UPSC Daily Current Affairs- 24th January 2023 | Current Affairs & Hindu Analysis: Daily, Weekly & Monthly PDF Download

GS-I

Context

Recently, the Union Government has decided to nominate Assam’s Charaideo Maidams for the UNESCO World Heritage Centre.

Charaideo Maidams:

• Assam’s Charaideo Maidams are the Ahom equivalent of the ancient Egyptian pyramids.
• The maidams represent the late medieval (13th-19th century CE) mound burial tradition of the Tai Ahom community in Assam.
• The Charaideo Maidams enshrine the mortal remains of the members of the Ahom royalty, who used to be buried with their paraphernalia.
• Out of 386 Maidams or Moidams explored so far, 90 royal burials at Charaideo are the best preserved, representative of and the most complete examples of mound burial tradition of the Ahom’s.
• After the 18th century, the Ahom rulers adopted the Hindu method of cremation and began entombing the cremated bones and ashes in a Maidam at Charaideo.

Significance:

• There is currently no World Heritage Site in the category of cultural heritage in the northeast.
• The nomination of the Charaideo Maidams has attained significance at a time when the country is celebrating the 400th birth anniversary of Lachit Barphukan.

Ahom Kingdom:

• The Ahom dynasty was founded by Chao Lung Siu-Ka-Pha in 1253.
• The Ahom rule lasted for about 600 years until the British annexed Assam in 1826.
• Charaideo, more than 400 km east of Guwahati, was the first capital of the Ahom dynasty.

About Lachit Borphukan

• Born: on November 24, 1622 in Charaideo, the first capital of the Ahom kings.
• Death: 25th April 1672.
• Excelled in the art of Guerrilla Warfare.
• Led two battles against an alien Mughal army.

Battle of Alaboi:

• Fought on August 5, 1669 in the Alaboi Hills near Dadara in North Guwahati.
• Aurangzeb had ordered the invasion in 1669 under his ally Rajput Raja Ram Singh I who led a combined Mughal and Rajput army.
• Borphukan engaged in guerrilla warfare, assaulting the invaders and then falling back until Ram Singh I unleashed his entire forces on the Ahom’s, defeating them in the Battle of Alaboi.

Naval battle in Saraighat in 1671:

• Lachit Borphukon’s valorous leadership led to the decisive defeat of the Mughals.
• According to historical accounts, Lachit is said to have tricked the Mughals by feigning an attack in front.
• As the fleet advanced on the river Brahmaputra, the main Ahom fleet attacked from behind, sealing a victory for the locals.

Source: The Hindu

Puri Jagannath Temple

Context

Odisha Governor has backed the entry of foreign nationals inside the world-famous Jagannath Temple in Puri, wading into a debate that has lasted for decades and periodically triggered controversy.

About Puro Jagannath Temple:

• The Shree Jagannath Temple of Puri is an important Hindu temple dedicated to Lord Jagannath, a form of Vishnu, in Puri in the state of Odisha on the eastern coast of India.
• The present temple was rebuilt from the 10th century onwards, on the site of an earlier temple, and begun by King Anantavarman Chodaganga Deva, first of the Eastern Ganga dynasty.
• The Puri temple is famous for its Annual Ratha yatra, or chariot festival, in which the three principal deities are pulled on huge and elaborately decorated temple cars.
  • These gave their name to the English term Juggernaut.
• Unlike the stone and metal icons found in most Hindu temples, the image of Jagannath is made of wood and is ceremoniously replaced every twelve or nineteen years by an exact replica.

Architecture of Jagannath temple:

• The temple is built in the Kalinga style of architecture, with the Pancharatha (Five chariots) type consisting of two anurathas, two konakas and one ratha.
• Jagannath temple is a pancharatha with well-developed pagas.
• ‘Gajasimhas’ (elephant lions) carved in recesses of the pagas, the ‘Jhampasimhas’ (Jumping lions) are also placed properly.
• The perfect pancharatha temple developed into a Nagara-rekha temple.
• The temple is built on an elevated platform, as compared to Lingaraja temple and other temples belonging to this type.
• This is the first temple in the history of Kalingaan temple architecture where all the chambers like Jagamohana, Bhogamandapa and Natyamandapa were built along with the main temple.
• There are miniature shrines on the three outer sides of the main temple.

Source: Indian Express

GS-II

Context

India and Egypt, two of the world’s oldest civilizations, have enjoyed a history of close contact from ancient times. Ashoka’s edicts refer to his relations with Egypt under Ptolemy-II.

• President of Egypt, Abdel Fattah El-Sisi, will arrive in New Delhi on a three-day visit to India and will be the Chief Guest on India’s 74th Republic Day.
• India and Egypt are celebrating 75 years of establishment of diplomatic relations this year and Egypt has also been invited as a ‘Guest Country’ during India’s Presidency of G-20 in 2022-23.

Bilateral Relations

• India and Egypt enjoy warm and friendly relations marked by civilizational, cultural, and economic linkages and deep-rooted people-to-people ties.
• The two countries work closely at multilateral and international platforms.
• The Egyptian President visited India in October 2015 to participate in the third India Africa Forum Summit and in September 2016 on a State Visit.

Political relations

• The joint announcement of establishment of diplomatic relations at Ambassadorial level was made in 1947.
• With regard to covid pandemic, Egypt dispatched three planes with medical supplies to India in 2021.
• In addition, Embassy of India also signed an agreement to procure 300,000 doses of REMDESEVIR from M/s EVA Pharma, Egypt
• India-LAS Engagement: The 3rd Meeting of the Arab-India Cooperation Forum took place virtually in 2021.
• The discussions focused on issues of mutual concern on both regional and international levels, collaboration in the field of diagnostics and treatment to fight the Covid-19 pandemic and increasing cooperation in the fields of economy, trade and investment, energy and environment, agriculture and food security, science and technology, media, human resource development etc
• Operation Sankalp, which saw the Indian Navy escort oil tankers through the Strait of Hormuz as tensions between Saudi Arabia and Iran escalated, was a good example of India’s mandate in the region moving up from anti-piracy operations to overt protection of national assets and interests.

Trade

• Bilateral trade between India and Egypt achieved a record high of 7.26 billion dollars in 2021-22.
• The trade was fairly balanced, with 3.74 billion Indian exports to Egypt and 3.52 billion imports from Egypt to India.
• The India-Egypt Bilateral Trade Agreement has been in operation since March 1978 and is based on the Most Favoured Nation clause

Investment

• More than 50 Indian companies have invested around 3.15 billion dollars in diverse sectors of the Egyptian economy, including chemicals, energy, textile, garment, agri-business, and retail.
• Egyptian investments in India are to the tune of US$ 37 million which include smart electrometers, car paints, I.T Services, etc.
• The grants-in-aid projects include: Pan Africa Tele-medicine and Tele-education project in Alexandria University, Solar electrification project in Agaween village and Vocational Training Centre for textile technology in Shoubra, Cairo, which have been completed.

Science and Technology

• ‘Science & Technology’ cooperation is implemented through biennial Executive Programmes and Scientific Cooperation Programme between CSIR (India) and NRC (Egypt).
• The first Joint Working Group on Cyber Issues was held in New Delhi in 2016.
• The 4th Joint Committee Meeting on S&T was held in New Delhi in 2017.
• The 2nd ISRO-NARSS JWG was held in Cairo in 2017.
• The India-Egypt Workshops on Agriculture-Biotechnology and Nanotechnology were held in Shillong in 2018 and in Mumbai in 2019 respectively.
• An IT Centre in Al Azhar University, CEIT, is also operational since February 2019.

Defence

• Most of the current defence cooperation is determined by Joint Defence Committee (JDC) activities
• The 8^th Joint Defence Committee (JDC) was held in New Delhi in 2018
• The 9th JDC was held in Cairo from in 2019
• IAF pilots had trained Egyptian pilots from 1960s until 1984.
• In the recent past, since 2015, there have been several high-level exchange of visits by defense delegations including the visit of the Minister of Defense of Egypt, General Sedki Sobhi, in 2017 and the visit of Minister of Defense of Indian, Smt. Nirmala Sitharaman, in 2018
• The first ever joint exercise between the special forces of the Indian Army and the Egyptian Army named “Exercise Cyclone-I” is in progress at Jaisalmer in Rajasthan since January 2023.

Suggestions for future:

• Economic partnership – Egypt is in economic flux and requires an urgent infusion of capital to avoid any long-term economic distress.
• Eg Arab Spring, which was backed by people’s anger against economic destitution, cronyism and corruption.
• Russia’s war on Ukraine – led to a commodity crunch, specifically in the agriculture sector like critical wheat imports – India may come out as a viable alternative
• Security perspective – An outreach to Egypt is part of its larger construct of a security architecture in West Asia, particularly the Gulf including UAE, arguably the most powerful leader in the region today
• Energy security is set to become even more precarious over the next few years, India’s naval and aerial military engagements through the mechanism of joint exercises should also see an uptick.
• Trade cooperation – such as the Suez Canal is critical for India as part of international trade systems.

Way forward

• India-Egypt ties in their current stage will require time and honing to lead to more concrete strategic posture.
• The opening with defence exercises is also a good platform to further develop access to fulfil Egypt’s defence requirements.
• While the entire saga of India wanting to sell its HAL Tejas jets to Egypt was an over-ambitious and unrealistic endeavour, promoting defence along with agriculture, Information Technology, amongst others as areas of cooperation can benefit Cairo as it looks to diversify its economic footprint.

Source: Newsonair

Context

Recently, the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (MIB) directed YouTube and Twitter to take down links sharing the BBC documentary titled ‘India: The Modi Question.’

• The order was passed under the emergency provisions of the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules 2021.

What are the Emergency Provisions?

• Under the IT Rules 2021, the MIB has powers to issue content takedown notices to social media intermediaries like YouTube, Twitter and Facebook in emergency situations for which no delay is acceptable.
• These emergency notices can be issued if the MIB believes that the content can impact the sovereignty, integrity, defence or security of India, friendly relations with foreign states or public order, or to prevent incitement to any cognisable offence.
• Since 2021, the MIB has used the emergency provisions at least seven times (known because the Ministry communicated in press releases), most prominently for YouTube.
• However, in the case of the BBC documentary, the Ministry has not yet issued any release through its official channel - the Press Information Bureau. 

What Actions can Users Take if their Content has been Impacted?

• Although the IT Rules 2021 outline user recourse options, these are only applicable to actions taken by social media companies.
• For instance, if a platform has on its own taken down some content, the user can approach the grievance officer of the platform to raise a dispute, which they are to redress within 15 days.
• However, if a platform has taken down content on the basis of the emergency provisions in the Rules, the legislation does not offer any direct recourse.
• The only option users have in this case is to approach courts. However, by their very nature, the blocking orders are confidential, which means that users do not know the provisions under which their content was flagged.
• Also, how the government decided that a particular piece of content should be taken down is not known to citizens.
• Platforms like Twitter voluntarily inform users that they have taken down their content based on the government’s request. 

News Summary with respect to Taking Down of BBC Documentary:

• What has the government said about the documentary?
  • The MIB has rejected the documentary produced by BBC as a “propaganda piece” that lacks objectivity and reflects a colonial mindset.
  • The senior officials of ministries including the MEA, Home, and I&B have examined the documentary and found it to be an attempt to -
    • Allegedly undermine the Supreme Court of India's authority and credibility,
    • Cause strife between different communities, and
    • Make unproven claims about the actions of foreign governments in India.
  • The documentary was accordingly found to be undermining sovereignty and integrity of India and having the potential to adversely impact India’s friendly relations with foreign states as also public order within the country.
• Opposition, experts say censorship:
  • When the IT Rules 2021 were first notified, experts had already noted that it would increase political control (state surveillance) in the online space and censorship and hate speech would balloon at the same time.
  • Opposition parties said the decision to block links to the documentary on YouTube and Twitter amounted to “censorship”.

Source: Indian Express

GS-III

INS Vagir commissioned into Indian Navy

Context

INS Vagir, the fifth stealth Scorpene-class Submarine, was commissioned into the Navy.

• Vagir was launched in November 2020, under Project 75 (P-75) and was delivered to Navy in December, 2022 after completion of sea trials.

P-75 project

• In June 1999, the Cabinet Committee on Security had approved a plan for the Indian Navy to induct indigenously build submarines by 2030.
• It was broken down in two phases — P-75 and P-75I.

First Phase: P-75

• Under the first phase of P-75, signed in 2005, India and France signed a $3.75 billion contract for building six Scorpene class submarines.
• The executing company on the Indian side was Mazgaon Docks Ltd, and on the French side, it was DCNS, which is now called Naval Group.
• Under this project, the first submarine was commissioned in December 2017.

Second Phase: P-75I

• The P-75I phase envisages the construction of six conventional submarines with better sensors and weapons and the Air Independent Propulsion System (AIP).
• Defence Acquisition Council cleared the project in 2019 under the strategic partnership (SP) model.
  • The Ministry of Defence (MoD) announced in 2017 the much-anticipated SP model for the Indian private sector.
    • This was announced to promote Make in India in defence manufacturing
  • SP model seeks to identify a few Indian private companies as Strategic Partners who would initially tie up with a few shortlisted foreign Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) to manufacture big-ticket military platforms.

News Summary: INS Vagir commissioned into Indian Navy

• The Indian Navy commissioned the fifth diesel-electric Kalvari-class submarine Vagir.
  • The design of the Kalvari-class of submarines is based on the Scorpene class of submarines designed.
• INS Vagir would form part of the Western Naval Command’s Submarine fleet.

Features

• Belongs to Kalvari-class
  • Vagir is a Kalvari-class submarine, which includes vessels, such as the INS Kalvari, INS Khanderi, INS Karanj, INS Vela, INS Vagir and INS Vagsheer.
    • In April, 2022 INS Vagsheer was launched and would be commissioned by 2023.
    • In maritime parlance, a class of ships is a group of vessels which have the same make, purpose and displacement.
    • The class is generally named after the first vessel in the category.
  • This class of submarines have Diesel Electric transmission systems and these are primarily attack submarines or ‘hunter-killer’ types.
    • This means they are designed to target and sink adversary naval vessels.
  • These submarines are around 220 feet long and have a height of 40 feet.
  • It can reach the highest speeds of 11 knots (20 km/h) when surfaced and 20 knots (37 km/h) when submerged.
• Technical features
  • Vagir is capable of undertaking diverse missions including anti-surface warfare, anti-submarine warfare, intelligence gathering, mine laying and surveillance missions.
  • It has advanced stealth features and is also equipped with both long-range guided torpedoes and anti-ship missiles.

Strategic importance

• India currently operates group of nuclear-powered submarines and diesel-electric submarines.
• As per naval warfare principles, for India to create a strategic deterrence, there is a specific number of submarines of both types that India needs to have in active service.
• These submarines have their designated roles in the Carrier Battle Groups, which are formations of ships and submarines with Aircraft Carriers in the lead role.
• However, currently, India has a less-than-ideal number of submarines, with many new ones being at various stages of construction.
  • With the latest induction, India now has 16 conventional submarines and a nuclear submarine in service.
• Induction of INS Vagir also reflects major milestone for Indian Navy’s Project 75 and Make in India initiative.

Source: Indian Express

Context

Health and Family Welfare Minister said that more than 47 thousand Nikshay Mitra and 8.8 lakh TB patients have been connected through Ni-Kshaya 2.0 portal.

• The Government is making all-out efforts to make the country TB-free by 2025

Ni-kshay Mitra

• The initiative was launched by The President in 2022.
• The initiative aims to ensure additional diagnostic, nutritional, and vocational support to those on TB treatment and encouraged elected representatives, corporates and NGOs to come forward as donors to help the patients towards recovery
• More than 47,000 Nikshay Mitra & 8.8 lakh TB patients have been connected through Ni-Kshaya 2.0 portal
• The initiative ensures three-pronged support includes: Nutritional, Additional diagnostic, and Vocational support.
• Ni-kshay Mitra (Donor) for this programme includes co-operative societies, corporates, elected representatives, individuals, institutions, non-governmental organisations, political parties and partners who can support by adopting the health facilities (for individual donor), blocks/urban wards/districts/States for accelerating the response against TB to complement the government efforts.

NI-KSHAY

• NI-KSHAY-(Ni=End, Kshay=TB) is the web enabled patient management system for TB control under the National Tuberculosis Elimination Programme (NTEP).
• It is developed and maintained by the Central TB Division (CTD), Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India, in collaboration with the National Informatics Centre (NIC), and the World Health Organization Country office for India.
• Ni-kshay is used by health functionaries at various levels across the country both in the public and private sector, to register cases under their care, order various types of tests from Labs across the country, record treatment details, monitor treatment adherence and to transfer cases between care providers. It also functions as the National TB Surveillance System and enables reporting of various surveillance data to the Government of India.
• The NIKSHA 2.0 portal provides additional patient support to TB patients to take advantage of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) opportunities to improve treatment outcomes, enhance community participation and fulfill India’s commitment to TB eradication.

Source:  newsonair

Context

The COVID-19 pandemic and the June 2022 floods have compounded Pakistan’s health indicators, a recent study by medical journal The Lancet has found. However, infectious and non-communicable diseases (NCD) were already increasing in the country, as were region-wide disparities.

• Pakistan’s life expectancy has improved from 61.1 years in 1990 to 65.9 years in 2019, with women recording an increase of 8.2 per cent, as compared to 7.6 per cent for men. Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa provinces recorded the least improvement in life expectancy.

Non communicable diseases:

• Non-communicable diseases are diseases that are not spread through infection or through other people, but are typically caused by unhealthy behaviours.
• They are the leading cause of death worldwide and present a huge threat to health and development, particularly in low- and middle-income countries.
• Four types of non-communicable diseases account for over two thirds of deaths globally:
• Cardiovascular disease
• Cancers
• Diabetes
• Chronic respiratory diseases
• NCDs share four major risk factors: tobacco use, physical inactivity, the harmful use of alcohol and unhealthy diets.
• More than three-quarters of all NCD deaths, and 86% of the 17 million people who died prematurely, or before reaching 70 years of age, occur in low- and middle-income countries.
• Premature mortality in 2019 was primarily caused by neonatal disorders, followed by ischaemic heart disease, stroke, diarrhoeal diseases and lower respiratory infections
• Iron deficiency has remained the leading cause of years lived with disability for both men and women since 1990.
• Low birthweight, alongside short gestation and particulate matter pollution, has remained the leading contributor to the overall disease burden since 1990.
• NCDs like ischaemic heart disease, stroke, congenital disabilities, cirrhosis and chronic kidney disease were among the 10 leading causes of years of life lost in 2019

Communicable diseases

• Communicable diseases are illnesses that spread from one person to another or from an animal to a person, or from a surface or a food.
• Causes – Pathogens such as viruses, bacteria, and fungi
• Transmission
• direct contact with a sick person
• respiratory droplet spread from a sick person sneezing or coughing
• contact with blood or other body fluids
• breathing in viruses or bacteria in the air
• contact with a contaminated surface or object
• bites from insects or animals that can transmit the disease
• ingestion of contaminated food or water
• Symptoms will vary depending on the disease and on a person’s overall health and immune function.
• Some people will not experience any symptoms. However, they can still transmit the pathogen.
• Some symptoms are a direct result of the pathogen damaging the body’s cells. Others are due to the body’s immune response to the infection.
• Some communicable diseases may be mild, and symptoms pass after a few days. However, some can be serious and potentially life threatening. Symptom severity may vary
• Examples
• Rhinoviruses, Coronaviruses, HIV, Influenza, Salmonella, Tuberculosis, Athlete’s foot, Lyme disease, Plasmodium

Source: PIB

Transfat

Context

Five billion people globally are exposed to harmful trans fat, increasing their heart disease and death risk, according to a new report by the World Health Organization (WHO).

• The global health body, in 2018, had advocated some best-practice policies for the global eradication of industrially generated trans fat by 2023.

Transfats:

• Trans fats, also called partially hydrogenated oils, are created when hydrogen is added to vegetable oil to make it more solid.
• The sources of trans fat can be (1) Natural or (2) Artificial.
• Natural trans fats are also called ruminant trans fats, as they are present in small quantities in meat and dairy products obtained form ruminant animals such as cows, sheep and cattle.
• Natural/ruminant trans fat are not generally considered harmful.
• Industrially produced trans fat is usually found in packaged foods, baked items, cooking oils and spreads.
• They are considered even less healthy than saturated fats
• They are generally found in
• Bakery products: Biscuit, fan, rusk, cake etc.
• Fried foods: Bhatura, poori, pakora, bhujiya, fried savoury mixtures (namkeens) etc
• Re-heated oils: Small amounts of trans fats are also formed when the same cooking oil is used for repeated frying; not only at commercial outlets but even at household levels.

Effect

• Trans fat has no known benefit but is associated with huge health risks that can burden health systems
• Trans fat intake is accountable for up to 500,000 early deaths from coronary heart disease annually.
• Consumption of trans fats raises the level of bad LDL-cholesterol, an accepted biomarker of cardiovascular diseases. It has been seen that diets high in trans fat can increase the risk of heart disease by 21 per cent and deaths by 28 per cent.

Eliminating transfat:

• The following are the two best-practice policy options
• mandatory national limit of two grams of industrially produced trans fat per 100 grams of total fat in all foods
• mandatory national ban on the production or use of partially hydrogenated oils (a major source of trans fat) as an ingredient in all foods
• Countdown to 2023 is a WHO report on global trans fat elimination
• FSSAI has employed strategies to achieve its goal of “Freedom from Trans Fat @75.”

Suggestions

• Avoid using “Vanaspati” ghee for any kind of cooking.
• When deep frying the foods (Poori/pakora etc.), do not heat the oil for a very long time.  Prefer to not leave the food in the oil for a very long time.
• Do not reheat the oil or re-use the same oil for frying. The oil which has once been used for frying can be used for the preparation of vegetables, curries, dals etc.
• Use smaller vessel (kadhai, etc.) at home for deep frying. This will allow you to do frying using a lesser amount of oil/fat.
• Limit the consumption of baked/processed foods like biscuit/fan, cake, chips, fried savoury mixtures (namkeens, etc.).

Source: DTE