Weekly Current Affairs (8th to 14th April 2023) Part - 1 | Current Affairs & Hindu Analysis: Daily, Weekly & Monthly - UPSC PDF Download

El Nino

Context: Many climate models have forecasted an El Nino in May 2023.

• A record three-year La Nina event ended in March 2023 and currently, the equatorial Pacific Ocean is at normal temperatures, known as the neutral phase.

What is El Nino?

• El Nino was first recognized by Peruvian fishermen off the coast of Peru as the appearance of unusually warm water.
• The Spanish immigrants called it El Nino, meaning “the little boy” in Spanish.
• The El Nino is the warmer-than-normal phase of the El Nino Southern Oscillation (ENSO) phenomenon, during which there are generally warmer temperatures and less rainfall than normal in many regions of the world, including India.
• During an El Nino event, the Sea Surface Temperatures (SST) in the equatorial Pacific Ocean off the northern coast of South America became at least 0.5 degrees Celsius warmer than the long-term average.
• In the case of a strong El Nino event as occurred in 2015-2016, anomalies can reach as high as 3°C, which is a record.
• The El Nino event is not a regular cycle, they are not predictable and occur irregularly at two- to seven-year intervals.
• Climatologists determined that El Nino occurs simultaneously with the Southern Oscillation.
• The Southern Oscillation is a change in air pressure over the tropical Pacific Ocean.

What do the Climate Models Say About Upcoming El Nino?

Impact on India:

• Weak Monsoon for India: The development of an El Nino in May or June 2023 may cause weakening of the southwest monsoon season, which brings around 70% of the total rainfall India receives and on which most of its farmers still depend.
• However, sub-seasonal factors such as the Madden-Julian Oscillation (MJO) and monsoon low-pressure systems can temporarily enhance rainfall in some parts as witnessed in the year 2015.
• Hot Temperatures: It may also cause heatwaves and droughts in India and other regions around the world such as South Africa, Australia, Indonesia and the Pacific Islands.
• Heavier Rainfall in the West: It brings heavy rainfall and flooding to other regions such as California in the United States and could cause bleaching and death of coral reefs.
• Rising Global Average Temp: The El Nino in 2023 and going into 2024 may push the global average temperature towards 1.5°C warmer than the preindustrial average.
• The warming of the oceans is also one of the major impacts of an El Nino event.
• This is when ocean heat content is already at a record high, according to the World Meteorological Organization (WMO).

Previous Such Occurrences – Impacts:

• In the 2015-2016, there were widespread heatwaves in India that killed around 2,500 people in each of the years.
• Coral reefs around the world also suffered from bleaching and the sea level rose by 7 millimetres due to thermal expansion.
• The El Nino, along with global warming, had made 2016 the warmest year on record.
• El Nino events of 1982-83 and 1997-98 were the most intense of the 20th century.
• During the 1982-83 event, sea surface temperatures in the eastern tropical Pacific were 9-18°C above normal.

What is MJO?

• The MJO is made up of two parts: an enhanced rainfall phase and a suppressed rainfall phase.
• During the enhanced phase, surface winds converge, causing air to rise and create more rainfall. In the suppressed phase, winds converge at the top of the atmosphere, causing air to sink and leading to less rainfall.
• This dipole structure moves west to east in the Tropics, creating more cloudiness and rainfall in the enhanced phase, and more sunshine and dryness in the suppressed phase.

How does ENSO Affect India?

• The influence of ENSO on India's climate is most pronounced during the monsoon season. During an El Niño event, India experiences below-average rainfall.
• The El Niño also leads to a rise in temperatures, exacerbating heat waves and causing heat-related health issues.
• On the other hand, during a La Niña event, India experiences above-average rainfall.
• This can lead to flooding and landslides, damaging crops and infrastructure. However, La Niña also brings cooler temperatures, which can provide relief from heat waves.

5th International Conference on Disaster Resilient Infrastructure

Context: Recently, the Prime Minister of India, addressed the 5th International Conference on Disaster Resilient Infrastructure (ICDRI) 2023.

What is ICDRI?

About:

• ICDRI is the annual international conference of the Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure (CDRI) in partnership with member countries, organizations and institutions to strengthen the global discourse on disaster and climate-resilient infrastructure.

Highlights of ICDRI 2023:

• The Prime Minister said that since India is leading the G20 group, the CDRI will be included in many important discussions.
• This means that the solutions discussed in the CDRI will be considered at the highest levels of global policymaking.

What is CDRI?

About:

• CDRI is an Independent International Organization consisting of global partnership of national governments, United Nations agencies and programs, multilateral development banks and financing mechanisms, the private sector, and academic and research institutions.
• It aims to increase the resilience of infrastructure systems to climate and disaster risks, thereby ensuring sustainable development.
• It was launched in 2019, at the United Nations Climate Action Summit in New York.
• CDRI is India's second major global initiative after the International Solar Alliance (ISA).
• The CDRI Secretariat is based in New Delhi, India.

Members:

• Since its inception, 31 countries, 6 international organisations and 2 private sector organisations have joined CDRI as members.

Significance for India:

• CDRI provides a platform for India to emerge as a global leader in climate Action and Disaster Resilience.
• It boosts India's soft power, but more importantly it has wider connotation than just economics, as synergy between disaster risk reduction, Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and Climate Accord provides for sustainable and inclusive growth.

What are the Initiatives of CDRI?

Infrastructure for Resilient Island States (IRIS):

• India launched this initiative as a part of the CDRI that would focus on building capacity, having pilot projects, especially in Small Island Developing States or SIDS.
• SIDS face the biggest threat from climate change.
• India’s space agency ISRO will build a special data window for them to provide them with timely information about cyclones, coral-reef monitoring, coastline monitoring etc. through satellite.

Infrastructure Resilience Accelerator Fund:

• The Infrastructure Resilience Accelerator Fund is a fund supported by both the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR).
• It is a trust fund that will be managed by the United Nations Multi-Partner Trust Fund Office (UN MPTFO) to help in improving the ability of infrastructure systems to withstand disasters, with a special focus on developing countries and Small Island Developing States (SIDS).

Forest (Conservation) Amendment Bill, 2023

Context: Recently, the government introduced the Forest (Conservation) Amendment Bill, 2023 in Lok Sabha and proposed changes to the Forest (Conservation) Act, (FC) 1980.

• The aim of the proposed changes is to build forest carbon stock by raising plantations. The Bill also seeks to make land available for compensatory afforestation.

What is the Background and Proposed Changes in FC Act, 1980?

Background:

• After Independence, vast areas of forest land were designated as reserved and protected forests.
• However, many forested areas were left out, and areas without any standing forests were included in 'forest' lands.
• In 1996, the Supreme Court suspended the felling of trees across the country, and ruled that the FC Act would apply to all land parcels that were either recorded as 'forest' or resembled the dictionary meaning of forest.
• In June 2022, the government amended the Forest Conservation Rules to propose a mechanism to allow developers to raise plantations "over land on which the (FC) Act is not applicable" and to swap such plots against subsequent requirements of compensatory afforestation.

Proposed Changes:

• Preamble to the Act: It proposes to insert a preamble to the Act to encompass the country's rich tradition of preserving forests, their bio-diversity and tackling climate change challenges within its ambit.
• Restrictions on Activities in Forest: The Act restricts the de-reservation of forest or use of forest land for non-forest purposes. Such restrictions may be lifted with the prior approval of the central government. Non-forest purposes include use of land for cultivating horticultural crops or for any purpose other than reafforestation. The Bill adds more activities to this list such as: (i) zoos and safaris under the Wild Life (Protection) Act, 1972 owned by the government or any authority, in forest areas other than protected areas, (ii) eco-tourism facilities, (iii) silvicultural operations (enhancing forest growth), and (iv) any other purpose specified by the central government.
• Land under the Purview of the Act: The Bill provides that two types of land will be under the purview of the Act: (i) land declared/notified as a forest under the Indian Forest Act, 1927 or under any other law, or (ii) land not covered in the first category but notified as a forest on or after October 25, 1980 in a government record. Further, the Act will not apply to land changed from forest use to non-forest use on or before December 12, 1996 by any authority authorized by a state/UT.
• Power to Issue Directions: The Bill adds that the central government may issue directions for the implementation of the Act to any other authority/ organisation under or recognised by the centre, state, or union territory.
• Exemptions: It seeks to exempt all strategic linear projects of "national importance and concerning national security" within 100 km of international borders, the LAC, and the LoC. The proposed amendment also includes exemptions for "security-related infrastructure" up to 10 hectares, and additional activities such as silvicultural operations, construction of zoos and wildlife safaris, eco-tourism facilities, and any other activities specified by the Central Government.

Issues

• With the amendments, all those forest lands which do not fall in the reserved area but are available in government records before 1980 will not come under the purview of the Act.
• This diverts away from the Supreme Court’s 1996 verdict which had ensured every forest mentioned in government records gets legal protection against deforestation.
• Critics argue that the terms like ‘proposed’, ‘ecotourism facilities’, and ‘any other purposes’ can be exploited or misused for activities damaging forests and ecosystems in forest lands.
• They also argue that plantations are a significant threat to Indian forests as they replace the natural ecosystems, affect soil quality, and particularly threaten the native biodiversity.

Indian Space Policy 2023

Context: The Indian Space Policy 2023 was approved by the Cabinet Committee on Security. The policy seeks to institutionalise private sector participation in the space sector, with ISRO focusing on research and development of advanced space technologies.

What are the Major Provisions of Indian Space Policy 2023?

About:

• The policy will pave the way forward with much-required clarity in space reforms and augment private industry participation to drive the space economy opportunity for the country.

Delineation of Roles:

• The policy delineates the roles and responsibilities of Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), space sector PSU NewSpace India Limited (NSIL), and Indian National Space Promotion and Authorization Center (IN-SPACe).
• Strategic activities related to the space sector will be carried out by NSIL, which will work in a demand-driven mode.
• IN-SPACe will be the interface between ISRO and non-governmental entities.
• ISRO will focus its energies on developing new technologies, new systems and research and development.
• The operational part of ISRO's missions will be moved to the NewSpace India Limited.

Entry of Private Sector:

• The policy will allow the private sector to take part in end-to-end space activities that include building satellites, rockets, and launch vehicles, data collection and dissemination.
• The private sector can use ISRO facilities for a small charge and is encouraged to invest in creating new infrastructure for the sector.

Impact:

• The policy will help India increase its share in the global space economy substantially from less than 2% to 10% in the future.

What is the Current Status of India’s Space Sector?

About:

• The Indian Space Sector has been globally recognised for building cost-effective satellites, and now India is even taking foreign satellites to space.
• As part of India's commitment to the Geneva Conference on Disarmament, the country continues to advocate peaceful and civilian use of outer space and oppose any weaponization of space capabilities or programs.
• ISRO is the 6th largest space agency in the world and holds an exceptional success rate.
• With over 400 private space companies, India ranks fifth globally in no. of space companies.

Recent Developments in India’s Space Sector:

• Defence Space Agency: India has recently set up its Defence Space Agency (DSA) supported by the Defence Space Research Organisation (DSRO) that has the mandate to create weapons to “degrade, disrupt, destroy or deceive an adversary’s space capability".
• Also, the Indian Prime Minister launched the Defence Space Mission at the Defence Expo 2022, Gandhinagar.
• Expanding Satellite Manufacturing Capabilities: India’s satellite-manufacturing opportunity will reach USD 3.2 billion by the year 2025 (in 2020 it was USD 2.1 billion)
• SAMVAD Program: To encourage and nurture space research among young minds, ISRO launched its Student Outreach Program called SAMVAD at its Bengaluru facility.

What are Current Major Challenges Related to the Space Sector?

• Lack of Regulations on Commercialisation: The commercialization of outer space is accelerating due to the development of private satellite expeditions for Internet services (Starlink-SpaceX) and for space tourism.
• It is possible that if no regulatory framework is put in place, rising commercialisation may lead to monopolisation in the future.
• Rising Space Debris: As outer space expeditions increase, more space debris will accumulate. Because objects orbit Earth at such high speeds, even a small piece of space debris can damage a spacecraft.
• China’s Space Leap: Compared to other countries, the Chinese space industry has grown rapidly. It has successfully launched its own navigation system, BeiDou.
• It is very likely that China's Belt Road Initiative (BRI) members will contribute to or join the Chinese space sector, solidifying China's global position and may lead to weaponization of outer space.
• Increasing Global Trust Deficit: An arms race for weaponization of outer space is creating an environment of suspicion, competition, and aggressiveness across the globe, potentially leading to conflict.
• It would also put at risk the entire range of satellites as well as those involved in scientific explorations and communication services.

Way Forward

• Defending India's Space Assets: In order to effectively defend its space assets, including debris and spacecraft, India needs reliable and accurate tracking capabilities.
  • Project NETRA, an early warning system in space to detect debris and other hazards to Indian satellites is a good step in this direction.
• Permanent Seat in Space: India should take the initiative to cooperate with international bodies and plan for a planetary defense program and joint space missions in the long term.
  • Also, with the Gaganyan mission, ISRO has begun to focus on manned space flight as part of its rethinking of India's space presence.
• Replicating Space4Women in India: Space4Women is a United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs (UNOOSA) project that promotes gender equality and women's empowerment in the space sector.
  • It would be beneficial to initiate space awareness programmes at the rural level in India, and College-ISRO Internship corridors can be built specially for female students to introduce them to the possibility of stretching their wagon beyond earth.
  • AzaadiSAT, made by 750 schoolgirls from India is a firm step in this direction.
• Technological Intervention for Cleaner Space: Technologies like self-eating rockets, self-vanishing satellites and robotic arms to catch space debris can make India an explorer cum problem solver in the space arena.

India Approves Construction of LIGO

Context: Recently, the government approved the construction of the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO) project after seven years of in-principle approval.

• It will be built by the Department of Atomic Energy and the Department of Science and Technology with the U.S. National Science Foundation and several national and international research institutions.

What is LIGO-India Project?

About: 

• The project aims to detect gravitational waves from the universe.
• The Indian LIGO would have two perpendicularly placed 4-km long vacuum chambers, that constitute the most sensitive interferometers in the world.
• It is expected to begin scientific runs from 2030.

Location:

• It will be located in the Hingoli district of Maharashtra, about 450 km east of Mumbai.

Purpose and Significance:

• It will be the fifth node of the planned network and will bring India into a prestigious international scientific experiment.
• It will make India a unique platform that brings together the frontiers of science and technology of the quantum and the cosmos.

Benefits of LIGO-India:

• The LIGO-India project would have several spin-off benefits to Indian science, apart from making India an integral part of one of the most prestigious international scientific experiments.
• The observatory is expected to enable dramatic returns in astronomy and astrophysics, as well as leapfrog Indian science and technology in cutting-edge frontiers of great national relevance.

What are Gravitational Waves?

• Gravitational waves were first postulated (1916) in Albert Einstein's General Theory of Relativity, which explains how gravity works.
• These waves are produced by the movement of massive celestial bodies, such as black holes or neutron stars, and are the ripples in spacetime that propagate outward.

What is LIGO?

• About: LIGO is an international network of laboratories that detect gravitational waves.
• LIGOs are designed to measure changes in distance that are several orders of magnitude smaller than the length of the proton. Such high precision Instruments are needed because of the extremely low strength of gravitational waves that make their detection very difficult.

First Detection of Gravitational Waves:

• The LIGO in the US first detected gravitational waves in 2015, which led to a Nobel Prize in Physics in 2017.
• These gravitational waves were produced by the merger of two black holes, which were about 29 and 36 times the mass of the Sun, 1.3 billion years ago.
• Black hole mergers are the source of some of the strongest gravitational waves.

Operational LIGO:

• Besides the United States (in Hanford and Livingston), such gravitational wave observatories are currently operational in Italy (Virgo) and Japan (Kagra).
• To detect gravitational waves, four comparable detectors need to be operating simultaneously around the globe.

Working Mechanism:

• LIGO consists of two 4-km-long vacuum chambers, set up at right angles to each other, with mirrors at the end.
• When light rays are released simultaneously in both chambers, they should return at the same time.
• However, if a gravitational wave arrives, one chamber gets elongated while the other gets squished, causing a phase difference in the returning light rays.
• Detecting this phase difference confirms the presence of a gravitational wave.

Medical Device and Malware

Context: Recently, some experts have warned that Common medical devices such as oximeters, hearing aids, glucometers, and pacemakers can be turned into Ransomware.

• Industry experts are now seeking urgent Central government intervention to recognize this threat and immediately put in place measures to plug any possible drain.
• The warning comes close on the heels of the ransomware attacks suffered by India’s top tertiary care hospitals, leading to the siege of millions of medical records and vast amounts of health data at Delhi’s AIIMS, Safdarjung Hospital etc.

What are the Concerns?

Data Breaches:

• The increasing use of medical technology devices and the lack of adequate cyber protection for these devices have raised concerns about data breaches and cyberattacks in the healthcare industry.
• Such devices contain software as medical devices (SaMD) and software in medical devices (SiMD), and are typically connected to the internet, mobile phones, servers, and the cloud and thus vulnerable to attacks.
• Sun Pharma, the fourth-largest generic pharmaceutical company in the world and an Indian multinational corporation, was targeted in the recent cyberattacks along with the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR).

Vulnerable Population:

• India is among the world’s top 20 markets for medical devices, with the medical devices sector projected to reach USD 50 billion by 2025. However, the rapid economic growth, rising middle-class incomes, and increased market penetration of medical devices have left the population vulnerable to cyber threats.

Inadequate Systems:

• Furthermore, the Indian healthcare industry lacks a centralized data collection mechanism, which makes it challenging to determine the exact cost of data corruption.
• Despite this, it is evident that data has become the new oil and is seeing a significant threat from cyberattacks.

How can we Address Such Cyber Threats?

• Consultation with the Experts: The government should consult with industry experts to identify the challenges that could pose a risk to national security.
• Employee Training: Employees should be trained in how to recognize and avoid phishing emails, which are commonly used to initiate ransomware attacks.
  • Data protection is not a rocketing science, but requires legal and technical artisanship, the allocation of adequate resources and the training of all professionals involved in the processing of personal data.
• Regular Software Updates: Regular software updates can help address vulnerabilities that hackers might exploit.
• Access Control: Limiting access to medical devices to only authorized personnel can prevent unauthorized individuals from accessing the devices and infecting them with malware.
• Encryption: Encryption can be used to protect the data on medical devices from unauthorized access.
• Network Segmentation: Segmenting the network can help prevent the spread of malware from one device to another.

What are the Major Types of Cyber Threats?

• Ransomware: This type of malware hijacks computer data and then demands payment (usually in bitcoins) in order to restore it.
• Trojan Horses: A Trojan horse attack uses a malicious program that is hidden inside a seemingly legitimate one.
  • When the user executes the presumably innocent program, the malware inside the Trojan can be used to open a backdoor into the system through which hackers can penetrate the computer or network.
• Clickjacking: Act of tempting internet users to click links containing malicious software or unknowingly share private information on social media sites.
• Denial of Service (DOS) Attack: The deliberate act of overloading a particular service like website from multiple computers and routes with the aim of disrupting that service.
• Man in Middle Attack: In this kind of attack, the messages between two parties are intercepted during transit.
• Crypto Jacking: The term Crypto jacking is closely related to cryptocurrency. Crypto jacking takes place when attackers access someone else’s computer for mining cryptocurrency.
• Zero Day Vulnerability: A zero-day vulnerability is a flaw in the machine/network’s operating system or application software which has not been fixed by the developer and can be exploited by a hacker who is aware of it.
• Bluebugging: It is a form of Bluetooth hacking in which an attacker exploits a vulnerability in a Bluetooth-enabled device to gain unauthorized access to it. The attacker can then use the compromised device to make calls, send messages, or access other data without the user's knowledge or consent.