Important topics and their relevance in UPSC CSE exam for October, 20, 2023. If you missed the October, 19, 2023 UPSC CSE exam key from the Indian Express, read it here THE WORLD Why Egypt, Jordan are unwilling to take in refugees from Gaza Syllabus: Preliminary Examination: Current events of national and international importance. Mains Examination: General Studies II: Effect of policies and politics of developed and developing countries on India’s interests Key Points to Ponder: • What’s the ongoing story- As desperate Palestinians in sealed-off Gaza try to find refuge under Israel’s relentless bombardment in retaliation for Hamas’ brutal Oct. 7 attack, some ask why neighbouring Egypt and Jordan don’t take them in. • Why Egypt and Jordan refused to take in refugees from Gaza? • What exactly both the Countries have said regarding the same? • For Your Information-The two countries, which flank Israel on opposite sides and share borders with Gaza and the occupied West Bank, respectively, have replied with a staunch refusal. Jordan already has a large Palestinian population. Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi made his toughest remarks yet on Wednesday, saying the current war was not just aimed at fighting Hamas, which rules the Gaza Strip, “but also an attempt to push the civilian inhabitants to … migrate to Egypt.” He warned this could wreck peace in the region. Jordan’s King Abdullah II gave a similar message a day earlier, saying, “No refugees in Jordan, no refugees in Egypt.” Their refusal is rooted in fear that Israel wants to force a permanent expulsion of Palestinians into their countries and nullify Palestinian demands for statehood. El-Sissi also said a mass exodus would risk bringing militants into Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula, from where they might launch attacks on Israel, endangering the two countries’ 40-year-old peace treaty. Egypt has pushed for Israel to allow humanitarian aid into Gaza, and Israel said Wednesday that it would, though it didn’t say when. According to United Nations, Egypt, which is dealing with a spiraling economic crisis, already hosts some 9 million refugees and migrants, including roughly 300,000 Sudanese who arrived this year after fleeing their country’s war. But Arab countries and many Palestinians also suspect Israel might use this opportunity to force permanent demographic changes to wreck Palestinian demands for statehood in Gaza, the West Bank and east Jerusalem, which was also captured by Israel in 1967. El-Sissi repeated warnings Wednesday that an exodus from Gaza was intended to “eliminate the Palestinian cause … the most important cause of our region.” He argued that if a demilitarized Palestinian state had been created long ago in negotiations, there would not be war now. “All historical precedent points to the fact that when Palestinians are forced to leave Palestinian territory, they are not allowed to return back,” said H.A. Hellyer, a senior associate fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. “Egypt doesn’t want to be complicit in ethnic cleansing in Gaza.” At the same time, Egypt says a mass exodus from Gaza would bring Hamas or other Palestinian militants onto its soil. That might be destabilizing in Sinai, where Egypt’s military fought for years against Islamic militants and at one point accused Hamas of backing them. Egypt has backed Israel’s blockade of Gaza since Hamas took over in the territory in 2007, tightly controlling the entry of materials and the passage of civilians back and forth. It also destroyed the network of tunnels under the border that Hamas and other Palestinians used to smuggle goods into Gaza. With the Sinai insurgency largely put down, “Cairo does not want to have a new security problem on its hands in this problematic region,” Fabiani said. El-Sissi warned of an even more destabilizing scenario: the wrecking of Egypt and Israel’s 1979 peace deal. He said that with the presence of Palestinian militants, Sinai “would become a base for attacks on Israel. Israel would have the right to defend itself … and would strike Egyptian territory.” The peace which we have achieved would vanish from our hands,” he said, “all for the sake of the idea of eliminating the Palestinian cause. • Map Work-Israel, Gaza, West Bank, Jordan, Egypt, Sinai Peninsula and Golan Heights • “Their refusal is rooted in fear that Israel wants to force a permanent expulsion of Palestinians into their countries and nullify Palestinian demands for statehood”-Comment • “Displacement has been a major theme of Palestinian history”-Analyse • Do You Know- In the 1948 war around Israel’s creation, an estimated 700,000 Palestinians were expelled or fled from what is now Israel. Palestinians refer to the event as the Nakba, Arabic for “catastrophe.” In the 1967 Mideast war, when Israel seized the West Bank and Gaza Strip, 300,000 more Palestinians fled, mostly into Jordan.The refugees and their descendants now number nearly 6 million, most living in camps and communities in the West Bank, Gaza, Lebanon, Syria and Jordan. The diaspora has spread further, with many refugees building lives in Gulf Arab countries or the West. After fighting stopped in the 1948 war, Israel refused to allow refugees to return to their homes. Since then, Israel has rejected Palestinian demands for a return of refugees as part of a peace deal, arguing that it would threaten the country’s Jewish majority. Egypt fears history will repeat itself and a large Palestinian refugee population from Gaza will end up staying for good. • Which other countries take Palestinian refugees? • What is United Nations Relief and Works Agency? • How United Nations Relief and Works Agency helping Palestinian refugees? • What is the international law of Refugees? • What is the 1951 international refugee law? • Is Palestine subject to international law of Refugees? • For Your Information-About 3.1 million Palestine refugees depend on health services provided by the UNRWA. At the same time, the agency’s schools educate 526,000 students every year, of which half are female. The agency was created in December 1949 by the UN to support the relief and human development of Palestinian refugees. The UNRWA definition of “refugee” covers Palestinians who fled or were expelled from their homes during the 1948 War. • What is the extent of India's assistance to Palestine refugees? Other Important Articles Covering the same topic: 📍UN agency serving Palestine refugees hails India’s contribution FRONT PAGE In call with Abbas, PM condoles Gaza hospital deaths, reiterates India stand Syllabus: Preliminary Examination: Current events of national and international importance. Mains Examination: General Studies II: Bilateral, regional and global groupings and agreements involving India and/or affecting India’s interests. Key Points to Ponder: • What’s the ongoing story- In their first phone conversation since the October 7 Hamas attack on Israel and the retaliatory Israeli strikes that have sent tensions soaring across West Asia, Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas Thursday to convey condolences over the loss of civilian lives at the Al Ahli Hospital in Gaza City. The Prime Minister reiterated India’s “long-standing principled position on the Israel-Palestine issue”. • Who is President Mahmoud Abbas? • Palestinian National Authority and Hamas-Compare • India’s “long-standing principled position on the Israel-Palestine issue”-What is that? • What international humanitarian law says? • What are the obligations under international humanitarian law? • Does India support Palestine? • What has been the official position of the Indian government towards the Israel-Palestine conflict? • For Your Information-According to MEA website, India’s support for the Palestinian cause is an integral part of the nation’s foreign policy. In 1974, India became the first Non-Arab State to recognize Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) as the sole and legitimate representative of the Palestinian people. In 1988, India became one of the first countries to recognize the Palestinian State. In 1996, India opened its Representative Office in Gaza, which was later shifted to Ramallah in 2003. India has played an active role in extending support for the Palestinian cause across various multilateral fora. India co-sponsored the draft resolution on “the right of Palestinians to self-determination” during the 53rd session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) and voted in favour of it. India also voted in favour of UNGA Resolution in October 2003 against construction of the separation wall by Israel. In 2011, India voted in favour of Palestine becoming a full member of the UNESCO. India co-sponsored and voted in favour of the UNGA Resolution on November 29, 2012 that enabled Palestine to become a ‘non-member Observer state’ at the UN without voting rights. India supported the Bandung Declaration on Palestine at the Asian African Commemorative Conference in April 2015 as well as supported the installation of the Palestinian flag at UN's premises in September 2015. • “India’s diplomatic policy leaned towards Palestine in the initial years”-Discuss • Did establishment of diplomatic relations with Israel alter India’s support for the Palestinians? • Do You Know-India voted against UN Resolution 181 (II) in 1947, which partitioned Mandatory Palestine between Jews and Palestinian Arabs. Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru preferred a federal state instead, with Arabs and Jews enjoying the widest possible autonomy, with a special status for Jerusalem. Nehru inherited this perspective from Mahatma Gandhi who, while deeply sympathetic towards the Jewish people for the historical persecution they had faced, was opposed to the creation of a Jewish state in Palestine. He felt it would be unjust towards the 600,000 Arabs who already lived there. Nehru also blamed British imperialism for the problem in Palestine. After the State of Israel came into existence, a couple of factors coloured India’s perspective. Though India recognized Israel in 1950 it did not establish diplomatic relations until 1992. India was home to a sizable Muslim population. After Partition, Indian leaders were particularly sensitive to their opinion — and Muslims in India, by and large, were sympathetic towards the Arabs. Also, Indian leaders were wary of alienating the Arab countries; Pakistan was firmly in support of Palestine, and India had to match that stance. India’s reluctance to establish diplomatic relations with Israel until 1992 should be seen in the context of Cold War dynamics. During the Cold War, the West, especially the Americans, were firmly behind Israel, and thus the Soviets had come out in support of the Arabs. India, which despite its non-aligned position found itself tilted towards the Soviets, simply thought it had very little choice but to continue with its pro-Palestine stance. It was only after the end of the Cold War that the government of P V Narasimha Rao finally took the extremely bold decision to establish diplomatic relations with Israel, without caring about the fallout with the Arab countries. However, Prime Minister Rao also continued to show vocal support for the Palestinians — he in no way abandoned India’s principled policy of backing the Palestinian cause. At the end of the day, diplomatic decisions are made based on national interest. This translates — or should translate — into maintaining good relations with Israel as well as keeping up support for Palestine and further developing relations with the Arab world. • Has India of late embraced Israel at the expense of the Palestinians? Other Important Articles Covering the same topic: 📍India-Palestine Relations 📍India friend of Palestine, Israel; hoping for positive role: Palestinian Ambassador to India Adnan Abu Alhaija Centre rolls back its plan to licence laptop, PC imports Syllabus: Preliminary Examination: Economic and Social Development-Sustainable Development, Poverty, Inclusion, Demographics, Social Sector Initiatives, etc. Mains Examination: General Studies III: Indian Economy and issues relating to planning, mobilization, of resources, growth, development and employment. Key Points to Ponder: • What’s the ongoing story- THE GOVERNMENT Thursday rolled out an ‘import management system’ for IT hardware, including laptops and computers, modifying its initial stance of imposing physical restrictions. The notification comes just days after concerns were raised by US, China, South Korea and Taiwan at a recent World Trade Organisation meeting. • But why the Government rolled out an ‘import management system’ for IT hardware, including laptops and computers, modifying its initial stance of imposing physical restrictions? • What concerns were raised by US, China, South Korea and Taiwan at a recent World Trade Organisation meeting? • Do You Know-During a meeting of the WTO’s Committee on Market Access on Monday (October 16), the US said that the decision will have an impact on trade of these products, including US exports to India, once it is implemented. America has also said that the decision is creating uncertainty for exporters and downstream users. Korea stressed that the proposed measures by India seem inconsistent with WTO rules and could consequently create unnecessary trade barriers. The country requested India to reconsider the implementation of these measures and provide detailed clarifications and information on this issue, including the timeline of its implementation. Another senior government official said the concerns raised by the countries will be duly addressed at the WTO. The official, however, said that the grounds to object are premature given the fact that the policy for laptop imports is yet to come into place. Also, given that there were concerns about national security which prompted the restrictions in the first place, it should not be held against India as other countries are also bringing out changes in policies linked to their national interest. “Countries keep raising concerns at WTO, India has also raised concerns earlier on different issues of some countries. But this matter is unlikely to escalate into a dispute since the policy has not yet come into place. In these times, when every country is moving for their security concerns, India also took a call based on its national security concerns. There were concerns about certain makes of laptops in the way data was being stored by them,” the official said. • But why the Government of India placed restrictions initially? • What does the notification for the restriction on imports state? • What does the notification say now? • For Your Information-India has seen an increase in imports of electronic goods and laptops/ computers in the last few years. During April-June this year, the import of electronic goods increased to $6.96 billion from $4.73 billion in the year-ago period, with a share of 4-7 per cent in overall imports. The highest share of imports is in the category of personal computers including laptops, and palmtops, under which imports from China stood at $558.36 million in April-May this year as against $618.26 million in the year-ago period. China accounts for roughly 70-80 per cent of the share of India’s imports of personal computers, laptops. The initial notification that proposed licensing of imports of IT hardware had rung alarm bells in the industry, and complaints to the WTO by countries exporting to India. The new ‘import management system’ sounds benign, but there are still concerns if registration and data sharing will leave a lot of discretion to bureaucrats. As per Thursday’s notification, companies in the “denied entity list” will not get the authorisations, including firms which have not fulfilled or defaulted export obligations by availing benefits of schemes like advance authorisation and Export Promotion Capital Goods (EPCG); or having DRI (Directorate of Revenue Intelligence) cases against them, Director General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) Santosh Kumar Sarangi said. Companies looking to import second-hand goods or refurbished items would also not be allowed to apply for this authorisation. Laptops, personal computers (including tablet computers), microcomputers, large or mainframe computers, and certain data processing machines have been covered under the new imports monitoring system. The system will ensure that it will be faceless and contactless, and there will be no hassles for importers to fill in their details, Sarangi said. The changes to the import regime have been made as concerns have been raised by some countries including the US, China, South Korea and Taiwan at a recent meeting of the WTO. India, however, sees its decision to introduce certain terms and conditions on the import of IT hardware such as laptops and personal computers as a security measure, rather than a trade consideration. In August, the government had attempted to impose a licensing requirement on the imports of laptops and personal computers but was forced to delay the directive’s implementation till October 31 after strong pushback from the industry. Since then, it worked on the new measure of ‘import management system’. The import authorisation will be valid till September 2024. Detailing the list of exempted items, the notification said IT hardware products manufactured in SEZs can be imported into domestic tariff areas (outside SEZs) without any import authorisation on payment of applicable duties, if any. Activities like re-packing, labelling, refurbishing, testing and calibration alone within the SEZ are not considered as manufacturing for availing this exemption from import authorisation. Other Important Articles Covering the same topic: 📍The new restriction on Personal Computers/laptop imports: Why the move, and its potential impact Previous year UPSC Prelims Question Covering similar theme: 📍With reference to the international trade of India at present, which of the following statements is/are correct? (GS1, 2020) (1) India’s merchandise exports are less than its merchandise imports. (2) India’s imports of iron and steel, chemicals, fertilisers and machinery have decreased in recent years. (3) India’s exports of services are more than its imports of services. (4) India suffers from an overall trade/current account deficit. Select the correct answer using the code given below: (a) 1 and 2 only (b) 2 and 4 only (c) 3 only (d) 1, 3 and 4 only 📍Which of the following best describes the term ‘import cover’, sometimes seen in the news? (GS1, 2016) (a) It is the ratio of value of imports to the Gross Domestic Product of a country (b) It is the total value of imports of a country in a year (c) It is the ratio between the value of exports and that of imports between two countries (d) It is the number of months of imports that could be paid for by a country’s international reserves Previous year UPSC Mains Question Covering similar theme: 📍How would the recent phenomena of protectionism and currency manipulations in world trade effect macroeconomic stability of India? (GS3, 2018) Mumbai holds its breath, alarm bells ring but no one’s listening Syllabus: Preliminary Examination: General issues on Environmental ecology, Bio-diversity and Climate Change - that do not require subject specialization. Mains Examination: General Studies III: Conservation, environmental pollution and degradation, environmental impact assessment. Key Points to Ponder: • What’s the ongoing story-Diwali is a full three weeks and winter is two months away but Mumbai is already holding its breath — bracing for the choking winter that lies ahead. This year, the straws in the toxic wind have come unusually early. On Wednesday, as the city’s temperature soared to a four-year high for October, levels of PM10 — Particulate Matter, with a diameter of 10 microns or less (human hair is 50-70 microns) and, therefore, inhalable — crossed its levels in Delhi. • “Mumbai’s overall Air Quality Index touched 191, way worse than Delhi’s 84”-how this happened? • What are the reasons given by experts for the worsening AQI in Mumbai? • What is the AQI and how does it calculate pollution? • What is PM 2.5 (particulate matter with a diameter of 2.5 micrometres) and PM 10 (particulate matter with a diameter of 10 micrometers)? • Do You Know-Nanoparticles have dimensions typically ranging from 1 to 100 nanometers, making them vastly smaller. Their small size allows them to bypass many of the body’s natural defence mechanisms, such as the filtering action of the nose and the mucus lining of the respiratory tract. Consequently, nanoparticles can penetrate deep into the lungs, posing serious health risks. One of the most significant concerns surrounding nanoparticles is their ability to reach the lower respiratory tract, including the alveoli – tiny air sacs where oxygen is exchanged with carbon dioxide. The small size of nanoparticles allows them to travel deep into the lungs, where they can trigger inflammation, oxidative stress and even cell damage. This damage can be especially harmful to individuals with preexisting respiratory conditions like asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), as well as children and the elderly. Some human studies have shown that breathing in diesel soot causes a general inflammatory response and alters the system that regulates involuntary functions in the cardiovascular system, such as control of heart rate. • What is the impact of these pollutants? • How nanoparticles affect the brain? • For Your Information-Launched by the central government in 2014 as part of the Swachh Bharat campaign, the AQI was to help simplify the common understanding of pollution. An expert group comprising medical professionals, air quality experts, academia, advocacy groups, and others was constituted and a technical study was awarded to IIT Kanpur. IIT Kanpur and the Expert Group recommended an AQI scheme. According to the Central Pollution Control Board, part of the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change, the AQI transforms complex air quality data of various pollutants into a single number (index value), nomenclature and colour. The pollutants measured include PM 10, PM 2.5, Nitrogen Dioxide, Ozone, Carbon, etc. Data from the System of Air Quality and Weather Forecast and Research (SAFAR) — under the Ministry of Earth Sciences — showed that Mumbai recorded its worst AQI last winter with the city registering Poor and Very Poor AQI on as many as 66 of the 92 days between November 2022 and January 2023 — compared to an average of 28 during those months over the previous three years. (According to SAFAR, an AQI between 0-50 is Good; between 51-100 is Satisfactory; 101-200 is Moderate; 201-300 is Poor; 301-400 is Very Poor and beyond 400 AQI is Severe). As comparison, during the same 92 days, Delhi had 79 days of Poor and Very Poor AQI and as many as eight days of Severe. For long, Delhi has held its infamous pride of place in the nation’s pollution map. But it has registered tangible progress with a well-monitored ban on open burning, mechanised road sweeping during winter months, and a Graded Response Action Plan under which a set of restrictions — bans on vehicles to curbs on construction — kick in when pollution levels reach a certain threshold. “Delhi has a disadvantage due to its landlocked geography but Mumbai is a coastal city that enjoys a natural cleansing advantage. Stronger surface winds favour faster dispersion and wind reversal cycles of strong sea breezes sweep away air pollutants from the land. However, in recent times we see that nature can take away the blessing it bestowed,” says Gufran Beig, founder project director of Safar and chair professor at the National Institute of Advanced Studies in Bengaluru. Behind the recent spike in the city’s pollution cycle, Beig says, and this is what makes it so fraught, is a set of factors, local, regional and meteorological. Climate change, the dip in La Nina — the cooling of the ocean surface — and changing wind patterns have all played a role. “That’s why despite Mumbai’s geographical advantage, we have seen a sharp dip in AQI (because of) natural and human factors,” says Beig. For one, over the past couple of years, the wind pattern has changed due to which the process of wind reversal is taking as many as 15 days — earlier, this used to happen every two days. “Now, due to the delay in wind reversal, the suspended particulate matter lingers in the lower atmosphere for a longer period of time thus worsening AQI. Also, over the past few years several infrastructure and redevelopment projects have come up, due to which construction is ongoing everywhere, this has increased the proportion of particulate matter in the air, which in turn has worsened the AQI.” Indeed, “dust arising from construction site and construction debris” has been identified as one of the top five sources of air pollution (see adjacent story) by the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation in its Mumbai Air Pollution Mitigation Plan released only in March this year. The other four are: road dust and its displacement; open burning of solid waste and garbage; usage of unclean fuels in restaurants, dhabas, bakeries and roadside eateries; and a range of industries that include those using Ready Mix Concrete (RMC) plants and casting yard plants. • How does the AQI influence government policy? Other Important Articles Covering the same topic: 📍What is AQI, the number that signifies how polluted the air is? THE IDEAS PAGE Agents of prosperity Syllabus: Preliminary Examination: Economic and Social Development-Sustainable Development, Poverty, Inclusion, Demographics, Social Sector Initiatives, etc. Main Examination: General Studies II: Development processes and the development industry —the role of NGOs, SHGs, various groups and associations, donors, charities, institutional and other stakeholders. Key Points to Ponder: • What’s the ongoing story-The government has sought to fulfil its vision of enhancing farmers’ income by adopting a multi-pronged strategy — enhancing productivity, reducing costs, improving marketability, crop diversification, risk mitigation and adopting climate resilient technologies. • What is Farmer Producers’ Organisation or farmers' producer company (FPC)? • How Farmer Producers’ Organisation have countered fragmented holdings? • For Your Information-A Farmer Producers’ Organisation (FPO) is a collective of farmers who have holdings or work in a geographical cluster. It can be registered under the Companies Act or as a cooperative under the Societies Registration Act. Farmer Producers’ Organisation (FPOs) have demonstrated their potential to trigger cluster-based farming, bringing in economies of scale in input management facilitating agri-extension, enabling technology adoption, providing quality assurance and helping farmers market their produce. • What are the Government schemes and initiatives to promote FPOs? Other Important Articles Covering the same topic: 📍Farmers’ collectives: Taking Farmer Producer Organisations beyond ‘romance’ to ‘relationships’ EXPLAINED Safety test for Gaganyaan Syllabus: Preliminary Examination: Current events of national and international importance. Mains Examination: General Studies III: Awareness in the fields of IT, Space, Computers, robotics, nano-technology, bio-technology and issues relating to intellectual property rights. Key Points to Ponder: • What’s the ongoing story- On Saturday, less than two months after the Chandrayaan-3 Moon landing, ISRO will carry out the first of a series of tests of systems and procedures with the aim to ultimately launch an Indian astronaut into space, perhaps in 2025. The Flight Test Vehicle Abort Mission-1 (TV-D1) will demonstrate the performance of the Crew Escape System of the Gaganyaan project. The flight will be the first of two abort missions to test the safety mechanisms that will allow the Gaganyaan crew to leave the spacecraft in an emergency. The test exercise will see the rocket rise to an altitude of almost 17 km before an abort signal is triggered, leading to the separation of the crew module, which will descend using a parachute for a splashdown in the Bay of Bengal. The test mission will last a total 532 seconds from liftoff at 8 am to the crew module splashdown about 10 km from the Sriharikota coast. The rocket, ISRO’s new, low-cost Test Vehicle, will reach a peak relative velocity of 363 metres/ second (about 1307 km/ hr) during the flight. The crew module will be empty for the test. • What will be tested? • “The Test Vehicle will use existing liquid propulsion technology”- What is liquid propulsion technology? • Know about Crew Escape System • For Your Information-ISRO has put safety of the crew at the centre of the Gaganyaan project, and has persuaded the union government that the 2022 deadline set by the Prime Minister on August 15, 2018 should be relaxed in order to ensure a safe and successful mission. The crew module must be safe for astronauts under conditions of very high heat and pressure, and must have a reliable escape mechanism in the event of an emergency. ISRO is developing environmental control and life support systems for the crew module, as well as an integrated vehicle health management system which can sense anomalies that could put the life of an astronaut at risk, and trigger actions to abort the mission. Some of these systems will be tested in the TV-D1 flight. The 2014 CARE test had assessed technologies including “the performance of parachute-based deceleration system, and a “Pad Abort Test-PAT” was conducted in July 2018. • Gaganyaan Mission-Know the key features • Gaganyaan Mission-What makes this Mission very Unique? • India’s Manned Mission to Space-Know in detail • Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO)-About the Organisation • The Indian Human Spaceflight Programme (IHSP) and Gaganyaan – About and Key Features • Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO)-Background, Achievements and upcoming Missions • Do You Know-A manned space mission is very different from all other missions that ISRO has so far completed. In terms of complexity and ambition, even the missions to the Moon (Chandrayaan) and Mars (Mangalyaan) are nowhere in comparison. For a manned mission, the key distinguishing capabilities that ISRO has had to develop include the ability to bring the spacecraft back to Earth after flight, and to build a spacecraft in which astronauts can live in Earth-like conditions in space. Over the years, ISRO has successfully tested many of the technologies that are required, but many others are still to be developed and tested. The Environmental Control & Life Support System (ECLSS) is meant to ensure that conditions inside the crew module are suitable for humans to live comfortably. The inside of the crew module is a twin-walled sealed structure that will recreate Earth-like conditions for the astronauts. It would be designed to carry two or three astronauts. The ECLSS maintains a steady cabin pressure and air composition, removes carbon dioxide and other harmful gases, controls temperature and humidity, and manages parameters like fire detection and suppression, food and water management, and emergency support. While the layout and design of the ECLSS has been finalised, its many individual components and systems are in the process of being tested. The design and configuration of the inside of the crew module have also been finalised. Ground testing will have to be followed by tests in the space orbit while simulating zero gravity and deep vacuum. • The human spaceflight mission had initially been given a 2022 target by the Centre to coincide with 75 years of Indian independence but the programme got delayed-why? Other Important Articles Covering the same topic: 📍Gaganyaan mission: First test vehicle flight on Oct 21 PM to flag off RRTS : How this latest mass transport system can benefit NCR Syllabus: Preliminary Examination: Economic and Social Development-Sustainable Development, Poverty, Inclusion, Demographics, Social Sector Initiatives, etc. Mains Examination: General Studies III: Infrastructure: Energy, Ports, Roads, Airports, Railways etc. Key Points to Ponder: • What’s the ongoing story- Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the first leg of the Regional Rapid Transit System (RRTS), India’s first mass rapid system dedicated to regional connectivity, on Friday morning (October 20). Capable of running at speeds up to 180 km/hour, trains on the first section will eventually cut the journey time between Delhi and Meerut to less than an hour. • What is the RRTS project? • For Your Information-With semi high-speed rail connectivity at its core, the RRTS is an integrated, mass transit network which aims to ensure “balanced and sustainable urban development” through better connectivity and access across the NCR. The idea of such a network lies in a study which the Indian Railways was commissioned to carry out in the year 1998-99. The study identified the possibility of an RRTS network to connect various locations in the NCR through fast commuter trains. The proposal was re-examined in the year 2006 with the extension of the Delhi Metro lines to some NCR towns such as Gurgaon, Noida and Ghaziabad. It was soon taken up by the National Capital Region Planning Board (NCRPB) while developing its “Functional Plan on Transport for NCR-2032”. The NCRPB identified and recommended eight RRTS corridors to connect NCR towns with high speed rail-based commuter transit services. When compared with metros, the RRTS network is faster. It will cater to commuters who want to travel relatively longer distances across the NCR in a short time. Compared with the Indian Railways, though the RRTS train will cover relatively smaller distances, it will do so at higher frequency and provide relatively more comfort than the average Railways coach. The RRTS is modelled on systems such as the RER in Paris, Regional-Express trains in Germany and Austria as well as the SEPTA Regional Rail in the United States, among others. • Who built the Namo Bharat, which PM Modi will inaugurate? • How is the RRTS different from existing metro or railways systems? • What is the objective behind the RRTS project? • Which corridors are being developed under the RRTS project? Other Important Articles Covering the same topic: 📍First rapid train to be named Namo Bharat IN CHINA, PUTIN’S STAFF SEEN CARRYING ‘NUCLEAR BRIEF CASE’: WHAT IS THE BAG Syllabus: Preliminary Examination: Current events of national and international importance. Mains Examination: General Studies II: Effect of policies and politics of developed and developing countries on India’s interests Key Points to Ponder: • What’s the ongoing story- During Russian President Vladimir Putin’s recent visit to China, he was seen with officers carrying what is known as the “nuclear briefcase”. After a meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping on Wednesday (October 18), Putin was seen walking in a video footage, followed by two Russian naval officers in uniform – each carrying a briefcase. One of these is likely to be the ‘nuclear briefcase’, which has evoked a sense of mystery over the years. • What is the ‘nuclear briefcase’? • For Your Information- Also known as the ‘Cheget’, named after a mountain in Russia, the briefcase is part of a larger system in place for authorising the launch of nuclear strikes. It’s part of a secured communication setup, meant to convey orders for a nuclear strike to the rocket forces of the country. The communication among the forces is done via the ‘Kazbek’ electronic command-and-control network. Kazbek supports another system, known as ‘Kavkaz’. Apart from the Russian President, the Defence Minister and the Chief of General Staff have a briefcase each, and the three are supposed to coordinate in case of a potential order to strike. The President takes the briefcase on his visits abroad as well. • Has the nuclear briefcase ever come close to being used? • How does the system work, exactly? • Do other countries have such a briefcase? Other Important Articles Covering the same topic: 📍Putin filmed in China accompanied by officers with Russian nuclear briefcase For any queries and feedback, contact priya.shukla@indianexpress.com The Indian Express UPSC Hub is now on Telegram. Click here to join our channel and stay updated with the latest Updates. Subscribe to our UPSC newsletter and stay updated with the news cues from the past week.
