Daily Prelims Notes 15 February 2023

February 15, 2023
Posted by: OptimizeIAS Team
Category: DPN

Daily Prelims Notes

15 February 2023

Table Of Contents

Subject: Polity

Section:

Context: The Supreme Court on Monday issued notices to the Centre and five states — Rajasthan, Uttarakhand, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, and Jharkhand — over the failure to elect a Deputy Speaker.

A Bench led by Chief Justice of India (CJI) D Y Chandrachud sought responses on a PIL that contends that not electing a Deputy Speaker to the 17th (present) Lok Sabha, which was constituted on June 19, 2019, is “against the letter and spirit of the Constitution”.

The post has been lying vacant in the five state Assemblies as well, which were constituted between four years and almost one year ago, the plea states. (Shariq Ahmed v. Union of India And Ors)

Deputy Speaker:

Constitutional Provisions

Article 93 says “The House of the People shall, as soon as may be, choose two members…to be…Speaker and Deputy Speaker…and, so often as the office of Speaker or Deputy Speaker becomes vacant, the House shall choose another member…”
Article 178 contains the corresponding position for Speaker and Deputy Speaker of the Legislative Assembly of a state.

Is it mandatory to have a Deputy Speaker?

Constitutional experts point out that both Articles 93 and 178 use the word “shall”, indicating that the election of Speaker and Deputy Speaker is mandatory under the Constitution.

How soon must the Deputy Speaker be elected?

“As soon as may be”, say Articles 93 and 178. But they do not lay down a specific time frame.
In general, the practice in both Lok Sabha and the state Assemblies has been to elect the Speaker during the (mostly short) first session of the new House — usually on the third day after the oath-taking and affirmations over the first two days.
The election of the Deputy Speaker usually takes place in the second session — and is generally not delayed further in the absence of genuine and unavoidable constraints.
Rule 8 of The Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business in Lok Sabha says the election of Deputy Speaker “shall be held on such date as the Speaker may fix”. The Deputy Speaker is elected once a motion proposing his name is carried in the House.
Once elected, the Deputy Speaker usually continues in office for the entire duration of the House. Under Article 94 (Article 179 for state legislatures), the Speaker or Deputy Speaker “shall vacate his office if he ceases to be a member of the House…”. They may also resign to each other, or “may be removed from…office by a resolution of the House of the People passed by a majority of all the then members of the House”.

Do the powers of the Speaker extend to the Deputy Speaker as well?

Article 95(1) says: “While the office of Speaker is vacant, the duties of the office shall be performed by the Deputy Speaker”.
In general, the Deputy Speaker has the same powers as the Speaker when presiding over a sitting of the House. All references to the Speaker in the Rules are deemed to be references to the Deputy Speaker when he presides.
It has been repeatedly held that no appeal lies to the Speaker against a ruling given by the Deputy Speaker or any person presiding over the House in the absence of the Speaker.

Other features

Like the Speaker, the Deputy Speaker is also elected by the Lok Sabha itself from amongst its members.
He is elected after the election of the Speaker has taken place. The date of election of the Deputy Speaker is fixed by the Speaker.
Whenever the office of the Deputy Speaker falls vacant, the Lok Sabha elects another member to fill the vacancy.
Like the Speaker, the Deputy Speaker remains in office usually during the life of the Lok Sabha.
However, he may vacate his office earlier in any of the following three cases:
- if he ceases to be a member of the Lok Sabha;
- if he resigns by writing to the Speaker; and
- if he is removed by a resolution passed by a majority of all the members of the Lok Sabha. Such a resolution can be moved only after giving 14 days’ advance notice.
The Deputy Speaker performs the duties of the Speaker’s office when it is vacant. He also acts as the Speaker when the latter is absent from the sitting of the House.
In both the cases, he assumes all the powers of the Speaker.
He also presides over the joint sitting of both the Houses of Parliament, in case the Speaker is absent from such a sitting.
It should be noted here that the Deputy Speaker is not subordinate to the Speaker. He is directly responsible to the House.
The Deputy Speaker has one special privilege, that is, whenever he is appointed as a member of a parliamentary committee, he automatically becomes its chairman.
Like the Speaker, the Deputy Speaker, while presiding over the House, cannot vote in the first instance; he can only exercise a casting vote in the case of a tie.
Further, when a resolution for the removal of the Deputy Speaker is under consideration of the House, he cannot preside at the sitting of the House, though he may be present.
When the Speaker presides over the House, the Deputy Speaker is like any other ordinary member of the House. He can speak in the House, participate in its proceedings and vote on any question before the House.
The Deputy Speaker is entitled to a regular salary and allowance fixed by Parliament, and charged on the Consolidated Fund of India.
Upto the 10th Lok Sabha, both the Speaker and the Deputy Speaker were usually from the ruling party. Since the 11th Lok Sabha, there has been a consensus that the Speaker comes from the ruling party (or ruling alliance) and the post of Deputy Speaker goes to the main opposition party.
The Speaker and the Deputy Speaker, while assuming their offices, do not make and subscribe any separate oath or affirmation.

2. Right to Breathe Campaign

Subject : Science and Technology

Section: Intellectual Property

Concept :

What is Right to Breathe Campaign

It is a patient-driven campaign across multiple countries, including India, for access to cystic fibrosis (CF) therapy- Trikafta, from the American biotech company Vertex Pharmaceuticals.

Campaigns have been mounted in South Africa, Ukraine, Brazil and India, led by ‘Vertex save us’, a global community of CF patients and families, and coordinated by Just Treatment, a UK-based campaigner for patient rights, with support from other international organisations.

Although Vertex does not have a presence in India, patient families recently wrote to the Centre, seeking access to the combination drug Trikafta or Kaftrio, that treats this life-shortening genetic disorder

What is cystic fibrosis (CF) therapy?

CF causes sticky mucus to build up in the lungs, and digestive system, and the undiagnosed often die in their infancy, the letter said, urging the Government to consider patent provisions available in the law to make the drug accessible.

What are Fixed dose combinations (FDCs)?

Fixed dose combinations (FDCs) are defined as a combination of two or more active ingredients within a single form of pharmaceutical administration They have been shown to appreciably reduce the risk of medication non-adherence, which is particularly important in patients with chronic diseases However, their rationality for use should be based on sound medical principles as there have been concerns with their irrationality and utility in several countries

3. Industrial aerosols contribution to global cooling

Subject : Environment

Section :Pollution

Context: How much do industrial aerosols contribute to global cooling? New study offers clues.

More on the News:

Inactive volcanoes contributed 66 per cent of sulphate emissions, known to cool the planet, in the preindustrial era, suggesting they were more abundant than previously estimated, a new study reveals.
Sulphate emissions can be traced back to natural sources such as volcanoes and industrial processes, including oil combustion, traffic emissions and coal burning.
Sulphur dioxide, released from natural as well as anthropogenic sources, reacts with water vapour and other gases in the atmosphere to create sulphate aerosols.
They can cool the planet by reflecting sunlight into space, according to the United States National Aeronautics and Space Administration. They also form clouds, which also tend to have a cooling effect.
A higher abundance of sulphate aerosols in the preindustrial atmosphere means anthropogenic sulphate has a relatively small cooling effect.
Previous studies estimated that the amount of sulphur dioxide released by volcanoes is smaller than by anthropogenic sources.
Climate models do not consider hydrogen sulphide, which escapes from inactive volcanoes. These gases react with oxygen to produce sulphur dioxide within three days, forming sulphate aerosols.
The new study estimates hydrogen sulphide emissions from volcanoes, suggesting that this gas was likely to contribute to atmospheric sulphate in the preindustrial era significantly.
The team also wants to investigate sulphur emissions from other sources, such as phytoplankton (tiny marine algae). Marine phytoplankton emits dimethylsulphide, an organic sulphur-containing compound that produces sulphur aerosols.

Aerosol

Aerosols are defined as a combination of liquid or solid particles suspended in a gaseous or liquid environment.
“Primary” aerosols, like dust, soot, or sea salt, come directly from the planet’s surface. They get lifted into the atmosphere by gusty winds, shot high into the air by exploding volcanoes, or they waft away from smokestacks or flames.
“Secondary” aerosols form when different things floating in the atmosphere like organic compounds released by plants, liquid acid droplets, or other materials—crash together, culminating in a chemical or physical reaction.
Aerosols come from both natural and human sources.
Natural sources of aerosols include sea salt generated from breaking waves, mineral dust blown from the surface by wind, and volcanoes.
Anthropogenic aerosols include sulfate, nitrate, and carbonaceous aerosols, and are mainly from fossil fuel combustion sources.

About Aerosols:

Aerosols are a mixed bag of substances, liquid and solid, that differ from their gassy brethren.
They tend to hang in the atmosphere near their source, or move as localised or regional masses via air currents.
They range in size from a few atoms across to the width of a human hair.
They include:
- crystals of sulphate,
- balls of almost pure black carbon (commonly, though not entirely accurately, called soot),
- droplets of nitric or sulfuric acid, spores of pollen.
They may be salt freed from the crests of breaking waves, or desert sand whipped up by the wind.
Natural Aerosols: One of the largest natural sources of aerosols are plankton, which breathe out dimethyl sulphide (DMS), a strong-smelling chemical that gives the sea it’s familiar pungent odour.
- DMS reacts with oxygen to produce clouds of sulfuric acid.
- Sulphur dioxide released by volcanoes does the same.
Ninety percent of aerosols in the atmosphere are naturally occurring, but their levels have remained relatively constant over time.
Anthropogenic Aerosols: On the other hand anthropogenic, or human-made aerosols are emitted from:
- vehicle exhausts;
- the smokestacks of factories,
- ships and coal-burning powerplants;
- by farmers burning field stubble and land grabbers clearing Amazon forest with fire;
- by gas flares on oil rigs and discarded plastic shopping bags.
- Even tumble driers release microplastic fibres that float skyward.
These sources have increased dramatically over the industrial period, roughly in step with greenhouse gases.
Most aerosols help cool the planet by reflecting sunlight back out into space, reducing the amount of radiant energy that reaches Earth’s surface.
They also help create clouds or brighten existing clouds, by acting as condensation nuclei around which water vapor condenses.
Aerosols first came to public attention in the 1970s, not so much because of their cooling impact, but due to acid rain.
The worst aerosols are very fine particulates that can penetrate deep into the lungs and may even enter the blood stream exacerbating respiratory and cardiovascular conditions.

4. Himalayan plunder: Ecology changing for the worse due to loss of forest cover, drying springs

Subject : Environment

Section: Ecosystem

Context: Whether caused by natural forces or due to human activities, land subsidence, landslides, soil erosion, drying springs and changing river courses have relegated the Himalayan ecology from being pristine to perishing and deforestation and drying up of springs appear to be the major contributors to these natural hazards.

More on the News:

A decline of 902 square kilometres in forest cover was recorded in hill districts of the country as compared to 2019, found the State of Forest Report, 2021. The loss is much more pronounced in the Himalayan states that reported an overall loss of 1,072 sq km of forest cover.
Western Himalayas’ dense forest cover will decrease from 61 per cent in 2000 to 16.8 per cent in 2100; and in eastern Himalayas from 2 per cent in 2000 to 38.7 per cent in 2100, said the study.
Unplanned urbanization, commercial timber extraction, capitalistic development projects, mining and quarrying were identified as the troublesome forces of modern development.
One such grievous impact of deforestation is soil erosion. In the Himalayan region, the impact of soil erosion can be felt differently in the western and eastern parts.
Due to higher rainfall in the northeastern hills as compared to the northwestern hills the former is more vulnerable to soil erosion—22.3 per cent of the area as compared to 12.6 per cent of the area respectively.
The other trend changing the Himalayan ecology is the drying of springs. The Indian Himalayan region is home to three million of the five million springs across the country. And even those are under threat.
Any change in spring hydrology has clear ramifications on river hydrology, whether in the headwater regions, where springs manifest themselves as sources of rivers or in the lower-reach plains of river systems where they contribute almost invisibly as base flows to river channels.
Depletion has meant disturbances in the water security inside forests and national parks and their fringe areas as well.
Therefore, a changed Himalayan landscape caused by human activities and warming means transformed natural ecosystems through biological invasions and reduced native biodiversity.

Carrying capacity

Carrying capacity is the maximum number, density, or biomass of a population that a specific area can support sustainably. This likely varies over time and depends on environmental factors, resources, and the presence of predators, disease agents, and competitors over time.

5. Kenya seeks divine help to end crippling, ongoing drought

Subject: International Relation

Context:

With the prospect of a sixth consecutive failed rainy season in the east and Horn of Africa, Kenya’s president is hoping the heavens will finally open with the help of a National Day of Mass prayer on Tuesday.
The U.N. humanitarian agency has termed the ongoing drought in the region a “rapidly unfolding humanitarian catastrophe.”
William Ruto announced the plans for the country’s first ever day of prayer on Sunday at a service in the drought-stricken city of Nakuru, some 100 miles (160 kilometers) from the capital Nairobi.
It follows a joint call by the country’s spiritual leaders to dedicate an entire day to prayer to ease drought conditions in the nation.

Concept:

Kenya and other east African nations have been experiencing some of the worst drought conditions in decades, causing crop failure, loss of livestock, wildlife and biodiversity, and malnutrition.
Domestic agriculture is a large part of Kenya’s economy.
The Intergovernmental Authority on Development’s climatecenter said that since 2020, five rainy seasons have failed, affecting over 50 million people.
The center will release its projections for the long rains season, typically from March to May, later in February. Early projections from other meteorological groups are not optimistic.

Drought

Drought is a prolonged dry period in the natural climate cycle that can occur anywhere in the world.
It is a slow-onset disaster characterized by the lack of precipitation, resulting in a water shortage.
In recent decades, drought has emerged as one of the biggest drivers of human life loss and economic loss among weather-related disasters.
By 2030, or in the next eight years, drought will potentially displace an estimated 700 million people worldwide.
Africa holds the highest burden of this disaster and East Africa is reeling under its worst drought in four decades.

Classification:

Meteorological Drought: It is a situation where there is a reduction in rainfall for a specific period below a specific amount.
Hydrological Drought: It is defined as deficiencies in surface and subsurface water supplies leading to a lack of water for normal and specific needs.
Such conditions arise even in times of average (or above average) precipitation when increased usage of water diminishes the reserves.
Agricultural Drought/ Soil Moisture drought: It is identified with soil moisture deficiency in relation to meteorological droughts and climatic factors and their impacts on agricultural production and economic profitability.
Ecological Drought: When the productivity of a natural ecosystem fails due to shortage of water and as a consequence of ecological distress, damages are induced in the ecosystem.

Inter-Governmental Authority on Development (IGAD)

The Inter-Governmental Authority on Development (IGAD) was formed in 1996 to replace the intergovernmental Authority on Drought and Development (IGADD) which was founded in 1986.
It is multi-national authority founded by east African Countries. I.E. Djibouti, Ethiopia, Somalia, Sudan, Uganda and Kenya.
It is headquartered at Djibouti.
The Assembly of Heads of State and Government is the apex body of policy making of the Authority which decides the objectives, guidelines and programs for IGAD.

The Secretariat:

It assists member states in formulating regional projects in the priority areas, facilitates the coordination and harmonization of development policies, mobilizes resources to implement regional projects and programs approved by the Council.
It reinforces national infrastructures necessary for implementing regional projects and policies.
It is headed by the Executive Secretary.

The Council of Ministers:

It is consisting of the Ministers of Foreign Affairs and one other Minister designated by each member state. It formulates policy, sanctions the work program and annual budget of the Secretariat during its half-yearly sessions.

The Committee of Ambassadors:

It comprises IGAD member states’ Ambassadors or Plenipotentiaries accredited to the country of IGAD. It calls together as often as the need arises to advise and guide the Executive Secretary.

6. QR code-based Coin Vending Machine (QCVM)

Subject: Economy

Section : Monetary Policy

Concept:

The apex bank finalized its decision of launching the machine during its recently held MPC meeting. The QR code is being introduced as fake currency notes are increasing in coin vending machines.
These machines will use UPI-based code systems to provide coins. Earlier the machines tendered the bank notes physically.

QR code-based coin vending machine

Here the consumer need not use currency notes. Rather he shall use his bank account password or a pin to get coins.
As he enters the pin or password, the vending machine verifies with his bank account and issues coins from his bank account directly.
Earlier, the consumer had to drop in currency notes to get coins.

Need for the machine

To increase the accessibility of coins in the country and also to increase the distribution of coins in the country
To address the issue: The supply of coins in the country is very high, but distribution is not even.

Where will the new vending machines be available?

These new coin vending machines are to be placed in 19 locations across 12 cities.
They are to be placed in shopping malls, railway stations, and in other public places where people can access them easily.

7. Ukraine Grain Corridor

Subject : International Relations

Section: United Nation

Concept :

Russia said on Monday it would be “inappropriate” to extend the Black Sea grain deal unless sanctions imposed on Moscow following its invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24 last year that have affected its agricultural exports are lifted.
The deal to free up grain exports from Ukraine’s southern Black Sea ports was extended on Nov. 17 for 120 days.
It has created a protected sea transit corridor and was designed to alleviate global food shortages by allowing exports to resume from three ports in Ukraine, a major producer of grains and oilseeds.

Ukraine Stand on the issue

Ukraine has not made public any changes it is seeking, but in the run-up to the November agreement, it sought unsuccessfully to have the deal expanded to include more ports.
Ukraine wanted to include the ports of the southern Mykolaiv region, which provided 35% of Ukrainian food exports before Russia’s invasion.

Black Sea Grain Initiative

The Black Sea Grain initiative endeavours to tackle escalating food prices emanating from supply chain disruptions because of Russian actions in the world’s ‘breadbasket’.
The deal brokered by the United Nations (UN) and Turkey, was signed in Istanbul in July, 2022.
It provides a safe maritime humanitarian corridor for Ukrainian exports (particularly for food grains) from three of its key ports, namely, Chornomorsk, Odesa and Yuzhny/Pivdennyi in the Black Sea.

Objective:

Initially stipulated for a period of 120 days, the deal was to provide for a safe maritime humanitarian corridor for Ukrainian exports (particularly for food grains).
The central idea was to calm markets by ensuring an adequate supply of grains, thereby limiting food price inflation.
Role of Joint Coordination Centre (JCC):
The deal put in place a Joint Coordination Centre (JCC), comprising senior representatives from Russia, Turkey, Ukraine and the UN for oversight and coordination.
All commercial ships are required to register directly with the JCC to ensure appropriate monitoring, inspection and safe passage. Inbound and outbound ships (to the designated corridor) transit as per a schedule accorded by the JCC post-inspection.
This is done so as to ensure there is no unauthorised cargo or personnel onboard.
Following this, they are allowed to sail onwards to Ukrainian ports for loading through the designated corridor.

8. High Altitude Balloon (HAB)

Subject: Science and technology

Section: Msc

Concept :

High Altitude Balloons have been in frequent use for several decades now, though the first uses go back at least 200 years.
They are used mainly for scientific purposes but increasingly for tourism and joy rides, surveillance, and disaster relief and rescue.

Working of HAB’s

Balloons typically have a basket attached to them, called gondolas, that carry instruments or human beings.
In unmanned flights, the gondolas are also attached to a parachute. Once the job of the balloon is done, a device in the gondola is triggered to snap its ties with the balloon as well as create a rupture in the fabric of the balloon.
With the help of the parachute, the gondola then glides down to the earth, followed by the ruptured balloon. The possible landing zone is calculated ahead of the flight based on weather conditions.

Research/Scientific Purposes

Research balloons are balloons that are used for scientific research. They are usually unmanned, filled with a lighter-than-air gas like helium, and fly at high altitudes.
Meteorology, atmospheric research, astronomy, and military research may be conducted from a research balloon.
Weather balloons are a type of research balloon.
Research balloons usually study a single aspect of science, such as air pollution, air temperature, or wind currents, although sometimes several experiments or equipment are flown together.
Other than weather balloons, few research balloons are launched every year. This is driven by the large cost of the balloon, the instrument, which is usually custom made, and the cost of the launch.
Because of the altitude reached by most research balloons, the air is too thin and too cold for humans to survive, therefore most research balloons are unmanned and operated remotely.
NASA has a full-fledged balloon programme that does four-five launches every year. Several universities and research institutions also use balloons for research work.
Balloon-based experiments have resulted in at least two Nobel prizes for Physics, in 1936 and 2006.

Surveillance Purposes

High Altitude Balloon are used for surveillance for various reasons. Some of them are :
Close-range Monitoring: In the age of satellites, surveillance balloons which are typically advanced balloons equipped with high-tech, downward-pointing imaging gear offer close-range monitoring.
Image Quality: The lower-flying balloons, which hover at about the same height as commercial airlines fly, can typically take clearer images than the lowest orbiting satellites.
Satellites that rotate in sync with Earth capture continuous but hazier images due to farther orbit.
Intercepting Communication: Surveillance balloons can also be capable of “gathering electronic signals” and intercepting communications.

Ballooning in India

Scientific balloons have been used in India for more than 70 years, the first one having been sent in 1948 by Homi Bhabha for cosmic ray research.
The Mumbai-based Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR) started balloon fabrication work in the 1950s, and several balloon flights were launched from Mumbai and Hyderabad.
In 1969, the TIFR opened a full-fledged Balloon Facility in Hyderabad, which remains India’s largest such facility today.
It is regularly used by the space institutions under ISRO, and weather research institutions like the Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology in Pune.

9. Geo-Strategic importance of J&K’s lithium reserves

Subject: Geography

Section: Economic Geography

Concept:

China at present controls over 77% of the global lithium-ion battery manufacturing capacity and is home to six of the world’s 10 manufacturing companies.
To overcome this challenge, countries such as the U.S., Canada, India, and the EU countries are undertaking efforts to leverage alternative supplies that can challenge China’s geopolitical dominance.
Dependencies on critical mineral resources are still a major geostrategic concern in the transition to net-zero carbon energy systems.
A high level of reliance on China for lithium and other critical resources poses significant energy security risks for India.

Geo strategic Implications of the discovery

The J&K region has historically been a site of cross-border tensions between India and Pakistan. The region has also been affected due to domestic insurgency and terrorism.
Further, there are concerns about the risk of a socio-environmental conflict if the local populations are not engaged in the lithium extraction project.

Critical Minerals

Critical minerals are elements that are the building blocks of essential modern-day technologies and are at risk of supply chain disruptions.
These minerals are now used everywhere from making mobile phones, computers to batteries, electric vehicles and green technologies like solar panels and wind turbines.

Major Critical Minerals:

It mostly include graphite, lithium, cobalt, rare earths and silicon which is a key mineral for making computer chips, solar panels and batteries.
Graphite, Lithium and Cobalt are used for making EV batteries.
Aerospace, communications and defence industries also rely on several such minerals as they are used in manufacturing fighter jets, drones, radio sets and other critical equipment.
While Cobalt, Nickel and Lithium are required for batteries used in electric vehicles, rare earth minerals are critical, in trace amounts, in the semiconductors and high-end electronics manufacturing.

Significance:

As countries around the world scale up their transition towards clean energy and digital economy, these critical resources are key to the ecosystem that fuels this change.
Any supply shock can severely imperil the economy and strategic autonomy of a country over-dependent on others to procure critical minerals.

Rare Earth Metals

They are a set of seventeen metallic elements. These include the fifteen lanthanides on the periodic table in addition to scandium and yttrium that show similar physical and chemical properties to the lanthanides.
The 17 Rare Earths are cerium (Ce), dysprosium (Dy), erbium (Er), europium (Eu), gadolinium (Gd), holmium (Ho), lanthanum (La), lutetium (Lu), neodymium (Nd), praseodymium (Pr), promethium (Pm), samarium (Sm), scandium (Sc), terbium (Tb), thulium (Tm), ytterbium (Yb), and yttrium (Y).
These minerals have unique magnetic, luminescent, and electrochemical properties and thus are used in many modern technologies, including consumer electronics, computers and networks, communications, health care, national defense, clean energy technologies etc.
Even futuristic technologies need these REEs.
For example, high-temperature superconductivity, safe storage and transport of hydrogen for a post-hydrocarbon economy etc.
They are called ‘rare earth’ because earlier it was difficult to extract them from their oxides forms technologically.
They occur in many minerals but typically in low concentrations to be refined in an economical manner.

Rare earth in India

Rare earth comprises seventeen elements and are classified as light RE elements (LREE) and heavy RE elements (HREE).
Some RE are available in India such as Lanthanum, Cerium, Neodymium, Praseodymium and Samarium, while others such as Dysprosium, Terbium, Europium that are classified as HREE are not available in Indian deposits in extractable quantity.
India would require supply support for such elements.

10. History of Ladakh

Subject: History

Section: Modern History

Concept:

Ladakh is a mountaneous region which is sandwiched between Karakoram Range in North and Himalayan Range in the South.
It is composed of two districts:
Leh – It is the 2nd largest district of India and it covers more than half of the area of Jammu and Kashmir.
Kargil – It lies near Line of Control. Zanskar Range is a part of Kargil.

Ladakh through the History

Ladakh was originally inhabited by people of Indo-Aryan and Tibetan descent.
Historically the region included the valleys of Baltistan, Indus, and Nubra, besides Zanskar, Lahaul and Spiti, Aksai Chin, Ngari and Rudok.
Located at the crossroads of important trade routes since ancient times, Ladakh has always enjoyed great geostrategic importance.
At the beginning of the first century AD, Ladakh was part of the Kushan Empire. Till the 15th century, it was part of Tibet and was ruled by dynasties of local Lamas.

Dogras invasion:

In 1834, Hindu Dogras (from Jammu, which is southwest of Ladakh) invaded it.
The Sikhs acquired Kashmir in 1819, Emperor Ranjit Singh turned his ambition towards Ladakh. But it was Gulab Singh, the Dogra feudatory of the Sikhs in Jammu, who went ahead with the task of integrating Ladakh into Jammu and Kashmir.

Tibet invasion:

In May 1841, Tibet under the Qing dynasty of China invaded Ladakh with the hope of adding it to the imperial Chinese dominions, leading to the Sino-Sikh war.
However, the Sino-Tibetan army was defeated, and the ‘Treaty of Chushul’ was signed that agreed on no further transgressions or interference in the other country’s frontiers.

British suzerainty:

After the first Anglo-Sikh war of 1845-46, the state of Jammu and Kashmir, including Ladakh, was taken out of the Sikh empire and brought under British suzerainty.
As a buffer zone: The state of Jammu and Kashmir was essentially a British creation, formed as a buffer zone where they could meet the Russians.
Consequently, there was an attempt to delimit what exactly was Ladakh and the extent of the state of Jammu and Kashmir, but it became convoluted since that area came under Tibetan and Central Asian influence.

Pakistan and China border dispute:

Ladakh became a contested territory between the newly independent nations of India and Pakistan. In the early 1960’s a substantial area of eastern Ladakh was annexed by China.
Due to increasing tensions between India and Pakistan, the Chinese invasion of Tibet in the 1950s, and their occupation of the Aksai Chin region in 1962, Ladakh has become one of India’s most important strategic zones.
Strategic location and border disputes with Pakistan and China have assured a firm foothold for army presence since the past 50 years.

11. Army set to close around 80 deals worth ₹15000 cr

Subject: Science and Technology

Section: Defense

Concept:

The Army, which is currently executing the fourth tranche of emergency procurements, has identified nearly 80 deals, roughly valued at ₹15,000 crore, the Chief of the Army Staff, General Manoj Pande, said.

Emergency Procurements

Emergency procurements are carried out to meet critical operational requirements.
The Indian Army, which has made three tranches of Emergency Procurements (EP) in the last few years, is preparing for a fourth round of EP which will be entirely from the domestic industry.
Three tranches of EPs were executed, with 68 contracts worth 6000 crores
The Defence Ministry has previously granted the armed forces emergency financial powers, allowing them to procure weapons systems worth up to 300 crores on a “urgent basis” without any further clearances to shorten the procurement cycle.
The EP also allows testing of various systems in the field before embarking on larger acquisitions through the capital budget route.

Indigenous Contracts in Army

It was stated that indigenous contracts have nearly tripled in the last three to four years.
Domestic industry issued Acceptance of Necessity (AoN) for various contracts totaling 40,000 crores last year.
Similarly, the Army signed contracts worth 47,000 crores with indigenous industry last year.
Over the next 7-8 years, approximately 7-8 lakh crore in potential contracts could be placed with the Indian industry. So, the industry has a lot of potential in terms of a viable market.
The Army’s priority areas for indigenizationwere outlined, which include intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR), mobility solutions in forward areas, particularly the mountains, special armaments such as loitering munitions, artificial intelligence, and encrypted communication.
The Army is also in the process of inducting new long-range rocket systems, software-defined radios that are less susceptible to jamming, and see-through armour, among other things.
In the past, it was acknowledged that the Army’s reliance on certain weapon systems, particularly air defence, rockets, missiles, and certain tanks from Russia and Ukraine, and stated that, in terms of the immediate impact, “the supply chain of certain spares and ammunition has been impacted to some extent, but we have adequate stocks to last for a reasonable period of time.”
The indigenization effort in defense manufacturing is an ecosystem with four foundational pillars: resource allocation, enabling policies, a viable market, and competition.