Daily Prelims Notes 8 April 2024

April 8, 2024
Posted by: OptimizeIAS Team
Category: DPN

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Daily Prelims Notes

8 April 2024

Table Of Contents

1. Guidelines may be issued by RBI to upgrade SFBs to Universal Banks

Subject: Economy

Section: Monetary Policy

Current Scenario:

SFBs can seek universal bank status after 5 years of operations.
No additional conditions in existing licensing norms for conversion.

Expected Assessment Criteria:

Circular may include criteria such as:
Asset quality and composition.
Branch network.
Corporate governance adherence.
Quality of leadership.
IT capabilities.

Apprehensions:

Questioning introduction of additional riders beyond existing norms.
Potential conflict with essence of licensing norms raised.

Intentions of SFBs:

Four SFBs – Equitas SFB, AU SFB, Ujjivan SFB, and Jana SFB – intend to convert.
Informal talks with regulator, plans to apply for universal bank status once window opens.

Small Finance Banks (SFBs):

Purpose:

Financial institutions catering to unserved and unbanked regions.
Offer financial services to individuals and businesses previously excluded from mainstream banking.

Eligibility to Become SFB:

Existing non-banking financial companies (NBFCs), microfinance institutions (MFI), and local area banks (LAB) can apply.
Must register as a public limited company under the Companies Act, 2013.

Scope of Activities:

Primarily engage in basic banking activities:
Acceptance of deposits.
Lending to small business units, small farmers, micro-industries, and unorganized sector entities.
Can offer other non-risk sharing financial services such as:
Distribution of mutual fund units, insurance, pension products, etc.
Can act as an Authorised Dealer in foreign exchange for clients’ needs.
75% of net credits should be in priority sector lending.
50% of loans in the portfolio must be below ₹25 lakh.

Universal Banks:

Activities:

Financial entities offering a wide array of financial services under one roof.
Act as a “financial supermarket” providing various services.
Offer services like investment banking, commercial banking, insurance, etc.

Activities under Universal Banking:

Includes functions such as:
Investment banking.
Commercial banking.
Development banking.
Insurance.
Merchant banking.
Mutual funds.
Factoring.
Housing finance, and more.

2. GPS Jamming

Subject: Science and tech

Section: Msc

Incidents of GPS Jamming:

Cargo ships in the Mediterranean and Black Sea regions are facing an increase in incidents of GPS jamming.
This interference manipulates or disrupts the ship navigation data, especially near conflict zones.

Specific Incident on April 4:

On April 4, around 117 cargo-carrying vessels were reported at Beirut-Rafic Al Hariri International Airport in Lebanon.
Information sourced from vessel-tracking data by Lloyd’s List Intelligence.

Trend Since October 2023:

The trend of ships appearing on land-based systems, like airports, has become more common since the Hamas attacks on Israel in October 2023.
Initially observed in the eastern Mediterranean at the end of October.

Spoofing vs. Jamming:

Spoofing AIS signals to create false vessel locations is a known tactic to circumvent sanctions.
Widespread GPS signal jamming in the Black Sea marks a potentially dangerous form of AIS manipulation.

Lloyd’s List Findings:

Lloyd’s List analysis reveals a significant increase in incidents of third-party interference in Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) signals.
Over 655 individual incidents identified in the past year, with a majority since January 2024.

Expert Insights:

Highlights the seriousness of war zone GPS jamming, particularly for military operations.
Disruption of navigation, targeting systems, communication, and countermeasures can significantly impact military activities.

These points outline the recent incidents of GPS jamming affecting cargo ships in the Mediterranean and Black Sea regions, emphasizing key details and potential risks to navigation systems.

GPS Spoofing and Jamming

GPS Spoofing: An attempt to alter the initial location of a GPS-enabled device.
Purpose: Sends false data to a receiver, diverting traffic, goods, or people with falsified information.

Method:

Transmission of False Data: Involves sending false coordinates and information to the receiver.
Radio Transmitter: A radio transmitter near the target interferes with actual GPS signals.
Signal Override: Stronger transmitter overrides weak GPS signals from satellites.

Impact:

Course Alteration: Can send people or vehicles off course.
False Locations: Indicates someone is in a location they are not actually present.

Difference from GPS Jamming:

GPS Jamming: Interfering with GPS signals.
Spoofing vs. Jamming: Spoofing is more dangerous and involves sending false data, while jamming disrupts GPS signals.
Detection Difficulty: Spoofing is harder to detect compared to jamming.

3. Right against adverse effects of climate change part of rights to life, equality: SC

Subject: Polity

Section: Constitution

Context:

In a significant ruling, the Supreme Court has expanded the scope of Articles 14 and 21 to include the “right against the adverse effects of climate change.

Constitutional Provisions:

Article 48A of the Constitution provides that the State shall endeavor to protect and improve the environment and to safeguard the forests and wildlife of the country.
Clause (g) of Article 51A stipulates that it shall be the duty of every citizen of India to protect and improve the natural environment including forests, lakes, rivers and wildlife, and to have compassion for living creatures.
Although these are not justiciable provisions of the Constitution, they are indications that the Constitution recognises the importance of the natural world.
Article 21 recognises the right to life and personal liberty while Article 14 indicates that all persons shall have equality before law and the equal protection of laws.
These Articles are important sources of the right to a clean environment and the right against the adverse effects of climate change.

Key takeaways from the verdict:

The court pointed out that India aimed to achieve an installed renewable energy capacity (excluding large hydro) of 175 GW (Gigawatts) by 2022, a goal that signified the country’s commitment to clean energy adoption, and the future goal is 450 GW installed capacity by 2030.
A blanket direction for undergrounding high voltage and low voltage power lines of the nature that was directed by this Court would need recalibration.
India is likely to account for 25% of global energy demand growth over the next two decades, necessitating a move towards solar for enhanced energy security and self-sufficiency while mitigating environmental impacts.
Rampant air pollution emphasizes the need for cleaner energy sources like solar to combat pollution caused by fossil fuels.
Declining groundwater levels and decreasing annual rainfall underscore the importance of diversifying energy sources.

4. Land portions from 10 cantonment boards to be run by local bodies

Subject: Polity

Section: PRI and local govt

Context:

The Centre has decided to shrink the land under the jurisdiction of 10 key cantonment boards across five states, and put them under the state local bodies.

More on news:

Any objection to the above declaration by any inhabitant of a cantonment may be submitted to the Central Government through the General Officer Commanding-in-Chief (GOC), within eight weeks from the date of publication of this notification.

Affected Cantonment Boards:

The 10 affected cantonment boards are:
- Ramgarh Cantonment in Jharkhand (7,500 acres);
- Deolali Cantonment in Maharashtra (7,000 acres);
- Dehradun Cantonment (2,250 acres) and
- Clement Town Cantonment (1,000 acres) in Uttarakhand;
- Mathura Cantonment (1,000 acres), Shahjahanpur Cantonment (75 acres), Babina Cantonment (350 acres), and Fatehgarh Cantonment (50 acres) in Uttar Pradesh; and
- Nasirabad Cantonment (550 acres) and
- Ajmer Cantonment (40 acres) in Rajasthan.

Need for such step:

It is not the job of the Armed Forces and Indian Defence Estates Service officers to run municipalities.
A need was felt to exclude certain areas from the limits of the cantonment boards and merge them with the elected urban local bodies
This is the first time that an excision of this scale is being undertaken. In the last seven decades, only partial excisions were undertaken in five cantonment boards — Varanasi, Ahmedabad, Agra, Jhansi and Ambala in the 1950s and 1960s.
The last such exercise was carried out in 1986, when some areas of Khasyol cantonment board in Dharamshala, in Himachal Pradesh, were removed.

About Cantonment Boards:

Set up for the civilian population residing in cantonment areas, it is created and managed by the central government.
It refers to an organization which is established to administer and manage the civilian population living in cantonment areas.
For every cantonment there shall be a Cantonment Board.
Every Board shall be deemed to be a municipality under clause (e) of article 243P of the Constitution for the purposes of-
- (a) receiving grants and allocations; or
- (b) implementing the Central Government schemes of social welfare, public health, hygiene, safety, water supply, sanitation, urban renewal and education.
The board operates in accordance with the provisions of the Cantonment Act of 2006 and falls under the jurisdiction of the Union Defence Ministry.
It comprises elected representatives as well as ex-officio and nominated members as per the Cantonments Act, 2006.
A cantonment board consists of eight elected members, three nominated military members, three ex-officio members (station commander, garrison engineer and senior executive medical officer), and one representative of the district magistrate.
The cantonment boards are managed by GOCs, Indian Defence Estates Service (IDES) officers, state bureaucrats, and a few elected members
The station commander of the cantonment is the ex-officio president of the board.
An officer of the Indian Defence Estates Service (IDES) or Defence Estates Organisation is the chief executive officer and member-secretary of the board.
The term of office of a member of a board is five years.
Cantonments are divided into four categories, namely,
- Category I cantonments are those with populations above 50,000;
- Category II between 10,000 and 50,000;
- Category III between 2,500 and 10,000,
- Category IV with populations below 2,500.
Of these, only Babina Cantonment and Ajmer Cantonment were established after independence.
Of the 61 cantonment boards in the country, only six were established after independence — Jammu in 1954, Badami Bagh in 1954, Morar in 1956, Dehu Road in 1958, Babina in 1959, and Ajmer in 1962.

Cantonment Board and Military Station:

A cantonment board is a civic administration body notified under the Cantonments Act, 2006, and functions like a municipal body. While it is under the administrative control of the Ministry of Defence, it can include civilian inhabitants.
On the other hand, a military station is built solely for the Armed Forces, and does not include civilian inhabitants. Under the administration of the Armed Forces, the Cantonment Act does not apply to military stations.

5. Nehru, Bose, or… Maulana Barkatullah? Who was India’s ‘first prime minister’?

Subject: History

Section: Modern India

Context:

In a recent interview, actress-turned-politician Kangana Ranaut claimed that Subhas Chandra Bose, not Jawaharlal Nehru, was India’s first prime minister.

More on news:

After being criticized, Kangana doubled down, citing the provisional government setup by Bose in 1943 as evidence of her claim.

The Azad Hind government

Subhas Chandra Bose proclaimed the formation of the Provisional Government of Azad Hind (“Free India”) in Singapore on October 21, 1943.
The Azad Hind government claimed authority over all Indian civilian and military personnel in Britain’s Southeast Asian colonies (primarily Burma, Singapore, and Malaya) which had fallen into Japanese hands during World War II.
To give legitimacy to his government, much like Charles de Gaulle had declared sovereignty over some islands in the Atlantic for the Free French, Bose chose the Andamans.
The Azad Hind government obtained de jure control over a piece of Indian territory when the Japanese handed over the Andaman and Nicobar islands in late December 1943, though de facto military control was not relinquished by the Japanese admiralty.
The government also handed out citizenship to Indians living in Southeast Asia, and 30,000 expatriates pledged allegiance to it in Malaya alone.

Bose in Port Blair Bose, looking at the Cellular Jail in Port Blair, Andaman.

Diplomatically, Bose’s government was recognised by the Axis powers and their satellites: Germany, Japan, and Italy, as well as Nazi and Japanese puppet states in Croatia, China, Thailand, Burma, Manchuria, and the Philippines. Immediately after its formation, the Azad Hind government declared war on Britain and the United States.

Not the first provisional government

Notably, 28 years before the Azad Hind government came into existence, the Provisional Government of India was formed in Kabul by a group known as the Indian Independence Committee (IIC).
The IIC, with the help of the Ottoman Caliph and the Germans, tried to foment insurrection in India, mainly among Muslim tribes in Kashmir and the British India’s northwestern frontier.
The IIC established a government-in-exile in Kabul under the presidency of Raja Mahendra Pratap, and prime ministership of Maulana Barkatullah, revolutionary freedom fighters who spent decades outside India trying to gather international support for Indian independence.
Barkatullah was also one of the founders of the Ghadar movement, which began in California in 1913, and aimed to overthrow British rule in India.
Lala Har Dayal, one of the movement’s leaders put forth the following plan of action for the Ghadarites.
While the movement was crushed in India by the end of the War, the Ghadarite left a strong and lasting impression on Indians and the British.
The Kabul provisional government was one of many moves orchestrated byGhadarite revolutionaries.

About Barkatullah:

Mohamed Barakatullah Bhopali, known with his honorific as Maulana Barkatullah (7 July 1854 – 20 September 1927), was an Indian revolutionary from Bhopal.
While in England he came in close contact with Lala Hardayal and Raja Mahendra Pratap, son of the Raja of Hathras.
He became a friend of Afghan Emir and the editor of the Kabul newspaper Siraj-ul-Akbar.
He was one of the founders of the Ghadar Party in 1913 at San Francisco.
Later he became the first prime minister of the Provisional Government of India established on 1 December 1915 in Kabul with Raja Mahendra Pratap as its president.

Acts of defiance & political necessity, not actual governments:

Setting up provisional governments, and governments-in-exile, has long been a way for resistance movements to gain political legitimacy.
For example, the Central Tibetan Administration (CTA) in Dharamshala.
The very purpose of this government-in-exile is to challenge the legitimacy of the Chinese occupation of Tibet.
By running a parallel government which claims to represent the will of the Tibetan people, the CTA keeps the flame of resistance burning, even when brutal repression and government-sponsored Han migration in Tibet has made things difficult.
Similarly, both the 1915 and 1943 provisional governments were, more than anything else, symbolic acts of defiance against British rule in India, made with certain political considerations in mind.
Bose proclaimed the Azad Hind government in order to legitimize his armed struggle against the British.
By proclaiming a provisional government, he gave his army legitimacy in the eyes of international law — they were not just mutineers or revolutionaries, but soldiers of a duly constituted government.
Crucially, citizenship oaths taken by Azad Hind Fauj officers were produced during the 1945-46 Red Fort trials as evidence of legality of their actions.
The Kabul provisional government was, on the other hand, proclaimed to establish the seriousness of IIC’s intentions, which it hoped would help gain the support of the Afghan Emir, who remained neutral but faced unrelenting pressure from the British to crack down on anti-colonial revolutionaries.
In 1917, it even reached out to the Soviets, and as a government-in-exile right on India’s borders, posed a looming threat to the British.

That being said, neither of the two can, in any seriousness, be called the Government of India. This is for two main reasons:

First, both these governments failed to gain widespread international recognition.
While some countries did recognise and support them, they did so for their own motives.
After the World Wars (in which the British emerged victorious), this support swiftly vanished.
Second, both these governments never controlled Indian territory.
While Bose did officially hold the Andamans, effectively, the islands were still under Japanese occupation.
So was all the territory in the Northeast captured (briefly) by the combined Indian and Japanese armies.
The Kabul government never set foot on Indian soil, and in all seriousness, was a government only on paper until its dissolution in 1919.

6. How PMLA got its sharp teeth?

Subject: Polity

Section: Legislation in news

Context:

BRS leader K. Kavitha was produced at Rouse Avenue Court in connection with the Delhi excise policy-linked money laundering case.

More on news:

In 2023, Delhi High Court granted bail to 49-year-old Preeti Chandra, wife of Sanjay Chandra, who was the Director of M/s Unitech Group, underlining the exception for women.

What is the bail provision in PMLA?

Section 45 provides for bail on money laundering charges.
This provision in the law, like the stringent bail standard in the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967 (UAPA), puts the onus on the accused to prove that there is no prima facie case against them while seeking bail.
Section 45(1) reads,No person accused of an offense under this Act shall be released on bail or on his own bond unless
- (i) the Public Prosecutor has been given an opportunity to oppose the application for such release; and
- (ii) where the Public Prosecutor opposes the application, the Court is satisfied that there are reasonable grounds for believing that he is not guilty of such offense and that he is not likely to commit any offense while on bail.
However, there is a crucial exception to the bail standard.
Provided that a person, who is under the age of sixteen years or is a woman or is sick or infirm, may be released on bail, if the Special Court so directs.
This exception is similar to exemptions under the Indian Penal Code for women and minors.

What is the legal precedent?

In 2023, Delhi High Court granted bail to 49-year-old Preeti Chandra, wife of Sanjay Chandra, who was the Director of M/s Unitech Group, underlining the exception for women.
The ED, like in Kavitha’s case, had made an argument that the accused was not a “household lady”.
The HC said that the PMLA or the Constitution does not make a distinction between a household lady, a businesswoman, or a political figure.
To argue what kind of woman is entitled to fall within the proviso to section 45(1) PMLA by creating an ad hoc illusionary sub-classification of educated women, business women, women belonging to high social strata, within the broader classification of “woman”…is misconceived,” the court said.
The court added a qualifier that the accused cannot be a “flight risk” or “tamper witness” to be eligible for bail. (Preeti Chandra vs Directorate of Enforcement, June 14, 2023).

Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002 (PMLA)

The Prevention of Money-Laundering Bill, 1998 was introduced in Lok Sabha on August 4, 1998, by the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government.
The proposed law was focused on preventing money laundering and connected activities, confiscation of the proceeds of crime, setting up of agencies and mechanisms to coordinate measures to combat money laundering, etc.
Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002 (PMLA) was enacted to fight against the criminal offense of legalizing the income/profits from an illegal source. The Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002 enables the Government or the public authority to confiscate the property earned from the illegally gained proceeds.
Imprisonment: The offender can face imprisonment for not less than three years, extending up to seven years. In some instances where the crime involves specified offenses, imprisonment can extend up to 10 years.
Monetary Penalty: In addition to imprisonment, a penalty of Rs. 5 lakhs can be imposed on the offender.

Enforcement Directorate (ED)

The Directorate of Enforcement is a multi-disciplinary organization mandated with investigation of offenses of money laundering and violations of foreign exchange laws. The statutory functions of the Directorate include enforcement of following Acts:
- The Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002 (PMLA): It is a criminal law enacted to prevent money laundering and to provide for confiscation of property derived from, or involved in, money-laundering and for matters connected therewith or incidental thereto.
- The Foreign Exchange Management Act, 1999 (FEMA): It is a civil law enacted to consolidate and amend the laws relating to facilitate external trade and payments and to promote the orderly development and maintenance of foreign exchange market in India.
- The Fugitive Economic Offenders Act, 2018 (FEOA): This law was enacted to deter economic offenders from evading the process of Indian law by remaining outside the jurisdiction of Indian courts.
ED has been given the responsibility to conduct investigation into suspected contraventions, enforce the provisions of the respective laws by conducting investigation to trace the assets derived from proceeds of crime, to provisionally attach the property and to ensure prosecution of the offenders and confiscation of the property by the Special court.

Supreme court verdicts:

On July 27, 2022, a three-judge Bench headed by Justice A M Khanwilkar (now retired) upheld the constitutional validity of PMLA, which was under challenge in a batch of more than 200 individual petitions.
The first challenge was against the alternate criminal law system that the PMLA creates since the ED is kept outside the purview of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC).
The ED is not considered ‘police’, and hence does not follow the provisions of CrPC for searches, seizures, arrests, and attachment of properties.
This is significant — since the ED is not a police agency, statements made by an accused to the ED are admissible in court.
The judgment in Vijay Madanlal Choudhary &Ors vs Union of India upheld these sweeping powers of the ED.
The PMLA, like the UAPA, lays down a stringent standard for granting bail.
Section 45 of the PMLA is a ‘negative’ provision — which bars courts from granting bail unless the accused can prove that there is no “prima facie” case against them, and that they will not commit any offense in the future.
In Nikesh Tarachand Shah v Union of India, the Supreme Court struck down these provisions as unconstitutional.
Parliament put them back in by amending the PMLA through the Finance Act, 2018. This was upheld by the 2021 ruling.

Two key amendments to PMLA:

In 2009: ‘Criminal conspiracy’ under Section 120B of the Indian Penal Code was added to the PMLA’s schedule among various other offenses.
In 2012: The PMLA was amended to move the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988 (PC Act) to Part A of the statute’s schedule from Part B. This was a significant move as it applied stringent bail conditions on those accused of corruption.
Section 45(1) of the PMLA requires that the public prosecutor must be given an opportunity to oppose any application for release on bail. Where the public prosecutor opposes bail, the court must be satisfied that there were reasonable grounds to believe that the accused was not guilty and was unlikely to commit an offense if granted bail.
This section, however, is applicable only to Part A of the statute’s schedule.
When Parliament passed PMLA in 2002, Part A only covered offenses such as waging war against the nation and trafficking of drugs. But the 2012 amendment expanded Part A to include the PC Act, the Wildlife (Protection) Act, the Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Act, the Antiquities and Arts Treasures Act, the Transplantation of Human Organs Act 1994, the Passports Act, the IT Act, and other laws.

7. Kerala might move SC against Governor on SHRC chief’s appointment

Subject: Polity

Section: National Body

Context:

The Kerala government intends to hold Governor Arif Mohammed Khan accountable for casting suspicion on the judiciary and former Chief Justice S. Manikumar by delaying the appointment of Manikumar as the chairperson of the Kerala State Human Rights Commission (SHRC) for eight months.

State Human Rights Commission (SHRC):

SHRC in India serves as a watchdog to ensure the protection and promotion of human rights within each state. It was established as per the provisions of the Protection of Human Rights Act (PHRA), 1993.
Composition: The State Commission shall consist of a Chairperson and 4 members.

Position

Qualification

Chairperson

A person who has been Chief Justice or Judge of a High Court

4 Members

One Member who is, or has been, a Judge of a High Court.

One Member who is, or has been, a district judge in that State.

Two members to be appointed from amongst persons having knowledge of human rights.

Appointment: The Chairperson and other Members shall be appointed by the Governor after obtaining the recommendation of a Committee consisting of:
- The Chief Minister
- Speaker of the Legislative Assembly
- Minister-in-charge of the Department of Home in that State
- Leader of the Opposition in the Legislative Assembly.
Term: Three years or until they attain the age of 70 years, whichever comes first.
Removal: The Chairperson or any other Member of the Commission shall be removed from his office by order of the President on the ground of proved misbehaviour or incapacity after the inquiry of the Supreme Court. The President also, by order, removes from office the Chairperson or any other Member if the Chairperson or such other Member:
- Is adjudged insolvent.
- Engages during his term of office in any paid employment outside the duties of his office.
- Is unfit to continue in office by reason of infirmity of mind or body.
- Is of unsound mind and stands so declared by a competent court.
- Is convicted and sentenced to imprisonment for an offense which, in the opinion of the President, involves moral turpitude.

Working of the States Human Rights Commission:

The Commission is vested with the power to regulate its procedure.
It has all the powers of a civil court and its proceedings have a judicial character.
It may call for information or reports from the state government or any other authority subordinate hitherto.
The Commission is not empowered to inquire into any matter after the expiry of one year from the date on which the act constituting a violation of human rights is alleged to have been committed. In other words, it can look into a matter within one year of its occurrence.
The Commission may take any of the following steps during or upon the completion of an inquiry:
- It may recommend the state government or authority to make payment of compensation or damages to the victim.
- It may recommend to the state government or authority the initiation of proceedings for prosecution or any other action against the state government.
- It may recommend the state government or authority for the grant of immediate interim relief to the victim.
- It may approach the Supreme Court or state high court for the necessary direction, order or writs.
The Commission submits its annual or special reports to the state government. These reports are laid before the state legislature, along with a memorandum of action taken on the recommendations of the Commission and the reasons for non-acceptance of any of such recommendations.

Human Rights Courts:

The Protection of Human Rights Act (1993) also provides for the establishment of a Human Rights Court in every district for the speedy trial of violation of human rights.
These courts can be set up by the state government only with the occurrence of the Chief Justice of the High Court of that state.
For every Human Rights Court, the state government specifies a public prosecutor or appoints an advocate (who has practised as a special prosecutor).

Source: TH

8. U.S., Britain, Australia weigh expanding AUKUS security pact to deter China

Subject: IR

Section: Int Grouping

Context:

The U.S., Britain, and Australia plan to start discussions on including new members into their AUKUS security pact, with an emphasis on Japan joining as a countermeasure against China.

Details:

The Defense Ministers of these countries will focus on expanding “Pillar Two” of AUKUS, which involves joint development in areas like quantum computing, undersea technologies, hypersonics, artificial intelligence, and cyber technology.
There is no intention to extend the first pillar of AUKUS, which centres on providing nuclear-powered submarines to Australia.

About the AUKUS security pact:

The AUKUS alliance, established in 2021,aims to counteract China’s rising influence in the Indo-Pacific. China has criticized AUKUS, suggesting it could trigger a regional arms race.
Present members: Australia, the United Kingdom (UK), and the United States.
The trilateral partnership, which builds on their decades-long security cooperation, has two pillars.
- Pillar I revolves around the acquisition and development of conventionally armed nuclear-powered submarines for the Royal Australian Navy;
- Pillar II calls for collaboration on advanced capabilities that will involve technology and information sharing;
U.S. President Joe Biden is intensifying alliances with Asian allies, such as Japan and the Philippines, in response to China’s military expansion and territorial ambitions.

Source: TH

9. Three new dedicated freight corridors on track

Subject: Geography

Section: Eco geography

Context:

The Indian Railways plans to introduce at least three more dedicated freight corridors, including commodity-specific routes, to enhance freight movement and allocate regular tracks more efficiently for passenger trains.

Details:

These corridors will span the east coast, north-south, and east-west routes, covering a total of 4,300 km, with an estimated project cost of ₹2,00,000 crore.
The Dedicated Freight Corridor Corporation of India Ltd is preparing network alignment reports for all three corridors.
This initiative aims primarily to relieve congestion on the critical Delhi–Howrah and Delhi–Mumbai routes, facilitating faster freight movement and improving the availability of tracks for passenger trains.

East Coast track:

The first proposed dedicated freight corridor along the East Coast runs parallel to the coastal passenger rail line, stretching approximately 1,200 km from Kharagpur in West Bengal to Tenali in Andhra Pradesh.
This route traverses the mineral-rich states of Bengal and Odisha, including connectivity to Vizag port, and focuses on transporting coal, fertiliser, iron ore, steel, and other commodities.
Extending the corridor to Tenali enhances port connectivity with Chennai as well.

North-South corridor:

The North-South Corridor, the second proposed route, spans approximately 1,000-1,200 km from Itarshi in Madhya Pradesh to Tenali, Andhra Pradesh.
This corridor is planned to run through Itarsi, Nagpur, Vijayawada, and end at Tenali, passing through four states: Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Telangana, and Andhra Pradesh.
It is designed to facilitate the movement of coal, cement, fertilisers, petroleum, and oil lubricants, among other commodities.
There’s a long-term plan to extend the corridor from Dadri in Uttar Pradesh to Itarshi, which would link the operational Dedicated Freight Corridor with the upcoming one.

Proposal underway for a third:

A third corridor proposal is in progress for the East-West route, connecting Andal in West Bengal to Palgarh in Maharashtra, covering about 2,100 km with an additional 300 km of spur lines.
This corridor will traverse five states:West Bengal, Jharkhand, Odisha, Chhattisgarh, and Maharashtra.
There has been some route redesign, and the Detailed Project Report (DPR) is expected to be finalized and submitted by the end of April.
The corridor aims to facilitate the transport of major commodities like coal, iron-ore, bauxite, manganese, ferro alloys, steel, and access to major and minor ports, as well as supporting the movement of goods for the thermal power plants, POL cement plants, Container Corporation (CONCOR), Inland Container Depots (ICDs), and Food Corporation of India (FCI) godowns among others.