Daily Prelims Notes 22 November 2022
- November 22, 2022
- Posted by: OptimizeIAS Team
- Category: DPN
Daily Prelims Notes
22 November 2022
Table Of Contents
- Government unveils framework to curb fake reviews on e-commerce site
- Indian Council of Historical Research (ICHR)
- Indonesia
- Friendshoring
- India and the European Union Trade Relation
- Swiss Challenge
- Appellate body
- Population trends
- Narmada waters creating ripples in arid Kutch despite hiccups
- The world’s costliest climate change disaster
- Antimicrobial Resistance: New CSE report focuses on major ethnoveterinary medicine programme
- Developing Great Nicobar: strategic imperative and ecological concerns
- ISRO to attempt 200th launch of RH 200
1. Government unveils framework to curb fake reviews on e-commerce site
Subject : Polity
Context:
- The Central government recently unveiled the new standard Indian Standard (IS) 19000:2022 on Online Consumer Reviews and ratings, which has been prepared by the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS).
- What is the issue:
- To combat the threat of fraudulent and deceptive product and service reviews, all e-commerce players, travel and ticketing portals and online food delivery platforms will soon be required to voluntarily reveal all paid or sponsored reviews.
- With the notification of the standard, India will be the first country in the world to have such a norm for Online Consumer Reviews.
- More about the framework:
- As per the new standard, the BIS has defined reviews as solicited and unsolicited.
- The person responsible for handling the review in any organisation will be called the review administrator.
- The new standard gives an option for the reviewers to withdraw their reviews
- The new standard will be applicable even for independent third-party entities that post such reviews on any online platform.
- The focus of the new standard is adequate disclosure, as the online platforms have to specify the period when the reviews were collected so that consumers are not misled.
- Representatives from all major players, including Google and Meta, were part of the committee that developed the final standard, thus high compliance is to be expected, as fake reviews also harm the industry.
- Failure to comply with the BIS standard is unfair trade practice, and such entities may face legal action under the Consumer Protection Act.
- The BIS will come up with a conformity assessment scheme to certify the websites hosting such reviews. The websites will display such certification for consumers information.
- What is The Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS):
- It is the National Standards Body of India under Department of Consumer affairs, Ministry of Consumer Affairs,Food & Public Distribution, Government of India.
- Initially established as a society, the BIS was made a statutory body under the Bureau of Indian Standards Act, 2016, with its headquarters in New Delhi.
- It has 25 members drawn from Central or State Governments, industry, scientific and research institutions and consumer organisations.
- It also works as a Agreement on Technical Barriers to Trade (WTO-TBT) enquiry point for India.
- The Agreement on Technical Barriers to Trade (WTO-TBT) Agreement, is an international treaty which is binding on all WTO members administered by the World Trade Organisation
2. Indian Council of Historical Research (ICHR)
Subject : Polity
Context:
- According to an Indian Council of Historical Research(ICHR) concept note on Constitution Day stated that India has been practising democratic traditions since the “Vedic times”when villages developed a hierarchy of self-governing institutions such as“panchayats and khaps”.
- More about Indian Council of Historical Research (ICHR):
- ICHR is an autonomous body of the Union Ministry of Education.
- It was established under Societies Registration Act (Act XXI of 1860) in 1972 by an Administrative Order of the then Union Ministry of Education and Social Welfare.
- It is based in New Delhi with regional centersin Pune, Bengaluru and Guwahati.
- ICHR disburses funds for carrying out research to Indian as well as foreign scholars on their applications for fellowships, grants, and symposia made to ICHR or through HRD Ministry.
- It has provided financial assistance to the historians and direction to the research scholars in their multifarious topics of historical research.
- What is the composition of the ICHR:
- The composition of the Council is as follows:
- An eminent historian nominated by the Government of India who shall be Chairman of the Council;
- Eighteen historians nominated by the Government of India;
- A Representative of the U.G.C;
- Director-General of Archaeology;
- Director, National Archives;
- Four persons to represent the Government who shall be nominated by the Government of India and which shall include one representative each of the Ministry of Education, the Department of Culture and the Ministry of Finance; and Member Secretary.
Subject: IR
Context:
- A powerful earthquake struck the main island of Indonesia.
More about Indonesia:
- Indonesia,is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans.
- It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guinea.
- Indonesia is the world’s largest archipelagic state and the 14th-largest country by area.
- Indonesia is the world’s fourth-most populous country and the most populous Muslim-majority country.
- Java, the world’s most populous island, is home to more than half of the country’s population.
- The country’s capital, Jakarta, is the world’s second-most populous urban area.
- Indonesia shares land borders with Papua New Guinea, East Timor, and the eastern part of Malaysia, as well as maritime borders with Singapore, Vietnam, Thailand, the Philippines, Australia, Palau, and India.
Subject: Economy
Context:
The US is ‘friendshoring’, and a key beneficiary could be India.
Concept:
Friendshoring:
- In the post-pandemic world and geopolitical challenges-the concept emerged as an alternative model for international trade.
- Friendshoring or Allyshoring is a concept derived from onshoring and nearshoring but it goes beyond that by limiting supply chain networks to allies and friendly countries.
- “Reshoring”, “allied shoring”, “onshoring” and “nearshoring” which is a practice of relocating supply chains to countries where the risk of disruption from political chaos is low.
- In June 2021, Elaine Dezenski and John C. Austin used the term “allyshoring”. Also, they gave credit to Bonnie Glick (ex-Deputy Administrator of the United States Agency for International Development)for introducing it for the first time.
- Friendshoring aims to encourage trade and deepen economic relations among trusted trading partners; strengthen supply chains; and diversify away from nations which could pose geopolitical and security risks to the global supply chain.
Implication:
- It would reduce overdependence on countries that are a single source of critical inputs and raw materials.
- Relocating to nations with favorable politics could make products more expensive.
- It may push the world towards a more isolated place for trade and reverse the gains of globalization– being a part of the “deglobalisation” process.
India-US trade relations:
- In 2021-22, the US re-established itself as India’s largest trading partner.
- Bilateral trade between the two was worth $119.41 billion.
- India’s trade surplus with the US stood at $32.8 billion in 2021-22.
- In terms of exports, the US is India’s largest trading partner, while in terms of imports, the US ranks third.
- Also, the US is the top source of foreign portfolio investment in India.
5. India and the European Union Trade Relation
Subject: Economy
Context:
India and the European Union (EU) signed an agreement on cooperation in areas such as climate modeling and quantum technologies.
Concept:
Intent of Cooperation On High-Performance Computing (HPC), Weather Extremes and Climate Modelling and Quantum Technologies:
- It was signed by India’s ministry of electronics and IT (MeitY) and the European Commission’s Directorate General for Communications Networks, Content and Technology (DG CONNECT) The agreement commits for increasing technological cooperation on quantum and high-performance computing.
- It aims to facilitate collaboration on high-performance computing applications using Indian and European supercomputers in areas such as biomolecular medicines, covid-19 therapeutics, mitigating climate change, predicting natural disasters and quantum computing.
- India and the EU will leverage expertise from both sides to optimise high-performance computing towards developing advanced technology solutions.
EU-India Trade and Technology Council (TTC):
- It was decided to set up in April 2022.
- It aims to strengthen cooperation between the two strategic partners
- It will be the second trade and technology council by the European Union (EU) after its first with the United States and first in India to be set up by any trading partner..
- The India-EU TTC is a strategic mechanism that will give India access to advanced technologies and allows the two sides to set standards in crucial areas such as 5G and artificial intelligence.
India-EU trade relations:
- The EU is India’s third largest trading partner, accounting for €88 billion worth of trade in goods in 2021 or 10.8% of total Indian trade, after the USA (11.6%) and China (11.4%).
- The EU is the second-largest destination for Indian exports (14.9% of the total) after the USA (18.1%), while China only ranks fourth (5.8%).
- India is the EU’s 10th largest trading partner, accounting for 2.1% of EU total trade in goods in 2021, well behind China (16.2%), the USA (14.7%) or the UK (10%).
- Trade in goods between the EU and India increased by about 30% in the last decade.
- The EU’s share in foreign investment stock in India reached €87.3 billion in 2020, up from €63.7 billion in 2017, making the EU a leading foreign investor in India.
- Since the 1970s, India has been a beneficiary of preferential tariffs for its exports under the EU’s Generalised system of preferences (GSP).
Subject: Economy
Context:
The Swiss Challenge auctions conducted as part of the sale of non-performing assets to India’s bad banks are turning out to be profitable.
Details:
The bidders are willing to pay more than the offer by the National Asset Reconstruction Co. Ltd (NARCL).
How does the auction work?
- Lenders sell stressed loans to ARCs at a discount in exchange for either cash or a mix of cash and security receipts.
- Under the system, lenders publicly call for counter bids to match the initial offers made by NARCL.
- If they do not get a better offer, NARCL wins the bid.
- If counter bids exceed the NARCL bid, the bad bank can match the improved offer.
- The bad bank pays 15% of the total bid in cash and the remaining amount as security receipts guaranteed by the government while the private ARCs will have to pay 100% in cash.
- The security receipts are redeemable when the ARC recovers the specific loan.
Concept:
Asset Reconstruction Company (ARC)?
- It is a specialized financial institution that buys the Non-Performing Assets (NPAs) from banks and financial institutions so that they can clean up their balance sheets. This helps banks to concentrate on normal banking activities.
- The asset reconstruction companies or ARCs are registered under the RBI.
- The Securitization and Reconstruction of Financial Assets and Enforcement of Security Interest (SARFAESI) Act, 2002 provides the legal basis for the setting up of ARCs in India.
National Asset Reconstruction Co. Ltd (NARCL).
- NARCL is a government entity incorporated on 7th July 2021 with majority stake held by Public Sector Banks and balance by Private Banks with Canara Bank being the Sponsor Bank.
- NARCL is registered with the Reserved Bank of India as an Asset Reconstruction Company under Securitisation and Reconstruction of Financial Assets and Enforcement of Security Interest Act, 2002.
- It along with the India Debt Resolution Company Limited (IDRCL) aims for aggregation and resolution of Non-Performing Assets (NPAs) in the banking industry
- How will the NARCL-IDRCL work?
- The NARCL will first purchase bad loans from banks and pay 15% of the agreed price in cash and the remaining 85% will be in the form of “Security Receipts”.
- When the assets are sold, with the help of IDRCL, the commercial banks will be paid back the rest.
- If the bad bank is unable to sell the bad loan, or has to sell it at a loss, then the government guarantee will be invoked and the difference between what the commercial bank was supposed to get and what the bad bank was able to raise will be paid from the Rs 30,600 crore that has been provided by the government.
A Swiss Challenge
- It is a method of bidding, often used in public projects.
- Process:
- Under it an interested party initiates a proposal for a contract or the bid for a project
- The government then puts the details of the project out in the public and invites proposals from others interested in executing it.
- On the receipt of these bids, the original contractor gets an opportunity to match the best bid.
- In case the original proposer is not able to match the more attractive and competing counter proposal, the project will be awarded to the counter-proposal.
- Example-Applied to the ongoing bankruptcy cases
- The Swiss Challenge allows a seller to mix-and-match the features of both an open auction and a closed tender to discover the best price for an asset.
- In its original form– a Swiss Challenge allows an infrastructure developer to come up with a suo motu proposal for a new project without waiting for the government to call for bids. This can foster innovation.
Subject: Economy
Context:
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) imposed a monetary penalty of Rs 32 lakh on a public sector bank for non-compliance with certain provisions of Reserve Bank of India.
Details:
- The orders released had minimum details about the violations.
- It has drawn criticism from various quarters and a call for the setting up of an appellate court like the Securities Appellate Tribunal (SAT).
- The Financial Sector Legislative Reforms Commission (FSLRC), headed by Justice BN Srikrishna earlier recommended a financial sector appellate tribunal for all the regulators including the RBI.
Need for transparency–RBI
- Customers and investors of banks have only sparse access to information on non-compliance of RBI directions by banks.
- Unlike in the case of other financial regulators, when RBI passes orders for any irregularity at a bank, they usually make references to certain clauses or sub-clauses of the regulation under which the non-compliance has happened.
- RBI provides details only to the entity being penalized for violation.
- While SEBI- passes ‘speaking orders’ that are long, explanatory and give details on all aspects of the issue, the party can also challenge the Sebi’s decision in the Security Appellate Tribunal.
- Currently, the RBI is the only regulatory institution which doesn’t have an appellate body.
Some important appellate body:
- The National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) under Section 410 of the Companies Act, 2013.
- The tribunal is responsible for hearing appeals from the orders of National Company Law Tribunal
- The tribunal also hears appeals from orders issued by the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board of India under Section 202 and Section 211 of IBC.
- It also hears appeals from any direction issued, decision made, or order passed by the Competition Commission of India (CCI) and the National Financial Reporting Authority (NFRA).
- Debts Recovery Appellate Tribunal-orders of the Debt Recovery Tribunal are appealable before the Debts Recovery Appellate Tribunal.
- Securities Appellate Tribunal hears appeals against the following orders:
- Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI)
- Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA)
- Securities and Exchange Board of India
- The Customs, Excise and Service Tax Appellate Tribunal (CESTAT) hears appeals against orders and decisions passed under
- the Customs Act, 1962 and Central Excise Act, 1944.
- It also has appellate jurisdiction in Anti Dumping matters.
- India’s Income Tax Appellate Tribunal (ITAT) is the second appellate authority under the direct taxes and first independent forum in its appellate hierarchy.
- Armed Forces Tribunal-Any appeal arising from court-martial orders, findings, or sentences.
- Appellate Tribunal for Electricity- is created as a statutory and autonomous body under the Electricity Act, 2003 to hear complaints, appeals or original petitions against the orders of the State Regulatory Commission, The Central Regulatory Commission, Joint Commission or the Adjudicating officer.
Subject: Geography
Context:
China is set to register an absolute population decline.
Details:
- In 2022-China will for the first time register an absolute decline in its population.
- In 2023-India will become the largest population country -1,428.63 million surpassing China’s 1,425.67 million population as per the UN.
Trends in demographic indicators:
- Fall in crude crude death rate (CDR) — the number of persons dying per year per 1,000 population.
- It was 23.2 for China and 22.2 for India in 1950 which fell to 7.3-7.4 for both in 2020.
- Rise in Life Expectancy at birth:
- Between 1950 and 2020, it went up from 43.7 to 78.1 years for China and from 41.7 to 70.1 years for India.
- Fall in The total fertility rate (TFR)–
- China’s TFR dipped below replacement first in 1991, which was almost 30 years before India’s.
- It was 5.8 for China and 5.7 for India in 1950, reduced to 1.3 and 1.6 respectively.
- Population of prime working age:
- China:
- The proportion of the population aged between 20 and 59 years crossed 50% in 1987 and peaked at 61.5% in 2011 and would fall below 50% by 2045.
- The average (median) age of the population, which was 28.9 years in 2000 and 37.4 years in 2020, is expected to soar to 50.7 years by 2050.
- India-
- The working-age population: its share in the overall population crossed 50% only in 2007, and will peak at 57% towards the mid-2030s
- The median age of India’s population also will not go up much — from 27.3 years in 2020 to 38.1 in 2050
- China:
Concept:
Mortality rate, or death rate
- It is a measure of the number of deaths in a particular population, scaled to the size of that population, per unit of time.
- Mortality rate is typically expressed in units of deaths per 1,000 individuals per year; thus, a mortality rate of 9.5 (out of 1,000) in a population of 1,000 would mean 9.5 deaths per year in that entire population, or 0.95% out of the total.
- An important specific mortality rate measure is the crude death rate, which looks at mortality from all causes in a given time interval for a given population.
- The crude death rate is the number of deaths occurring among the population of a given geographical area during a given year per 1,000 mid-year total population of the given geographical area during the same year.
- Reduction in mortality normally leads to a rising population.
Life expectancy at birth
- It reflects the overall mortality level of a population.
- It summarizes the mortality pattern that prevails across all age groups – children and adolescents, adults and the elderly.
- It is the average number of years that a newborn could expect to live, if he or she were to pass through life exposed to the sex- and age-specific death rates prevailing at the time of his or her birth, for a specific year, in a given country, territory, or geographic area.
Total fertility rate
- It is defined as the total number of children that would be born to each woman if she were to live to the end of her child-bearing years and give birth to children in alignment with the prevailing age-specific fertility rates.
- A drop in fertility slows down population growth, ultimately resulting in absolute declines.
- Populations can keep growing even with TFRs falling. De-growth requires TFRs to remain below replacement levels for extended periods.
- A TFR of 2.1 is considered as “replacement-level fertility”-–understood, a woman having two children basically replaces herself and her partner with two new lives. Since all infants may not survive to realise their reproductive potential, the replacement TFR is taken at slightly above two. It ensures that each generation replaces itself.
9. Narmada waters creating ripples in arid Kutch despite hiccups
Subject: Geography
Context–
- A section of the Kutch Branch canal developed a breach within 24 hours of supplying the water into the canal.
Kutch Branch Canal (KBC)-
- It stretches from the Sardar Sarovar Narmada Dam in the Narmada district 750 kilometres away, to the last of the villages of Gujarat’s Mandvi taluka.
Importance of the KBC-
- Provide water for irrigation to 182 villages that have a culturable command area (CCA) of 1,12,778 hectares (278,561 acres).
- It will also provide drinking water in all 948 villages and 10 towns of the Kutch district.
- Now, the KBC is ready to carry water in its entire length, covering 733 km from Sardar Sarovar Dam in Kevadia (now Ektanagar) in Narmada District where the Statue of Unity is located, to Mod kuba.
Issues faced by the community-
- Rising input cost of agriculture
- Borewells for water needs- Cost of digging is high.
- unavailability of groundwater
- Unseasonal rains damaging the crops.
Sardar Sarovar Dam
- The Sardar Sarovar Dam is a concrete gravity dam built on the Narmada river in Navagam near the town of Kevadiya, Narmada District, in the state of Gujarat.
- The dam was constructed to provide water and electricity to four Indian states; Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, and Rajasthan.
- The Dam is located in Gujarat’s Narmada district, on the border of Gujarat and Maharashtra.
- To the west of the dam, is Madhya Pradesh’s Malwa plateau, where the Narmada river dissects the hill tracts and culminates in the Mathwar hills.
- The dam irrigates drought-prone areas in Gujarat and arid areas of the Barmer and Jalore districts of Rajasthan.
- The dam also provides flood protection to 210 villages and Bharuch city.
- Saurashtra Narmada Avtaran Irrigation is a major program to help irrigate a lot of regions using the canal’s water.
10. The world’s costliest climate change disaster
Subject: Geography
Context:
Pakistan floods: The worst in the country’s recent history
- Pakistan recorded 62 per cent less than normal rainfall in the month of March, and the warmest April preceding the monsoon season.
- Glaciers melted as a result of these heat waves, which led rivers to swell.
- Extreme rainfall exacerbated the situation.
- Over 1,500 people were killed, with millions being displaced and developing serious health issues such as skin infections, malaria and diarrhoea.
- The overall damages in the nation were estimated at about $30 billion.
- At COP27, Pakistan sought debt relief and compensation as a part of “loss and damage” funds for disaster-hit nations.
Hurricane Ian in the US: Costliest climate-induced disaster of the year
- The warm ocean waters in the Gulf of Mexico powered Hurricane Ian in the US towards the end of September, making it one of the strongest hurricanes to hit the country.
- About 101 lives were lost, and monetary losses were worth more than $100 billion.
- The escalation brought severe floods, relentless rains and strong winds to southwestern Florida.
- “La Niña” fueled favourable conditions for hurricanes in the North Atlantic over the past three years.
European droughts: Likely to have been the ‘worst in 500 years’
- Europe was struck by two extreme heat waves in June and July.
- Heat waves claimed approximately 16,000 lives.
- Following the deadly summer heat, many regions of Europe witnessed severe droughts.
- Water levels in Europe’s biggest rivers – Rhine, Po, Loire, and Danube – shrunk, and dry conditions continue to prevail in different parts of the continent.
- The Global Drought Observatory (GDO) report by the European Commission’s research wing, declared 47% of the continent in “warning” conditions, while another 17% remained on alert.
- Human-induced climate change – especially high temperatures – increased the likelihood of observed soil moisture drought events.
- North America, mainland China and other parts of the Northern Hemisphere also saw extreme heat conditions during the summer of 2022.
Spain and Portugal: Driest climate in 1200 years
- An atmospheric high-pressure system, which causes dry air to descend over subtropical regions in the Northern Hemisphere during winter and spring seasons, called Azores high, has the ability to block wet weather outlets.
- This caused dry conditions in the Iberian peninsula in southwestern Europe and the Mediterranean region.
- Spain and Portugal hence faced the driest weather in 1,200 years, along with wildfires.
- The most frequent Azores highs could only have been caused by the climate crisis, caused by humanity’s carbon emissions.
- Rainfall in the region is likely to drop by 10-20% by 2100, severely impacting food production.
India recorded natural disasters almost every day in 2022
- According to a report by the Centre for Science and Environment India recorded “extreme weather events on 241 of 273 days” in the first nine months of the year.
- Thunderstorms, persistent rains, cyclones, droughts, heat waves, lightning, floods and landslides occurred all throughout these months.
- Himachal Pradesh recorded the highest number of deaths (359), followed by Assam and Madhya Pradesh.
- Overall, these disasters claimed about 2,755 lives, affected 1.8 million hectares (ha) of crop area, destroyed over 416,667 houses and killed close to 70,000 livestock.
Australian bushfires 2019-20
- Nearly 11 months of fires affected 80% of Australians and killed or displaced at least 3 billion animals.
- Total Loss: $110 Billion
- Deaths:34
11. Antimicrobial Resistance: New CSE report focuses on major ethnoveterinary medicine programme
Subject: Science and Technology
Context:
In the news-
- Delhi-based think-tank, Centre for Science and Environment (CSE), will release a special report titled Ethnoveterinary medicine: An alternative to antibiotics for the dairy sector to mark World Antimicrobial Awareness Week (WAAW).
World AMR Awareness Week (WAAW)-
- Celebrated globally every year from November 18-24 to create awareness and understanding of the issue.
- This year, the theme is “Preventing Antimicrobial Resistance Together”.
- Emphasised the prevention of AMR through a ‘One Health” approach.
The increasing threat of AMR-
- Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) has been recognised as a ‘silent pandemic’ and is a global public health threat today.
- Due to AMR, antibiotics are becoming ineffective and infectious diseases are becoming difficult to treat.
- Some 4.95 million deaths were associated with, and 1.95 million deaths directly attributable to bacterial AMR across the world in 2019.
- AMR is also likely to heavily impact livelihood and economies.
AMR and One Health Approach-
- The ‘One Health’ approach is the best way to address AMR since resistance against antimicrobials is operated among human, animal and environmental sectors.
- It accelerates due to the misuse and overuse of antimicrobials in human health, animal health, food-animal production, aquaculture and crop production.
- Waste from farms, factories, community and healthcare settings contributes to the emergence and spread of AMR through environmental routes.
- Lack of authentic information on AMR and antimicrobial use (AMU) in the veterinary sector is a major limitation.
Prevention measures-
- Adoption of strategies and approaches that can reduce the need for antimicrobials
- Better sanitation
- Access to clean water and appropriate hand hygiene
- Better biosecurity
- Timely vaccinations
- Use of alternatives and appropriate waste management
- Preventing pollution and overuse of chemicals
What is Ethnoveterinary medicine-
- Ethnoveterinary medicine (EVM) involves the use of traditional/herbal preparations in treating diseases of cattle.
Advantage of Ethnoveterinary medicine-
- Reduces Antibiotics use
- Traditional practice of herbal medicines for poultry health management can diminish the cost of production thereby giving more benefit to the farmers.
- Farmers’ self-dependence.
- Preserve herbs.
- User-friendly, Eco friendly.
- Provide some intervention for viral diseases.
- Cosr- effective
12. Developing Great Nicobar: strategic imperative and ecological concerns
Subject: Geography
Context-
- Last month, the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change gave environmental clearance for the ambitious Rs 72,000 crore development project on the strategically important Great Nicobar Island.
- The project is to be implemented in three phases over the next 30 years.
The proposal includes-
- The proposal to develop Great Nicobar was first floated in the1970s
- A greenfield city including an International Container Transhipment Terminal (ICTT),
- A greenfield international airport,
- A power plant,
- A township for the personnel who will implement the project.
- The port will be controlled by the Indian Navy,
- The airport will have dual military-civilian functions.
- Roads, public transport, water supply and waste management facilities, and several hotels have been planned to cater to tourists.
- Around 130 sq km of forests have been sanctioned for diversion, and 9.64 lakh trees are likely to be felled.
About the Great Nicobar island-
- Location-
- Great Nicobar, the southernmost of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, has an area of 910 sq km.
- The Andaman and Nicobar Islands are a cluster of about 836 islands in the eastern Bay of Bengal.
- The two groups of which are separated by the150- km-wide Ten Degree Channel.
- Indira Point on the southern tip of Great Nicobar Island is India’s southernmost point, less than 150 km from the northernmost island of the Indonesian archipelago.
- Biological diversity-
- Great Nicobar has two national parks (Campbell Bay and Galathea National Park) and a biosphere reserve (Great Nicobar Biosphere reserve).
- Fourteen species of mammals, 71 species of birds, 26 species of reptiles, 10 species of amphibians, and 113 species of fish are found on the island, some of which are The leatherback sea turtle is the island’s flagship species.
- Tribals and settlers of the island-
- The island has the Shompen and Nicobarese tribal peoples, along with ex-servicemen from Punjab, Maharashtra, and Andhra Pradesh who were settled on the island in the
- The Shompen are hunter-gatherers who depend on forest and marine resources for sustenance.
- The Nicobarese, who lived along the west coast of the island, were mostly relocated after the 2004 tsunami.
- An estimated 237 Shompen and 1,094 Nicobarese individuals now live in a 751 sqkm tribal reserve, some 84 sqkm of which is proposed to be denotified.
- The approximately 8,000 settlers who live on the island are engaged in agriculture, horticulture, and fishing.
- Climate-
- The Great Nicobar Island has tropical wet evergreen forests.
The purpose of the project-
- Tap the island’s tourism potential.
- Leverage the locational advantage of the island for economic and strategic reasons.
- Great Nicobar is equidistant from Colombo to the southwest and Port Klang and Singapore to the southeast and positioned close to the East-West international shipping corridor, through which a very large part of the world’s trade passes.
- The proposed ICTT can potentially become a hub for cargo ships travelling on this route.
The concerns include-
- Infrastructure development in an ecologically important and fragile region,
- The felling of almost a million trees
- The loss of tree cover which will in turn lead to increased runoff and sediment deposits in the ocean
- Impact on the coral reefs in the area.
- The loss of mangroves.
- India has translocated a coral reef from the Gulf of Mannar to the Gulf of Kutch earlier
- A conservation plan for the leatherback turtle is also being put in place.
The project site is outside the eco-sensitive zones of Campbell Bay and Galathea National Park.
13. ISRO to attempt 200th launch of RH 200
Subject : Science & technology
Context : The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) will attempt the 200th consecutively successful launch of the Rohini RH-200 sounding rocket on Wednesday from Thumba.
Concept :
About RH 200:
- RH-200 is a two-stage rocket capable of climbing to a height of 70 km bearing scientific payloads.
- The first and second stages of RH-200 are powered by solid motors.
- It is 5-metre-tall and is used by the ISRO for atmospheric studies.
- The ‘200’ in the name denotes the diameter of the rocket in mm.
- Other operational Rohini variants are RH-300 Mk-II and RH-560 Mk-III.
- Over the years, the rocket has served as a flexible platform for experiments and testing out new technologies.
Rohini (Rocket family)
- Rohini is a series of sounding rockets developed by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) for meteorological and atmospheric stud
- These sounding rockets are capable of carrying payloads of 2 to 200 kilograms between altitudes of 100 to 500 kms.
Sounding Rockets
- Sounding rockets are one or two stage solid propellant rockets used for probing the upper atmospheric regions and for space research.
- Sounding rockets take their name from the nautical term “to sound,” which means to take measurements.
- They also serve as easily affordable platforms to test or prove prototypes of new components or subsystems intended for use in launch vehicles and satellites.
- ISRO began with the launch of indigenously built sounding rockets from 1965. The ISRO launched its own version – Rohini RH-75 – in 1967.
- In 1975, all sounding rocket activities were cluttered under the Rohini Sounding Rocket (RSR) Programme.
The series of sounding rockets are called Rohini series with RH 200, RH 300 and RH 560 being the most important among them.