05 Jan 2024: PIB Summary for UPSC

TABLE OF CONTENTS

1. MoU between India and Guyana
2. MoU between Indian Railways and USAID
3. MoU between ISRO and MRIC
4. Plasma Processes over Mars

1. MoU between India and Guyana

Syllabus: GS-2, IR

Prelims: MoU between India and Guyana in the hydrocarbon sector.

Context:

Cabinet approves signing of Memorandum of Understanding between India and Guyana on cooperation in the hydrocarbon sector.

Details:

• The proposed MoU covers the complete value chain of the hydrocarbon sector including:
  • Sourcing of crude oil from Guyana
  • Participation of Indian companies in the Exploration and Production (E&P) sector of Guyana
  • Cooperation in the areas of crude oil refining, capacity building
  • Strengthening bilateral trade
  • Collaboration in the natural gas sector
  • Collaboration in developing regulatory policy framework in the oil & gas sector in Guyana
  • Cooperation in the area of clean energy including biofuels as well as the renewables sector including solar energy, etc.
• The MoU is expected to strengthen bilateral trade, foster investment in each country and help diversify sources of crude oil, thus augmenting the energy & supply security of the country.
• This MoU shall enter into force on the date of its signature and will remain in force for five years. There is a provision for automatic renewal after this period.

Guyana and the Oil & Gas Sector

• After the recent discovery of oil in the country, Guyana has gained significance in the oil and gas industry becoming the newest oil producer.
• The new discoveries of 11.2 billion barrels of oil equivalent amount to 18% of total global oil & gas discoveries and 32% of discovered oil.

Significance for India

• India is the world’s 3rd largest consumer of energy and oil.
• India is the 4th largest refiner and the fastest-growing major economy with rising energy needs.
• BP Energy Outlook and the International Energy Agency estimate that India’s energy demand will grow at about 3% per annum till 2040, compared to the global rate of 1%.
• Also, India is likely to account for approximately 25-28 per cent of the global energy demand growth between 2020-2040.

2. MoU between Indian Railways and USAID

Syllabus: GS03-Economy-Infrastructure

Prelims: Net-Zero Carbon Emission; Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs)

Mains: Environment-friendly reforms undertaken by Indian Railways to achieve net zero carbon emissions

Context:

Cabinet approved the MoU signed between the Indian Railways and USAID that was signed in June 2023.

Read more about the MoU in PIB dated June 23, 2023.

3. MoU between ISRO and MRIC

Syllabus: GS-2, IR; GS-3, Science and Technology

Prelims: MoU between ISRO and MRIC

Mains: India – Mauritius relations

Context:

Cabinet approves Memorandum of Understanding between Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) and Mauritius Research and Innovation Council (MRIC) concerning cooperation on the development of a Joint Small Satellite.

Details:

• The MoU will help to establish a framework for cooperation between ISRO and MRIC on the development of a joint satellite as well as for cooperation on the use of the MRIC’s Ground Station.  
• Benefits:
  • Collaboration through this joint development of satellite will help in further ensuring continuous support from the Mauritius Government for the Indian ground station at Mauritius, which is critical for ISRO/India’s launch vehicle and satellite missions. 
  • In addition, the joint satellite building will also help in ensuring MRIC support from their ground station for ISRO’s small satellite mission in future. 
  • Some of the subsystems for the joint satellite will be taken up through the participation of Indian industries and thus may result in employment generation.
• Background:
  • The space cooperation between India and Mauritius is dated way back to the late 1980s when ISRO established a ground station in Mauritius for tracking and telemetry support for ISRO’s launch vehicle and satellite missions, under a country-level agreement signed in 1986 for this purpose.

4. Plasma Processes over Mars

Syllabus: GS-3, Science and Technology

Prelims: Mars Planet

Context:

High-frequency waves detected in the Martian Upper Atmosphere could help understand plasma processes over Mars.

Details:

• Scientists have detected the existence of high-frequency plasma waves in the Martian Upper Atmosphere with novel narrowband and broadband features that can help to understand plasma processes in the Martian plasma environment.

Plasma Waves:

• Plasma waves are often observed in the Earth’s magnetosphere which is a magnetic field cavity around the Earth. 
• In general, plasma waves are identified as the short-time scale fluctuations in the in electric and magnetic field observations. 
• These plasma waves play an important role in the energization and transport of the charged particles in the Earth’s magnetosphere. 
• Some of the plasma waves like electromagnetic ion cyclotron waves act as cleaning agents for the Earth’s radiation belt, which is hazardous to our satellites. 
• Due to this, there is an interest in understanding the existence of various plasma waves in the vicinity of unmagnetized planets like Mars.
• Since Mars does not have any intrinsic magnetic field, the high-speed solar wind coming from the sun interacts directly with the Martian atmosphere.

Current Study:

• Researchers at the Indian Institute of Geomagnetism (IIG), an autonomous institute of the Department of Science and Technology have examined the existence of high-frequency plasma waves in the Martian plasma environment by making use of the high-resolution electric field data from the Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution Mission (MAVEN) spacecraft of NASA.
• These waves could be either electron oscillations that propagate parallel to the background magnetic field (Langmuir waves) or electron oscillations that propagate perpendicular to the background magnetic field (upper-hybrid type waves) in the magnetosheath region of Mars.
• Observations of such waves provide a tool to explore how electrons gain or dissipate energy in the Martian plasma environment.

Read previous PIB articles here.