UPSC Key—6th November, 2023: Intercontinental Ballistic Missile, Composite Water Management Index and Earthquake in Nepal

Russia military says test-fired ballistic missile from new nuclear submarine

Syllabus:

Preliminary Examination: Current events of national and international importance.

Main 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- The Russian military on Sunday reported a successful test launch of an intercontinental ballistic missile designed to carry nuclear warheads from a new nuclear submarine. The report comes as tensions are soaring between Russia and the West over the fighting in Ukraine. Adding to those tensions, President Vladimir Putin last week signed a bill revoking Russia’s ratification of a global nuclear test ban in a move that Moscow said was needed to establish parity with the United States.

• Imperator Alexander III-Know its key features

• What is Intercontinental ballistic missile?

• Which countries have intercontinental ballistic missile?

• Do You Know-The Imperator Alexander III is one of the new Borei-class nuclear submarines that carry 16 Bulava missiles each and are intended to serve as the core naval component of the nation’s nuclear forces in the coming decades. According to the Defense Ministry, launching a ballistic missile is the final test for the vessel, after which a decision should be made on its induction into the fleet.

• But why has the Russian military tested an intercontinental ballistic missile designed to carry nuclear warheads from a new nuclear submarine?

• The geopolitical isolation of Russia-Comment

Other Important Articles Covering the same topic:

📍How can the West deal with Moscow and Pyongyang?

FRONT PAGE

‘I heard their cries… then, silence’: Nepal quake survivors recall moment of tragedy

Syllabus:

Preliminary Examination: Indian and World Geography-Physical, Social, Economic Geography of India and the World.

Mains Examination: General Studies I: Important Geophysical phenomena such as earthquakes, Tsunami, Volcanic activity, cyclone etc., geographical features and their location-changes in critical geographical features (including water-bodies and ice-caps) and in flora and fauna and the effects of such changes.

Key Points to Ponder:

• What’s the ongoing story- At least 157 people, including 89 women, were killed and 190 injured when a 6.4 magnitude earthquake struck western Nepal a little before midnight on Friday. While the epicentre was at Ramidanda in Jajarkot district, about 550 km from Kathmandu, the tremors were felt in New Delhi and parts of north India too. The two districts of Jajarkot and Rukum West were the worst-hit. At least 105 people were killed and an equal number injured in Jajarkot; Rukum West reported 52 deaths and 85 injured.

• Map Work-Jajarkot and Rukum West

• Why the earthquake in Nepal has occurred?

• Nepal has recently been hit by a number of earthquakes, many of which of severe intensity-why this is happening?.

• What makes Nepal so earthquake prone?

• “There has been a collision between Indian and Eurasian plates going on underground for a long time which has accumulated tremendous energy,”-What happens when two major tectonic plates collides?

• The youngest mountain ranges in the world, the Himalayas have risen up as a result of the collision of which plates?

• There were tremors in Delhi also-why?

• Why does Delhi come under zone-IV and is vulnerable to frequent tremors?

• Why does the earth shake when there is an earthquake?

• What are the Major and Minor Plates?

• The movement of the tectonic plates creates three types of tectonic boundaries-What are they?

• Why earthquakes remain unpredictable?

• What exactly causes earthquakes?

• Can earthquakes be predicted?

• What is focus or seismic focus of Earthquake?

• What is epicentre of Earthquake?

• The intensity of earthquake is highest in the epicentre and decreases as one moves away-True or False?

• What is continental drift and how does it differ from plate tectonics?

• Do You Know-Plate tectonics is the theory that Earth’s land masses are in constant motion. The realization that Earth’s land masses move was first proposed by Alfred Wegener, which he called continental drift.

• Earthquakes take place in the lithosphere-True or False?

• What is seismic waves or earthquake waves?

• What is Body waves and Surface waves?

• Know in detail-Primary waves (p-waves), Secondary waves (s-waves), L-waves and Rayleigh waves

• Map Work-Earthquake-prone areas in India and in the World

• Do shallow earthquakes cause greater damage?

• What are the pre disaster measures taken to manage earthquake disaster?

• What is post-disaster management of earthquakes?

Other Important Articles Covering the same topic:

📍Nepal earthquake: A year later, looking back how the country fought against all odds

NITI weighs discontinuing key water report launched 5 yrs ago

Syllabus:

Preliminary Examination: Current events of national and international importance.

Mains Examination: General Studies I: Urbanization, their problems and their remedies.

Key Points to Ponder:

• What’s the ongoing story-Niti Aayog, the government’s think tank, is learnt to have marked the reports on states progress on water management for 2018-19 and 2019-20 for “internal use” after having publicly released the previous editions.

• What is the Composite water management Index?

• The latest report maps the performance of states for 2018-19 and 2019-20-What are the key takeaways?

• Water shortage and water scarcity-Compare

• How are water shortage and water scarcity both defined?

• For Your Information-Called the ‘Composite Water Management Index’ report, the first edition launched five years ago in June 2018 brought India’s water challenges into spotlight and ranked states in terms of efficacy based on 28 parameters. The first edition provided data for 2015-16 and 2016-17, and the second edition launched in August 2019 was for 2017-18.
The report, published by NITI Aayog, was prepared in association with three ministries — Water Resources, Drinking Water & Sanitation, and Rural Development.
In May this year, the NITI Aayog wrote to the Union Ministry of Jal Shakti, seeking the government’s perspective on the “use and applicability” of the Index and whether the CWMI should continue. There has been no response from the Ministry, even as the third and fourth editions are awaiting release, sources said.
According to the report for 2019-20, Gujarat tops the list “with continuous improvements year on year and is closely followed by Rajasthan, Andhra Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh” in terms of performance.
“It is encouraging to see that Rajasthan jumped nine positions upward from 2017-18 to FY 2019-20,” the latest unreleased report states. Goa, it said, has slipped from the fourth position in 2017-18 to tenth position in 2019-20. Punjab too has seen a drop in its rank during this period.
In October, the United Nations University – Institute for Environment and Human Security (UNU-EHS), had warned that India is close to reaching its groundwater risk tipping point. Environmental tipping points are critical thresholds in the Earth’s systems, beyond which abrupt and often irreversible changes occur.

• What are the problems with water management in India?

• How bad is India’s water crisis?

• India is greatly dependent on which external water resources?

• What the 2030 Water Resources Group’s report “Charting Our Water Future” predicted about India way back in 2009?

• What is the ‘per capita water availability’?

• Map work-Mark the North India Drainage Basins

• What is the National Water Policy, 2002?

• What do you understand by the term ‘water table’?

• Depleting water levels-Reason out

• How water table vary in a region-Know the Long-term reasons

• Groundwater Decline and Depletion-Know the reasons

• Government steps to manage water crisis-know them

Other Important Articles Covering the same topic:

📍India likely to be most severely affected as global urban population facing water scarcity projected to increase up to 2.4 bln in 2050: UN report

📍Niti Aayog report: India suffering worst water crisis

THE CITY

An abode for fugitives to an architectural landmark: The story of Balban’s Tomb

Syllabus:

Preliminary Examination: History of India

Main Examination: General Studies I: Indian culture will cover the salient aspects of Art Forms, literature and Architecture from ancient to modern times.

Key Points to Ponder:

• What’s the ongoing story-Built in the 13th century and now renovated from ruins, the Tomb of Balban located inside Mehrauli’s Archaeological park has served many purposes in its lifetime: an abode for debtors and fugitives, a slave-turned-Sultan’s Tomb, and a landmark in India’s architectural history.

Ghiyas-ud-din Balban, a Sultan of the Mamluk (Slave) dynasty— the first of the Delhi Sultanate dynasties — ruled from Delhi between 1266 AD and 1287 AD.

• Who was the Ghiyas-ud-din Balban?

• How did Balban (1246–87) Rise to Power?

• Mamluk Sultans or the slave dynast-What you know about this?

• How Qutbuddin Aibak established the first slave dynasty?

• Administration of Balban-comment

• What were the economic achievements of Balban?

• Balban and his contributions to Art and Architecture in India-know in detail

• Do You Know-Ghiyas-ud-din Balban, a Sultan of the Mamluk (Slave) dynasty— the first of the Delhi Sultanate dynasties — ruled from Delhi between 1266 AD and 1287 AD. Balban was sold as a slave to the then-ruler Iltumish in 1232 CE, who later released him. Historian and author Swapna Liddle said that “individuals captured as slaves during that particular period then rose to become rulers,” giving the period its name.
According to the official website of the Ministry of culture, “Ghiyas-ud-din Balban, one of the most powerful slave sultans after Iltumish, is buried within the archaeological park, in a building once built by the Sultan himself called the Dar-ul-Amaan (Haven of Safety)”.
“Unlike the corbelled arches of Qutub Complex, the true arches of Balban’s tomb have the keystone placed at the centre, which evenly distributes the weight of the superstructure. From here on, True arches became a common feature of the Indo-Islamic architecture of Delhi,” said the website, explaining its architectural significance.

Other Important Articles Covering the same topic:

📍When slaves ended up ruling Delhi: The case of Mamluk dynasty

THE EDITORIAL PAGE

CLEAR AND PRESENT DANGER

Syllabus:

Preliminary Examination: Current events of national and international importance.

Main Examination: General Studies II: Issues relating to development and management of Social Sector/Services relating to Health, Education, Human Resources.

Key Points to Ponder:

• What’s the ongoing story-The Delhi Declaration during India’s G20 presidency saw a commitment to strengthen the global health architecture by building more resilient, equitable, sustainable and inclusive health systems to implement the One Health approach, enhance pandemic preparedness and strengthen existing infectious diseases surveillance systems.

• The Delhi Declaration during India’s G20 presidency saw a commitment to strengthen the global health architecture-Elaborate

• Another important part of this agreement was to prioritise tackling Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR)-what is Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR)?

• Why is antimicrobial resistance a global concern?

• What accelerates the emergence and spread of antimicrobial resistance?

• Do You Know-A 2021 report by Lancet, documenting data from 204 countries, estimated that 4.95 million deaths were associated with bacterial AMR, and 1.27 million deaths were directly attributed to bacterial AMR. The magnitude is equal to that of diseases such as HIV and malaria. Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia had the highest death rates, signifying high susceptibility to AMR.
The rising levels of antimicrobial resistance, driven by excessive antimicrobial use threaten to compromise not only public-health gains in the field of infectious diseases but also jeopardises cancer treatment, transplants etc. G20 countries are home to over 60 per cent of the world’s population. Now, Africa, with 17.89 per cent of the global population, is also a part of the coalition. It will have profound implications for low and middle-income countries with low investments in healthcare infrastructure.
Government initiatives like Free Diagnostic Services and Kayakalp, strict protocols under Indian Public Health Standards have the potential to strengthen AMR containment efforts. Another area that requires attention is promotion of responsible behaviour among citizens by educating people on the dangers of overusing antibiotics. Involving academia and civil society organisations (CSOs) in these efforts is essential. Academia can help understand the environmental dimensions of AMR better, develop new technologies and provide training and education to healthcare professionals. CSOs can raise awareness and advocate for policy changes. Unlike TB and HIV/AIDS programs, where CSO engagement led to major advancement in increasing coverage of the programs, little CSO engagement has been seen for AMR containment in India.
AMR may not be as palpable a pandemic as Covid-19, but with an annual death toll in the same order of magnitude, it represents a clear and present danger. The same impetus, investment and prioritisation as Covid-19 needs to be applied to AMR. Indonesia has developed national surveillance plans, Australia prioritised animal health and committed to reducing antibiotic use in livestock, Brazil has shown reduction in antibiotic use in humans and the UK and the US are investing in research to develop new diagnostics, drugs and vaccines. India has also taken steps in the right direction. By expanding the scope of existing surveillance and monitoring networks, promoting responsible behaviour among citizens and encouraging collaboration among nations, India can lead the way in reducing the burden of AMR.

• Global Action Plan on Antimicrobial Resistance (GAP)-discuss

Other Important Articles Covering the same topic:

📍How the G20 declaration on health includes India’s three priorities and gives a digital push

EXPRESS NETWORK

Maternity leave for women soldiers on par with officers

Syllabus:

Preliminary Examination: Current events of national and international importance.

Main Examination: General Studies II: Issues relating to development and management of Social Sector/Services relating to Health, Education, Human Resources.

Key Points to Ponder:

• What’s the ongoing story- Defence Minister Rajnath Singh has approved a proposal for extending the rules for maternity, child care and child adoption leave for women soldiers, sailors and air warriors in the Armed Forces on a par with their officer counterparts.

In a statement issued on Sunday, the defence ministry said under the rules, the grant of such leaves to all women in the military, whether one is an officer or any other rank, will be equally applicable.

• Maternity leave in India-What you know?

• Do You Know-Women officers in the three services currently are eligible for 180 days of maternity leave, with a provision for extension of a month of leave without pay in exceptional cases and 30 days of leave in the instance of a miscarriage or abortion.
Women officers are eligible for 180 days of leave in case they adopt a child below the age of one year. Permanent commission women officers are also eligible for 360 days of child care leave while short service commission women officers are eligible for 180 days of leave.

• Why this decision is significant?

• Maternity Benefits (Amendment) Act, 2017-Know key provisions

• What is the Maternity Benefits (Amendment) Act, 2017?

• What are the concerns with the Act?

Other Important Articles Covering the same topic:

📍Maternity benefits to adoptive mothers: What the law says, why it is facing a challenge in SC

5-yr extension for free ration: Numbers behind food security scheme

Syllabus:

Preliminary Examination: Economic and Social Development

Mains Examination: General Studies II: Government policies and interventions for development in various sectors and issues arising out of their design and implementation.

Key Points to Ponder:

• What’s the ongoing story- In the midst of the election season, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has announced an extension of the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana (PMGKAY) free ration scheme for another five years, while addressing poll rallies in Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh.

• What is Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana (PM-GKAY)?

• Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana (PM-GKAY)-Know its key features

• Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana (PMGKAY)-Benefits

• Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana (PMGKAY)-Who all are eligible?

• What are the arguments for and against continuation of Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana (PMGKAY)?

• What is National Food Security Act 2013?

• What are the three features of National Food Security Act 2013?

• What was the main aim of Food Security Act 2013?

• Salient features of the National Food Security Act, 2013

• What is National Food Security Act, 2013 (NFSA) eligibility?

• What Schedule II of the National Food Security Act says?

• For Your Information-The PMGKAY was introduced in 2020 during the Covid-19 pandemic to provide 5 kg free foodgrains to eligible ration card holders under the National Food Security Act, 2013 (NFSA). The NFSA, introduced by the UPA government at the time, entitled beneficiaries to receive subsidised foodgrains (at Rs 3, Rs 2 and Rs 1 per kilogram of rice, wheat and coarse grains, respectively) through the Targeted Public Distribution System (TPDS).
In late 2022, ahead of the Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh Assembly polls, the PMGKAY was extended until December 2022 and then for another year until December 2023, merging it with the NFSA. With the scheme nearing its expiry, the government has again extended it, this time for another five years.
The PMGKAY covers two kinds of ration card holders under the NFSA – for the Antyodaya Anna Yojana (AAY) and Priority Households (PHH). The NFSA covers about 20 crore families, or a total 81.35 crore beneficiaries, who account for two-thirds of the country’s population – 50% for urban and 75% for rural.
While the AAY households are entitled to 35 kg of foodgrains per month irrespective of the number of family members, the priority households get foodgrains depending on the number of family members (each member 5 kg per month).
Since the scheme was introduced in 2020, the government has allocated 1,118 lakh metric tonnes of foodgrains from its central procurement pool at a cost of Rs 3.9 lakh crore.
In January this year, the PMGKAY was merged with the NFSA, providing all ration for AAY and PHH families for free and eliminating the additional provisions introduced during the pandemic. “It has been merged (with the NFSA). The free portion of that scheme has been added to the NFSA. Now, the entire quantity of 5 kg and 35 kg under the NFSA would be available free of cost. There is no need for additional foodgrains,” said Union Food Minister Piyush Goyal
The discontinuation of the separate PMGKAY provisions came amid depleting stocks of foodgrains in the central pool and saved the government an estimated Rs 15,000 crore every month.
The government used to receive Rs 13,900 crore in a year from selling subsidised foodgrains under the NFSA. With this additional outgo, the total food security bill rose to about Rs 2.87 lakh crore in 2022-23.
In this year’s budget, the government has allocated just under Rs 2 lakh crore on all food subsidies, a significant decline from previous years. During the pandemic, the food subsidy outlay had peaked at Rs 5.41 lakh crore.

Other Important Articles Covering the same topic:

📍Free foodgrain scheme named ‘PM Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana’

EXPLAINED

Falling farm exports: concerns

Syllabus:

Preliminary Examination: Economic and Social Development-Sustainable Development, Poverty, Inclusion, Demographics, Social Sector Initiatives, etc.

Main Examination: General Studies III: Major crops-cropping patterns in various parts of the country, – different types of irrigation and irrigation systems storage, transport and marketing of agricultural produce and issues and related constraints; e-technology in the aid of farmers.

Key Points to Ponder:

• What’s the ongoing story-India’s agricultural exports have fallen 11.6% year-on-year in April-September. This comes on the back of the Narendra Modi government imposing bans/restrictions on the shipments of various commodities – from wheat and rice to sugar – and global prices easing from their peaks scaled immediately after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

• India’s agricultural exports-What data’s says?

• What are the factors behind falling farm exports?

• India’s farm trade, especially exports, is strongly correlated with world prices-How?

• For Your Information-The UN Food and Agriculture Organization’s (FAO) Food Price Index (FPI) rose from an average of 96.5  points in 2019-20 and 102.5 points in 2020-21 to 133 points in 2021-22 and 139.5 points in 2022-23. In the current fiscal (from April till October 2023), the FPI has averaged 123.2 points.
India’s agricultural exports have tended to follow movements in the FPI, which is a weighted average of the international prices of a basket of food commodities over a base period value, taken at 100 for 2014-16. Thus, they fell from $43.3 billion in 2013-14 to $35.6 billion in 2019-20 along with the FPI (from 119.1 to 96.5 points), and rose thereafter with the index soaring to unprecedented levels in 2022-23.
With world prices since coming down, the value of both exports and imports of farm commodities from and into India are set to decline in 2023-24. This comes even as supply disruptions from the Russia-Ukraine war have eased. In its latest supply and demand brief, the FAO has projected global ending cereal stocks for 2023-24 at an all-time-high of 881.1 million tonnes (mt) and the stocks-to-use ratio at 30.7%, “a comfortable supply situation from a historical perspective”. The FAO’s vegetable oils price index, at 120 points for October 2023, is also down from a year-ago level of 151.3 points and the 251.8 points peak of March 2022.

• The impact of export curbs on farm exports-comment

Other Important Articles Covering the same topic:

📍What India’s latest farm exports data show

India starts process to adopt National Security Strategy: why this is significant

Syllabus:

Preliminary Examination: Current events of national and international importance.

Main Examination: General Studies II: Government policies and interventions for development in various sectors and issues arising out of their design and implementation.

Key Points to Ponder:

• What’s the ongoing story- After years of deliberations in the military and strategic community, India has kickstarted the process of bringing in a National Security Strategy.

The National Security Council Secretariat (NSCS) is in the process of collating inputs from several Central ministries and departments to stitch together the draft of the strategy before seeking the final cabinet approval for it.

• What is a National Security Strategy?

• Do You Know- A National Security Strategy document outlines the country’s security objectives, and the ways to be adopted to achieve these.
Updated periodically, it defines traditional, non-traditional threats and opportunities while introducing accountability of agencies tasked with the implementation of such responsibilities.
In a nutshell, a national security strategy would guide the military as well as critical defence and security reforms with strategic implications, providing a holistic view of the overall national security, the threats and the roadmap to address them.
The exact contours of the strategy being drafted is not known, but it will likely include the entire range of newer challenges and modern threats facing India, including non-traditional ones such as financial and economic security, food and energy security, information warfare, vulnerabilities in India’s critical information infrastructure, as well as those associated with supply chains and environment.

• Which countries have a National Security Strategy?

• India’s need for a National Security Strategy-why?

• Why did India never have a national security strategy?

Other Important Articles Covering the same topic:

📍India must update its security strategy and shed obsession with Pakistan

ECONOMY

US steals a march over Europe amid UK’s showpiece AI Summit

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.

• 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- Over the last decade, Europe has taken a decisive lead over the US on tech regulation, with overarching laws safeguarding online privacy, curbing Big Tech dominance and protecting its citizens from harmful online content.

• Washington’s plan on global AI regulation-Know key takeaways

• The Bletchley Park Declaration-What are the key takeaways?

• For Your Information-A big focus of the gathering was on establishing global coordination and standards around AI safety. This led to the signing of the new Bletchley Declaration, which was agreed to by 28 countries, including heavyweights like the US, UK, and China.
The declaration lays out plans for greater transparency from AI developers regarding safety practices and more scientific collaboration on understanding AI’s risks. It’s being hailed as a landmark achievement in getting the world’s AI leaders aligned on managing the dangers of AI posed on the domains of daily life from “misuse or unintended issues of control relating to alignment with human intent.” While a bit vague in details, it’s seen as an important first step towards creating international norms and mitigation strategies.

• What is artificial intelligence (AI)?

• How is artificial intelligence (AI) currently governed?

• Why AI regulation is needed?

• If Regulated then what should be the limit?

• If regulated, then what are the risks associated with regulating AI?

• What has been India’s Response to demands for AI Regulation?

• What were European Union and US plan for AI Regulation?

Other Important Articles Covering the same topic:

📍UK’s AI Safety Summit: 6 key takeaways on future of artificial intelligence

📍Rishi Sunak asks Elon Musk tough questions on AI: 6 key things discussed

For any queries and feedback, contact priya.shukla@indianexpress.com
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