UPSC Daily Current Affairs - 31st January 2023 | Current Affairs & Hindu Analysis: Daily, Weekly & Monthly PDF Download

GS-I

Lake Chad

Context

A report by Refugees International, a humanitarian organisation has highlighted the dangerous link between climate change and conflict in countries like Cameroon, Chad, Niger and Nigeria in the Lake Chad Basin.

• Shrinking natural resources due to adverse weather are heightening tensions across communities and displacing people.
• Around 3 million people have been displaced and an additional 11 million need humanitarian assistance.

About Lake Chad:

• The Lake Chad is a vast area of fresh water located in the middle of sand dunes which covers territories in 4 countries: Nigeria, Cameroon, Niger and Chad.
• Palaeography informs us that the Lake Chad has been constantly evolving with respect to the environmental conditions.
• It is an endorheic lake fed mainly by the Logone Chari and Komadougou watercourses.
• This ecosystem contains a great variety of wet zones which include open water, polders, temporary or permanent ponds, some of them being rich in natron.
• Around the lake, sand deserts and water meet in a complex network of meanders which are sometimes cultivated.
• Receding waters in dry season expose wide floodplains on the banks of the lake.
• They shelter water plants such as papyrus and spirulina but also numerous animal species such as the migratory birds, which use these plains as resting areas.
• The Chad Basin National Park (Lake Chad Nigeria Section) is located between Borno and Yobe states in the extreme north-eastern corner of Nigeria.
• The Park is generally described as being in the conventional basin of the famous but rapidly shrinking Lake Chad.
• The Chad Basin remains the only existing stronghold of Giraffe and Ostrich in Nigeria.
• The Lake Chad environment presents an exceptional mosaic of plant formations forming as many biotopes, oasis and wet zones of international importance.
• The Lake Chad and its islands, maintain their natural morphology which gorges this cultural landscape on which human communities developed.
• The Chad Basin National Park shares the same ecosystem with the Waza National Park in the Republic of Cameroon to the east.
• Its Wetlands and Oases are very important in the mitigation of the desertification process in north-eastern Nigeria and the overall conservation management efforts of the Chad Basin as a whole.
• The natural values are almost identical to those of the Okavango Delta, the Lakes of Ounianga and the Kenya Lake System in the Great Rift Valley in Africa; but they are also comparable to those of the West Lake Cultural Landscape of Hangzhou in China and the Ahwar of Southern Iraq.

Source: DownToEarth

Mughal Gardens

Context

The iconic Mughal Gardens at the Rashtrapati Bhavan (President’s House) in Delhi have been renamed. “The collective identity of all the gardens at Rashtrapati Bhavan will be ‘Amrit Udyan’.

• The gardens will open to the public on January 31

About Mughal Gardens

• In Babur Nama, Babur says that his favourite kind of garden is the Persian charbagh style (literally, four gardens).
• The charbagh structure was intended to create a representation of an earthly utopia – jannat – in which humans co-exist in perfect harmony with all elements of nature.
• Defined by its rectilinear layouts, divided in four equal sections, these gardens can be found across lands previously ruled by the Mughals.
• From the gardens surrounding Humanyun’s Tomb in Delhi to the Nishat Bagh in Srinagar, all are built in this style – giving them the moniker of Mughal Gardens.
• A defining feature of these gardens is the use of waterways, often to demarcate the various quadrants of the garden.
• These were not only crucial to maintain the flora of the garden, they also were an important part of its aesthetic. Fountains were often built, symbolising the “cycle of life.
• The gardeners of the Rashtrapati Bhavan have kept alive the tradition of nurturing the defining feature of the gardens — the multitude of rose varieties.
• They include Adora, Mrinalini, Taj Mahal, Eiffel Tower, Scentimental, Oklahoma (also called Black Rose), Black Lady, Blue Moon and Lady X.
• There are also roses named after personalities: Mother Teresa, Raja Ram Mohan Roy, Abraham Lincoln, Jawahar Lal Nehru, and Queen Elizabeth — not to forget Arjun and Bhim. The ingenious gardeners also introduced new, exotic varieties of flowers like birds of paradise, tulips and heliconia in 1998.
• For instance, C Rajagopalachari, the last Governor General of India, made a political statement when during a period of food shortage in the country, he himself ploughed the lands and dedicated a section of the garden to foodgrains.
• Today, the Nutrition Garden, popularly known as Dalikhana, stands in that spot, organically cultivating a variety of vegetables for consumption at the Rashtrapati Bhavan.
• President R Venkatraman added a cactus garden (he just liked cacti) and APJ Abdul Kalam added many theme-based gardens: from the musical garden to the spiritual garden.

History of Mughal gardens

• In 1911, the British decided to shift the Indian capital from Calcutta to Delhi.
• About 4,000 acres of land was acquired to construct the Viceroy’s House with Sir Edwin Lutyens being given the task of designing the building on Raisina Hill.
• Lutyens’ designs combined elements of classical European architecture with Indian styles, producing a unique aesthetic that defines Lutyens’ Delhi till date.
• Lady Hardinge, the wife of the then Viceroy, urged planners to create a Mughal-style garden.
• It is said that she was inspired by the book Gardens of the Great Mughals (1913) by Constance Villiers-Stuart as well as her visits to the Mughal gardens in Lahore and Srinagar.

Source: Indian Express

Jatar Duel

Context

An ancient terracotta temple in West Bengal’s Sundarbans, which has survived the ravages of time for a millennia, is now facing a very modern threat.

• The impact of climate change, especially the increase in air salinity, is gradually eroding the temple walls

Jatar Duel:

• Jatar Deul is an eleventh century structure, which is located at Raidighi in South 24 Parganas and it is only a few kilometres from the sea.
• Jatar Deul is a Shiva temple and is the tallest standing temple in the Sundarbans on the bank of the river Moni
• There are a number of oral legends on why the temple is called Jatar Deul. The temple has a curvilinear tower similar to temple architecture of the Nagara order of Odisha temples
• The temple is 98 feet high and it stands at a vacant site.
• Jatar Deul is traditionally connected to an inscription, no longer traceable, by one Raja Jayantachandra, purported to have been issued in 975 AD.
• the temple had considerable architectural merit and closely resembled Siddhesvara Temple at Bahulara, near Onda in Bankura district, on plan, elevation and decorative motifs
• the temple is datable to the 10th or 11th century AD on the basis of its architecture.
• An expert on West Bengal temples says that the temple was more likely to have been built around the beginning of the 13th century based on its architectural features.
• Amphan, the tropical cyclone that ravaged coastal West Bengal, particularly the Sundarbans, in May 2020, had destroyed three trees at Jatar Deul, further exposing the temple to the gusty salt-laden coastal winds.

Source: The Hindu

GS-II

Context

According to the ‘Death Penalty in India: Annual Statistics’ Report for the year 2022, the Trial Courts sentenced 165 people to death in 2022.

Death Penalty in India Report:

• Death Penalty in India Report is published by Project 39A.
  • Project 39A is a criminal law reforms advocacy group at the National Law University, Delhi.
• It is inspired by Article 39A of the Constitution of India.
  • Article 39A of the Constitution of India provides for free legal aid to the poor and weaker sections of the society and ensures justice for all.
  • The article was inserted by the 42^nd Amendment Act of 1976.

Major Highlights of the Death Penalty in India Report 2022:

• The trial courts across the country imposed 165 death sentences in 2022, which is the highest in a single year in the last two decades.
• Also, 539 prisoners were on death row by the end of 2022, which was the highest since 2016.
• The large death row population signals the continued imposition of a high number of death sentences by trial courts with a low rate of disposal by appellate courts.
• The highest number of people on death row were in the states of Uttar Pradesh (100), Gujarat (61), Jharkhand (46), Maharashtra (39) and Madhya Pradesh (31), the report said.

Legal Remedies Available to Death Sentenced Individuals:

• The award of the death sentence by a trial court must be reaffirmed by a High Court to make it final.
• Article 137 of the Indian Constitution provides the power to the Supreme Court to review the orders and judgments passed by it.
  • The Review Petition can be filed under Section 114 and Order 47 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC).
• After the dismissal of the review petition, the person can file Curative Petition.
  • Petitioners can file curative petitions in case of gross violation of principles of natural justice.
  • The curative petition will be sent to the three senior most judges and the bench of judges who passed the judgment.
  • If the majority of them find substance in the petition, then the matter would be sent to the same bench of judges.
• Mercy Petition can be filed by the convicts. It is to be filed within a period of seven days from the date when the Superintendent of jail informs the convicted person of the dismissal of the petition.
• Article 72 and Article 161 of the Constitution provides the power to pardon the petitioner to the President and the Governor, respectively.

Arguments in Favour/Against of Death Penalty:

• Moral arguments:
  • Supporters of the death penalty believe that those who commit murder, because they have taken the life of another, have forfeited their own right to life.
  • Furthermore, they believe, capital punishment is a just form of retribution, expressing and reinforcing the moral indignation not only of the victim’s relatives but of law-abiding citizens in general.
  • Counter argument: Opponents of death penalty argue that, by legitimizing the very behaviour that the law seeks to repress—killing—capital punishment is counterproductive in the moral message it conveys.
• Utilitarian arguments:
  • Supporters of capital punishment also claim that it has a uniquely potent deterrent effect on potentially violent offenders for whom the threat of imprisonment is not a sufficient restraint.
  • Counter argument: Opponents, however, point to research that generally has demonstrated that the death penalty is not a more effective deterrent than the alternative sanction of life or long-term imprisonment.

Important Judgements on Death Penalty:

• Ediga Anamma v/s State of Andhra Pradesh (1974):
  • The Supreme Court laid down the principle that life imprisonment for the offence of murder is the rule and capital sentence is the exception in certain cases.
  • The Court also stated that a special reason should be given if the court decides to impose a death sentence.
• Bachan Singh v/s State of Punjab (1980):
  • The Supreme Court held that only in rarest of rare cases that are brutal, the death penalty should be imposed.

Recent Legislative Developments:

• In 2021, Punjab and Madhya Pradesh introduced the death penalty for causing deaths by spurious liquor.
• Maharashtra introduced death penalty for 'heinous' offences of rape and gangrape.
• The Union Ministry of Women & Child Development also introduced a Bill proposing the capital punishment for repeat aggravated trafficking offences involving children and women.

Source: The Hindu

Context

As part of a decommissioning project, Japan is expected to start flushing 1.25 million tonnes of wastewater from its Fukushima nuclear power plant into the Pacific Ocean this year.

• Experts are sceptical about this idea due to its suspected impact on the water, marine life, fishers’ livelihoods and other countries in the area.

What was Fukushima nuclear disaster?

• In March 2011, after a magnitude 9 earthquake, a tsunami flooded the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant in Okuma and damaged its diesel generators.
• The loss of power suspended coolant supply to reactors at the facility; the tsunami also disabled backup systems. This lead to Fukushima disaster.
• Soon, radioactive materials leaked from reactor pressure vessels, exploded in the facility’s upper levels, and exposed themselves to the ambient air, water, soil, and local population.
• Winds also carried radioactive material thrown up in the air into the Pacific.
• Since then, the power plant and its surrounding land have been uninhabitable.

What does Japanese government want?

• The water that the Japanese government wants to flush from the plant was used to cool the reactors, plus rainwater and groundwater.
  • It contains radioactive isotopes from the damaged reactors and is thus itself radioactive.
• Japan has said that it will release this water into the Pacific Ocean over the next 30 years.
  • Nuclear plants around the world regularly release water containing trace amounts of radionuclides into large waterbodies.
• For this, water is being treated to remove most radioactive isotopes. This water will be far above safety standards.

Why this move of Japanese govt is being opposed?

• No known threshold
  • Japanese officials claim that the water will be treated before its release. However, experts claim that there is no known threshold below which radiation can be considered safe.
  • Any discharge of radioactive materials will increase the risk of cancer and other health impacts to those who are exposed.
• Difficult to remove tritium from the water
  • Removing tritium from the water is a very difficult task.
    • Tritium, (T, or 3H), the isotope of hydrogen with atomic weight of approximately 3.
  • But removal of tritium is necessary as it is easily absorbed by the bodies of living beings and rapidly distributed via blood.
• Impact on marine lives and livelihoods of the fisherfolk in the region
  • Experts expect the affected water to poison the fish.
  • South Korea banned seafood imported from around Fukushima, to Japan’s displeasure, from 2013.
• Impact on Pacific Ocean
  • China, South Korea, Taiwan and Pacific Islands Forum have expressed concerns over this.
  • Researchers across the world have also called for more studies to understand the precise composition of each tank before it is flushed.

What are Japan’s other options?

• Store the water for longer and then discharge it.
• This is because tritium’s half-life – the time it takes for its quantity to be halved through radioactive decay – is 12-13 years.
• The quantity of any other radioactive isotopes present in the water will also decrease in this time.
• So, at the time of discharge, the water could be less radioactive.

Source: The Hindu

GS-III

Context

Aatmarnirbharta” (self-reliance) and “Nari Shakti” (women power) were the two themes on display at the Republic Day parade on Thursday — by many of the marching contingents as well as the different tableaux.

• India ranks fourth among 12 Indo-Pacific nations in self-reliant arms production capabilities, according to a study released this month by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), a widely respected independent resource on global security. China tops the list, Japan is second, South Korea is in third place, and Pakistan is at number 8.

Need for self-reliance

• In the last five years, India has been the world’s top arms importer with a 15 per cent global share of imports.
• Nearly 50 per cent of the capital acquisition budget is spent on imports.
• This excludes many “indigenous” items assembled by Ordnance Factories (OFs) and Defence Public Sector Units (DPSUs) where a high percentage of raw materials and sub-systems are imported.
• In 1995, a committee under APJ Abdul Kalam, the then scientific advisor to the defence minister, had recommended that India should improve its indigenisation content from 30 per cent to 70 per cent by 2005.
• Although no official data exists, the self-reliance in defence production is still estimated to be less than 35 per cent.
• About 90 per cent of domestic defence manufacturing is currently done in the public sector, by the 9 DPSUs and 39 OFs.
• Since 2001, when private participation was allowed in defence sector, 222 letters of intents and industrial licences have been issued to around 150 firms. Of these, only 46 firms have commenced production so far.

Current status

• Globally, 80 per cent of components, aggregates and assemblies of complex weapon systems and aircraft are made by MSMEs.
• In India, more than 6,000 MSMEs are currently supplying components and sub-assemblies to the DPSUs, OFs, DRDO and private firms.
• The defence manufacturing sector currently employs more than 2 lakh people in India.
• This size of military industrial workforce is similar to nations like the UK and France, which are the top defence manufacturers.
• The Defence Acquisition Council (DAC), chaired by the defence minister, has approved procurement of equipment for more than Rs 1,17,830 crore during the UPA-II regime.
• Another Rs 1,50,000 crore worth of approvals have been given by DAC under the NDA government.
• A modelling of 35 selected projects cleared by DAC, along with their likely dates of induction — from 2012 to 2023 — has been done by a foreign manufacturer.
• The government policy now aims to achieve 70 per cent indigenisation in defence products by 2027.
• This translates into an Indian defence market of Rs 87,000 crore by 2022 and Rs 1,65,000 crore by 2027.
• It presents a huge opportunity to the DPSUs, foreign manufacturers, Indian private players and MSMEs.

Challenges

• Low R&D investment Historically, India has not invested enough in the national research and development (R&D) effort.
• As per data collated by the World Bank, India has been able to allocate only 0.66 per cent of GDP (2018) towards R&D, while the world average is 2.63 per cent.
• The comparable individual R&D allocation (per cent of GDP) for some other nations is as follows: Israel 5.44; USA 3.45; Japan 3.26; Germany 3.14; China 2.4; and Turkey 1.09.
• Low domestic competence Regrettably, India does not yet have the domestic competence to fully design and manufacture any significant combat weapon/platform and is dependent on the foreign supplier for the critical components that lie at the core of the combat index of the equipment in question.
• Limitation of the industry Unlike other sectors, defence industry is a monopsony in which the single buyer, the government, is also the authority laying down procurement policies.
• This makes active government support essential for private defence manufacturers, a fact borne out by the experience of countries — the US, Israel, Brazil and France — where private defence industry has flourished.
• Import dependence Thus, while it is commendable that India is now going to manufacture the C295 transport aircraft in a collaboration with AirBus, France, the reality is that the engine, avionics, landing gear, etc, will come from abroad and the integration will be done by the Indian entity.
• Composite combat and manufacturing capabilities have not been reviewed and honed appropriately. Thus, while India now claims that it will soon become a major arms exporter, the composition of such inventory leans towards the “soft” category (clothing, helmets, surveillance equipment).
• India missed the industrial design and manufacturing bus, a national competence demonstrated by nations like South Korea and China, over the last five decades.
• Technological advances have made the design and manufacture of the semiconductor chip the new currency of national prosperity and military power.
• The US and China are now locked in intense competition in this domain and India is yet to acquire a profile that would be deemed relevant.
• Paradoxically, Indian brain power is very visible in the global semiconductor/chip fabrication effort but more at the lower end of the food chain, often as employees of the global venture capitalists.

Indigenous initiatives

• iDEX Launched in April 2018, iDEX aims to achieve self – reliance and foster innovation and technology development in Defence and Aerospace by engaging Industries including MSMEs, start-ups, individual innovators, R&D institutes and academia
• DefExpo 2022 held in Gandhinagar, Gujarat drew attention to the need for India to acquire the appropriate degree of “aatmanirbharata” (self-reliance) in the defence sector and the arduous path ahead.
• Commissioning of the indigenously-designed and built aircraft carrier INS Vikrant
• The firing of an SLBM (submarine-launched ballistic missile) from the INS Arihant
• The radical decision to award the manufacture of a military transport aircraft (C 295) to a major private sector entity
• The conclusion of a deal with Russia to manufacture a Kalashnikov-type light weapon/small arms in India.
• The induction of the Hindustan Aeronautics Limited-made Light Combat Helicopter Prachand into the Indian Air Force in 2022
• The indigenous 105-mm Indian Field Guns (IFG) replaced the Army’s British-era 25-pounder guns — which traditionally offered the symbolic 21-gun salute
• The Army’s mechanised column comprised three MBT Arjun MK-I, one Nag Missile System (NAMIS), two BMP 2/2K, three Quick Reaction Fighting Vehicles (QRFV), two K-9 Vajra Self Propelled Howitzer Guns, one Brahmos missile, two 10m Short Span Bridges, a Mobile Microwave Node and Mobile Network Centre, and two Akash missile systems.
• The Navy’s tableau showcased a woman air crew of Dornier aircraft (flying overhead), highlighting the all-women crew of a surveillance sortie undertaken last year
• The new indigenous Nilgiri class ship, a Dhruv helicopter deploying marine commandos, and three models of autonomous unmanned systems being developed under IDEX-Sprint Challenge.

Women in defence

• As many as 108 women officers in the Army are set to be cleared for the rank of Colonel (selection grade) by January 22 by a special selection board, which will make them eligible to command units and troops in their respective arms and services for the first time.
• At republic day parade, Both the Navy and the IAF contingents were led by women officers – Lt Cdr Disha Amrith and Sqn Ldr Sindhu Reddy respectively.
• The Assam Rifles marching contingent had an equal number of men and women personnel. The Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) also had an all-women contingent led by Assistant Commandant Poonam Gupta.
• A team of “Daredevils”, motorcycle riders from the Corps of Signals, was co-led by a woman officer.
• Women also occupied pride of place in many of the 23 tableaux that were part of the parade this year, including those of Kerala, Karnataka, Maharashtra and Tripura.
• Women riders are a part of the camel contingent of the Border Security Force (BSF)
• Women officers have been inducted into all branches of the Navy, and they will be eligible for permanent commission in the future.
• Women officers can command shore-based units and, as they join the service and become eligible for permanent commission, they would be able to command ships and air squadrons.
• The IAF has opened all branches for women officers, including the fighter stream and the new weapon systems branch.
• All major countries including the United States, United Kingdom, Russia, and Israel, allow women in command positions of their national armed forces.

Way forward

• Even as India aspires to become a $5-trillion economy, it is evident that it faces many national security inadequacies.
• The high dependency index on foreign suppliers (traditionally the former USSR now Russia) for major military inventory items is stark.
• This dependency induces a macro national vulnerability and dilutes India’s quest for meaningful and credible strategic autonomy.
• meaningful indigenisation and credible “aatmanirbharta” calls for sustained funding support, fortitude and an ecosystem that will nurture this effort

Source: Indian express

Context

The campus of Mangalore University is home to three species that are listed as near-threatened on the red list of the International Union for Conservation of Nature, according to a nine-year study on the avifaunal variety of the area (IUCN).

About Black-Headed Ibis:

• It is a large wader bird with a white body and bare black head and neck. Males and females look similar and both have greyish tail feathers. 
• These are called wader birds due to their adaptability to a wide variety of aquatic environments.
• They are found primarily around wetlands including agricultural fields and occasionally around coastal areas.
• It is found in South- and Southeast Asia from India to the west and as far east as Japan.
• Conservation status
• IUCN Red List: Near Threatened
• The Wildlife Protection Act 1972:Schedule-IV

Source: Indian Express