01 Apr 2019: UPSC Exam Comprehensive News Analysis

A. GS1 Related

Context:

A group of enthusiasts relives history, from Shivaji Maharaj to Gandhi’s Dandi march, with a walk through Wadala.

Details:

• To mark the completion of 89 years of Salt Sathyagraha led by Mahatma Gandhi, who marched 241 miles to Dandi along with 80 people to break the salt law imposed by the British,a group of enthusiasts in Mumbai relived a part of history by participating in a salt pan walk at Wadala organised by the Asiatic Society of Mumbai.
• Mumbai was always known for its salt pans. From Shivaji Maharaj to the British, everyone had an interest in this region because of its salt pans.
• The British had built a narrow-gauge railway between Mahul and Wadala and from Vikhroli towards Thane to collect and transport salt.
• Remains of these tracks are visible in some places. During Gandhi’s salt satyagraha in 1930, many locations in Mumbai witnessed the civil disobedience movement, but the satyagraha at Wadala salt pan was the most prominent.
• Thousands of satyagrahis would gather at the Wadala salt pans and often face brutal lathi charge.

Importance of Salt pans:

• Salt pans play a significant role in the ecology of the city and an entire culture evolves around it.
• Shivaji Maharaj had fought a battle with the Portuguese to control the salt pans.
• Salt pans have different species of birds and insects thriving on them.
• They have an enormous water-holding capacity that helps in flood control.
• The communities that work on salt pans have their own songs revolving around them.
• But, there is a lack of awareness about salt pans. With the government’s plan to use the salt pans for affordable housing projects, they now face a threat of extinction.
• Salt has a very rich history. It was the first commodity that was traded. It plays an important role in our body.

Read more about Dandi March and Salt Satyagraha.

B. GS2 Related

C. GS3 Related

Context:

• Less encouragement to study the nitty-gritty and poor awareness are hurdles for spider research. The last major research was conducted between 1990s, 2000s.
• While the research in other parts of the world such as Thailand, Germany, Canada and the United States has been steady, experts said it is yet to pick up pace in India.

Details:

• The recent discovery of a new species of jumping spiders in Aarey Milk Colony in Mumbai has had arachnologists — specialists in spiders and related animals — and wildlife experts call for a greater focus on studying spiders in India.
• Experts believe a lot of diversities of spiders are yet to be discovered in India.
• Research on spiders was catalysed by Dr. B.K. Tikader, considered the father of Indian arachnology.
• While there are 4,800 species of spiders in the world, India alone accounts for 1,800 spider species.
• According to Dr. John Caleb, a Chennai-based arachnologist, who has been researching spiders for the last 10 years, species of spiders other than wolf, crab, orb-weaver and ground spiders have not received enough attention in India.

Importance:

• Spiders are important creatures as they are pest-controllers. They are like the tigers of the microhabitat world. Pulling them out could cause ecological imbalance.
• They are microhabitat specialists and are sensitive to sudden changes in their habitat, which makes them the ideal environment indicators.
• They are an integral component of the food web, and they primarily control insect populations

Jumping Spiders:

• In a study published by Russian peer-reviewed journal Arthropoda Selecta, it was announced that a new species of jumping spiders in Mumbai’s Aarey Milk Colony was discovered.
• It is named after additional principal chief conservator of forest, Sunil Limaye, Jerzego sunillimaye.
• This species was found for the first time in 2016 while carrying out a survey in the unique, eco-sensitive, dry-deciduous habitat of Aarey Milk Colony.
• In the research that spanned over the next three years, researchers were able to understand the natural history of this species and explore interesting aspects that were not documented before.
• This is the only second species from the genus Jerzego to be found from India and the fourth from the world, makes the discovery of this spider species from Aarey even more special.

Context:

The Supreme Court Friday suspended the environmental clearance granted for an international airport at Mopa in Goa and directed Expert Appraisal Committee (EAC) to revisit the decision in light of its impact on ecology.

EIA Report:

The Court delved into the EIA Report in detail. It noted various aspects with respect to the EIA Report. Some of them were:

• Failure to notice the existence of Ecologically Sensitive Zones within a buffer distance of 1 km of the project site which the Court termed as a “glaring deficiency”;
• Collection of both primary and secondary data of fauna in the EIA report was perfunctory;
• Attempt to gloss over the existence of tree at the airport site and felling of over 50,000 trees which the court terms as a “serious omission” and “serious dereliction of duty”.

Details:

• In this case, the court said how the State of Goa, the Centre and the concessionaire highlighted the need for the new airport to accommodate the increasing volume of passengers. They had urged the court to disregard the “flaws” in the Environment Impact Assessment (EIA) process. They had argued that setting up a new airport was a “matter of policy.”
• The court said that the role of the decision-makers is to ensure that every important facet of the environment is adequately studied and that the impact of the proposed activity is carefully assessed. “The analysis has indicated that there has been a failure of due process,” the court held.
• It said that a glaring deficiency which emerges from the EIA report is its failure to notice the existence of Ecologically Sensitive Zones of Western Ghats within a buffer distance of 10 km of the project site.
• Upholding the need to strengthen the ‘environmental rule of law’ for both intra and inter-generational equity, it was held that every branch of governance and institutions across the country should strive to enforce this rule of law.
• While the most direct effect of a strong rule of law is protection of the environment, a firm regime against environmental exploitation would “strengthen rule of law more broadly, support sustainable economic and social development, protect public health, contribute to peace and security by avoiding and defusing conflict, and protect human and constitutional rights.”
• The apex court said transparency is necessary for the robust enforcement of environmental rule of law.

What is an Expert appraisal committee?

Expert appraisal committees (EAC) exist at the Union as well as state levels (state expert appraisal committee or SEAC) to advise the government on environmental clearance of development projects.

• • The SC said that EAC shall carry out the exercise within a month of the receipt of a certified copy of this order.

• The court also said that if EAC allows the construction to proceed then it will impose such additional conditions which in its expert view will adequately protect the concerns about the terrestrial eco systems.
• EAC would be at liberty to lay down appropriate conditions concerning air, water, noise, land, biological and socio-economic environment.

D. GS4 Related

E. Editorials

Context:

Though India’s ASAT test has not violated any norm it is a reminder of the need for a global regulatory regime.

Background:

• India carried out an anti-satellite (ASAT) test using an interceptor missile (as a kinetic kill vehicle) to neutralise a target satellite (possibly the Microsat-R launched in January this year) in a Low Earth Orbit (LEO) at an altitude of around 300 km.
• The test was done to verify that India has the capability to safeguard our space assets. It is the Government of India’s responsibility to defend the country’s interests in outer space.
• The tests were done after India acquired the required degree of confidence to ensure its success, and reflects the intention of the government to enhance India’s national security.
• The test, however, can be carried out only on one’s own satellite. There are a large number of satellites currently in space, many of which have outlived their utility and orbiting aimlessly. One such satellite was chosen for the test.
• The test was done in the lower atmosphere to ensure that there is no space debris. Whatever debris that is generated will decay and fall back onto the earth within weeks.

Concerns:

• While India is the fourth country (after the U.S., Russia/USSR and China) to acquire this capability, Prime Minister Narendra Modi became the first leader to have announced the successful test in a national address.
• In contrast, China had quietly carried out its first successful hit-to-kill intercept in January 2007 till international reports about the consequent increase in space debris forced Beijing to acknowledge the test.
• France and Israel are believed to possess the capability.
• India’s test has not violated any norm as there is no international treaty prohibiting the testing or the development of ASATs.

Is India entering into an arms race in outer space?

• India has no intention of entering into an arms race in outer space. India has always maintained that space must be used only for peaceful purposes. India is against the weaponization of Outer Space and support international efforts to reinforce the safety and security of space based assets.
• India believes that Outer space is the common heritage of humankind and it is the responsibility of all space-faring nations to preserve and promote the benefits flowing from advances made in space technology and its applications for all.
• India is a party to all the major international treaties relating to Outer Space. India already implements a number of Transparency and Confidence Building Measures(TCBMs) – including registering space objects with the UN register, pre-launch notifications, measures in harmony with the UN Space Mitigation Guidelines, participation in Inter Agency Space Debris Coordination (IADC) activities with regard to space debris management, undertaking SOPA (Space Object Proximity Awareness and COLA (Collision Avoidance) Analysis and numerous international cooperation activities, including hosting the UN affiliated Centre for Space and Science Technology Education in Asia and Pacific. India has been participating in all sessions of the UN Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space.
• India supported UNGA resolution 69/32 on No First Placement of Weapons on Outer Space. India’s sees the No First Placement of weapons in outer space as only an interim step and not a substitute for concluding substantive legal measures to ensure the prevention of an arms race in outer space, which should continue to be a priority for the international community.
• India supports the substantive consideration of the issue of Prevention of an Arms Race in Outer Space (PAROS) in the Conference on Disarmament where it has been on the agenda since 1982.

Details:

• After the Indian test, a senior U.S. Air Force Space Command official, Lt. Gen. David D. Thompson, appeared before the Senate Armed Services Committee (Strategic Forces Subcommittee) and said that based on public information, the U.S. had expected a test, and that a base in Colorado had tracked it.
• U.S. systems are monitoring between 250-270 objects of space debris that were created following the test.
• The U.S. will notify satellite operators in case a threat to any is assessed.
• He added that the debris did not pose a threat to the International Space Station, which orbits at an altitude of around 350 km.
• An ASAT capability is normally a part of a Ballistic Missile Defence (BMD) programme. While a BMD targets an incoming ballistic missile, an ASAT interceptor targets a hostile satellite.
• Since a satellite moves in a precise orbit which is tracked, it gives greater time for target acquisition though satellites in higher orbits pose greater challenges for the kill vehicle.

Developments so far:

• While ‘Mission Shakti’ may have targeted an object in outer space, India has long developed the ability to intercept incoming missiles.
• Faced with Pakistan’s growing missile capability in the 1990s (Pakistan acquired the M-9 and the M-11 missiles from China and the No-dong from North Korea), India embarked on its BMD programme in 1999.
• A modified Prithvi was to be developed as the intercept missile. Work on a long-range tracking radar (Swordfish) that could track incoming ballistic missiles to enable target acquisition was also taken up. Testing began nearly 15 years ago followed by the integration of the various systems, including the active RF seekers, fibreoptic gyros and directional warheads.
• In 2011, an incoming Prithvi missile was destroyed by the interceptor missile over the Bay of Bengal at an altitude of around 16 km. Another half a dozen tests have been carried out since 2011, gradually expanding the parameters of the system to enable taking on targets at higher altitudes.
• Both the U.S. and USSR began to develop ASAT systems as a part and parcel of their anti-ballistic missile programmes. During the 1980s, both countries concluded their kinetic kill interceptor testing. Instead, they began to focus on co-orbital anti-satellite systems and directed energy (laser) systems which could neutralise a satellite without fragmenting it and generating space debris.
• With developments in offensive cyber capabilities, a promising new area is to disrupt communication links between the satellite and ground control by damaging the transponders or the power source.
• After the 2007 test, China too has carried out subsequent ASAT development along these lines.

A crowded space:

• Since the Sputnik was launched in 1957, more than 8,000 satellites/manmade orbiting objects have been launched, of which about 5,000 remain in orbit; more than half are non-functional.
• Currently, more than 50 countries own/operate the nearly 2,000 functional satellites in orbit.
  • The U.S. accounts for more than 800 of these, followed by China (approximately 280), Russia (approximately 150).
  • India has an estimated 50 satellites.
  • Of these 2,000 satellites, over 300 are dedicated military satellites.
  • Once again, the U.S. has the biggest share here, with nearly 140, followed by Russia with nearly 90 and China with nearly 40.
  • India has two dedicated satellites, one each for the Indian Navy and the Indian Air Force.
  • Indian defence forces also use the civilian government owned satellites extensively for communications, remote sensing, and location accuracy and meteorology.
• Growing amounts of space debris pose a real risk to satellites and spacecraft.
• There are over 20,000 objects of debris which are the size of golf balls while those of smaller size run into hundreds of thousands, totalling nearly 6,000 tonnes.
• The U.S. Department of Defence routinely tracks approximately 23,000 man-made objects achieving orbit to ensure safety of its space-based assets.
• One of the reasons that the international community protested strongly about the 2007 Chinese test was that it added nearly 3,000 pieces of debris as the test was done at a higher altitude (800 km), from where it would take decades to dissipate. The debris created by the Indian test, which was undertaken at a low altitude, is expected to dissipate much faster.

Patchy international control:

• The salience of space in defence is evident from the fact that all three countries — the U.S., Russia and China — have set up ‘Space Commands’.
• This has given rise to demands to prevent the militarisation of space so that it is preserved “as the common heritage of mankind”.
• The 1967 Outer Space Treaty followed by the 1979 Moon Treaty laid the foundations of the legal regime for space beginning with the rule of law, refraining from appropriating territory, non-placement of any weapons of mass destruction in space, and prohibition of military activities on the moon and other celestial bodies.
• However, these treaties were negotiated when the technology was still in a nascent stage.
• Satellite registration was introduced in the 1970s though compliance has been patchy.
• The U.S. has been adamantly opposed to negotiating any legally binding instrument to prevent ‘militarisation of space’, questioning the very meaning of the term, given that space as a medium is increasingly used for military applications.
• In 2008, Russia and China had proposed a draft to kick off negotiations on the Treaty on the Prevention of the Placement of Weapons in Outer Space and of the Threat or Use of Force Against Outer Space Objects.
• The European Union, mindful of U.S. allergy to any negotiations on this issue, began to develop an international code of conduct based on transparency and confidence-building measures.
• The UN General Assembly has called for a declaration of political commitment by all countries that they shall not be the first to place weapons in space. This initiative too has floundered as norm building cannot take place in a political vacuum.
• At present, the U.S. is the dominant presence in space, which reflects its technological lead as well its dependence on space-based assets. It therefore perceives any negotiations as a constraint on its technological lead.
• While countries have developed and tested ASATs, they are not known to have stockpiled ASAT weapons.

Effective use of an ASAT also requires space situational awareness capability, which works best if it is a cooperative effort. India’s successful ASAT test is, therefore, a technology marker. Further development of interceptor technology and long-range tracking radars is necessary for a robust BMD and the Defence Research and Development Organisation also needs to move on to newer technologies to enhance its ASAT capability in the coming years.

2. Kartarpur focus – On Kartarpur Corridor

Q1. Consider the following statements:

Q2. Which of the following statements is correct with respect to SAMADHAN Portal?

Q3. Consider the following statements with respect to the World Government Summit:

Q4. Consider the following statements with respect to E-AUSHADHI Portal:

Q5. Which of the following statement/s is/are correct with respect to GHUMOT?