappan sites at the time, including the port city of Lothal.
- Excavation work was carried out in Lothal between February 1955 and May 1960.
- Adjacent to the excavated areas stands the archaeological site museum, where some of the most prominent collections of Indus-era antiquities in India are displayed.
How was it identified as port city?
- The National Institute of Oceanography in Goa discovered marine microfossils and salt, gypsum crystals at the site, indicating that sea water once filled the structure and it was definitely a dockyard.
- It had the world’s earliest known dock, connecting the city to an ancient course of the Sabarmati river.
- A metropolis with an upper and a lower town had in on its northern side a basin with vertical wall, inlet and outlet channels which has been identified as a tidal dockyard.
- Satellite images show that the river channel, now dried, would have brought in considerable volume of water during high tide, which would have filled the basin and facilitated sailing of boats upstream.
What heritage value does it hold?
- Lothal was nominated in April 2014 as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and its application is pending on the tentative list of UNESCO.
- It is the only port-town of the Indus Valley Civilisation.
- Its heritage value is comparable to following ancient port-towns around the world-
1. Xel Ha (Peru)
2. Ostia (Port of Rome)
3. Carthage (Port of Tunis) in Italy
4. Hepu in China,
5. Canopus in Egypt
6. Gabel (Byblos of the Phoenicians),
7. Jaffa in Israel,
8. Ur in Mesopotamia
9. Hoi An in Vietnam
Building up of Heritage Complex
- The project began in March 2022, and is being developed at a cost of Rs 3,500 crore.
- It will have several innovative features such as Lothal mini-recreation, which will recreate Harappan architecture and lifestyle through immersive technology.
- It has four theme parks – Memorial theme park, Maritime and Navy theme park, Climate theme park, and Adventure and Amusement theme park.
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October 20, 2022
What is RNA Origami?
This newscard is an excerpt of the original article published in The Hindu.

Note: It appears to be too much biological. And suddenly out of our ease of understanding.

What is Ribo Nucleic Acid (RNA)?
- RNA is an important biological macromolecule that is present in all biological cells.
- It is principally involved in the synthesis of proteins, carrying the messenger instructions from DNA, which itself contains the genetic instructions required for the development and maintenance of life.
- In some viruses, RNA, rather than DNA, carries genetic information.
- The type of RNA dictates the function that this molecule will have within the cell.
- Aside from the coding region of messenger RNA (mRNA) molecules that will be translated into proteins, other cellular RNA elements are involved in different processes.
What are RNA Origami?
- RNA origami is the nanoscale folding of RNA, enabling the RNA to create particular shapes to organize these molecules.
- It is an attempt to generate complex human-made RNA-based devices.
- They are stable in cells, interact with other biomolecules, including other RNA and proteins, and enable unique applications, particularly in the context of gene regulation.
Why are they used?

So far there have been two approaches in RNA origami and both attempt to regulate the production of protein.

(1) To achieve precise control of protein production
- Self-inhibiting protein expression cassettes were made by installing a strong binding site for the expressed protein in its own gene.
- Afterwards, RNA origami decorated with the same protein-binding sites was expressed in large excess.
- In this way, the RNA origami serves as a protein-sponge that sequesters proteins in the cell and allows expression of the self-inhibited protein.
- This approach helped to regulate several proteins simultaneously and turn on enzymatic pathways for improved product yields.
(2) Using for gene editing
- The RNA origamis were integrated in the small RNAs that guide CRISPR-Cas9 enzyme to target specific sequences in the DNA genome.
- Its scaffolds were decorated with protein-binding sites capable of recruiting transcription factors.
- By targeting the RNA scaffolds to promoter regions, the transcription factors activated gene expression.
- Researchers have shown that the expression strength can be tuned by the orienting the scaffold and level of transcription factors recruited.
- These multi-enzyme pathways could be controlled for high-yield production of the anti-cancer drug violacein.
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October 20, 2022
GRAP Stage II kicks in as Delhi’s air quality may turn ‘very poor’
The Commission for Air Quality Management directed New Delhi authorities to enforce stage II of the Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP) with immediate effect.

Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP)
- In 2014, when a study by the WHO found that Delhi was the most polluted city in the world, panic spread in the Centre and the state government.
- Approved by the Supreme Court in 2016, the plan was formulated after several meetings that the Environment Pollution (Prevention and Control) Authority (EPCA) held with state government and experts.
- The result was a plan that institutionalized measures to be taken when air quality deteriorates.
- GRAP also works as an emergency measure.
- It includes strict measures such as a ban on the entry of heavy vehicles, the odd-even road rationing restrictions, and a halt of construction work – each of which is likely to be impractical at a time when the pandemic has exacted heavy economic costs and public transport has been seen as an infection risk.
How does it work?
- As such, the plan does not include action by various state governments to be taken throughout the year to tackle industrial, vehicular and combustion emissions.
- When the air quality shifts from poor to very poor, the measures listed under both sections have to be followed since the plan is incremental in nature.
- If air quality reaches the severe+ stage, GRAP talks about shutting down schools and implementing the odd-even road-space rationing scheme.
Measures taken under GRAP

1) Severe+ or Emergency

(PM 2.5 over 300 µg/cubic metre or PM10 over 500 µg/cu. m. for 48+ hours)
- Stop entry of trucks into Delhi (except essential commodities)
- Stop construction work
- Introduce odd/even scheme for private vehicles and minimise exemptions
- Task Force to decide any additional steps including shutting of schools
2) Severe

(PM 2.5 over 250 µg/cu. m. or PM10 over 430 µg/cu. m.)
- Close brick kilns, hot mix plants, stone crushers
- Maximise power generation from natural gas to reduce generation from coal
- Encourage public transport, with differential rates
- More frequent mechanized cleaning of road and sprinkling of water
3) Very Poor

(PM2.5 over 121-250 µg/cu. m. or PM10 over 351-430 µg/cu. m.)
- Stop use of diesel generator sets
- Enhance parking fee by 3-4 times
- Increase bus and Metro services
- Apartment owners to discourage burning fires in winter by providing electric heaters during winter
- Advisories to people with respiratory and cardiac conditions to restrict outdoor movement
4) Moderate to poor

(PM2.5 over 61-120 µg/cu. m. or PM10 over 101-350 µg/cu. m.)
- Heavy fines for garbage burning
- Close/enforce pollution control regulations in brick kilns and industries
- Mechanized sweeping on roads with heavy traffic and water sprinkling
- Strictly enforce a ban on firecrackers
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October 20, 2022
19th October 2022| Daily Answer Writing Enhancement
Topics for Today’s questions:

GS-1 Population and associated issues

GS-2 Salient features of the Representation of People’s Act.

GS-3 Various Security forces and agencies and their mandate.

GS-4 Emotional intelligence-concepts, and their utilities and application in administration and governance.

Question 1)

Q.1 Recently, the country has seen a growth in the number of hate crimes. Highlighting the reasons for it, suggest ways of responding to such crimes. (10 Marks)

Question 2)

Q.2. Delineate the grounds of disqualification under The Representation of the People Act, 1951. Also, discuss the remedial measures available to the disqualified representatives. (15 Marks)

Question 3)

Q.3 What are the trans-national challenges to policing? How can Interpol help to manage such challenges? (10 Marks)

Question 4)

Q.4 “It is very important to understand that emotional intelligence is not opposite of intelligence, it is not triumph of heart on head, it is a unique intersection of both.”- David Caruso. Examine the statement with suitable examples in the context of a public servant discharging his/her duties. (10 Marks)

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October 19, 2022
19th October 2022 | Prelims Daily with Previous Year Questions

[WpProQuiz 1141]

[WpProQuiz_toplist 1141]

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October 19, 2022
Black Hole, Resolving the Mistry
Context
- For the very first time, scientists noted that this observation of the Laser Interferometer Gravitational Wave (LIGO) observatories coincided with the measurements made by other telescopes that measured visual and electromagnetic signals.
What is Black hole?
- A black hole is a place in space where gravity pulls so much that even light can not get out. The gravity is so strong because matter has been squeezed into a tiny space. This can happen when a star is dying.
- Because no light can get out, people can’t see black holes. They are invisible. Space telescopes with special tools can help find black holes. The special tools can see how stars that are very close to black holes act differently than other stars.
What is the background?
- LIGO Observations: In 2017, astrophysicists observed an unusual feat among the stars. The Laser Interferometer Gravitational Wave(LIGO)observatories recorded a signal which indicated that two massive and dense stellar bodies had merged to form a third body, likely a black hole.
- Generation gravitational waves: In the process they gave off vibrations that quite literally shook the universe and its very fabric of space time.
- Neutron stars: Scientists, piecing together evidence from complementary measurements, surmised that the event they had observed was of two neutron stars merging and forming a black hole and, in the process, giving off light.
What are the observations through telescopes?
- The matter moving faster than light: An unusual jet of matter was observed that gave an illusion of travelling faster than light. These were all exciting phenomena observed for the very first time by telescopes and observatories.
- Confirmation by Hubble Space Telescope: Now, using data that had been recorded by the Global astro metric Interferometer for Astrophysics (GAIA) spacecraft and Hubble Space Telescope instruments, scientists have confirmed that the above picture is correct. They have made it more precise and descriptive.
- Seven times the speed of light: In a paper published in Nature, they describe measuring the “apparent speed” of the jet to be about seven times the speed of light.
- Lorenz factor: They have also measured more accurately a factor called the Lorenz factor which scales with the actual speed of the particles in the jet. Unlike earlier estimates which placed this factor at about 4, the present paper estimates this factor to be over 40. This is because they measure the speed of the relativistic jet to be close to 0.9997c, where “c” is the speed of light.
- Clarity about the source as neutron star in block hole generation: This resolves the earlier fuzziness about what the source was and puts the source clearly as massive neutron stars merging to give a black hole and throwing off relativistic jets of particles in the process.
Merging of Neutron stars
- Born out of Supernova explosion: Neutron stars are stellar corpses, left behind after a star has undergone a supernova explosion and reached the end of its lifetime. They are extremely dense, containing more mass than the sun in a sphere that is a few tens of kilometre wide.
- Produces fast moving material: This has been seen in many active galactic nuclei galaxy centres that harbour black holes and binary star systems within our galaxy, where one of the stars is a black hole. “Mostly, black holes are responsible for producing such fast moving material
Why present observations about black Hole are significant?
- Estimating changing position of sky: The present measurements and observations made with GAIA data are extremely challenging. They amount to measuring the position of an object in sky coordinates. These authors measured a change in sky position one millionth the span of the full moon. Normally, if one were making these measurements from earth-based telescopes, it would require data from radio telescopes spaced apart by intercontinental distances.
- VLBI technique: This technique is called Very Long Baseline Interferometry (VLBI) and was used in the earlier papers. “Here, the authors could beat VLBI in precision because they calibrated Hubble Space Telescope data with GAIA, which is a precision astrometry mission.
- It’s an estimate not a measurement: the researchers used both their Hubble Space Telescope and GAIA optical position measurement along with the earlier VLBI position measurement to get a better estimate of the speed of the source and angle (viewing angle) with which it is travelling with respect to us on earth. This estimate requires plugging in equations of the special theory of relativity. “So, it is an estimate as opposed to a measurement.
- Improvement in estimation: we have learnt that neutron star mergers can result in material moving with speeds as high as 0.9997c.Earlier results using Very Long Baseline Interferometry had pegged this value at about 0.938c. with the new results this lower limit has been improved. Even earlier, with VLBI, it was understood that it was a neutron star merger that produced such ultra-relativistic material. Before the VLBI results, there were several models that could replicate the observations.
- Explanation using ultra realistic material: The observations could be explained both by ultra-relativistic material and non relativistic material, with some differences in assumptions. That study indicated that the observed gamma ray bursts were produced along with the ultra-relativistic material.
Conclusion
- Current discovery strengthens the hypothesis that such neutron star mergers are responsible for a class of gamma ray bursts. Gamma ray bursts are flashes of extreme gamma ray photons that release a huge amount of energy nearly 10⁴⁷ They come from different galaxies in the universe and are observed here quite frequently.
Mains Question

Q. What is the neutron star and how the merger of two stars produces a black hole? How LIGO and Hubble space telescope are useful in demystifying the black Hole phenomenon?

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October 19, 2022
Fateful Triangle China,USA and India and Changing World Order
Context
- America’s national security strategy issued by the Joe Biden Administration last week and the Chinese Communist Party’s 20th Congress this week promise to reshape the geopolitics of Asia and the Indo-Pacific.
Historical background of USA-CHINA
- Context of World War II: Asia has seen multiple phases in the US-China relationship. In the second half of the 19th century, American missionaries began to arrive in China and began to generate empathy for the nation. During World War II, Washington backed Chinese nationalists in their fight against Japanese occupation.
- US efforts to isolation China: The US tried to isolate China from 1949 when the communists prevailed over the nationalists.
- Cooperation to counter Soviet: The 1970’s saw the US and communist China come together to counter the Soviet Union.
- Multiple Economic engagement: The 1980s saw the beginning of an economic engagement that turned into a huge commercial and technological partnership from the 1990s.
What is the USA’s assumption and China’s ambition?
- China as responsible stakeholder: The US establishment dismissed the idea of China as potential threat and bet that Beijing could become a “responsible stakeholder” in the world order.
- Democratization of Chinese society is inevitable: America also believed that China’s growing economic prosperity would inevitably lead to greater democratisation of its society.
- Visible decline of west: China, however, has steadily moved in the other direction, especially under Xi, who has convinced himself that the West is in terminal decline.
- China’s ambition to change the world order: Xi is determined to seize this moment to reshape the Asian as well as the global order to suit Chinese interests. At the same time, China has become increasingly repressive at home.
- Explicit expression of ambition: Xi made no effort to hide China’s new geopolitical ambition nor has he been defensive about his authoritarian rule. This, in turn, bestirred the US into rethinking its China policy in the second decade of the 21st century.
How China is asserting itself?
- Asserting own version of Global order: Beijing, argues that recent history points to the superiority of the Chinese system over the Western one. And it offers its own versions of a global order – economic, political and social. Since the end of the Cold War, ideological arguments had receded into the background but are now back in significant play.
- China offering model Economic Globalization: China continues to sing praises of the model of economic globalisation that has facilitated Beijing’s rise over the last four decades. But under Xi, China has emphasised the importance of self-reliance in the name of a “dual circulation strategy”.
- Leveraging world’s dependence for strategic gain: At the same time, Beijing has sought to enhance the world’s dependence on its economy and leverage it for strategic benefit. The profound political backlash against trade and economic cooperation with China in the US led to the questioning of economic globalisation in the Trump years.
- China building the powerful military: As China became a richer country, it also focused on building a powerful army. Using both the instruments of hard power, China under Xi has actively sought to undermine US alliances in Asia and mount pressure on American forward military presence in Asia.
How USA’s policy is changing towards China?
- Structured policy of rivalry: The traditional soft attitude to China yielded to a more confrontational approach during the Donald Trump presidency. Joe Biden has developed that into a more structured policy of competing with China.
- Combine challenge of China and Russia: The National Security Strategy of the Trump administration postulated the return of great power rivalry and the need to respond to the challenges presented by Russia and China. Biden’s NATIONAL SECURITY STRATEGY builds on that proposition and identifies China as the more demanding challenge than Russia, despite Moscow’s aggression against Ukraine.
- China is more capable than Russia: In his foreword to the National security strategy, Biden says “Russia poses an immediate threat to the free and open international system, recklessly flouting the basic laws of the international order today, as its brutal war of aggression against Ukraine has shown.” He names China, on the other hand, as “the only country with both the intent to reshape the international order and, increasingly, the economic, diplomatic, military and technological power to advance that objective”. While the European challenge is real, the Biden Administration now sees the Indo-Pacific as the principal strategic theatre.
- Projecting China as autocracy against the democracy: The US has sought to locate the conflict with China (and Russia) as a fundamental struggle between “democracies and autocracies”. Recognising the limited enthusiasm for the framing in Asia, the National security strategy now talks of broadening the coalition to include countries that may not be democratic. Beijing, on the other hand, argues that recent history points to the superiority of the Chinese system over the Western one.
- Building the bilateral alliances: The US is now pushing back. The principal instrument in the US response has been rebuilding the traditional bilateral alliances with Japan and Australia as well as constructing new partnerships with countries like India and developing new regional coalitions.
India’s role in shaping the world order
- Convergence of National interest wit USA: Today, Indian and American policies are converging. For both Delhi and Washington, Beijing presents the main national challenges.
- Reducing economic dependence on China: On the economic and technological front, both India and the US are trying to reduce their exposure to China.
- Keeping independent foreign policy: On the geopolitical front, a US plan to look beyond formal alliances suits Delhi, which is wedded to an independent foreign policy.
- Opportunity for cooperation: It is never easy to translate abstract convergence into concrete policies. The current churn in Asia provides Delhi and Washington with a historic opportunity to build on the new convergences in the areas of trade, technology, and geopolitics.
Conclusion
- changing world order will have short term repercussion on economic front for developing country like India. India has a great opportunity to be the rule maker of new global order rather than just a rule follower. World order of 21^st century will revolve around the fateful triangle of India, China and USA.
Mains Question

Q.Why the present world order is challenged by China? What role India can play as rule maker of new World order?

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October 19, 2022

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