24 Aug 2022: UPSC Exam Comprehensive News Analysis

A. GS 1 Related
B. GS 2 Related
INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS
1. Reinvigorating the Chabahar port
C. GS 3 Related
SECURITY
1. Chinese tech firms under wider scrutiny in India
D. GS 4 Related
E. Editorials
SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
1. The implications of the 5G roll-out for law enforcement
2. The case of the missing scientific Indian
POLITY AND GOVERNANCE
1. Reviewing remission
F. Prelims Facts
1. Vertical Launch Short Range Surface-to-Air Missile (VL-SRSAM)
G. Tidbits
1. Tensions mar a mission to Tiangong
2. Sex ratio at birth normalises slightly: study
H. UPSC Prelims Practice Questions
I. UPSC Mains Practice Questions

A. GS 1 Related

Nothing here for today!!!

B. GS 2 Related

Category: INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS

1. Reinvigorating the Chabahar port

Syllabus: Effect of policies and politics of developed and developing countries on India’s interests

Prelims: About Chabahar port

Mains: Geostrategic significance of Chabahar port, India’s strategic vision for Chabahar port and the reasons for the delay in its development

Context

The visit of the Union Minister for Ports, Shipping and Waterways of India to Chabahar port.

Details

• After months of slow progress, India now looks to scale up its efforts in developing Iran’s Chabahar port which helps in providing crucial connectivity to Afghanistan and Central Asia for trade and other purposes.
• Chabahar is also an important gateway for India to trade with several Europe countries, Russia and Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) countries.
• Experts feel that the visit of the Union Minister will provide an opportunity to strengthen ties and the maritime relationship between India and Iran.
• The Union Minister reviewed the progress of developmental works and handed over six mobile harbour cranes to improve the efficiency of the works.

Read more about – Chabahar Port and its significance

India’s strategic vision for Chabahar port

• The first agreement for Chabahar was signed by India in 2003 by former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee. The key objectives of the plan included:
  • Developing India’s first offshore port and showcasing India’s infrastructure prowess in the Gulf region.
  • To develop a trade route that bypasses Pakistan and also develop a sustainable sea trade route.
  • To create an alternative to the existing land route to Afghanistan via Pakistan as India was looking to rebuild ties after the defeat of the Taliban in 2001.
• Later, during the leadership of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, India built the Zaranj-Delaram Highway in the south of Afghanistan and handed it over to the Afghan government in 2009. This helped to connect the trade route from the border of Iran to the main trade routes to Herat and Kabul.
• In 2016, Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited Tehran (Capital of Iran) and signed the agreement to develop Chabahar port along with the signing of the Trilateral Agreement for trade through Chabahar with Afghanistan.
• In recent years, with China’s Belt and Road Initiative making huge progress in the region, the development of the Chabahar route has become another strategic objective for India as India aims to provide the Central Asian region with an alternate route to the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) through Iran (Chabahar) for future trade.
• Further, India’s vision to develop the Shahid Beheshti port (Chabahar) as “a transit hub” and link it to the existing International North-South Trade Corridor (INSTC), will help establish smoothened connectivity to Russia and Europe.

Reasons for the delay in the development of Chabahar port

• There have been constant hurdles in the development of the Shahid Beheshti terminal.
• One of the key challenges to the development of the port has been the strained relationship between Iran with the US and other western countries.
  • The progress of the developmental works in the Chabahar port has been slow amidst increased sanctions against Iran from the west.
• In 2018, when the U.S. administration walked out of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) and imposed a fresh set of sanctions against Iran, there was increased pressure on India and the Indian government stopped its oil imports from Iran which was a major supplier to India till then. This resulted in the weakening of the ties with Iran.
• Despite the U.S. making special exemptions on sanctions for Chabahar, it has been practically difficult to source resources for the development of the port as many infrastructure, shipping and insurance companies are still worried about secondary sanctions.
• Further, India’s hesitance in engaging with the Taliban regime in Afghanistan has also impeded the developmental works at Chabahar port.

Nut graf: The development of Chabahar port would result in an overall increase in trade and shipment volume to key markets in Europe and Central Asia along with easing the existing connectivity routes to Russia and Afghanistan. In this context, India has to rev up its efforts to develop the Chabahar port at the earliest.

C. GS 3 Related

Category: SECURITY

1. Chinese tech firms under wider scrutiny in India

Syllabus: Challenges to internal security through communication networks, basics of cyber security; money-laundering and its prevention. 

Mains: Analysis of various reasons and the impacts of the increased scrutiny of Chinese firms in India.

Context

In recent months, with an aim of checking Chinese corporate influence in the country, the offices of Chinese tech firms such as Huawei, Vivo, ZTE, Xiaomi and Oppo have been searched by income tax officials.

Key allegations against Chinese firms

• Various Chinese firms have been accused of resorting to tax evasions, discharging illegal remittances, forging identifications and incorrect disclosures while operating in India.
• Recently, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) seized nearly ₹5,551.27 crores from a Xiaomi unit in India. 
  • It was said that the tech firm had remitted foreign currency worth ₹5,551.27 crores to three foreign-based entities which also included a Xiaomi group entity, under the disguise of “royalty”. 
  • It was alleged that the firm had not availed any service from these three entities and the remittances were sent to benefit its group entities and this is said to be a violation under the provisions of the Foreign Exchange Management Act, 1999.
• Later, the ED also undertook search operations at various offices of Vivo in India after an FIR was filed by the Ministry of Corporate Affairs which alleged that the Grand Prospect International Communication Pvt Ltd (GPICPL) (one of Vivo’s associated companies) had forged identification documents and gave false addresses at the time of incorporation. 
  • These searches found the presence of a shell company created for the purpose of tax evasion and Vivo India is accused of remitting over 50% of its total sale proceeds to China to disclose huge losses in Indian-incorporated companies to avoid paying taxes. 
  • This is said to be a violation of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002.
• Another tech firm Oppo was also issued a show-cause notice after the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) found out customs duty evasion of nearly ₹4,389 crores. 
  • The DRI’s searches found that Oppo had wilfully declared incorrect descriptions of certain imported items for manufacturing their mobile phones in India to avail of duty exemption benefits. 
  • Further, the import of intellectual rights acquired from outside the Indian territory was not declared in their balance sheets for imported products. 
  • This violated certain provisions of the Customs Act, 1962 and Customs Valuation (Determination of Value of Imported Goods) Rules, 2007.
• Chinese telecom major Huawei has also experienced several income tax searches, exclusion from 5G telecom trials and increasing restrictions on research collaborations.

Reasons for the constant scrutiny on Chinese firms

• Chinese firms have been discouraged from providing critical infrastructure for crucial telecom services in various countries across the world such as the US, the UK, Australia and New Zealand.
• Experts feel that the exclusion of Chinese firms from critical projects despite them offering lower prices is because China is accused of carrying out cyberattacks and cyber-espionage campaigns through its telecom network and fibre optic communications infrastructure provided by its companies.
• Recently, the US administration investigated Huawei over concerns that cell towers in the US were equipped with gear that could record sensitive and confidential data from military bases and transmit it to China.
• There have been multiple instances of accusations against China for undertaking cyberattacks that are aimed at collecting information on a sovereign country’s critical infrastructure. 
  • Example: Cybersecurity firms say that the Mumbai blackout that took place in October 2020 was undertaken as a follow-up act to the Galwan Valley clash and was carried out by “RedEcho” which is a hacker group linked to China 
• Even private companies like Vodafone and Microsoft have alleged about China carrying out such attacks. 
  • Example: In March 2021, it was reported that Chinese state-backed hacker groups targeted the IT systems of Indian vaccine providers Bharat Biotech and Serum Institute of India.

Impact on the market in case of exit of Chinese firms

• Due to increased instances of scrutiny on Chinese firms in India, such firms are looking to downsize their operations in India.
• The significant growth of Chinese companies in India is attributed to their price competitiveness in a price-sensitive market. Hence there is an immediate need to find a replacement for such products in case of an exit of Chinese firms from the Indian market.
• India along with various other countries has become extremely reliant on Chinese products as these Chinese firms have monopolised the lower ends of the global value chains i.e. basic components of finished products like for example “pen caps for pens”.
• Experts also feel that imposing an outright ban on Chinese smartphones is also impractical as the proposed replacements are currently lacking aspects such as a strong portfolio, distribution, and after-sales services.

Nut graf: With Chinese tech firms attracting wider scrutiny from various agencies in India, there are assumptions about Chinese firms exiting the Indian market. However, considering the level of dependence of India on Chinese products and the lack of suitable replacements for such products, experts feel that it is unlikely that these firms would exit the Indian market anytime soon.

D. GS 4 Related

Nothing here for today!!!

F. Prelims Facts

1. Vertical Launch Short Range Surface-to-Air Missile (VL-SRSAM)

Syllabus: GS-3; Science and Technology; Indigenization of technology and developing new technology.

Prelims: About VL-SRSAM

Context

The Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) and the Indian Navy successfully flight-tested the indigenously developed Vertical Launch Short Range Surface-to-Air Missile (VL-SRSAM).

Vertical Launch Short Range Surface-to-Air Missile (VL-SRSAM)

• The VL-SRSAM system has been indigenously designed and developed by DRDO.
• The VL-SRSAM is a quick reaction surface-to-air missile.
• The VL-SRSAM is a ship-borne weapon system that can be used for nullifying aerial threats at close ranges and can also be used against sea-skimming targets (a technique used by missiles to fly as low as possible to avoid radar or infrared detection). 
• The VL-SRSAM is equipped with an indigenous Radio Frequency (RF) seeker which helps intercept targets with high accuracy.
• The missile is expected to be a force multiplier for the Indian Navy.

G. Tidbits

1. Tensions mar a mission to Tiangong

• The ongoing tensions between India and China since May 2020 have become a cause of concern for Indian astrophysicists who are involved in an ambitious project to install an Indian-made spectroscope aboard the developing Chinese space station Tiangong.
• Scientists from the Indian Institute of Astrophysics (IIA), Bengaluru, were among nine groups selected as part of a UN-led initiative that invites research teams from across the globe to compete for an opportunity to design payloads that will be shuttled to Tiangong aboard rockets of the Chinese Manned Space Agency.
  • The project named Spectrographic Investigation of Nebular Gas (SING) involves collaboration with the Institute of Astronomy, Russian Academy of Sciences, and has been developed by research students at the IIA. 
  • The SING project is said to be the first space collaboration involving India and China, mainly dealing with the sending and positioning of a spectrograph which is an instrument that splits light into constituent frequencies and wavelengths, to study ultraviolet radiation. 
• These scientists at the IIA are consulting the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) and the External Affairs Ministry to get clarity if they can go ahead with the project.

H. UPSC Prelims Practice Questions

Q1. Which of the following statements is/are correct with respect to the planet 
Jupiter? (Level – Difficult)

1. It is the largest planet in the solar system and is primarily composed of hydrogen and helium gases.
2. A prominent feature of the planet is the Great Red Spot, which is basically a giant storm.
3. Io, Europa, Ganymede and Titan are the largest natural satellites of the planet.

Options:

1. 1 and 2 only
2. 2 and 3 only
3. 1 and 3 only
4. 1, 2 and 3

CHECK ANSWERS:-

Answer: a

Explanation:

• Statement 1 is correct, Jupiter is the largest planet in the solar system and is primarily composed of hydrogen and helium gases.
• Statement 2 is correct, The Great Red Spot is a long-lived enormous storm system on the planet Jupiter and the most prominent feature of its visible cloud surface.
• Statement 3 is not correct, Io, Europa, Ganymede and Callisto are four main natural satellites (moons) of Jupiter and are called Galilean moons.
  • Titan is the largest moon of Saturn and the second-largest natural satellite in the Solar System.

Q2. Consider the following pairs of rivers and the water body into which they finally 
drain. (Level – Difficult)

     River                   Drains into

1. Rhine                   North Sea
2. Danube               Black Sea
3. Volga                   Caspian Sea
4. Po                        Adriatic Sea

How many of the above pairs is/are correctly matched?

1. One pair only
2. Two pairs only
3. Three pairs only
4. All the four pairs

CHECK ANSWERS:-

Answer: d

Explanation:

• Pair 1 is correct, The Rhine river empties into the North Sea. 
• Pair 2 is correct, The Danube, originating in Germany, flows southeast and drains into the Black Sea.
• Pair 3 is correct, The Volga River flows into the Caspian Sea.
• Pair 4 is correct, Po River which is the longest river in Italy empties into the Adriatic Sea.

Q3. Which of the following statements is/are correct with respect to the Tiangong 
space station? (Level – Medium)

1. It is being constructed by China and would be placed in the medium earth orbit.
2. It is the only other space station to have been in operation other than the International Space Station.
3. Once completed, it will be bigger than the International Space Station.

Options:

1. 1 and 2 only
2. 1, 2 and 3 only
3. 2 only
4. None of the above statements

CHECK ANSWERS:-

Answer: d

Explanation:

• Statement 1 is not correct, Tiangong space station is being constructed by China and will be placed in the Low Earth Orbit (LEO).
• Statement 2 is not correct, Since 1971, 12 space stations launched into a low orbit around Earth have been occupied for varying lengths of time. 
  • A few important space stations include Salyut, Skylab, Mir, the International Space Station and Tiangong.
• Statement 3 is not correct, International Space Station is much larger compared to the Tiangong space station.

Q4. The under-construction Vizhinjam Deepwater Seaport is located in which of the 
following States? (Level – Easy)

1. Tamil Nadu
2. Kerala
3. Karnataka
4. Andhra Pradesh

CHECK ANSWERS:-

Answer: b

Explanation:

• Vizhinjam International Transhipment Deepwater Multipurpose Seaport is an ambitious project undertaken by the Government of Kerala.
• It is being constructed on the Arabian Sea coast at Trivandrum.

Q5. The word ‘Denisovan’ is sometimes mentioned in media in reference to (Level – 
Difficult) PYQ (2019)

1. Fossils of a kind of dinosaurs
2. An early human species 
3. A cave system found in North-East India
4. A geological period in the history of Indian subcontinent

CHECK ANSWERS:-

Answer: b

Explanation:

• The Denisovans are an extinct species or subspecies of archaic humans in the genus Homo that ranged across Asia during the Lower and Middle Paleolithic Ages.
• Nuclear DNA indicates close affinities of Denisovans with Neanderthals and they are known to have coexisted with them in some regions.