UPSC Essentials | Mains answer practice — GS 3 (Week 26)

QUESTION 2

Aditya L1 solar probe mission has captured its first high-energy solar flare in X-ray. What are the payloads of Aditya L1? Discuss the effect of solar flares on Earth.

General points on the structure of the answers

Introduction

QUESTION 1: Over the last decade, India’s edible oil imports have increased nearly 1.5 times and more than doubled in rupee terms. Discuss.

Body:

— Imports of vegetable oils (as opposed to petroleum fuels) reached a record 16.5 million tonnes (mt) in the fiscal year ended October 2023, according to data from the Solvent Extractors’ Association of India (SEA).

— In the last ten years, India’s edible oil imports have increased from 11.6 million tonnes (valued at Rs 60,750 crore) in 2013-14 to 16.5 million tonnes (Rs 138,424 crore) in 2022-23, with the increase being most pronounced in the last three years.

— In 2022-23, India’s edible oil production from domestically grown oilseeds and alternative sources such as cottonseed, rice bran and maize/corn amounted to around 10.3 mt.

Data on India’s edible oil imports and production over time. Additionally, data on inflation in vegetable oils domestically and globally.

— As with cotton, there have been spillover effects from increased rice and maize output in terms of byproducts. Oils extracted from bran (the outer brown layer of rice after husking and before polishing/whitening) and germ (the inside endosperm of maize grains separated during milling) have seen significant growth in production in the last decade or so. Oil from domestically grown palm trees has also been used, albeit at a low level.

— Only mustard has kept its sheen among conventional oilseeds. Even though the amount of groundnut oil produced has increased, about half of the kernels are now exported or used directly for table use. Crushing and oil extraction take up very little of that remaining. It changes groundnut’s status from oilseed to more of a dry fruit.

— The other oils — coconut, sesame, sunflower and safflower — have all registered declines in domestic output.

— The 16.5 mt of edible oil imports in 2022-23 included palm (9.8 mt; from Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand), soyabean (3.7 mt; from Argentina and Brazil) and sunflower (3 mt; from Russia, Ukraine and Argentina).

— Being highly dependent on imports has several negative effects, one of which is that producers and consumers are more susceptible to changes in global prices. India’s edible oil inflation has largely followed the global inflation rate.

— The UN Food and Agriculture Organization’s vegetable oils price index (base period value: 2014-2016=100) soared from 98.7 points in August 2020 to an all-time-high of 251.8 points in March 2022, the month that followed Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

(Source: The other oil imports India needs to worry about by Harish Damodaran)

Points to Ponder

Largest Producer of Various Oils

UN Food and Agriculture Organization’s vegetable oils price index

What is Refining?

Related Previous Year Questions

Craze for gold in Indians has led to a surge in import of gold in recent years and put pressure on balance of payments and external value of rupee. In view of this, examine the merits of Gold Monetization Scheme. (2015)

What are the main bottlenecks in upstream and downstream process of marketing of agricultural products in India? (2022)

QUESTION 2: Aditya L1 solar probe mission has captured its first high-energy solar flare in X-ray. What are the payloads of Aditya L1? Discuss the effect of solar flares on Earth.

Introduction:

— The Indian Space Researcher Organisation’s (ISRO) Aditya L1 solar probe mission has completed an important milestone—it captured its first high-energy solar flare in X-ray.

— The High Energy L1 Orbiting X-ray Spectrometer (HEL1OS) on board Aditya-L1 recorded the impulsive phase of solar flares during its first observation period.

Body:

Payloads of Aditya L1

— Magnetometer: It is a dual triaxial magnetic sensor which is installed on a 6m, 5-segment deployable boom, mounted on the Sun facing deck of Aditya L1. The primary objective of MAG is to measure the magnitude and direction of the Interplanetary Magnetic Field (IMF).

— Visible Emission Line Coronagraph (VELC): It is the prime payload onboard India’s first space solar mission Aditya L1. It is designed as an internally occulted reflective coronagraph to meet the observational requirements.

— High Energy L1 Orbiting X-ray Spectrometer (HEL1OS): It is one of the instruments of Aditya L1 mission which aims to study the phenomenon occurring during the solar flares.

— Solar Ultraviolet Imaging Telescope (SUIT): It is a UV telescope to image the solar disk. It uses narrow band (NB) and broad band (BB) spectral filters in the range of 200-400 nm, with low stray light and high contrast.

— Solar Low Energy X-ray Spectrometer (SoLEXS): It is a soft X-ray sun as a start spectrometer. The main objective of SoLEXS is to continuously measure solar soft X-ray flux from the Sun-Earth Lagrangian point L1.

— Aditya Solar Wind Particle Experiment (ASPEX): It comprises of low and high energy particle spectrometers to carry out in-situ measurements of solar wind particles at the first Sun-Earth Lagrange point, L1.

— Plasma Analyser Package for Aditya (PAPA): It aims to study the composition of solar wind and its energy distributions. It has two sensors, SWEEP (Solar Wind Electron Energy Probe) and SWICAR (Solar Wind Ion Composition Analyser).

Effect of solar flares on Earth

— Solar storms are classified into four types: B, C, M, and X. Solar flares, like the Richter scale, are classified on a logarithmic scale. So a C-class storm is ten times more powerful than a B-class storm, and so on.

— While the X-class denotes the flare’s strength, the number following it denotes their strength on a finer scale. As a result, each class is subdivided into nine subdivisions. For example, X1 to X9.

— Radiation and high energy particles from solar flares are harmful to living things. Fortunately, the Earth’s magnetic field and atmosphere shield us from the effects of solar flares when we are on the surface.

— The most dangerous emissions from flares are energetic charged particles (primarily high-energy protons) and electromagnetic radiation (primarily x-rays).

— The X-rays from flares are stopped by our atmosphere well above the Earth’s surface. They do disturb the Earth’s ionosphere, however, which in turn disturbs radio communications.

— They heat the Earth’s outer atmosphere and release intense UV radiation, which causes the atmosphere to expand. Because of this, satellites orbiting Earth experience increased drag, which shortens their orbital lifetime. Degradation of satellite communications can also result from intense radio emissions from flares and atmospheric variations; for instance, the accuracy of GPS measurements can be affected.

Conclusion:

— Studying solar flares and other space weather phenomena is important because they can affect life here on Earth. They can affect power systems, satellite communication systems and radio communications. During worst-case scenarios, they can cause blackouts that affect large parts of the Earth for hours. Studying solar flares and solar activity can help prepare for and insulate against such risks.

(Source: ISRO’s Aditya L1 mission captures its first high-energy solar flare, Powerful ‘X-class’ solar flare slams Earth, causes radio blackouts. There could be more, http://www.isro.gov.in, hesperia.gsfc.nasa.gov)

Points to Ponder

PSLV-C57

Findings of Aditya L1 Mission

Related Previous Year Questions

What is the main task of India’s third moon mission which could not be achieved in its earlier mission? List the countries that have achieved this task. Introduce the subsystems in the spacecraft launched and explain the role of the Virtual Launch Control Centre’ at the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre which contributed to the successful launch from Sriharikota. (2023)

Launched on 25th December, 2021, James Webb Space Telescope has been much in the news since then. What are its unique features which make it superior to its predecessor Space Telescopes? What are the key goals of this mission? What potential benefits does it hold for the human race? (2022)

Previous Mains Answer Practice

UPSC Essentials: Mains answer practice — GS 1 (Week 24)

UPSC Essentials: Mains answer practice — GS 1 (Week 25)

UPSC Essentials: Mains answer practice — GS 2 (Week 25)

UPSC Essentials: Mains answer practice — GS 2 (Week 24)

UPSC Essentials: Mains answer practice — GS 3 (Week 24)

UPSC Essentials: Mains answer practice — GS 3 (Week 25)

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