Sept 13th, 2021, CNA:- Download PDF Here
TABLE OF CONTENTS
A. GS 1 Related B. GS 2 Related C. GS 3 Related SECURITY 1. SC to hear pleas for probe into snooping scandal today 2. NATGRID to finally see the light of day ENVIRONMENT AND ECOLOGY 1. Cleaning the Yamuna: A story of missed deadlines DEFENCE 1. LCA-Mk2 to roll out next year, first flight in 2023, says scientist D. GS 4 Related E. Editorials INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS 1. A selective nuclear policy F. Prelims Facts 1. Elephants from Nepal damage crops in U.P. 2. Vice-President pays homage to Subramania Bharati G. Tidbits 1. Saudi, Iranian Foreign Ministers to visit India H. UPSC Prelims Practice Questions I. UPSC Mains Practice Questions
A. GS 1 Related
Nothing here for today!!!
B. GS 2 Related
Nothing here for today!!!
C. GS 3 Related
1. SC to hear pleas for probe into snooping scandal today
Context:
The Supreme Court is scheduled to hear a batch of pleas seeking an independent probe into the alleged snooping on some people in India using Pegasus, the Israeli spyware.
Pegasus:
Pegasus spyware is malicious software that is designed to enter a device, gather your data, and then forward it to a third party without the consent of the user.
For In-depth understanding, read Pegasus Spyware – Comprehensive Notes for UPSC.
2. NATGRID to finally see the light of day
Context:
Prime Minister Narendra Modi is expected to launch the National Intelligence Grid or NATGRID shortly.
Details:
- NATGRID aims to provide cutting-edge technology to enhance India’s counter-terror capabilities.
- The ambitious electronic database was mooted after the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks in 2008.
NATGRID:
- The National Intelligence Grid or NATGRID is the integrated intelligence grid connecting databases of core security agencies of the Government of India.
- It is a robust intelligence gathering mechanism related to immigration, banking, individual taxpayers, air and train travels.
- First conceptualised in 2009, NATGRID seeks to become the one-stop destination for security and intelligence agencies to access databases related to immigration entry and exit, banking and telephone details of a suspect on a “secured platform”.
- The data will be procured by NATGRID from 21 organisations such as telecom, tax records, bank, immigration, etc.
- NATGRID will act as a link between intelligence and investigation agencies.
- The project aims to go live soon.
Read more: NATGRID | National Intelligence Grid.
Category: ENVIRONMENT AND ECOLOGY
1. Cleaning the Yamuna: A story of missed deadlines
Context:
The draft NCR Regional Plan-2041 prepared by the National Capital Region Planning Board (NCRPB) has fixed 2026 as the new deadline to ensure ‘zero discharge of untreated sewage and industrial discharge into the Yamuna’.
Yamuna River System
- The Yamuna River is the largest tributary of the Ganga River.
- It originates from the Yamunotri glacier, at the Bandarpoonch peak in Uttarakhand.
- The main tributaries joining the river include the Sin, Hindon, Betwa Ken, and Chambal.
- The Tons is the largest tributary of the Yamuna.
- It travels through Himachal Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Haryana, Rajasthan and Delhi before its confluence with the Ganga.
Concerns:
- The first Yamuna Action Plan (YAP), for which a loan agreement was signed in 1992, was for the improvement of water quality conservation in the river, and the hygiene environment in the cities in the river basin.
- After the first and second plans, YAP-III is currently underway, but the Yamuna is not even fit for bathing in the Delhi stretch, with the exception of Palla (the point where the river enters Delhi).
- At present, the levels of faecal coliform (microbes from human and animal excreta) is beyond the desirable levels. At a few points, the concentration is 760 times the desirable level.
- The Supreme Court and the NGT have also criticised various authorities responsible for cleaning the river for their laxity.
Missed deadlines:
- In 1994, the Supreme Court took cognisance of a newspaper article and summoned the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) to explain the issue.
- Subsequently, various stakeholders, including the Delhi government, the Delhi Jal Board (DJB), the Delhi municipal corporations, and the Uttar Pradesh and Haryana governments became part of the case.
- In a judgment in 2015, the NGT formed the ‘Maily se nirmal (from dirty to clean) Yamuna Revitalisation Plan, 2017’, which was set to be completed by March 31, 2017. But that did not happen.
- Besides, the Interceptor Sewer Project (ISP), which has been in the plans since 2006, has been delayed multiple times.
- In 2018, the NGT formed a monitoring panel headed by two retired bureaucrats to primarily implement the 2015 judgment.
- The NGT dissolved the committee in January 2021 and directed the Chief Secretaries of various States to monitor the progress.
Way Forward:
- Zero untreated discharge into the Yamuna is a tall order, considering that the DJB is known for giving deadlines and then extending them.
- According to the experts, two of the major causes of pollution are less water in the river in Delhi and 22 drains dumping sewage and industrial effluents into it.
- To solve the first issue, the water flow has to be increased.
- But increasing the flow is not that easy due to existing interstate water treaties.
- Ministry of Jal Shakti has observed that the water-sharing agreement of 1994 between Uttarakhand, H.P., U.P., Haryana, Rajasthan and Delhi is due for revision in 2025 unless any of the States so demand. This implies that no revision of water sharing will be possible to achieve the environmental flow in the Yamuna.
- To increase the flow of water, all States have to come together and think about the river and not them and it needs political will.
- The second one can be addressed by treating the sewage and effluents generated in the city.
1. LCA-Mk2 to roll out next year, first flight in 2023, says scientist
Context:
According to a senior scientist from the Aeronautical Development Agency (ADA), LCA-Mk2 would be rolled out in 2022. The detailed design has been completed.
The New Tejas Mk II (LCA Mk2):
- The aircraft features enhanced range and endurance including an onboard oxygen generation system, which is being integrated for the first time.
- Heavy weapons of the class of Scalp, Crystal Maze and Spice-2000 will also be integrated on the Mk2.
- The LCA-Mk2 will be a heavier and much more capable aircraft than the current LCA variants.
- The Mk2 is 1,350 mm longer featuring canards and can carry a payload of 6,500 kg compared to the 3,500 kg the LCA can carry.
- The Mk2 will be powered by a more powerful GE-414 engine.
- In February 2021, the Defence Ministry signed a ₹48,000-crore deal with Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd. (HAL) to supply 83 LCA-Mk1A to the Indian Air Force.
Read more Tejas Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) Mk. 1A
Advanced Medium Combat Aircraft (AMCA):
- The initial design of the AMCA was started in 2009.
- It would be a twin-engine stealth aircraft with an internal weapons bay and a diverterless supersonic intake, which has been developed for the first time.
- It will be a 25-tonne aircraft with an internal carriage of 1,500 kg of payload and a 5,500-kg external payload with 6,500 kg of internal fuel.
- The AMCA will have stealth and non-stealth configuration and will be developed in two phases, AMCA Mk1 with an existing GE414 engine and an AMCA Mk2 with an advanced, more powerful engine to be developed later along with a foreign partner.
- The manufacturing and production of the aircraft will be through a special purpose vehicle, which will also have the participation of private industry.
D. GS 4 Related
Nothing here for today!!!
E. Editorials
Category: INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS
Issue:
The resumption of North Korea’s largest fissile material production reactor at Yongbyon has sparked speculation about its real and symbolic significance.
Background:
- The reactor at the Yongbyon complex has been central to the North Korean reprocessing of spent fuel rods to generate plutonium, besides the production of highly enriched uranium for the development of atomic bombs.
- However, observers also point to the diversification of the country’s nuclear weapons and missile programmes to covert locations over time.
- The 1994 Agreed Framework – an executive agreement signed by President Bill Clinton, required North Korea to freeze all nuclear activity and allow inspection of its military sites in return for the construction of two light water reactors. The accord broke down in 2002.
- In June 2008, in order to buttress its denuclearisation commitment to the U.S. and four other countries, North Korea blew up the cooling tower at the Yongbyon complex.
- However, this move did not ease the concerns of critics, either regarding the plutonium stockpile the regime had amassed or its engagement in secretive nuclear proliferation.
- But it nevertheless led former U.S. President George W. Bush to ease some sanctions against North Korea.
- More controversial was Washington’s decision to revoke the designation of “state sponsor of terrorism”. North Korea was placed on the terrorism list after the 1987 bombing of a South Korean airplane.
- A few months after blowing up the cooling tower in 2008, North Korea barred IAEA inspectors access to its reprocessing plant in the Yongbyon complex and eventually expelled them.
- In 2010 American scientist Siegfried Hecker confirmed accounts that North Korea had rapidly built a uranium enrichment plant at Yongbyon.
- In the aftermath of the first U.S.–North Korea summit meeting in Singapore and the two inter-Korean summits, the Yongbyon reactor’s operations were ceased in December 2018.
- The second inter-Korean summit resulted in a joint statement that indicated North Korean willingness to pursue the permanent dismantlement of the nuclear facilities at Yongbyon, depending upon corresponding measures from the United States.
- At the Hanoi summit in 2019, North Korea offered to dismantle this reactor, alongside other facilities at the Yongbyon complex, in exchange for a large sanctions-relief package covering most of the measures adopted by the UN Security Council against the country’s economy in 2016 and 2017.
Concerns:
- The gas-graphite reactor at Yongbyon has long been the focal point of U.S. and international diplomatic efforts to constrain North Korea’s nuclear program.
- In a recent development, North Korea’s five-megawatt electrical reactor at its Yongbyon complex appears to be back up and running.
- The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has underlined that the restart of activity constitutes a violation of UN Security Council resolutions.
- As North Korea’s nuclear programme is opaque, it partly accounts for the current confusion over the motives behind the restart of the reactor.
- The Biden administration has adopted a pragmatic path of declaring its readiness to resume negotiations with North Korea.
- Meanwhile, Mr. Kim (Supreme Leader of North Korea since 2011) has rejected all such propositions until he can win concrete relief from sanctions, especially those relating to raw materials exports.
Way Forward:
- The Biden administration should treat this reactor’s restart with the seriousness it deserves.
- Apart from the punitive impact of such measures on an impoverished people, the prolonged stand-off over North Korea reinforces the hollowness of the doctrine of deterrence.
- It raises questions if proliferation can ever be prevented just because nuclear weapons states want to perpetuate their dominance.
- A morally superior alternative is the UN treaty on the complete abolition of atomic arms, whose deliberations were boycotted by all nuclear weapons states.
F. Prelims Facts
1. Elephants from Nepal damage crops in U.P.
What’s in News?
A herd of elephants from Nepal’s Shuklaphanta National Park, which reached the Pilibhit Tiger Reserve in Uttar Pradesh, has damaged the crops of farmers.
- The Pilibhit Tiger Reserve is situated in the Pilibhit district and Shahjahanpur District of Uttar Pradesh.
- It was declared a reserve in September 2008 and is India’s 45th Tiger Reserve Project.
- Its northern edge lies along the Indo-Nepal border while the southern boundary is marked by the river Sharada and Khakra.
2. Vice-President pays homage to Subramania Bharati
What’s in News?
Vice-President M. Venkaiah Naidu paid floral tributes to Mahakavi Subramania Bharati to mark the death centenary of the poet and freedom fighter at his memorial home in Puducherry.
- Subramaniya Bharathi was a poet, freedom fighter and social reformer from Tamil Nadu.
- He was born on 11th December 1882, in Ettayapuram village of Tirunelveli District in Tamil Nadu.
- He is popularly known as Mahakavi Bharathiyar.
- His songs on nationalism helped in rallying the masses to support the Indian Independence Movement in Tamil Nadu.
- He published the sensational “Sudesa Geethangal” in 1908.
- In mid-1908, Bharati began to serialise Gnanaratham in his political weekly, India.
- In 1949, he became the first poet whose works were nationalised by the state government.
G. Tidbits
1. Saudi, Iranian Foreign Ministers to visit India
What’s in News?
New Delhi is preparing for visits by the Saudi and Iranian Foreign Ministers, it is a part of a series of engagements aimed at broad-basing discussions on Afghanistan with partner countries.
- Iranian Foreign Minister Amir Abdollahian’s visit has been postponed due to the upcoming summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation, where he is expected to meet External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar, with a visit to India at an early date.
- Saudi Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud is expected in New Delhi for his first visit to India as Foreign Minister.
- While both engagements are expected to focus on bilateral issues, the developments in Afghanistan will be a key component, as they have been in bilateral conversations with partners in Europe and Australia in the past few weeks.
- Outreach by the rival countries in West Asia indicates that all partner countries want to speak to India and vice versa.
Note:
Unlike in the previous Taliban regime in 1996, this time Saudi Arabia and UAE have not recognised or kept embassies open in Kabul after the Taliban takeover, while Iran has maintained its embassy in Kabul and has maintained close contacts with the Taliban.
H. UPSC Prelims Practice Questions
Q1. Consider the following statements about the National Council of Applied Economic Research (NCAER):
- It is one of India’s oldest economic and social research institutes formed via a resolution of the Union Cabinet.
- National Data Innovation Centre (NDIC) established under NCAER represents India in Global Economic Forums.
Which of the above statements is/are correct?
- 1 only
- 2 only
- Both
- None
CHECK ANSWERS:-
Answer: d
Explanation:
- The National Council of Applied Economic Research (NCAER) is one of India’s oldest and largest independent, non-profit, economic and social research institutes. It was not formed by a resolution of the Union Cabinet. It was set up by funding from the Ford Foundation, the Finance Ministry and Tata Sons.
- It engages in economic research.
- NCAER has set up a National Data Innovation Centre (NDIC) to serve as a laboratory for experiments in data collection, interfacing with partners in think tanks, Indian and international universities, and government. NDIC forms an important core of NCAER’s long-standing data collection activities.
Q2. With reference to NATGRID, which of the following statements is/are correct?
- NATGRID as an idea was mooted after the 2008 Mumbai attacks.
- Initially, State agencies won’t have direct access to NATGRID.
Options:
- 1 only
- 2 only
- Both
- None
CHECK ANSWERS:-
Answer: c
Explanation:
- NATGRID or the National Intelligence Grid is a part of the radical revamp of the intelligence and security framework of India.
- NATGRID as an idea was mooted after the 2008 – 26/11 Mumbai attacks.
- Initially, State agencies won’t have direct access to NATGRID. 10 Central agencies will be able to access the information gathered by NATGRID. They are Intelligence Bureau (IB), Research & Analysis Wing (R&AW), Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), Enforcement Directorate (ED), Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI), Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU), Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT), Central Board of Excise and Customs (CBEC), Directorate General of Central Excise and Intelligence (DGCEI) and Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB).
- However, the state agencies can extract the information by contacting these 10 central agencies that have direct access to NATGRID.
Q3. Which of the following statements about National Commission for Women is/are correct?
- National Commission for Women was set up as a statutory body during the emergency period.
- The Chairperson, Members and Member Secretary nominated by the Central Government should only be women.
Options:
- 1 only
- 2 only
- Both
- None
CHECK ANSWERS:-
Answer: d
Explanation:
- National Commission for Women was set up as a statutory body in 1992.
- The Chairperson, Members and Member Secretary nominated by the Central Government are not necessarily women.
Read more on National Commission For Women
Q4. Which of the following schemes will be implemented under PM Kisan SAMPADA Yojana?
- Mega Food Parks
- Integrated Cold Chain and Value Addition Infrastructure
- Creation/ Expansion of Food Processing/Preservation Capacities (Unit Scheme)
- Infrastructure for Agro-processing Clusters
- Food Safety and Quality Assurance Infrastructure
Options:
- 1 and 2 only
- 2, 3 and 4 only
- 1, 2, 3 and 4 only
- 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5
CHECK ANSWERS:-
Answer: d
Explanation:
Component Schemes under the Pradhan Mantri Kisan SAMPADA Yojana are:
- Mega Food Park
- Integrated Cold Chain and Value Addition Infrastructure
- Creation/Expansion of Food Processing & Preservation Capacities
- Infrastructure for Agro-Processing Clusters
- Creation of Backward & Forward linkages
- Food Safety and Quality Assurance Infrastructure
- Operation Greens
Read more Pradhan Mantri Kisan SAMPADA Yojana.
Q5. With reference to the Neem tree, consider the following statements: (UPSC 2014)
- Neem oil can be used as a pesticide to control the proliferation of some species of insects and mites.
- Neem seeds are used in the manufacture of biofuels and hospital detergents.
- Neem oil has applications in the pharmaceutical industry.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
- 1 and 2 only
- 3 only
- 1 and 3 only
- 1, 2 and 3
CHECK ANSWERS:-
Answer: d
Explanation:
- Neem oil can be used as a pesticide to control the proliferation of some species of insects and mites.
- Neem seeds are used in the manufacture of biofuels and hospital detergents.
- Neem oil has applications in the pharmaceutical industry.
I. UPSC Mains Practice Questions
- Economic growth is important for improving the lives and livelihoods of citizens, but unsustainable development will spell disaster. Explain the statement with reference to Aravallis. (10 Marks, 150 Words) [GS-3, Environment]
- Players selecting premier league clubs over national duties in sports are violating sports ethics. Do you agree? Justify. (10 Marks, 150 Words) [GS-4, Ethics]
Read the previous CNA here.
Sept 13th, 2021, CNA:- Download PDF Here
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