UPSC Key-August 24, 2022: Why you should read ‘BrahMos Missile’ or ‘Benami Transactions’ or ‘Drought’ for UPSC CSE

3 IAF officers sacked for Brahmos missile misfire

Syllabus:

Preliminary Examination: Current events of national and international importance.

Mains Examination:  

• General Studies II: India and its neighbourhood- relations.

• General Studies III: Science and Technology

Key Points to Ponder:

• What’s the ongoing story– The Government has terminated the services of three IAS officers after a probe conducted by the Air Force concluded that they were responsible for lapses that led to the “accidental firing” in March of an unarmed Brahmos missile from Haryana that landed near the town of Mian Channu in Pakistan.

• Know the Background-Earlier Pakistan had claimed an unarmed Indian supersonic missile took off from Sirsa and landed at a place 124 km within Pakistani territory on Wednesday evening. The missile, it said, was cruising at an altitude of 40,000 feet and endangered passenger flights in both Indian and Pakistani airspace, and also civilians and property on the ground.

• A statement issued by the IAF said that deviation from Standard Operating Procedures (SoP) led to the firing of the missile-What is Standard Operating Procedures (SoP) for BrahMos Missile?

• The BrahMos supersonic cruise missile-Background and development

• BrahMos is a two-stage missile with a solid propellant booster engine-Know its Strategic significance

• Know the different version of BrahMos like Land-based BrahMos, Ship-Based BrahMos, Air BrahMos and Submarine-Launched BrahMos

• BrahMos supersonic cruise missile -Key Features

• Know the terms and Difference between-Infra Sonic, Subsonic, Super Sonic, Ultra Sonic etc.

• What are Cruise Missiles?

• What do you understand by Stealth technology?

• What speed is a Mach?

• What is Ramjet?

• What is the difference between a ramjet and scramjet?

• Missile Technology Control Regime and India-Know in detail

Other Important Articles Covering the same topic:

📍Three Air Force officers dismissed over accidental firing of Brahmos missile

Adani steps into NDTV with 29%, to launch open offer for 26% more

Syllabus:

Preliminary Examination: Current events of national and international importance.

Mains Examination: General Studies IV: Corporate Governance.

Key Points to Ponder:

• What’s the ongoing story– Gautam Adani-led Adani Group, a conglomerate with diverse business interests, Tuesday acquired 29.18 per cent stake in television channel NDTV Ltd, and said it will launch an open offer as required by the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) to buy another 26 per cent in the company.

• What is NDTV’s response on this deal?

• But, how did the deal happen?

• Will Adani be able to get a controlling stake in NDTV?

• Why does Adani want ownership of NDTV?

Other Important Articles Covering the same topic:

📍Explained: Ambani, Adani, and how the Roys could lose NDTV

Maharashtra: One-third of all deaths in 2021 during Delta Covid surge

Syllabus:

Preliminary Examination: Economic and Social Development

Mains 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– In Calendar year 2021, when hospitals across India were battling the delta wave of Covid-19, Maharashtra recorded a significant 20.47 per cent increase in all-cause deaths to 9.74 lakh as compared to the previous year. This was over and above the 16.57 per cent rise in all-cause deaths in calendar year 2020. Maharashtra accounted for almost 10 per cent of all-cause deaths across India in 2020.

• What are the key insights emerge from an analysis of data from the state’s Civil Registration System (CRS) under the Right to Information Act?

• So, the Sharp rise in deaths is attributed only to Covid-19 deaths-True or False?

• What was the World Health Organisation’s data on Covid death toll?

• Why World Health Organisation data on Covid death toll was different from the data from the office of Registrar General of India?

• What data from the office of the Registrar General of India said about Covid-19 Deaths?

• Civil Registration System (CRS) in India-Background

• Registrar General of India-About, Role and Functions

• What do the Civil Registration System (CRS) data say about Covid-19 deaths?

• What do understand by the term “excess mortality”?

• Why India is strongly objecting to the use of mathematical models by the World Health Organisation (WHO) for
projecting excess mortality estimates linked to the coronavirus pandemic?

Other Important Articles Covering the same topic:

📍Explained: The death data in CRS, and why they do not tell the full story of India’s Covid-19 toll

📍Over 90% deaths went unreported? Why WHO data raises questions

📍Counting all those who died of Covid

📍Validity of models, methodology of data collection questionable: India on WHO Covid deaths report

GOVT & POLITICS

SC strikes down provision of jail term in 1988 benami law

Syllabus:

Preliminary Examination: Current events of national and international importance.

Mains Examination: 

• General Studies II: Important aspects of governance, transparency and accountability

• General Studies III: money-laundering and its prevention

Key Points to Ponder:

• What’s the ongoing story-The Supreme Court on Tuesday held as unconstitutional a provision in the Benami Transactions (Prohibition) Act, 1988, that prescribed jail term for entering into benami transactions.

• Benami Property Transactions Act, 1988-Know the key provisions

• Why Benami Property Transactions Act, 1988 was amended by the Benami Transactions (Prohibition) Amendment Act, 2016 (BTP Amendment Act)?

• How Prohibition of Benami Property Transactions Act, 1988 (PBPT Act) defines Benami transactions?

• Benami transactions and Benami Property-Compare and Contrast

• What is the appellate mechanism under the PBPT Act?

• What is the punishment for benami?

• Supreme Court has struck down one of the provisions of the Benami Transactions (Prohibition) Act of 1988-What is that provision?

• What Section 3(3) of the 2016 amendment says?

Other Important Articles Covering the same topic:

📍Explained: Targeting illegal wealth through new Benami law

EXPRESS NETWORK

‘Children of the sea’ protest Vizhinjam port project: ‘Will not surrender our coasts’

Syllabus:

Preliminary Examination: Current events of national and international importance.

Mains Examination: 

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

• General Studies III: Conservation, environmental pollution and degradation, environmental impact assessment.

Key Points to Ponder:

• What’s the ongoing story– The week-long ongoing protests against the construction of the Adani Group’s Vizhinjam International Transhipment Deepwater Multipurpose Seaport in Kerala’s capital Thiruvananthapuram intensified on Monday (August 22), with fisherfolk laying siege to the port from the sea and land.

• Map Work-Vizhinjam

• Why Protests?

• What are the demand of the protesters?

• What is Coastal Erosion?

• What are the Factors causing Coastal Erosion?

• National Centre for Coastal Research (NCCR) which comes under the Ministry of Earth Science once published report stating that ‘one-third of India’s coastline underwent sea erosion in 28 years’-Know how is affected by Coastal Erosion?

• What is India’s total coastline length?

• Map Work-Mark Major Ports in India

• Why Vizhinjam port will be important for India?

• What are the observations made by CAG with respect to Vizhinjam International Transhipment Deepwater Multipurpose Seaport?

• What are the Government of India’s Initiatives for Coastal Management?

• What do you understand by the term ‘Environmental Impact Assessment’ (EIA)?

• Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) and Vizhinjam International Transhipment Deepwater Multipurpose Seaport-What EIA says about this project?

• Why Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) is Important?

• Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) Rules Amendment, 2006-Key features

• Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) notification 2020-Key Highlights

• Supreme court of India on Environment Impact Assessment (ex-post facto environmental clearance)

Other Important Articles Covering the same topic:

📍Why fisherfolk, church in Kerala is protesting against Adani’s Vizhinjam port

📍A third of India’s coastline underwent erosion in 28 years, Bengal worst affected

THE EDITORIAL PAGE

Pakistan’s shifting red lines

Syllabus:

Preliminary Examination: Current events of national and international importance.

Mains Examination: General Studies II: India and its neighbourhood- relations.

Key Points to Ponder:

• What’s the ongoing story-There has been a sharp escalation in the level of political turmoil in Pakistan as police announced they had filed terrorism charges against ousted premier Imran Khan for allegedly threatening public officials in a speech during a rally.

• Pakistan Political Crisis-What is the main issue?

• What led to this flashpoint?

• Pakistan and internal political crisis-Background

• Map Work-Pakistan

• According to author, “the growing inability of the Pakistan army, the ultimate arbiter in Pakistan’s scheme of things, to decisively shape the course of events that is most striking”-Why it is most striking?

• Who is the real power in Pakistan-Executive, Legislature, Judiciary or Military?

• What does Imran Khan want?

• What position has the Pak army taken?

• What is India’s Stand in this entire episode?

• “We can choose our friends but not our neighbours”-What is the relevance of this said quote in Geopolitics?

• Will India be affected by this political escalation?

• Pakistan political crisis and its impact on Afghanistan, China, and USA

• Where is Pakistan headed next?

Other Important Articles Covering the same topic:

📍 Explained: What political upheaval in Pakistan means for rest of the world

📍Terror charge on Imran and the new political flashpoint in Pak

📍Imran Khan has done what no civilian leader in Pakistan has done before

EXPLAINED

Europe’s great drought

Syllabus:

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

Mains Examination: General Studies III: Conservation, environmental pollution and degradation, environmental impact assessment.

Key Points to Ponder:

• What’s the ongoing story-Legendary rivers have been reduced to shallow streams, hitting power generation. After the record-breaking summer heat, 2022 may be the worst drought year in Europe in 500 years. China, US too are facing drought.

• What is Drought?

• What are the types of Drought?

• What causes a droughts?

• What are the effects of drought?

• Map Work-Mark the key rivers in Europe

• “The drought has been billed as the worst in 500 years. It is being said that never has a European summer been so dry since 1540, when a year-long drought killed tens of thousands of people”-why “worst in 500 years”?

• Why Europe has been facing large scale climatic anomalies for over six months?

• Know the impact of drought in Europe

• What does the “analytical report” of the Global Drought Observatory (GDO), said about drought conditions in Europe?

• Which countries in Europe are the most worst affected?

• What these droughts say about Global climate future?

• What is the difference between droughts and desertification?

Other Important Articles Covering the same topic:

📍Explained: Why low water levels on the Rhine river hurt Germany’s economy

📍Drought declared in parts of England: What does it mean?

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