Weekly Current Affairs (22nd to 31st December 2022) - 2 | Current Affairs & Hindu Analysis: Daily, Weekly & Monthly - UPSC PDF Download

Uncontrolled Re-Entries of Satellites

Context: Outer Space Institute (OSI) has called for both national and multilateral efforts to restrict uncontrolled re-entries of Satellites.

• OSI is a network of world-leading space experts united by their commitment to highly innovative, transdisciplinary research that addresses grand challenges facing the continued use and exploration of space.

What are the Stages of a Rocket Launch?

• Primary Stage: The primary stage of a rocket is the first rocket engine to engage, providing the initial thrust to send the rocket skyward. This engine will continue to operate until its fuel is exhausted, at which time it separates from the rocket and falls to the ground.
• Secondary Stage: After the primary stage has fallen away, the next rocket engine engages to continue the rocket on its trajectory. The second stage has considerably less work to do, since the rocket is already traveling at high speed and the rocket's weight has significantly decreased due to the separation of the first stage. If the rocket has additional stages, the process will repeat until the rocket is in space.
• Payload: Once the payload, whether it be a satellite or a spacecraft, is in orbit, the rocket’s final stage falls away, and the craft will be maneuvered using smaller rockets whose purpose is to guide the spacecraft. Unlike the main rocket engines, these maneuvering rockets can be used multiple times.

What is Uncontrolled Re-entry?

• In an uncontrolled re-entry, the rocket stage simply falls. Its path down is determined by its shape, angle of descent, air currents and other characteristics.
• It will also disintegrate as it falls. As the smaller pieces fan out, the potential radius of impact will increase on the ground.
• Some pieces burn up entirely while others don’t. But because of the speed at which they’re travelling, debris can be deadly.
  • As per a 2021 report of the International Space Safety Foundation, an impact anywhere on an airliner with debris of mass above 300 grams would produce a catastrophic failure, meaning all people on board would be killed.
• Most rocket parts have landed in oceans principally because earth’s surface has more water than land. But many have dropped on land as well.

What are the Concerns?

• There have been many instances in the past where rockets striking some parts on Earth.
• Russian rocket in 2018 and China’s Long March 5B rockets in 2020 and 2022 striking parts of Indonesia, Peru, India and Ivory Coast, among others.
• Parts of a SpaceX Falcon 9 that fell down in Indonesia in 2016 included two “refrigerator-sized fuel tanks”.
• If re-entering stages still hold fuel, atmospheric and terrestrial chemical contamination is another risk.
• It is estimated that casualty risk from uncontrolled rocket body re-entries will be of order of 10% in the next decade” and that countries in the ‘Global South’ face a “disproportionately higher” risk of casualties.
  • The U.S. Orbital Debris Mitigation Standard Practices (ODMSP) require all launches to keep the chance of a casualty from a re-entering body to be below 0.01%.
• There is no international binding agreement to ensure rocket stages always perform controlled re-entries nor on the technologies with which to do so.
• The Liability Convention 1972 requires countries to pay for damages, not prevent them.
• These technologies include wing-like attachments, de-orbiting brakes, and extra fuel on the re-entering body, and design changes that minimize debris formation.

What can make Minimum Damage?

• Future solutions need to be extended not just launching satellites but to re-entering satellites as well.
• Advances in electronics and fabrication have made way for smaller satellites, which are easier to build and launch in large numbers. These satellites experience more atmospheric drag than if they had been bigger, but they are also likely to burn up during re-entry.
• India’s 300-kg RISAT-2 satellite re-entered earth’s atmosphere in October after 13 years in low-earth orbit. The ISRO (Indian Space Research Organisation) tracked it with its system for safe and sustainable space operations management from a month beforehand. It plotted its predicted paths using models in-house.

Note

• The Soviet Union launched the first artificial satellite in 1957.
• There are more than 6,000 satellites in orbit, most of them in low-earth (100-2,000 km) and geostationary (35,786 km) orbits, placed there in more than 5,000 launches.
• The number of rocket launches have been surging with the advent of reusable rocket stages.

Kisan Diwas

Context: As many as 13 farmers known for innovative farming were felicitated to mark Kisan Diwas or National Farmers Day on 23rd December, 2022.

• The Kisan Diwas is observed across the country to celebrate the birth anniversary of Chaudhary Charan Singh, the former Prime Minister of India.

What are the Key Facts about Chaudhary Charan Singh?

• He was born in 1902 at Noorpur in Meerut district of Uttar Pradesh and was the Prime Minister of India from 28th July 1979 to 14th January 1980.
• Being a proponent of rural and agricultural development, he made continuous efforts for keeping agriculture at the centre of planning for India.
• He was given the nickname ‘Champion of India’s Peasants’ for his work towards upliftment of farmers and development of agriculture throughout the country.
• He took a leading part in formulation and finalisation of the Debt Redemption Bill 1939, in order to give relief to the peasantry from moneylenders.
• He was instrumental in bringing about the Land Holding Act, 1960 which was aimed at lowering the ceiling on land holdings to make it uniform throughout the Uttar Pradesh.
• He left Congress in 1967 and formed his independent party known as the Bharatiya Lok Dal.
• He served twice as Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh. He became Prime Minister of India in 1979.
• He was the author of several books and pamphlets, including ‘Abolition of Zamindari’, ‘Co-operative Farming X-rayed’, ‘India’s Poverty and its Solution’, ‘Peasant Proprietorship or Land to the Workers’ and ‘Prevention of Division of Holdings Below a Certain Minimum’.

What are the Related Initiatives for Farmers?

• PM-KISAN: Under the scheme, the Centre transfers an amount of Rs 6,000 per year, in three equal instalments, directly into the bank accounts of all landholding farmers irrespective of the size of their land holdings.
• National Mission for Sustainable Agriculture: It aims at promoting sustainable agriculture practices best suitable to the specific agro-ecology.
• Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchayee Yojana: It has three main components namely Accelerated Irrigation Benefit Programme (AIBP), Har Khet ko Pani (HKKP), and watershed development components.
• Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana (RKVY): It was initiated in 2007, and allowed states to choose their own agriculture and allied sector development activities as per the district/state agriculture plan.
• Nutrient Based Subsidy (NBS) Programme: Under this programme, fertilizers are provided to the farmers at the subsidized rates based on the nutrients (N, P, K & S) contained in these fertilizers.
• Rashtriya Gokul Mission: It is being implemented for development and conservation of indigenous bovine breeds since December 2014.
• Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana: It provides a comprehensive insurance cover against failure of the crop thus helping in stabilising the income of the farmers.
• Paramparagat Krishi Vikas Yojana: Launched in 2015, it is an elaborated component of Soil Health Management (SHM) of major project National Mission of Sustainable Agriculture (NMSA).
• Kisan Credit Card : The scheme was introduced in 1998 for providing adequate and timely credit support from the banking system, under a single window with flexible and simplified procedure to the farmers.

GM Mustard

Context: Recently, the Genetically Modified (GM) mustard Dhara Mustard Hybrid (DMH-11) was tested in the field and shown to be more productive.

• Production of the DMH-11 variety is not interfering with honey bees' natural pollination practices.

What are Genetically Modified (GM) Crops?

• GM crops are derived from plants whose genes are artificially modified, usually by inserting genetic material from another organism, in order to give it new properties, such as increased yield, tolerance to a herbicide, resistance to disease or drought, or improved nutritional value.
  • Earlier, India approved the commercial cultivation of only one GM crop, Bt cotton, but Genetic Engineering Appraisal Committee (GEAC) has recommended GM Mustard for commercial use.

What is GM Mustard?

• DMH-11 is an indigenously developed transgenic mustard. It is a genetically modified variant of Herbicide Tolerant (HT) mustard.
• DMH-11 is a result of a cross between Indian mustard variety ‘Varuna’ and East European ‘Early Heera-2’ mustard.
• It contains two alien genes (‘barnase’ and ‘barstar’) isolated from a soil bacterium called Bacillus amyloliquefaciens that enable breeding of high-yielding commercial mustard hybrids.
• Barnase in Varuna induces a temporary sterility because of which it can’t naturally self-pollinate. Barstar in Heera blocks the effect of barnase allowing seeds to be produced.
• DMH-11 has shown approximately 28% more yield than the national check and 37 % more than the zonal checks and its use has been claimed and approved by the GEAC.
  • “Bar gene” maintains the genetic purity of hybrid seed.

Why is the Barnase/Barstar System Required?

• The hybrid seed production requires an efficient male sterility and fertility restoration system.
• The currently available conventional cytoplasmic-genetic male sterility system in mustard has limitations of breakdown of sterility under certain environmental conditions leading to lowering of seed purity.
• The genetically engineered barnase/barstar system provides an efficient and robust alternative method for hybrid seed production in mustard.
• In India, the Centre for Genetic Manipulation of Crop Plants (CGMCP) has made a successful attempt with some alterations in the barnase/ barstar system which culminated in the development of GM mustard hybrid MH11 which has undergone the required regulatory testing processes during 2008-2016.

Why GM Mustard is Necessary?

• India’s import of edible oils is on continuous rise to meet the domestic demand. It ultimately led reduction forex. GM Mustard is essential to reduce the forex drain on Agri-import.
• Productivity of oilseed crops viz., soybean, rapeseed mustard, groundnut, sesame, sunflower, safflower and linseed in India is much lower than the global productivity of these crops.
• Crossing of genetically diverse parents results in hybrids with increased yield and adaptation

What are the Safety Concerns associated with DMH-11?

• The safety of three genes used in the creation of the technique Barnase, Barstar and Bar is being questioned.
• Field trials for three years (two years of BRL-I and one year of BRL-II) have been conducted to assess the impact on human health and environment as per the stipulated guidelines and applicable rules.
• It is important to note that comprehensive research on the toxicity, allergenicity, compositional analysis, field trials, and environmental safety studies of GM mustard has shown that they are safe for food and feed usage as well as for production.
• DMH-11 has “Bar gene” which is responsible for herbicide tolerance. Effectiveness of “Bar Gene” is under question as per herbicide tolerance is concerned.

What is the Significance of Genetically Modified Crops?

• Crossing of genetically diverse plants results in hybrids with increased yield and adaptation, a phenomenon known as hybrid vigor heterosis which has been widely exploited in crops like rice, maize, pearl millet, sunflower and many vegetables.
• It has been convincingly demonstrated that hybrids in general show 20-25% higher yield over the conventional varieties across the crops.
• Hybrid technology can play an important role in enhancing the productivity of rapeseed mustard in the country.

Foreign Policy of India

Context: On the geopolitical and diplomatic stage, 2022 was a difficult year, especially following Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

How did India handle the Ukraine Crisis?

• Following Non-Alignment Policy: The war in Ukraine saw the government spell out its version of “non-alignment”, as it sought to keep a balance in the growing polarisation between the U.S. and the European Union on one side, and Russia on the other. On one side the Indian Prime Minister made his discomfort with the war clear directly to Russian President Vladimir Putin with the words “This era is not for war” and on the other hand refused to accept western sanctions, growing military and oil trade with Russia, and seeking rupee-based payment mechanisms to facilitate them.
• Refusing to Vote on the Resolution: Most significantly, in more than a dozen resolutions at the United Nation Security Council (UNSC), United Nations General Assembly (UNGA), International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Human Rights Commission, and other multilateral platforms seeking to censure Russia for the invasion and humanitarian crisis, India chose to abstain.
  • The Indian Foreign Policy said that India's policy was guided by its national interests, telling those who expected India to take sides, “Tough luck if our policies do not meet your expectations”.

What were the Other Highlights in Foreign Policy in 2022?

• Returning to Free Trade Agreements (FTAs): In 2022, India returned to FTAs, after a break of several years when India had called for a review of all FTAs, scrapped all Bilateral Investment Treaties (BITs) and walked out of the 15-nation Asian Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP). In 2022, India signed trade agreements with the UAE and Australia, and hopes to progress on talks with the EU, Gulf Cooperation Council and Canada for others.
• Joining US led IPEF: India also joined the U.S.-led Indo-Pacific Economic Forum (IPEF), although it later decided to stay out of trade talks.

What about Ties with Neighbours?

• Sri Lanka: India’s foreign policy was marked by economic assistance to Sri Lanka in the midst of its collapse.
• Bangladesh, Bhutan, and Nepal: Foreign policy of India is marked by regional trade and energy agreements with Bangladesh, Bhutan, and Nepal that could see a South Asian energy grid emerge.
• Central Asian countries: India has also strengthened ties with Central Asian countries on connectivity. India has restarted efforts to revive the much-delayed Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India (TAPI) pipeline project. India also discussed the best use of the International North-South Transport Corridor (INSTC). Steps have also been taken to operationalize the Chabahar port in Iran which can provide a secure, viable and unhindered access to the sea for the Central Asian countries. In addition, the Ashgabat Agreement on International Transport and Transit Corridor (ITTC) was discussed to enhance connectivity between India and Central Asian countries.
• Afghanistan and Myanmar: The government kept channels open with repressive regimes like Afghanistan’s Taliban and the Myanmar Junta, opening a “technical mission” in Kabul and sending the foreign secretary to Myanmar to discuss border cooperation. Earlier in December, 2022 India abstained on a UNSC vote calling for Myanmar to end violence and release political prisoners.
• Iran and Pakistan: With Iran too, where protests against the killing of an activist have brought thousands onto the streets, India has steered clear of any criticism. However, ties with Pakistan remain flat, with a big showdown at the UN in December, 2022 between the foreign ministers of the two nations.

What Progress has been made in the LAC-China Standoff?

• Despite a visit to Delhi by China’s Foreign Minister and disengagement at some stand-off points, tensions at the Line of Actual Control remained high, and an unsuccessful Chinese PLA attempt to take Indian posts at Yangtse in Arunachal Pradesh ended the year, signaling more violent clashes in 2023.
• In spite of the fraught state of relations, India is due to host the Chinese President twice in 2023, at the G-20 and SCO summits, opening up the possibility for talks to end the standoff.

What are the Current Challenges in India’s Foreign Policy?

• Pakistan-China Strategic Nexus: The most formidable threat India faces today is from the Pakistan-China strategic nexus that seeks to change the status quo at the contested borders and undermine India’s strategic security. China’s aggressive actions since May 2020 to change the status quo at the Line of Actual Control have severely damaged Sino-Indian relations.
• China’s Expansion: For India, the issue of how to balance China's forays into South Asia and the Indian Ocean region is another concern. Under the rubric of China’s much touted Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), it is developing China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) in Pakistan (through the Indian territory in the Pakistan-occupied Kashmir), building China-Nepal Economic Corridor, China-Myanmar Economic Corridor and dual use infrastructure in the littorals of the Indian Ocean.
• Balancing Big Power Relations: India’s strategic autonomy precludes New Delhi to join any military alliance or strategic partnership that is inimical to another country or group of countries. Traditionally, the West has perceived India closer to the Soviet Union / Russia. These perceptions are accentuated with India actively participating in SCO, BRICS and Russia-India-China (RIC) forum. For India to balance an assertive China, it has to rely on external balancing in the Indo-Pacific to overcome the security dilemmas posed by the Pakistan-China hybrid threats. India’s participation in QUAD, signing of foundational agreements with US, Japan, France, UK and Indonesia should be seen from that perspective.
• Refugee Crisis: In spite of not being a party to the 1951 Refugee Convention and its 1967 Protocol, India has been one of the largest recipients of refugees in the world. The challenge here is to balance protection of human rights and national interest. As the Rohingya crisis unfolds, there is still a lot that India can do to facilitate the finding of long-term solutions. These actions will be key in determining India’s regional and global standing on human rights.

Way Forward

• India should look forward to creating an external environment which is conducive for an inclusive development of India so that the benefits of growth can reach the poorest of the poor in the country.
  • And ensure that India’s voice is heard on global forums and that India is able to influence world opinion on issues of global dimensions such as terrorism, climate change, disarmament, reforms of institutions of global governance.
• As rightly said by Mahatma Gandhi, politics without principles and ethics would be disastrous. India should move towards collective development with an ethical persuasion reclaiming its moral leadership in the world at large.
• As we live in a dynamic world, India's foreign policy is therefore geared up to be proactive, flexible, and pragmatic in order to respond quickly to changing situations.

Regenerative Agriculture

Context: Farmers in Madhya Pradesh who follow regenerative farming methods find that they reduce the need for frequent irrigation, which conserves water and energy.

What is Regenerative Agriculture?

Background:

• The Green Revolution of the 1960s pulled India from the brink of starvation, but the revolution also made India the world’s biggest extractor of groundwater.
  • According to the UN’s World Water Development Report, 2022, India extracts 251 cubic km or more than a quarter of the world’s groundwater withdrawal each year; 90 % of this water is used for agriculture.
• Currently, there is severe and widespread deficiency of organic carbon and micronutrients in Indian soils.
• If agriculture is to continue to feed the country’s undernourished population — 224.5 million, according to the UN’s State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World, 2022 — and drive its economy, it needs to work in harmony with nature, not against it.
• Farmers, activists and agricultural research organisations across the world are thus developing methods of chemical-less farming which uses natural inputs and cultivation practices such as crop rotation and diversification, which fall under the wider umbrella of regenerative agriculture.

About Regenerative Agriculture:

• Regenerative agriculture is a holistic farming system that focuses on soil health, food quality, biodiversity improvement, water quality and air quality through methods such as reducing the use of chemical fertilisers and pesticides, reducing tillage, integrating livestock and using cover crops.
• It adheres to the following principles:
  • Minimize soil distribution through conservation tillage
  • Diversify crops to replenish nutrients and disrupt pest and disease lifecycles
  • Retain soil cover using cover crops
  • Integrate livestock, which adds manure to the soil and serves as a source of carbon sinks.

What are the Advantages of Regenerative Agriculture?

• Improves Soil Health: It goes a step ahead of sustainable agriculture and aspires not only to maintain the resources like soil and water but also to improve them. According to the UN Food and Agriculture Organization, healthy soil helps in better water storage, transmission, filtering and reduces agricultural run-off.
• Water conservation: Healthy soil helps in improving water-use efficiency by better water storage, transmission, filtering and reduces agricultural run-off.Studies have established that 1% increase in soil organic matter per 0.4 hectare increases water storage potential by more than 75,000 litres.
• Energy Conservation: Regenerative Agriculture practices conserve energy used by irrigation aids such as pumps. 

What are Indian Efforts to Promote Regenerative Agriculture?

• The National Project on Organic Farming: The National Project on Organic Farming is the country’s longest experiment on the practice, ongoing since 2004 and conducted by ICAR-Indian Institute of Farming System Research, Meerut.
• Systematic Rice Intensification: A method in which seeds are spaced at wider distances and organic manure is applied to improve yields. 
• Zero-Budget Natural Farming: It is also known as Subhash Palekar Natural Farming and emphasises on preparing and using inputs made from crop residue, cow dung and urine, fruits, among other things.
• Samaj Pragati Sahyog: It is a grassroots organisation that promotes natural methods to control agricultural pests such as composting and recycling of crop residues, use of farm yard manure, cattle urine and application of tank silt, has also made efforts to this end. It has conducted field trials with 1,000 farmers on more than 2,000 ha of land in four districts of Madhya Pradesh and one district of Maharashtra in 2016-18, to measure the water saved.

Official Recognition to E-Sports

Context: Recently, the President of India amended the regulations governing eSports and requested that the Sports Ministry and the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology include "eSports in multi-sport events."

• The President is empowered under Article 77 (3) of the Constitution to make rules for the more convenient transaction of the business of the Government of India, and for the allocation among Ministers of the said business.
• According to a gazette notification, E-Sports will now be a part of the “multisports event” category in India.

What is E-Sports?

About:

• Esports (Electronic Sports) is a competitive sport where gamers use their physical and mental abilities to compete in various games in a virtual, electronic environment.
  • Example: Counter Strike, League of Legends, Overwatch, Fortnite, DOTA 2.
• There had been a growing demand for Esports to be included in the curriculum of multi-discipline events after it was included in the 2018 Jakarta Asian Games.
  • This, however, boosted E-sport enthusiasts and has come as a shot in the arm for Esports enthusiasts in India.
  • India won a bronze medal in 2018 Asian Games, where esports was included as a demonstration title.
• It has received its sporting recognition from the International Olympic Committee (IOC), which is the apex body of sports along with Olympic Council of Asia (OCA), Commonwealth Games etc.
  • IOC organized Virtual Olympic Series (Esports Tournament), before the Tokyo Olympics 2020;
  • Esports has been included in OCA events since 2007. Esports is a medal sports in Asian Games 2022.
• In a similar effort to popularize e-Sport, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) has announced that Singapore will host the inaugural Olympic Esports Week in June, 2023.

Nodal Ministry:

• E-Sports will be taken care of by the Department of Sports under the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports.
  • While 'Online Gaming' will be overseen by MEITY (Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology).

Recognition of E-Sport as a Sport:

• By now, countries such as the US, Finland, and even the somewhat reticent Germany have acknowledged esports as a sport.
• The very first few nations (along with South Korea) to recognise esports as a sport were China and South Africa. Russia, Italy, Denmark, and Nepal have also joined.
• Ukraine officially recognized esports as a sport in September of 2020.